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LIVING AS I DO, ON A BUSY ROAD ON THE EDGE OF A TOWN, BORDERING A VERY BUILT-UP AREA (ALTHOUGH 'VILLAGES' ARE NEARBY), 'WASTE PLACES' ARE A MAJOR COMPONENT OF THE LOCAL HABITATS FOR PLANT LIFE, SO THIS SECTION WILL FEATURE PROMINENTLY, WITH THE MOST ENTRIES. I WOULD MUCH PREFER TO BE LIVING IN WALES OR SCOTLAND, CLOSE TO MOUNTAINS AND/OR COASTS........
IT ALSO MEANS THAT 'ALIENS AND ADVENTIVES' AS THEY WERE ONCE DESCRIBED, ARE WELL-REPRESENTED. IN THE 19TH CENTURY, IVER, LANGLEY AND SLOUGH, AT LEAST CLOSE TO THE CANAL, WERE 'BLESSED' WITH MANY 'INTRODUCTIONS' THANKS TO RUBBISH FROM LONDON'S STREET SWEEPINGS AND GARDEN REFUSE BEING DUMPED THERE AFTER TRANSPORTATION IN BARGES "IN RETURN" FOR BRICKS, SUPPOSEDLY TO PROVIDE FUEL FOR THE BRICK-KILNS....
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RESEDA LUTEOLA
'Dyer's Rocket' or 'Weld' (RESEDA LUTEOLA)
Druce found this (which he also knew as 'Dyer's Weed') in waysides, quarries, fields and walls; common and widely distributed on stiff soils, to which however it was not restricted in Buckinghamshire a century ago; nowadays it is uncommon in the county in railway ballast & waste ground, especially on heavy soils - it is common in Iver & District; a biennial which produces a rosette of leaves in the first season and a flowering stem in the second; stem 50-150cm, stiffly erect, ribbed, hollow, simple or with a few branches
Rosette leaves commonly 5-8cm, narrowly oblanceolate, sessile; stem leaves narrowly oblong, the lower narrowed into a stalk-like base, the upper sessile; all with entire +/- undulate margins
Upper surface of leaf
Lower surface of leaf
Flowers in long slender spike-like terminal racemes with or without shorter lateral racemes
Flowers 4-5mm diam., yellowish-green, on ascending stalks hardly equalling the sepals
Petals 4(3-5) those at the back and sides with the limb divided into 3 or more lobes, the front petal usually entire, linear, all with small sacle-like claw; sepals 4, not accresant; stamens 20-25, +/- donwardly curved
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BALLOTA NIGRA
'Black Horehound' (BALLOTA NIGRA)
Druce also knew this as 'Stinking Horehound'; he found it in hedges and waste places, very common by footpaths and by our dustiest roadsides, especially in the vicinity of houses in Buckinghamshire a century ago; nowadays it is frequent in hedgerows and waste places in the county (Maycock & Woods) - who separate this as subspecies MERIDIONALIS ('Flora of the British Isles' considered it to be subspecies FOETDIA)
Corolla 12-18mm, purple, hairy, upper li somewhat concave, tube shorter than calyx, with a ring of hairs
Stamens 4, parallel, the outer pair longer; anthers cells diverging
Calyx c. 1cm, teeth broadly ovate, suddenly acuminate, 1-2mm
Upper surface of leaf - leaf-baldes 2-5cm, ovate or orbicular, broad-cuneate to cordate at base, petioled, coarsely crenate
Lower surface of leaf
Stems square; leaves opposite
Smaller upper leaf
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RUMEX OBTUSIFOLIUS
'Broad-leaved Dock' (RUMEX OBTUSIFOLIUS)
Druce found this to be very common and widely distributed in pastures, waysides, waste places, low meadows and orchards in Buckinghamshire a century ago; nowadays it is very common on bare ground and rough grassy places (Maycock & Woods); an erect branched perennial 50-100cm
Whorls distinct; fruiting perianth segments 5-6mm, triangular, one (rarely all three) with a prominent tubercle; the margins are supposed to have 3-5 long teeth but they do not in this specimen - is this within the variation of this species? The other characteristics do not seem to fit any other species of RUMEX in the UK. Must get hold of a copy of the BSBI guide-book to POLYGONACEAE to investigate this further.
Lower leaves to c. 25cm, ovate-oblong, cordate at base, apex obtuse, margins undulate; upper leaves ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate
Base of leaf - cordate
Under surface of leaf
Apex of upper leaf
Stem showing base of leaf stalk
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RUMEX
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DIPSACUS FULLONUM
'Teasel' (DIPSACUS FULLONUM) beside the M4 between Langley and Datchet - this, along with 'Hemlock' are common all the way towards Heathrow
Druce found this in damp hedges, roadsides and wet woods, common on clayey soils in Buckinghamshire a century ago - my garden soil is clay with flints (plus a fair amount of builder's rubble for good measure, the land was part of Parlaunt Park farm prior to the road's construction in the 1960s (centuries early part of Royal Hunting Land - along with Langley and Black Parks); variety SATIVUS (now considered to be subspecies SATIVUS) 'Fuller's Teasel' was recorded on Langley rubbish tips back then - this is the introduced cultivated plant whose heads were used for raising the nap of certain kinds of cloth
According to Maycock & Woods, Teasel is common in damp grassland and churchyards in the county nowadays - cannot say I have come across it in the small number of churchyards I have visited in Iver and District
Heads 3-8cm, conical, blunt, always erect; corolla rose-purple, rarely white
Fruiting head
Opposite pairs of leaves often connate at base into a water-collecting cup
Under surface of leaf - stem leaves narrowly lanceolate
Note spines on midrib
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EPILOBIUM MONTANUM
'Broad-leaved Willow-herb' (EPILOBIUM MONTANUM) - though comes close to the 'Spear-leaved Willow-herb' (EPILOBIUM LANCEOLATUM) which is a rarity in this part of the UK. These specimens were photographed in my garden in Slough on the Berkshire/Buckinghamshire border); I think this species also grows in cracks at the bottom of the wall of my bank in Langley.
Petals pale rose - they only seem to open in full sun, mostly partially closed; this was known as 'Pale Willow Herb' in Druce's day; this, after EPILOBIUM HIRSUTUM, was the commonest willow-herb in Buckinghamshire a century ago - found in woods, hedges, thickets and as a garden weed
Flowers in terminal leafy racemes +/- drooping in young bud
Petals 8-10mm, pale rose, longer than broad, deeply notched
Stigma of 4 short non-revolute lobes, exceeded by the longer stamens (presumably they elongate late, whereas the filaments of these are shorter)
Leaves mostly opposite or occasionally in whorls of 3, ovate-lanceolate to ovate, acute
According to the VEGETATIVE KEY, EPILOBIUM MONTANUM, is distinguished from E.LANCEOLATUM by its 'rounded leaf bases' rather than 'cuneate leaf bases' which it does not have - though I would describe them as approaching cordate; I would describe its leaves as more elliptic-lanceolate than ovate lanceolate; this specimen was NOT glandular-hairy above but it does have a brown scale at apex of leaf-more easily seen under a well-lit x20 binocular microscope; overall it fits E.MONTANUM best; according to Druce (see above) whilst E.MONTANUM was common in Buckinghamshire including as a garden weed (which it is in my garden), a plant thought to be E.LANCEOLATUM was found Burnham Beeches but needed confirmation). As for more up-to-date records, it was recorded from a roadside in Beaconsfield in 1993 - so this information is supportive of my conclusion.
Upper surface of leaf
Underside of leaves, showing narrow slightly connate wings, sharply and irregularly toothed, subglabrous but usually hairy on margins and veins
Lower surface of leaf
Bract - like the leaves but are smaller, alternate
Mostly unopened downy capsules
Split capsule showing seeds
Seeds are 1-1.2mm, reddish-brown, narrowly obovoid, blunt at base, densely but shortly tubercled (these details cannot be observed with the naked eye, this macro lens nor a x10 hand lens nor the x15 one I recently purchased but can be seen using a x20 binocular microscope, though requires greater magnification to see detail of the tubercles)
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CREPIS VESICARIA
'Beaked Hawsbeard' (CREPIS VESICARIA)
Heads 1.5-2.5cm diam., erect in bud, on slender +/- straight , non-bracteolate stalks in corymbs terminating the main stems and branches; florets yellow
Involucres 8-12mm, cylindric-campanulate, tomentose and often glandular
Fruiting head; achenes 4-5mm, pale brown, with 10 narrow +/- rough ribs, all gradually narrowed into a beak about as long as the achene; pappus, white (see above), soft, exceeding the involucre, 4-6mm
A seed (achene) of CREPIS VESICARIA - this is at the limit of the macro facility of my camera; the ribs can be made out, just, and the number counted (just about), whereas @ x20 magnification under a binocular microscope, these can easily be observed and greater details
Base of stem
Basal leaf - these are stalked, usually oblanceolate, blunt or acute, lyrate- or runcinate-pinnatifid with lobes very variable in length and width, sometimes merely toothed
Underside of leaf
Stem leaves short-stalked or sessile, pinnatifid to +/- entire
The middle ones amplexicaul; all finely pubescent on both sides; this plant does not appear as 'downy' as some illustrated
Amplexicaul base of stem leaf; note purplish base
Prominent ridges of middle section of stem; Druce, found this plant (in his day called CREPIS TARAXACIFOLIA, locally common and rapidly increasing in cornfields, grass crops, railway banks and waste places in Buckinghamshire a century ago - which had by then had become on the county's ubiquitous species, first recorded by him in 1883. Flora of the British Isles says this was first found in the UK in 1713, part of a large complex of forms placed under C.VESICARIA p- the authors gave it as SUBSPECIES TARAXACIFOLIA.
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EUPHORBIA PEPLUS
'Petty Spurge' (EUPHORBIA PEPLUS) - Druce found this to be a frequent garden weed, on cultivated and waste ground, very common and generally distributed in Buckinghamshire a century ago
Glands lunate with long slender horns; capsules trigonous - a few young green ones sisible; leaves alternate, oval or obovate, obtuse, shortly stalked, entire
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GALIUM APARINE
'Goosegrass' (GALIUM APARINE); fruits 4-6mm, olive or purplish, covered with white hooked bristles with tuberculate bases, their stalks divaricate; also found in hedgerows; Stewart records this as a common weed throughout West Pakistan and Kashmir from the plains to 3600m, possibly "running into GALIUM PAUCIFLORUM at high altitudes (this latter species may be an alpine form of GALIUM APARINE - it is much smaller and more delicate).
Reported as 6-8 leaves in a whorl (here there are only 5, assuming they count as leaves); linear-oblanceolate or narrowly elliptical mucronate, 1-veined, glabrous or bristly above, the margin with prickles backwardly directed except those near tip; this species can be seen in flower in: http://www.chadwellseeds.co.uk/-flowers-of-iver-district-blog
Underside of leaf
Fruits 4-6mm, olive green or purplish covered with white bristles (one can see they are white in this image but cannot observe they are hooked or with tuberculate bases - a x10 hand lens reveals the hooked shape, slightly better @ x15 and really well under a x20 binocular microscope but even @ x40 I cannot see much detail at their bases)
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'Buck's Horn Plantain' (PLANTAGO CORONOPUS); the previous time I saw it was on the coast at Southend, see: http://www.chadwellseeds.co.uk/coast
I photographed this specimen on my drive-way; Druce found this locally common on dry sandy pastures, heaths and roadsides in Buckinghamshire a century ago but absent from the chalk and clays - our soil is clay with flints but presumably the gravel provided a suitable substrate for its to establish itself from nearby road-side populations
Leaves usually 2-6cm, very variable, narrow linear, nearly entire, toothed or
most often 1-2-pinnatifid
Inflorescence 0.5-4cm, scape somewhat longer than leaves; flowers c. 3mm; corolla brownish, lobes ovate, acute or acuminate, without a midrib
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OXALIS EUROPAEA
OXALIS - I think this must be O. EUROPAEA the 'Upright Yellow Sorrel'; flowers 2-5 in short cymes on axillary peduncles, equalling or exceeding the leaves; petals 4-10mm, yellow, narrowly cuneiform
Found in waste places and as a garden, rarely arable, weed.
Stems solitary, erect, simple or sparingly branched, leafy; leaves whorled or clustered
Leaves ternate, petioles 1-12cm; leaflets 8-20mm, cuneiform-obcordate, broader than long, bilobed at apex to c. 1/6th with a borad or narrow sinus, otherwise entire, glabrous or appressed hairy
Underside of leaf
Capsules 8-12mm, cylcindric, glabrous or in this case sparsely pubescent
Sepals lanceolate, acute; Druce found this to be rare in waste places and garden ground in Buckinghamshire a century ago
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'Common Forget-me-not' (MYOSOTIS ARVENSIS)
Druce found this very common and generally distributed in cultivated fields, woods and hedgebanks in Buckinghamshire a century ago; there has been debate as to the correct nomenclature for this species - in Druce's day it was considered to be MYOSOTIS ANNUA Moench., with MYOSOTIS SCORPIOIDES L. being an older synonym. As you will see, I don't generally use the abbreviations of the authors who described each species, as these are daunting to beginners and often completely misunderstood but strictly speaking, should be used. As the flora of the British Isles is better known than anywhere on earth, confusion seldom arises, when not using these author's abbreviations but are essential in fully scientific publications.
Flowers in lax cymes, elongated after flowering; corolla up 5mm diam., bright blue, lobes concave
Calyx campanulate, with narrow triangular teeth; abundant short crisped or hooked hairs on the tube
Underside of oblong-lanceolate stem leaf, sessile with +/- spreading hairs on both surfaces
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'Creeping Buttercup' (RANUNCULUS REPENS); petals ovate, suberect, golden yellow, glossy
It is very difficult to get the exposure right for buttercup glossy yellow flowers - impossible for most camera under bright, sunny conditions (they represent a real challenge during my treks in the high Himalaya), compounded by high level of u.v. light); Druce found this buttercup common and generally distributed in Buckinghamshire a century ago except on the Chilterns growing by ditches, stream borders and in cultivated ground, probably in great measure spread by the activities of man; this example was photographed outside Little Kimble station
Sepals hairy, not reflexed
Basal and lower stem-leaves stalked, triangular-ovate in outline, divided into 3 lobes of which the middle lobe is long-stalked; the lobes further cut or divided into 3 toothed segments
All leaves hairy; I must admit to finding it difficult to distinguish between certain buttercups when I began my career as a field-botanist but with the aid of close-up digital photography the species can be readily distinguished - wouldn't it have been great to have been able to take such images 40 years ago; whilst a great advocate of the necessity for taking voucher pressed specimens, nowadays in the UK, good digital images allow much more to be surveyed accurately per day, confident, once one becomes a competent photographer, of securing the necessary images, provided one also knows which parts of each specimen MUST be photographed. I shall do my utmost, light conditions permitting, to have representative images of as many of the 23 species recorded as I can. Admittedly, some species are highly variable, with subspecies and hybrids observed.
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'Mountain Cranesbill' (GERANIUM PYRENAICUM) - though 'Hedgerow Cranesbill' is a better name in terms of its habitats in the UK; petals purple (less often purplish-white), deeply emarginate
Druce found the locally common, more frequently near villages in Buckinghamshire a century ago; he considered it probably was native; flowers in pairs; sepals ovate-oblong, mucronate
Prominent stipules but I cannot find any description of these in the floras
Basal leaves orbicular in outline, 5-9-lobed, irregularly 3-lobed at apex
Lobes obovate-cuneate in outline
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'Cut-leaved Cranesbill' (GERANIUM DISSECTUM) - its dissected leaves readily distinguish it from GERANIUM PYRENAICUM (see immediately above)
Young capsules; sepals ovate-lanceolate, aristate, pilose and glandular-hairy
Capsules pubescent, smooth
There is no description of its stipules 'Flora of the British Isles'
Straggling habit; annual herb 10-60cm
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'Hedge Mustard' (SISYMBRIUM OFFICINALE)
Druce found this common and widely distributed at waysides and in waste ground in Buckinghamshire a century ago
Petals pale yellow, half as long again as sepals; inflorescence at first corymbose, lengthening in fruit
Stem leaves with long hastate terminal lobe and 1-3 small oblong lateral lobes
Underside of young stem leaf
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'Nettle' (URTICA DIOICA) - Druce found this abundant throughout Buckinghamshire a century ago in waste places, waysides, hedges, woods and thickets, spread by rabbits in woods as proved by its frequent occurrence about the holes of warrens on the chalk slopes
One is taught to be wary of its sting when young but the nettle is well worth examining more closely; its inflorescene is lateral, arising from an often suppressed leafy branch, usually spike-like with clustered cymes
The flowers can be colourful, indeed quite attractive
Leaves ovate, toothed
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THLASPI ARVENSE
I was initially confused by this crucifer (now classified as the Brassicaceae family not Cruciferae) growing along a new footpath next to Little Kimble railway station, as it is generally identified on the basis of its fruits, which when mature at distinctive...
Young green fruits of 'Field Penny-Cress' (THLASPI ARVENSE) - which Druce found to be locally common in cultivated fields in Buckinghamshire a century ago but absent from considerable areas; first recorded as plentiful in a cornfield in Chalfont St. Peter in 1746
Stem leaves oblong or lanceolate, sessile with sagittate amplexicaule base
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CARDARIA DRABA
'Hoary Pepperwort' or 'Hoary Cress' (CARDARIA DRABA or LEPIDIUM DRABA); middle and upper stem leaves ovate-oblong, enlarging into auricles that clasp the stem
Scarce in Buckinghamshire beside roads; possibly decreasing; Druce found this as a local species of waysides, waste ground and railway sides but increasing; the Flora of the British Isles considered this Introduction as rapidly spreading as a weed of arable ground
Petals twice as long as sepals, broadly cordate, deltoid or ovate
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PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM
'Opium Poppy' (PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM) on waste ground in Langley
Occasional escape from cultivation - very variable; this race is subsp. hortense, a complex whose seeds yield poppy-seed oil; its is subspecies somniferum which yields opium (containing about 20 alkaloids, the most important of which are codeine and morphine).
Leaves undulate, ovate-oblong +/- pinnately lobed, lobes irregular and coarsely toothed; upper sessile, clasping the stem, all glaucous
Simple or branched erect stems 30-100cm
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PICRIS ECHIOIDES
Bristly ox-Tongue (PICRIS ECHIOIDES)
A common road-side weed
Outer involucral bracts large, ovate-cordate
Yellow florets, the outermost purplish beneath - road-sides, hedge-banks, field-margins
The flower-heads of this are quite attractive - whilst its overall appearance is VERY weedy!!
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PAPAVER RHOEAS
Field Poppy (PAPAVER RHOEAS) - an attractive weed of arable fields and waste places
Can be mistaken for Long-headed Poppy (PAPAVER DUBIUM); but has larger flowers, capsules not more than twice as long as wide
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VERBASCUM THAPSUS
Aaron's Rod (VERBASCUM THAPSUS) - spikes of beautiful yellow flowers; prominent orange stamens
Densely clothed with soft whitish wool - common on sunny banks; to 2m
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SENECIO JACOBAEA
Ragwort (SENECIO JACOBAEA)- a weed of waste land, waysides, neglected or overgrazed pastures
The common ragwort is important to wildlife - a great deal of nonsense is written about it; many attempted methods of control are actually counter-productive!
Cinnabar moth caterpillar - one of many insects which rely heavily on ragworts
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CICHORIUM INTYBUS
Chicory (CICHORIUM INTYBUS)- the dried and ground roots yield the chicory of commerce
Large bright blue florets
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SONCHUS ASPER
'Spiny Milk- or Sow-Thistle' (SONCHUS ASPER)
Bright yellow ray-florets; Druce found this sow-thistle to be common and widely distributed on cultivated ground and waste places in Buckinghamshire a century ago
Common in cultivated soil and waste places - leaves dark glossy green; some forms closely resemble 'Milk- or Sow-Thistle' (SONCHUS OLERACEUS). In fact I remain uncertain about distinguishing between some forms.
The inflorescence is described as an irregular cymose umbel
There is no specific description of the heads for this species in 'Flora of the British Isles' - for S.OLERACEUS, its says, "heads glabrous, rarely glandular-hairy".....
This fits with the description of "rounded appressed auricles" though is not dark glossy green above
I initially took this to have a 'pointed' auricle but perhaps comes within "rounded"? Sometimes one cannot be certain or the differences between species imperfectly known, even in the UK. Better if I wait and examine more specimens, as greater familiarity brings better interpretations. In plant identification work, one must expresses uncertainty at any given time. When I first became involved with identifying specimens of Himalayan flora, it was not uncommon for herbarium botanists to write cf. or aff. before a species name (epiphet). I did once ask Kew's most knowledgeable person on Himalayan flora at that time for definitions but never got a response. In simple terms cf. means the specimens "matches" some specimens named as that species but a degree of doubt exists, whilst aff. means "has affinities to" or "is similar to". Bearing in mind how poorly studied most of the flora of the Himalaya is, such reservations need to expressed frequently - and some botanists/taxonomists are particularly cautious. Plants are so often highly variable, the more experienced and knowledgeable one becomes, the more one realises it is wise to be cautious - and yet people expect CERTAINTY and for plant identification to be "quick and easy".......
SEE IMMEDIATELY BELOW FOR ANOTHER SONCHUS
I found this Sow-thistle beside a path at the edge of a wood in Surrey, so it barely qualifies as a 'waste place' but have included it here for easy comparison purposes
I shall give you my thoughts on its identify shortly
Underside of leaf
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CALYSTEGIA SEPIUM
Bellbine or Larger Bindweed (CALYSTEGIA SEPIUM)- impressive large white flowers
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GERANIUM MOLLE
I find the small-flowered Cranesbills a challenge identification-wise
This seems closest to Dove's-foot Cranesbill (GERANIUM MOLLE)
The location, a shady bank, might impact upon habit
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CIRSIUM VULGARE
Spear thistle (CIRSIUM VULGARE) - pale red-purple flower-heads
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OENOTHERA GLAZIOVIANA
Evening Primrose (OENOTHERA GLAZIOVIANA)- an introduced ornamental; naturalised widely
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DIPSACUS FULLONUM
Glorious expanse of Teasel (DIPSACUS FULLONUM)
Conical heads of rose-purple flowers
A subspecies of Teasel was cultivated and the heads used to tease fabrics, particularly woollens; nowadays it is grown in gardens to encourage goldfinches which love to eat the seeds
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LINARIA VULGARIS
Toadflax - yellow flowers with orange centres
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CHAMERION ANGUSTIFOLIUM (previously EPILOBIUM ANGUSTIFOLIUM)
Rosebay Willowherb (CHAMERION ANGUSTIFOLIUM) - previously EPILOBIUM ANGUSTIFOLIUM
A fast spreading weed of disturbed ground, bombed sites (during WW2) hence name 'Fireweed'
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Ragworts, Thistles and Docks
Fruiting segments of a Dock
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Bindweed - an exceedingly persistent and noxious weed
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CARDUUS NUTANS
Musk Thistle (CARDUUS NUTANS) - note the purplish involucral bracts
Red-purple flower-heads
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PLANTAGO MAJOR
Great Plantain or Rat's Tail (PLANTAGO MAJOR) - open places by roads, cultivated and waste ground
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SENECIO VULGARIS
'Groundsel' (SENECIO VULGARIS); flower-heads in dense terminal and axillary corymbose clusters; the involucre +/- cylindrical, outer bracts black-tipped
Very variable in the dissection of leaves and hairiness; Druce found this to be ubiquitous save on the grassy chalk downs in cultivated ground and waste places in Buckinghamshire a century ago; one of the earliest species to occur on newly broken ground, and one of the county's commonest plants; in flower the whole of the year
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MEDICAGO LUPILINA
'Black Medick' (MEDICAGO LUPULINA); pods coiled, black when ripe
Racemes 10 or more-flowered
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GALEOPSIS TETRAHIT
'Common Hemp-nettle' (GALEOPSIS TETRAHIT)
Note the bristly hairs
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CORONOPUS SQUAMATUS
'Swine-cress' (CORONOPUS SQUAMATUS)
Druce found this to be a local but widely spread species in the muddy tracks made by cattle in cultivated fields and about farmsteads, muddy margins of pools and especially on mud-topped walls in Buckinghamshire a century ago; nowadays it is recognised as common in S.England as on waste ground, especially trampled places - this specimen grew at the edge of a path
Petals white, longer than sepals
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CORONOPUS DIDYMUS
'Lesser Swine-cress' (CORONOPUS DIDYMUS); distinguished from C.SQUAMATUS by its fruits having an apical notch, shorter than its stalk (which can be detected in the immature green fruit in the image below); its foliage is foetid
Druce found this to be an increasing colonist of waysides, waste places and cultivated ground in Buckinghamshire a century ago; an alien first recorded about 1886; its white petals are shorter than the sepals
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