Weeds and wild flowers

I'm often asked if something is a weed or a wild flower. No easy answer to that except the usual one that a weed is a plant growing in the wrong place.

However - wild flowers often get a bad press because most of our worst weeds are not native wild flowers at all. They are foreign plants introduced into our gardens and then either rejected or escaped. Because they are not native, they have few or no native animals or insects to keep them under control by eating them.

Some of our worst weeds that have been deliberatley introduced:

Ground Elder - (also known as Gout Weed)was introduced by the Romans as a medical herb

Japanese Knotweed - seen as a good garden plant, but now a major threat and so difficult to eradicate.

Oxford Ragwort - from Mount Etna and brought to the Oxford Botanic Gardens in the 1770's. Escaped and followed railway tracks all over the country. Deadly poisonous to cattle and horses

Bindweed - seen as a pretty climbing plant in Europe and introduced into our gardens

Hottentot Fig - is a real pest in the Isles of Scilly and Cornwall. Brought from South Africa to Tresco Abbey, it escaped and now smothers whole clifftops wiping out native species.

So the next time you are wrestling with any of these, just curse the unknown gardeners and not our beautiful wild flowers

 

hi Hornbeam,do you know anything about colts foot?i think thats what it is.its rampant at allotment.i wouldnt mind so much but its worse where the taties are and to be honest its hard to tell the difference,they are so similar.i leave it alone at the minuit cos the roots go so deep im worried the taties will be uprooted if i try and pull it out.

 

LATIN NAME : Tussilago farfara.

COMMON / FOLK NAMES : British tobacco Bullsfoot Butterbur Coughwort Flower Velure Foal's-foot Horse-foot Horsehoof Pas d'ane (French).

MEDICINAL PART : Leaves flowers.

PLACES OF ORIGIN : Ireland Europe East Indies U.S.

HABITAT : Found in wet areas such as stream banks, in pastures, and on ridges or embankments, preferring loamy and limestone soils.

DESCRIPTION : Coltsfoot is a perennial plant. The creeping rootstock sends up first the downy white, scaly flowers stems topped by large yellow flowers, then the cordate, dentate leaves from whose shape the plant get its name. The leaves stand on long footstalks and are glabrous above and downy white beneath.

PROPERTIES : Astringent Demulcent Emollient Expectorant.
Uses: Made into a cough syrup soothes sore throats. Was used to help any lung ailments such as bronchitis in the past.

MAGICAL PROPERTIES

GENDER : Feminine
PLANET : Venus
ELEMENT : Water
POWERS : Love Visions
CELTIC DEITIES: Angus Ã?â??g Medb Brigit

MAGICAL USES
Add to love sachets and use in spells of peace and tranquility. The leaves, when smoked, can cause visions.

 

Hi Elaine,
Coltsfoot leaves don't look like potato leaves so perhaps there is some confusion. Coltsfoot has big, hairy, grey green leaves a bit like mullein. There are other plants like Bittersweet from the potato family which look like pototo. Can you send a photo?

 

First time I've heard that the leaves can cause visions. I think its usually a filler in herbal tobacco mixes and, from experience some ages ago, a very smooth smoke.

 

jazid..I think what jay printed is the magical uses..they would use coltsfoot in magic potions to enable the love visions..

actually being its added to herbal ciggarettes if you have any mullein try smoking that as its a really nice smoke also.. :rolleyes: