UK gardening - Which weed is this

Author

Which weed is this

Robert \(Plymouth\)

2008-01-28, 9:25 am

A group from our association have made a lovely memorial garden at the
Woodside Animal Sanctuary www.theonly.net/woodside but this weed is
starting to come through in different places http://tinyurl.com/2396p6
Can you tell me what it is and the best way to deal with it please? Got a
feeling it's a nasty one. Have seen a yellow flower coming on one of the
plants. Look forward(?) to your replies.

--
Rowdens Reservoir Allotments
Best Allotment Site in Plymouth
Plymouth In Bloom Gold Award 2007
www.rraa.moonfruit.com

helene@urbed.coop

2008-01-28, 9:25 am

On 28 Jan, 13:20, "Robert \(Plymouth\)"
<rober...@beachcomberbtinternet.com remove my other hobby to reply>
wrote:
> A group from our association have made a lovely memorial garden at the
> Woodside Animal Sanctuarywww.theonly.net/woodside=A0but this weed is
> starting to come through in different placeshttp://tinyurl.com/2396p6
> Can you tell me what it is and the best way to deal with it please? Got a
> feeling it's a nasty one. Have seen a yellow flower coming on one of the
> plants. Look forward(?) to your replies.

Looks like lesser celandine to me.

Stewart Robert Hinsley

2008-01-28, 9:25 am

In message <ecSdnRCgT-YJSwDaRVnyvgA@bt.com>, "Robert (Plymouth)"
<robert29@beachcomberbtinternet.com.invalid> writes
>A group from our association have made a lovely memorial garden at the
>Woodside Animal Sanctuary www.theonly.net/woodside but this weed is
>starting to come through in different places http://tinyurl.com/2396p6
>Can you tell me what it is and the best way to deal with it please? Got a
>feeling it's a nasty one. Have seen a yellow flower coming on one of the
>plants. Look forward(?) to your replies.
>

Lesser Celandine, Ranunculus ficaria.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

Charlie Pridham

2008-01-28, 9:25 am

In article <ecSdnRCgT-YJSwDaRVnyvgA@bt.com>,
robert29@beachcomberbtinternet.com says...
> A group from our association have made a lovely memorial garden at the
> Woodside Animal Sanctuary www.theonly.net/woodside but this weed is
> starting to come through in different places http://tinyurl.com/2396p6
> Can you tell me what it is and the best way to deal with it please? Got a
> feeling it's a nasty one. Have seen a yellow flower coming on one of the
> plants. Look forward(?) to your replies.
>
>
They look a bit like the lesser celandine Ranunculus ficaria, the yellow
flower certainly fits
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

Des Higgins

2008-01-28, 9:25 am

On Jan 28, 1:20 pm, "Robert \(Plymouth\)"
<rober...@beachcomberbtinternet.com remove my other hobby to reply>
wrote:
> A group from our association have made a lovely memorial garden at the
> Woodside Animal Sanctuarywww.theonly.net/woodside but this weed is
> starting to come through in different placeshttp://tinyurl.com/2396p6
> Can you tell me what it is and the best way to deal with it please? Got a
> feeling it's a nasty one. Have seen a yellow flower coming on one of the
> plants. Look forward(?) to your replies.
>
> --
> Rowdens Reservoir Allotments
> Best Allotment Site in Plymouth
> Plymouth In Bloom Gold Award 2007www.rraa.moonfruit.com

Everyone guessed it as lesser celandine which looks right. It is not
really that nasty; it spreads around slowly but you can get it out by
just pulling it out as you see it. It actually dies down in early
Summer and so you only really see it in Spring so it does not look so
bad for most of the year. I like it as a plant as it is a good
harbinger (posh word of the day) of better weather to come.

Des

Des Higgins

2008-01-28, 9:25 am

On Jan 28, 1:20 pm, "Robert \(Plymouth\)"
<rober...@beachcomberbtinternet.com remove my other hobby to reply>
wrote:
> A group from our association have made a lovely memorial garden at the
> Woodside Animal Sanctuarywww.theonly.net/woodside but this weed is
> starting to come through in different placeshttp://tinyurl.com/2396p6
> Can you tell me what it is and the best way to deal with it please? Got a
> feeling it's a nasty one. Have seen a yellow flower coming on one of the
> plants. Look forward(?) to your replies.
>
> --
> Rowdens Reservoir Allotments
> Best Allotment Site in Plymouth
> Plymouth In Bloom Gold Award 2007www.rraa.moonfruit.com

p.s. sorry for all the posts, I meant to add, it likes shade and if
you were to pretend that you had a woodland garden, it would not look
out of place with anemones and primroses and spring woodland plants.

helene@urbed.coop

2008-01-28, 9:25 am

On 28 Jan, 14:00, Des Higgins <dazzhigg...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Everyone guessed it as lesser celandine which looks right. =A0It is not
> really that nasty; it spreads around slowly but you can get it out by
> just pulling it out as you see it. =A0It actually dies down in early
> Summer and so you only really see it in Spring so it does not look so
> bad for most of the year. =A0I like it as a plant as it is a good
> harbinger (posh word of the day) of better weather to come.

Since it's growing profusely at Robert's Animal Sanctuary, I'm
wondering if the animals could eat it. The leaves are eaten like
spinash afterall.

Harbinger ... impressive.

Des Higgins

2008-01-28, 9:25 am

On Jan 28, 2:11 pm, hel...@urbed.coop wrote:
> On 28 Jan, 14:00, Des Higgins <dazzhigg...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Since it's growing profusely at Robert's Animal Sanctuary, I'm
> wondering if the animals could eat it. The leaves are eaten like
> spinash afterall.
>

Aaaargh; be careful.
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants...unculus+ficaria
says:
Lesser celandine has been used for thousands of years in the treatment
of haemorrhoids and ulcers[254]. It is not recommended for internal
use because it contains several toxic components[254]

> Harbinger ... impressive.

Good word that.

helene@urbed.coop

2008-01-28, 9:25 am

On 28 Jan, 15:05, Des Higgins <dazzhigg...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Aaaargh; be careful.http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants...unculus+ficaria
> says:
> Lesser celandine has been used for thousands of years in the treatment
> of haemorrhoids and ulcers[254]. It is not recommended for internal
> use because it contains several toxic components[254]

And it also says ...
Young leaves in spring - raw or cooked as a potherb[2, 74, 105, 183].
The first leaves in spring make an excellent salad[9]. The leaves,
stalks and buds can be used like spinach[9], whilst the blanched stems
are also eaten[46, 183]. The leaves turn poisonous as the fruit
matures[74]. Caution is advised regarding the use of this plant for
food, see the notes above on toxicity. Bulbils - cooked and used as a
vegetable[9, 105]. The bulbils are formed at the leaf axils and also
at the roots[9, 183]. Caution is advised, see the notes above on
toxicity. The flower buds make a good substitute for capers.

So to recap, Robert needs to explain to the animals to eat the leaves
before the fruit matures. I'm confused Des ... Says we can eat raw or
cooked young leaves but then 'caution is advised regarding the use of
this plant as food'. Also I'm not sure if animals get haemorrhoids.

> Good word that.

You're a romantic, that's why.

Mary Fisher

2008-01-28, 9:25 am

"Robert (Plymouth)" <robert29@beachcomberbtinternet.com remove my other
hobby to reply> wrote in message news:ecSdnRCgT-YJSwDaRVnyvgA@bt.com...
>A group from our association have made a lovely memorial garden at the
>Woodside Animal Sanctuary www.theonly.net/woodside but this weed is
>starting to come through in different places http://tinyurl.com/2396p6
> Can you tell me what it is and the best way to deal with it please? Got a
> feeling it's a nasty one. Have seen a yellow flower coming on one of the
> plants. Look forward(?) to your replies.
>
> --
> Rowdens Reservoir Allotments
> Best Allotment Site in Plymouth
> Plymouth In Bloom Gold Award 2007
> www.rraa.moonfruit.com

Lesser celandine.

I wish it would grow in my garden!

Mary
>

Steve Wolstenholme

2008-01-28, 1:25 pm

As others have already said it's celandine. Every year it comes up and
covers all the ground below one of my trees where nothing else grows.
It usually comes up about now and stays for a few months. I quite like
it.

Steve

helene@urbed.coop

2008-01-28, 1:25 pm

On 28 Jan, 15:21, "Mary Fisher" <mary.fis...@zetnet.co.uk> wrote:
> Lesser celandine.
> I wish it would grow in my garden!

Well, I've got some in an old metal bucket. It grows with some
beautiful moss. You can contain it, which is weird really as it's so
wild and impredictable. I must have scooped it when I filled the
bucket with some soil from a damp woodland - I was at the time trying
to grow a beech tree from seeds and thought I'd take a bit of 'home'
with them to settle. The tree is now about 1in, but leaning as they
do, and about 10 years.

Kate Morgan

2008-01-28, 1:25 pm

"Steve Wolstenholme" <steve@tropheus.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:9psrp3pnts7fe4qsh0bla0e9olgt78cjo4@4ax.com...
> As others have already said it's celandine. Every year it comes up and
> covers all the ground below one of my trees where nothing else grows.
> It usually comes up about now and stays for a few months. I quite like
> it.
>
> Steve

I have loads of it and I love it, you don't need to do anything to it as it
just vanishes when it has finished flowering. I don't think horses will eat
it, my old pony often picks at plants in the garden and I have never seen
her touch it.

kate

Robert \(Plymouth\)

2008-01-28, 1:25 pm

That's great news, I know that plant but have never seen it poking through
in an ornamental garden. Mind you we don't know what was there before ...
lesser celandine by the looks of it!

--
Rowdens Reservoir Allotments
Best Allotment Site in Plymouth
Plymouth In Bloom Gold Award 2007
www.rraa.moonfruit.com

Jeff Layman

2008-01-29, 9:25 am

helene@urbed.coop wrote:
> On 28 Jan, 15:05, Des Higgins <dazzhigg...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> And it also says ...
> Young leaves in spring - raw or cooked as a potherb[2, 74, 105, 183].
> The first leaves in spring make an excellent salad[9]. The leaves,
> stalks and buds can be used like spinach[9], whilst the blanched stems
> are also eaten[46, 183]. The leaves turn poisonous as the fruit
> matures[74]. Caution is advised regarding the use of this plant for
> food, see the notes above on toxicity. Bulbils - cooked and used as a
> vegetable[9, 105]. The bulbils are formed at the leaf axils and also
> at the roots[9, 183]. Caution is advised, see the notes above on
> toxicity. The flower buds make a good substitute for capers.
>
> So to recap, Robert needs to explain to the animals to eat the leaves
> before the fruit matures. I'm confused Des ... Says we can eat raw or
> cooked young leaves but then 'caution is advised regarding the use of
> this plant as food'. Also I'm not sure if animals get haemorrhoids.
>

As it's Ranunculaceae, I'd avoid it. Can't think offhand of any of that
family which are edible, but may need to think a bit deeper.

--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)

Nick Maclaren

2008-01-29, 9:25 am

In article <YvKdnawvxu8_lgLanZ2dnUVZ_tyknZ2d@tcp.co.uk>,
"Jeff Layman" <jmlayman@thetapetcp.co.uk> writes:
|>
|> As it's Ranunculaceae, I'd avoid it. Can't think offhand of any of that
|> family which are edible, but may need to think a bit deeper.

Black cumin - Nigella sativa. But I rather agree with you.

See also:

http://www.jstor.org/view/00068071/di006549/00p0763r/0

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Jeff Layman

2008-01-29, 1:25 pm

Nick Maclaren wrote:
> In article <YvKdnawvxu8_lgLanZ2dnUVZ_tyknZ2d@tcp.co.uk>,
> "Jeff Layman" <jmlayman@thetapetcp.co.uk> writes:
>
> Black cumin - Nigella sativa. But I rather agree with you.
>
> See also:
>
> http://www.jstor.org/view/00068071/di006549/00p0763r/0
>

I am afraid that I don't have access to jstor.

--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)

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