Wildflowers Near Leigh - Green

Leigh village green, 19 May 2012.

This is more of that well-kept village green at Leigh.

As well as the flowers in my previous post, there were several interesting plants that had not yet come into bloom.  Here are three to avoid.

Hemlock Water-dropwort,  Oenanthe crocata.  By the Medway near Leigh, 19 May 2012.

This was probably the most startling, because it looks so innocuous.  The Hemlock Water-dropwort is said to be the most poisonous British plant.  It is sometimes mistaken for celery or another edible species; the stems, leaves and bulbous roots are all appetising to some unlucky foragers. This plant was new to me, and I did my best to memorise it. 

Hemlock,  Conium maculatum.  By the Medway near Leigh, 19 May 2012.

Then there were specimens of the actual Hemlock as well.  It is a larger plant altogether.  This one is still young.  Hemlock is easier to recognise and avoid; it has purple blotches on its stems and when it flowers it gives off a strong and distinctive smell.

There are plants of three distinctly different scales here, all in the same Umbellifer family.  The small white-flowered umbels belong to Cow Parsley, currently flowering profusely by paths and roadsides.  It won't get any larger than this. The next up is the Hemlock, which will grow another few feet and might double in size, and to the right you can see a single leaf of a baby Giant Hogweed, the largest herbaceous plant in Britain, which can get up to 5 metres.  It would be interesting to come back here in a couple of months!

Giant Hogweed, Heracleum mantegazzianum.  Near Leigh on 19 May 2012.

Giant Hogweed is also to be avoided.  Its sap can sensitise the skin to sunlight, resulting in painful blisters.  Some Umbellifers are nice, giving us vegetables and herbs, but this selection is the very opposite.

Some of the grasses are showing up well.

Meadow Foxtail, Alopecurus pratensis.  Near Leigh, 19 May 2012.

Something had been eating the tops of many of these flower-heads.  There were shortened grass leaves, too.  The many droppings in the area suggested geese to one of the group, which is a fair guess as they are grazing birds.

I'll finish with a view of the river.

The River Medway near Leigh on 19 May 2012.