My theme this year is wild flowers. Most of us will be aware of the flowers that grow in our gardens but what surprises me is how few wild flowers that I know.
I pass them every day but rarely look at them. Well this year will be different - even if many of them may fall under the letter 'X' for unknown.
'M' - Mind-your-own-business, Mother of Thousands, Dog's Mercury
Some wild flowers are hard to see. One mat forming, evergreen plant with barely discernible tiny pink flowers gets its name because a probing finger will leave a permanent depression in its foliage, telling you to -
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| Mind-your-own-business |
You have to look extremely hard to see the flowers here.
The plant, a nightmare if it gets into lawns and borders, will creep along pathways, banks, stone walls and even cracks in paving.
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| Mind-your-own-business |
It also goes by the names of Mother of Thousands, Baby's Tears and Angel Tears.
Another plant with inconspicuous flowers is mercurialis perennis found in woodlands, especially under beech, oak or ash. Fortunately it has a common name too.
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| Dog's Mercury |
Again you have to look hard to see the flowers which blend in with the leaves. There are separate male and female plants. Its strong, pungent smell attracts pollinating midges in March and April.
It's also highly poisonous - so it is named "dog's" mercury in the sense of "false" or "bad".
Attributions:
- Dog's Mercury - 27 March 2005, Llandegfan, Wales, by Veleia - Public Domain
- Mind-your-own-business - ex RHS website
