Mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris, for #WyrtWednesday; considered a sacred herb steeped in folklore, magic and healing, and known as the 'dream herb'
#Mugwort #wildflowers #WildflowerHour

The tiny delicate flowers of Gypsywort (Lycopus europaeus). Much loved by our #pollinators, and pictured here with a #fly for #WildWebsWednesday.
#FliesAsPollinators #WyrtWednesday

Our Common Butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris) rosettes have finally put in an appearance, well behind last year when they were almost in flower by this time.
We'd like to offer these small carnivorous plants to start the 2021 #WyrtWednesday season. 😊

Is #wyrtwednesday still a thing? We've got Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) flowering now in our Slade entrance. We suspect it's a survivor of the times a couple of hundred years ago when washerwomen lived in the cottages here, and used the plant as an alternative to soap...

Common Restharrow or Rhinoceros-wort, with its glorious pink horn, for the last #wyrtwednesday of 2019. #makeupawortname

Very excited to see that it is a good year for Autumn Gentian at Greenvale LNR in Stockton-on-Tees. It is quite rare in the Tees Valley and this is probably its largest population in the area.
Also called Autumn Felwort for #wyrtwednesday

Knotted Pearlwort, Sagina nodosa, being pointed at during the Ainsdale #BBDO "How to point at wildflowers" workshop. Look carefully and you will see that expert pointer @botanicalmartin, who was leading the workshop, is simultaneously pointing at two plants. #wyrtwednesday

For #wyrtwednesday Heathwort (or Bell heather) - apparently all Ericas can be termed heathwort.
Anyway this was a particularly rich colour form which is why I took the photo, unfortunately it's also one of those colours that looked better in real life 🙄

After some discussion we decided this was Hybrid Woundwort, Stachys x ambigua, the hybid between Hedge and Marsh Woundwort, growing on the banks of the Thames. First time I have knowingly seen this. #wyrtwednesday

Saw-wort, Serratula tinctoria, for #wyrtwednesday. Gerard wrote that the leaves are "somewhat snipt about the edges like a sawe". It has been used as a dye plant (yellow) and was "woonderfully commended to be most singular for wounds, ruptures, burstings, hernies and such like".

A fern for #wyrtwednesday - Moonwort near Tomich today

Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis). The leaves contain saponin, and boiling them produces a lather.
Its continued presence in the Slade entrance to the Lye Valley hints at a time when residents here may have taken in washing, possibly from the Oxford Colleges.
#WyrtWednesday

Bog Stitchwort, Stellaria alsine, at @SurreyWT Thundry Meadows for #wyrtwednesday. So tiny I only spotted it when I bent down to look at something else.

Harebell, or Blawort, for #wyrtwednesday. Harebell is the flower of witches, used by them as thimbles while making their flying ointments, or even to transform themselves into hares.

Nettle-leaved Bellflower, aka Throatwort, due to its use as a treatment for severe sore throat and tonsillitis. #wyrtwednesday

Greater Spearwort in a pond at @WildGardenCtr. I love seeing this big cheery buttercup. #wyrtwednesday

Yellow-wort for #wyrtwednesday. This was the yellow Centaury of early botanists and apothecaries. "In Diseases of the Blood, use the red Centaury; if of the Choler*, use the yellow". (Culpepper)
* one of the four bodily...

Gypsywort (being photobombed by Water Figwort) at Keston Ponds for #wyrtwednesday. Its sap yields a black dye which was once used to dye fabrics. It is also said that gypsies and fortune tellers used the sap to darken their skin to make them look more exotic and mysterious. 🔮

Soapwort on a Croydon road verge for #wyrtwednesday. The liquid produced by boiling the crushed leaves in water then straining will produce a lather. According to Grigson, in the Swiss Alps sheep were washed with a mixture of the leaves and roots and water before they were shorn.

Parsley Water-dropwort (Oenanthe lachenalii). Near Threatened in England, Rare in Oxon. Together with one of other site, the Lye Valley is a stronghold, where this plant is flourishing. A #WildOxford site.
#wyrtwednesday

Bloodwort (apparently) or Great Burnet
for #wyrtwednesday
Sanguisorba "...comes from the Latin words sanguis meaning blood and sorbeo meaning to soak up for its use to stop bleeding." quote
from

Mugwort was also apparently used by the the Chumash Indians of North America to promote dreaming, and has a long history of medicinal use in the West, see e.g. https://www.eatweeds.co.uk/mugwort-artemisia-vulgaris
Altogether, a fascinating plant for #wyrtwednesday!

Volunteers removing Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) from the Slade entrance to the Lye Valley this morning.
DYK? Mugwort has been considered a magical plant since at least the 14th century? "Where mugwort is in houses, na elves na na evyll thynges may come therin"
#wyrtwednesday

Marsh Woundwort #wyrtwednesday. In Woundwort, the infamous sixteenth century botanist and herbalist John Gerard felt he had discovered an all-heal. Amongst other things he applied Marsh Woundwort to gentlemen grievously wounded in Elizabethan brawls. #wyrtwednesday

Squinancywort or Quinsywort. Squinancy is the quinsy, inflammation of the throat, and Squinancywort was used to make an astringent gargle. #wyrtwednesday

It's got a square stalk, it's a St John's-wort, it's Square-stalked St John's-wort of course. #wyrtwednesday.

A tiny wort, Thyme-leaved Sandwort, on an ant hill on Roundshaw Downs for #wyrtwednesday.

Agrimony aka Stickwort or Sticklewort. It was one of the fifty-seven herbs in the Anglo-saxon 'Holy Salve' against goblins, evil and poisons. The Anglo-saxons also made a snake-bite salve out of Agrimony, Bistort and Plantain. #wyrtwednesday

Mugwort, the Mater Herbarum or Mother of Herbs, with Croydon in the background, for #wyrtwednesday. A medical & magical herb, one of its many uses was to prevent weariness in travel. Roman soldiers were known to put mugwort in their sandals to keep their feet from getting tired.

For #wyrtwednesday, I present the wonderfully named Squinancywort (Asperula cynanchica). Spotted this morning on @BBOWT's Grangelands reserve in Bucks. Surely this has to be one of the best plant names ever!
@wyrtwednesday @wildflower_hour