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.
'I' - Iris, Indian Balsam
Some flowers get ugly names.
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.
'I' - Iris, Indian Balsam
Some flowers get ugly names.
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| Stinking Iris with its orange-red seeds |
Other names include gladdon, gladwyn (an old name for a sword referring to its leaves.) Markings on its petals also lead to the name of adder's meat. The smell of its crushed leaves, responsible for calling it 'stinking' is also responsible for the name of roast beef plant.
It's easy to miss it flowering as the flowers, usually dull yellow tinged with purple, only last a day. However there is no missing the green fruits when they have opened out to the distinctive seeds.
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| Seeds of the stinking iris (Iris foetidisima) |
It once was highly valued as a medicinal herb, especially for poultices for drawing splinters and even the odd arrow head. The poisonous rhizomes were also once used medicinally for cramps and as an effective treatment for ringworm.
The iris which was basis for the fleur-de-lys emblem has a much more likeable appearance.
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| Yellow flag iris (Cornwall) |
The Frankish King Clovis wore the flower as a heraldic device in the 5th century.
Its boiled roots were once used for soothing bruises and, when powdered, to make snuff.
A plant introduced from the Himalayas over 200 years ago is now, in many parts, regarded as a pest or a nuisance.
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| Indian Balsam |
Each flower appears to have three petals and the lower one gives the flower its nickname of Policeman's helmet.
Its explosive seed capsules can hurl seeds more than 10 meters. In one of our local spots the tall plants have swamped blackberry bushes; it can reach a height of 2 metres. It has become naturalised on many of our river banks and on damp ground.
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| Indian balsam on the Teesdale Way, alongside the River Tees |
Attributions:
- Iris foetidisima (stinking iris seeds) - 6 Nov 2007, by Jymm - Public Domain
- Indian balsam - 20 June 2009, ex geograph.org.uk, by Glyn Baker - CC BY-SA 2.0 generic
