Herb Robert

Herb Robert or [Geranium robertianum] family Geraniaceae.

It is a native annual and very common throughout the British Isles, liking to grow in woodland, hedge-banks, walls and stony places, and can grow up to 50cm. Herb Robert flowers from late April into October and produces small pink five-petalled flowers, approximately 1-2cm long, containing red anthers and wrinkled carpels. The leaves are deeply dissected, ternate to palmate, and the hairy stems are usually a reddish colour. At the end of the flowering season, the leaves also turn from green to red. Folk names include: Herb Boonoo (this is our own folk name for it), Red Robin, Dragonsblood, Red Shanks, Stinky Bob (due to the musky odour it may give off if the leaves are crushed or if it is dug up).

The entire Herb Robert plant is actually edible, containing tannins, essential oils and geraniin. It can be eaten raw, or made into a tea, used as a pulstice for cuts, bruises, or other skin conditions, is mildly diuretic, astringent, and helps to stop diarrhoea.

Great Willowherb

I can find it quite hard to remember all the names of wild flowers, let alone properly identify some of them, so I thought I would start with the Great Willowherb or [Epilobium hirsutum] family Onagraceae.

It is a native perennial common throughout Britain, but somewhat rarer to find in the north of Scotland. It likes to grow in damp hedgerows, ditches, stream sides or marshes, and can grow as tall as 1.5 to 2 metres. Distinguished by its long and rather thin hairy leaves, which have sharply toothed edges and no stalk. The pink (pink to purple) flowers have four notched petals, with a white four lobed stigma, and green sepals. Flowers from late June into September. Folk names include: Codlins and Cream, Apple Pie, Cherry Pie. View my other posting about the seeds of the Great Willowherb.