Snowdrop

12 Sunday Feb 2017

Posted by theresagreen in British wildflowers, flowering in February, flowering in January, flowering in March, folklore of plants, North Wales, white flowered plants, wildflowers of Wales

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Galanthus nivalis L., snowdrop

SNOWDROP – Galanthus nivalis

Flowering : (January) February to March

Snowdrops are iconic flowers that traditionally herald the ending of winter and are the first bulbs to bloom and to show signs of life after the winter months. In Britain, Snowdrops are possibly both native and naturalised and were not recorded as growing wild here until the 1770s. It is likely that many of our colonies of wild Snowdrops originated with ecclesiastical plantings. The pure white blooms of the Snowdrop have long been accepted by the Catholic Church as a symbol of Candlemas, celebrated on February 2^nd, the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, and their association with monastic sites is apparent right across Britain.

Common English name: Snowdrop Scientific name: Galanthus nivalis L. Welsh:Eirlys

Other common names: Candlemas bells, Mary’s taper, Snow-piercer, February fairmaids, Dingle-dangle

Description: Height 15-25cm (6-10″). Strap-shaped bluish-green leaves grow at the base of each stem, which bears a single drooping blossom. The flower has three spreading sepals that grow longer than the its green-tipped petals.

Conservation status: Rated as Near Threatened (NT) according to IUCN Red List criteria.

Habitat: On the European continent Snowdrops grow in wild habitats, in damp woods and meadows up to 1,600 metres.

One of the local names for the snowdrop is the ‘snow piercer’ and this describes exactly how the flower pushes its head up through the snow or winter-hardened earth to brighten otherwise gloomy February woodlands.

A small leaf-like spathe, or protective sheath, covers the tip of the flowering stem and enables the snowdrop flower to force its way up through the snow.

FOLKLORE

Although the flowers are sanctified for Candlemas, the snowdrop is one of the many white blossoms that are still regarded as being unlucky if brought into the house. In parts of Northumberland, Westmorland and Hampshire, single flowers particularly are still viewed as ‘death-tokens’. This may be as one Victorian explanation was that the flower “looked for all the world like a corpse in its shroud”. According to the ‘language of the flowers’, the snowdrop was an emblem for virginity, and a few blooms enclosed in an envelope were often used to warn off over-ardent wooers. In a similar vein, in Yorkshire there was an old custom, again celebrated on Candlemas, for village maidens to gather bunches of snowdrops and wear them as symbols of purity. (extracts from Flora Britannica, Richard Mabey)

RELATIONSHIP WITH INSECTS

The snowdrop provides an early source of nectar for bees, which in turn pollinate the flowers. Nectar is secreted by the green-spotted inner petals of the snowdrop and as the bee forages, it brushes onto the female stigma some of the pollen that has stuck to its body whilst visiting other flowers.

TRADITIONAL USES

Ornamental. Medicinal. Insecticide.

MEDICINAL USES

The alkaloid Galantamine, which was initially isolated from snowdrops, has been used in treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, neuritis and neuralgia. In parts of eastern Europe, rubbing snowdrops on the forehead was a folk remedy used for pain relief.

Known hazards: Snowdrops and their bulbs are poisonous to humans and can cause nausea, diarrhoea and vomiting if eaten in large quantities.

Eyebright

11 Thursday Aug 2016

Posted by theresagreen in British wildflowers, flowering in August, flowering in July, folklore of plants, plants of calcareous grassland, semi-parasitic wildflowers, traditional medicinal plants, traditional uses of plants, white flowered plants, wildflowers of grassland, wildflowers of Wales, wildflowers on clifftops

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Common eyebright, Effros, Euphrasia micrantha, Euphrasia nemorosa, Eyebright, orobanchaceae, scrophulariaceae

Common Eyebright Euphrasia nemorosa (formerly E.officinalis): other English names: Euphrasy: in Welsh it is Effros

One of the prettiest wildflowers of late summer, brightening the British countryside from our lowland moors to mountain peaks. Adaptable little plants, Eyebright species are generally semi-parasitic, feeding off the nutrients from the roots of nearby grasses in undisturbed habitats.

Common Eyebright-Euphrasia nemorosa-Little Orme

Flowering: (June) July to September

Height: Low to Short; 5-25cm (2-8″)

Native to Great Britain, Eyebright is a member of the Orobanchaceae family (formerly included in the Scrophulariaceae family).

Status: Widespread throughout and locally common, but declining.

Habitat & Ecology: Found in a wide variety of undisturbed grassy places on downs, pastures, heaths, cliffs and woods. Semi-parasitic they grow successfully only where their roots can attach themselves to other plants such as grasses, clovers and plantains. For this reason, they are quite useful plants in terms of keeping vigorous grasses at bay in order that wildflowers can thrive.

DESCRIPTION

Eyebrights are extremely variable in appearance with 20 or more species that have a tendency to hybridise with each other, resulting in about 60 micro-species, so many would need an expert to make more than an intelligent guess at identification. My description refers mainly to the most frequently-occurring Common Eyebright – Euphrasia nemerosa. I have included images of variations that I have found locally, but would not like to even hazard a guess as to whether or not they may be recognised sub-species.

Eyebright, reddish stems, lilac flowers

Eyebright, lilac flowers

The small flowers are 5-10mm long, in leafy spikes; the corolla is two-lipped; lower lip is three-lobed; whitish in colour, but sometimes wholly or partly lilac; they have a yellow throat and purple veins, (nectar guides for insects), radiate from the centre towards the edges of the upper and lower petals: fruits are capsules: the stem is strong and branched, branches coming off in opposite pairs leaves are more or less oval, sharply toothed, pale, dark , bronzy or purplish-green and borne in opposite pairs.

140805TGNW-8- Eyebright with purple leaves-Bryn Euryn

Most of the plants growing on Bryn Euryn are strongly tinged reddish-purple

RELATIONSHIP WITH INSECTS

Pollination: The lower lip of the flower acts as a landing stage for visiting insects which are then guided to the nectar source by the purple lines marked on its surface. The upper lip protects the stamens and the style, the latter projecting forwards so it touches visiting insects first and receives pollen from another flower, thus ensuring cross-pollination. As the insect probes deeply for nectar, pollen is showered onto its back from the stamens which are above it.

ETYMOLOGY ( THE PLANT NAME )

160805-Bryn Euryn- Eyebright-with purple on petals

There are sometimes a few plants occurring on the downland slope of Bryn Euryn that are overall more bronze-green with flowers that are lilac with large purple blotches

The generic name Euphrasia is derived from the Greek word euphraino, translated as ‘to gladden’, possibly a reference to the plant’s reputed medicinal powers ‘to gladden the eye’. The common name Eyebright may have come about for similar reasons or maybe just because the flowers do indeed have a bright eye.

FOLKLORE, LEGEND & LITERATURE

The 17th century botanist, William Cole recorded in his book titled Adam in Eden, that eyebright was the herb used by the Linnet to clear its eyesight. In the 18th century, the belief was held that certain plants, based on their appearance or characteristics could cure human ailments. So maybe it is not surprising that this plant, with its ‘bright-eyed’ appearance was thought to improve poor eyesight. In ‘Paradise Lost’, the poet Milton wrote:

Michael from Adam’s eyes the filme remov’d

Which that false Fruit that promis’d clearer sight

Had bred; then purg’d with Euphrasie and Rue

The visual Nerve, for he had much to see.

MODERN HERBAL OR MEDICINAL USES

An extract made from eyebright and the herb Golden seal is still used today as a lotion to relieve eye irritations and eye strain.

The Moon Daisy

08 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by theresagreen in asteraceae, daisy family, flowering in July, white flowered plants, wildflowers of grassland, wildflowers of Wales

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large white daisy, large white daisy of roadsides, leucanthemum vulgare, moon daisy, moonpenny daisy, ox-eye daisy

Flowering prolifically along many of our roadsides and motorway verges nowadays, you may know this familiar and lovely daisy as the Ox-eye Daisy, but I grew up knowing it as the Moon Daisy, which I think is prettier. This is our largest native daisy. A typical grassland plant that would once have been common in meadows where there was long grass, this adaptable daisy also thrives on waste or disturbed grounds and also features along field edges and in other habitats now deliberately looked after for wildlife.

A swathe of moon daisies at Bodnant Gardens, North Wales

Common English names Ox-eye Daisy, Moon Daisy,Moonpenny, Dog Daisy Welsh name Llygad Llo Scientific name Leucanthemum vulgare Family Daisy family; Asteraceae ; a native plant

This is one of our loveliest summer flowers, producing blooms from June to September and frequently grows in masses of white. It is easy to identify by its large, round flower heads that appear on single, tall stems.

May insects are attracted to the flowers

Many insect species are attracted to the flowers

The large daisy-like flowers (25-50mm) are actually not just one flower, but a composite of a number of tiny flowers which make up the yellow disc in the middle and the surrounding white ‘ray florets’ (which look like petals). They are borne on strong, erect, ridged stems (to 80cm high). The dark green leaves at the base of the plant are not unlike those of the small daisy, though larger and more deeply cleft; they are spoon-shaped, stalked and form a rosette, the stem leaves are alternate, lanceolate and sessile.

Origin of the names

The plant’s scientific name Leucanthemum is from the Ancient Greek (leukós, “white”) and (ánthos, “flower”).

The name Daisy comes from the Old English ‘dæges ēage’ or day’s eye, as the flower opened up as the sun came up. Its large blooms are so bright that they appear to ‘glow’ in the evening, hence the alternative common names of ‘Moon Daisy’ and ‘Moonpenny’.

Ox-eye daisies growing on the Parrog, Newport, Pembrokeshire

where the wildflowers are

Category Archives: white flowered plants

Snowdrop

SNOWDROP – Galanthus nivalis

Eyebright

The Moon Daisy