Common chickweed

Common chickweed (Stellaria media) lives up to its name in all respects. It is a weed that is the bane of many gardeners, it can be used to feed chickens, and it is extremely common!

It has branched leafy stems that sprawl across the ground, although the flowering stems can reach 14 inches (36 centimetres) high. The lower leaves grow on stalks whereas the higher ones are stalkless.

The flowers have five tiny white petals that have deep notches, thus producing ten-pointed “stars” that account for the botanical name “Stellaria”. One reason for chickweed’s success is that it flowers, and produces seeds, right through the year, thus allowing it to spread when other weeds and plants are dormant.

Common chickweed also has a remarkable defence against drought. A line of hairs runs down one side of each stem. These catch drops of dew and conduct them down the stem until they reach a pair of leaves. Here the water collects, with any excess running further along the stem. These reservoirs can then be absorbed by the plant when other sources of water are absent.

Although chickweed is despised by many gardeners and growers it does have the use mentioned above as food for chickens and cage-birds, and it can also be eaten by humans as a salad crop.

© John Welford

Common rock-rose

The common rock-rose (Helianthemum nummularium) is not a rose. The first part of its botanic name means “sunflower”, but it is not a sunflower either! However, its flowers do not open at night or in dull weather, so in one sense “sunflower” is an apt description.

The common rock-rose grows in rocky places, and also scrub and grassland, in England, Wales and southern Scotland.

It sends up branching shoots from a woody base. Those that grow upright reach a maximum height of 12 inches (30 centimetres) but others trail along the ground and may root themselves to form new plants. The narrow leaves grow in pairs at intervals along the stem, each leaf having a pair of tiny stipules at its base and dense white hairs on the underside.

Yellow buttercup-like flowers appear from June to September, giving rise to globe-shaped fruit that have a hairy casing. The flowers have no scent and do not produce nectar, although they still manage to attract insects. However, they are largely self-pollinating, this taking place when the flowers close up and the pollen on the stamens in pushed on to the style.

The flowers are delicate and will fall off if the plant is disturbed. 

© John Welford

Annual seablite

Annual seablite (Suaeda maritime) grows on seashores and in salt marshes around the British coast. It is a halophyte pant, which means that it can tolerate being immersed in seawater, which happens twice a day as the tides rise and fall.

Annual seablite is actually a plant that does not just tolerate a high salt environment – it needs it in order to survive. However, it also needs a well aerated soil and usually grows on sandy seashores.

The name blite is an old word derived from the Latin for spinach. The plant was used by medieval herbalists, and also for the making of an inferior type of glass – the plants, when burned, yield an impure form of sodium carbonate.

The plant stems either sprawl along the ground or grow upright, the maximum height being around 12 inches (30 centimetres). The stems have a reddish tinge; the leaves are fleshy and stalkless.

The flowers, which appear from July to September, grow in the junction of leaf and stem and consist of a single whorl of sepal-like segments.

© John Welford

Marsh-marigold

The marsh-marigold (Caltha palustris) looks more like a species of buttercup at first glance, and indeed an alternative name for it is “kingcup”, “cup” being derived from the Old English “cop” meaning a button or stud.

It is a plant that grows throughout the British Isles, being common in damp woodlands, marshes and ditches.

It grows to between 12 and 24 inches in height (30-60 centimetres) and comprises straight hairless stems bearing large, shiny, dark green heart-shaped leaves and golden yellow flowers that appear between March and July. The flowers can grow to be up to two inches (five centimetres) across, containing up to 100 stamens. However, the plants are much smaller in upland areas, where they tend to hug the ground.

When flowering is over, the seed capsules ripen and split open down one side to release the seeds.

One belief from former times was that a bunch of marsh-marigolds would protect cattle from witches and fairies if hung over the byre on May Day.

© John Welford

Climbing corydalis

Climbing corydalis (Corydalis claviculata) grows on acid soils in woods and other shady places. It is found throughout the British Isles apart from the far north of Scotland.

The plant produces thin stems that bear leaves of three to five segments and tendrils that branch out to grasp the stems of other plants, much as pea plants do. It grows to around 32 inches (80 centimetres) in height.

The flowers are cream-coloured and funnel-shaped, growing in clusters (of around six) with each flower attached to the stem via a short stalk. The petals of each flower are adapted to provide insects with an easy means of finding nectar, with the lowest petal being shaped at its end like a spoon to provide a suitable landing pad. The name “corydalis” is Greek for crested lark, because the shape of the flower was thought to resemble that of the crested lark’s head.

Climbing corydalis has been used for medicinal purposes in the past. In the 13th century its roots were used to make a potion for “dispelling melancholy” and it has been found to be beneficial in treating disorders of the digestive system.

© John Welford

Sea rocket

Sea rocket (Cakile maritima) is a plant found on sandy beaches (sometimes shingle) at the line to which driftwood and seaweed are thrown by the highest tides. This drift line can be unsightly, as this is where all sorts of sea-borne rubbish also accumulates, so the presence of sea rocket, with its lilac, pink, white or purple flowers, which appear from June to August, can help to alleviate the otherwise depressing sight of this part of a typical beach.

Sea rocket is bushy in habit, producing branching stems that grow no higher than 12 inches (30 centimetres) and often spread along the ground. The lobed leaves are shiny, fleshy and succulent, as they must conserve all the fresh water they can get from the plant’s roots. However, sea rocket can tolerate being completely buried in sand.

Sea rocket is an annual plant, so its continued existence depends on its seeds being taken out to sea and thrown up on another stretch of beach. The small seed pods, each containing one or two seeds, grow on short thick stalks.

© John Welford

Dormouse

The name dormouse derives from its habit of spending much of its time asleep – ‘dor’ comes from the French ‘dormir’, meaning ‘to sleep’ (the scientific name of this animal is Muscardinus avellanarius).

The dormouse is six to nine centimetres in length and weighs 15 to 30 grams. It has golden fur on the back and is paler underneath. It has large eyes and a long fluffy tail. Dormice live in wooded areas where they feed on fruit, nuts and seeds.

Dormice spend up to three-quarters of their lives asleep, much of that time accounted for by winter hibernation. They wake in Spring and may breed at any time between May and October, producing up to seven young in a litter.

When awake dormice are very active, as they need to be both to escape the predation of foxes (etc) and birds of prey, and to gather enough food to fatten themselves for the next winter.

© John Welford