• ABOUT
  • BIRDING 2018
  • Birding 2019
  • BLOG POSTS
  • Butterflies 2018
  • Resources

earthstar

~ a celebration of nature

earthstar

Tag Archives: Dog’s mercury

Green-flowered wildflowers

17 Sunday Mar 2024

Posted by sconzani in flowers, plants, wildflowers

≈ Comments Off on Green-flowered wildflowers

Tags

British wildflowers, Dog's mercury, Euphorbia peplus, green flowers, green-flowered wildflowers, Helleborus foetidus, Mercurialis perennis, Petty spurge, Stinking hellebore

As the Wildflower Hour team wrote on social media when announcing this week’s challenge: ‘Some of the loveliest wildflowers are green! Can you find one for this week’s challenge?’. Well, yes, I can. In fact, I found three on yesterday’s meander, and I’m sure there must be more that I missed. My finds are:

240317 dog's mercury

Dog’s mercury (Mercurialis perennis). I didn’t know until today, when I was reading the First Nature website, that ‘Dog’s Mercury is an extremely poisonous plant and when eaten it has been known to cause vomiting, jaundice and coma.’ Of course, you’d have to be pretty stupid to eat it, but some foragers are pretty stupid!

240317 petty spurge

Petty spurge (Euphorbia peplus), a common sight along the edges of lanes and pavements, and scattered across any patch of waste ground. It’s just getting started again in my area after being knocked back by the cooler winter weather and the interminable rain.

240317 stinking hellebore

Stinking hellebore (Helleborus foetidus). This was a surprise find along a local river embankment and, though Stinking hellebore is a UK native, because of its sudden appearance in that location, I think this particular specimen is probably a garden escapee.

Like this:

Like Loading…

40/366 In bloom this week

09 Sunday Feb 2020

Posted by sconzani in nature, spring, wildflowers

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Alexanders, British wildflowers, Cherry plum blossom, crocus, Dog's mercury, Lesser Celandine, snowdrop, Spring blossom

This week’s wanderings produced sightings of two new wildflowers for the year, Dog’s mercury (Mercurialis perennis), thriving under a hedgerow, and Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum), an exceedingly common plant along the local coastal path.

200209 1 Dogs mercury200209 2 alexanders

I’d seen Crocuses already but this swathe, growing on a small green in the village of Michaelston-le-Pit, was a lilac delight.

200209 3 crocuses

Not a wildflower, but the local Cherry plum trees have burst into bloom this week. They say Spring to me!

200209 4 cherry plum

Snowdrops are out en masse now, and more and more bursts of bright yellow Lesser celandines can be found, sprinkled along paths and in the local woodlands. So cheery!

200209 5 snowdrops200209 6 lesser celandine

Like this:

Like Loading…

About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

View Full Profile →

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent blog posts

  • NFY: Brown argus 9 June 2026
  • My first Four-spotted chaser 8 June 2026
  • Magenta gladioli 7 June 2026
  • NFY: Large skipper 6 June 2026
  • Cranefly: Tipula fascipennis 5 June 2026

From the archives

COPYRIGHT

Unless otherwise acknowledged, the text and photographs on this blog are my own and are subject to international copyright. Nothing may be downloaded or copied without my permission.

Fellow Earth Stars!

  • aykutatila
  • Geraldine Hughes
  • Kana Smith
  • FrankieWoodknob
  • shannon
  • MLLESHOPPING
  • evie h
  • Boys Will Be Boys Michael Jackson
  • Maria Vincent Robinson
  • Luigi Spadorcia
  • klindajames
  • Robert Galpin
  • Daniel Greenwood
  • supernaturallyd92135e67a
  • shillingt
  • Jean Reiland
  • pkster101
  • The Michael Jackson Debate
  • 大阪のうめ吉
  • toure16
  • samcoppard2
  • Vito Prasad
  • Strivemindz
  • debbiestevens084bd32238
  • Penny Bowers
  • shankar019
  • UK Safari
  • Louis Spadorcia
  • Michael Jackson Facts
  • joyfullycreation4f2bcb3356
  • The New Renaissance Mindset
  • Jillian
  • Bob Ramsak
  • Alison Moya
  • Farida
  • famous65e373e926
  • Caleb Cheruiyot
  • lleuadwr
  • boruma1977
  • Rr
  • Tammie Rogers
  • Ric Holmes Wheelbuilding
  • Hannes
  • scotishhobbit
  • Danny @ DGPIX
  • goateeironb98ef7f4ba
  • Keith
  • Matthew James
  • Fatima
  • MalcolmSafechuck

Powered by WordPress.com.

Loading Comments...

    %d