Small white brassicas

19 Sunday Mar 2023

Tags

Arabidopsis thaliana, Brassicas, brassicas with white flowers, British wildflowers, Capsella bursa-pastoralis, Cardamine flexuosa, Cardamine hirsuta, Cochlearia danica, Common whitelowgrass, Danish scurvygrass, Erophila verna, Hairy bitter-cress, Shepherd's purse, Thale cress, Wavy bitter-cress

This week I decided to have a go at the wildflower hour challenge to find the six brassica species that have small white flowers. Yesterday, when I wrote the first draft of this post, I had managed to locate five of them. During today’s walk, most unexpectedly, I found the sixth. You can find a pdf of the list, with photos and tips on how to identify each species, on dropbox (courtesy of the lovely botanist Dinky Moira).

230319 bitter-cress hairy and wavy

On the left above is Hairy bitter-cress (Cardamine hirsuta), whose flowers have four stamens and whose seed pods stand straight up, and on the right is Wavy bitter-cress (Cardamine flexuosa), with its six stamens and ‘sticky-out seed pods’ (Moira’s very apt description).

230319 common whitlowgrass

Common whitlowgrass (Erophila verna) seems to be everywhere at the moment, in particular alongside paths and at the edges of back lanes. It’s tiny but worth bending over for a look.

230319 shepherd's-purse

Shepherd’s-purse (Capsella bursa-pastoralis) is so named because of the shape of its seed pods, though, personally, I think they look like tiny hearts. Shepherd’s-heart anyone?

230319 thale cress

Thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) is a new plant for me so I was very chuffed to find this one. It’s rather like Shepherd’s purse but has slender rod-shaped seedpods.

230319 danish scurvygrass

And this is today’s find: Danish scurvygrass (Cochlearia danica), which I had seen before in Cardiff, alongside the River Taff near the city centre, but I hadn’t ventured that far during yesterday’s walk. Today, I found it on the edge of a pavement near Cardiff Bay, just one plant, but one is all I needed to complete this challenge.

My week in wildflowers

13 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, spring, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Barren strawberry, Bluebell, British flora, British wildflowers, Common Stork's-bill, Cornsalad, Danish scurvygrass, gorse, Grape hyacinth, Petty spurge, Ragwort, Red dead-nettle, Three-cornered leek

Though the weather has been pretty miserable most of this week, I have been seeing more and more wildflowers when I’m out on my wanders.

Barren strawberry

There will be no big fat juicy red berries from this little strawberry as this is a Barren strawberry (Potentilla sterilis) (it has fruit but they don’t become ‘fleshy and red’). I can tell which species it is from the top of the leaf that’s showing – the ‘terminal tooth’ is shorter than those on either side of it.

Bluebell

Last Sunday I saw my first Bluebells (Hyacinthoides sp.) of the year, almost certainly Spanish or hybrids rather than native Bluebells, but still beautiful to my eye.

Common stork's-bill

I think this is Common stork’s-bill (Erodium cicutarium), a nice surprise growing amongst the grass at Cardiff Bay Wetland Reserve.

Cornsalad

Cornsalad is such a dainty little plant, with very delicate, pale blue flowers. I almost missed these growing by the path at Grangemoor Park and have since seen them in a couple of places. This is probably Common cornsalad (Valerianella locusta), but the only way to be sure it’s not one of the other four varieties is to check the fruit, which won’t be possible till later in the season.

Danish scurvygrass

This is Danish scurvygrass (Cochlearia danica), originally a seaside plant that has now become widespread by following the road-salting trucks along the roads of Britain.

Gorse

Gorse (Ulex sp.) never seems to stop flowering, though the truth is that there are two Gorse species and, when one stops flowering, the other takes over.

Grape hyacinth

These Grape hyacinth (Muscari sp.) have become naturalised in my local cemetery, probably spreading from one or two deliberate grave-top plantings, or from nearby home gardens. I love their blue.

Petty spurge

Petty spurge (Euphorbia peplus) is a very common little wildflower that’s often overlooked.

Common ragwort

Spotting this flowering Ragwort by the roadside near Cardiff Bay was a bright surprise. It’s probably Common ragwort (Senecio jacobaea).

Red dead-nettle

Red dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum). I’m a big fan of all the dead-nettles – the ‘dead’ in their name refers to the fact that they aren’t covered in stinging hairs!

Three-cornered leek

Allium triquetrum, the Three-cornered leek, is a pretty, if somewhat smelly flower but considered an alien invasive plant species here in Britain.