Daisy: Cudweeds Family:-

"A group of rather small plants, mostly annuals, all more or less covered with white wool or down, with numerous small linear leaves arranged spirally on the stems, and clusters or loose spikes of small unrayed white, yellow or brown flower-heads. The Filagos differ from the Gnaphaliums in having chaffy scales between the florets, which are nearly concealed by the sepal-like bracts." from Collins Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers by David McClintock and R.S.R. Fitter assisted by Francis Rose - ISBN 0 00 219363 9 - Eleventh Impression 1978

Daisy: Cudweeds Family plant table with its Common Name - Botanical Name. Flowering Months Range. Habitat with link to that Wild Flower Habitat Gallery:-

Common Name

Botanical Name

Flowering Months

Habitat

Blue Fleabane

Erigeron acer

July onwards

An annual or perennial herb of open, well-drained, skeletal neutral or calcareous soils, often on warm, S.-facing slopes. Habitats include sand dunes, sand-pits, spoil and waste heaps from quarries, railway ballast, industrial waste and cinders. It also grows on rock outcrops, especially of chalk and limestone and on mortared walls. 0-430 m (Banffs.).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Broad-leaved Cudweed

Filago spathulata (Filago pyramidata)

June-August

An annual of well-drained soils usually kept open through drought or disturbance. Formerly, it was most frequent as a weed of arable land on calcareous or acidic sandy soils, but most remaining sites are in chalk quarries or on chalk spoil. Populations vary greatly in size annually. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage from Nonnington on 18 September

Form from Nonnington in Kent on 18 September

Canadian Fleabane (Canadian horseweed)

Conyza canadensis

June onwards

An erect annual of well-drained, open habitats such as pavements, waste places, walls, railway ballast and as a weed of cultivated ground. It is particularly characteristic of urban areas of South and East England. It also occurs occasionally on sand dunes and on sandy ground inland. Lowland.

Flower from Strood in Kent

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Cape Cudweed

Gnaphalium undulatum

July-September

An annual or perennial herb well naturalised in rough ground, on cliffs and on waste ground in the Channel Islands and in West Cornwall. Elsewhere it occurs as a casual. It arises as a garden escape and from wool shoddy. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Common Cudweed

Filago germanica

(Filago vulgaris)

July-August

An autumn- or spring-germinating annual of dry, open, acidic to neutral and occasionally calcareous habitats including open grassland, quarries and rocky ledges, sand-pits and dunes, sandy heaths and tracks, and arable and other cultivated ground. Lowland.

Flower from Hothfield in Kent on 9 October

Flowers from Hothfield on 15 September

Foliage from Loch Ness on 19 June

Form from Loch Ness in Inverness on 19 June

Daisy

Bellis perennis

Throughout the year

A rosette-forming, winter-green, shortly stoloniferous perennial which grows in mown or heavily grazed or trampled grassland. It occurs in practically all types of neutral and calcareous grassland but it does best in those that are relatively wet for at least part of the year. It is most familiar as a weed of lawns and recreational areas, roadside verges and pastures, but more natural habitats include stream banks, lake margins, dune-slacks and the margins of upland flushes. 0-915 m (Caenlochan, Angus)

Flower from Isle of Wight. Photo by BritishFlora

Flowers from Isle of Wight. Photo by BritishFlora

Foliage

Form

Dwarf Cudweed (Mountain Cudweed, Alpine Arctic Cudweed)

(Italian name: Canapicchia glaciale)

Gnaphalium supinum

(Omalotheca supina)

June-July

A dwarf, perennial herb, found on mountain-top fell-field communities, wet grassy slopes, cliffs, moraines and late snow-patches, where it grows in sites which are relatively well-drained and stony and dry out in summer. Usually from 455 to 1305 m (Ben Macdui, S. Aberdeen), but descending to 300 m on river gravels at Killin (Mid Perth).

Flower from Applecross Pass on 2 July

Flowers. Photograph: Petri Storlöpare, www.slowlife.se from Madir (Abisko - Kebnekaise, Swedish Lapland)

Foliage from Applecross Pass on 2 July

Form from Applecross Pass on 2 July

Early Golden-Rod (Smooth three-ribbed Goldenrod, Giant Goldenrod, Late Goldenrod)

Solidago gigantea

(Solidago x leiophallax, Solidago serotina, Solidago serotinoides)

July-August

A tall, rhizomatous perennial herb naturalised in waste places, by railways, on roadside verges, river banks and rubbish tips on a wide range of soil types. Most plants in the wild originate from the dumping of garden rubbish and probably spread further by seed. Lowland. Invasion of Solidago gigantea in contrasting experimental plant communities: effects on soil microbes, nutrients and plant–soil feedbacks. Evolutionary tradeoffs between the ability to defend and to compete.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Garden Golden-Rod

(Canadian Goldenrod)

Solidago altissima

(Solidago canadensis)

August onwards

A tall, rhizomatous perennial herb naturalised on roadsides, by railways and on river banks, waste ground and spoil heaps on a wide range of soil types. Garden throw-outs can be very persistent; the plants are fertile and spread by seed. Lowland. A familiar garden plant, often well established in waste places)

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Golden-Rod (European Goldenrod)

Solidago virgaurea

July-September

A perennial herb of free-draining, usually acidic (occasionally basic) substrates in a wide range of habitats. In the lowlands these include woods, hedge banks, heaths, banks and coastal cliff-tops; in the uplands, cliff ledges, rocks by waterfalls, rocky streamsides, tall-herb communities in gullies, montane grass-heath and fell-field. 0-1095 m (Ben Dearg, E. Ross). Herbal tea.

Flower from Isle of Wight. Photo by BritishFlora

Flowers from Isle of Wight. Photo by BritishFlora

Foliage from Poulsallagh on 12 June

Form from Kinlockewe on 23 June

Goldilocks

(Goldilocks Aster)

Linosyris vulgaris

(Chrysocoma linosyris, Crinitaria linosyris, Aster linosyris)

September-October

A perennial herb of shallow soil in open, grassy habitats on limestone sea-cliffs and rocky slopes, cliff-top grassland and wind-pruned heath overlying limestone. It is a poor competitor, and is usually intolerant of heavy grazing, although in Pembrokeshire it is found in low-growing, sheep-grazed, cliff-top grassland and heath. It seems to be self-incompatible and some small populations appear to represent single, self-sterile clones. Lowland.

Flower on 22 August

Flowers

Foliage on 22 August

Form on 22 August

Heath Cudweed

(Wood cudweed)

Gnapalium sylvaticum

July-September

A short-lived perennial herb of open communities on dry, acidic, often sandy or gravelly soils. Habitats include heaths and heathy pastures, sand-pits, dunes, tracks and, especially, open woodland and forestry rides in areas of former heathland. 0-850 m (Breadalbanes, Mid Perth). Northern Ireland Species Action Plan

Flower from Cnoc An Droighinn on 3 August

Flowers

Foliage from Cnoc An Droighinn on 3 August

Form

Hemp Agrimony (Common Dutch Agrimony)

Eupatorium cannabinum

July-September

A perennial herb found on base-enriched soils in a wide range of damp or wet habitats, including marginal vegetation by ponds, lakes, rivers and canals, tall-herb fen, fen-meadows, marshes, wet woodland, mires and wet heath; also flushed areas on sea-cliffs and in dune-slacks. It is infrequent in dry habitats, but is found in dry woods and on hedge banks, on waste ground, and even on dry chalk banks. 0-350 m (Ystradfellte, Brecs.).

Flower from Isle of Wight. Photo by BritishFlora

Flowers from Isle of Wight. Photo by BritishFlora

Foliage from Isle of Wight. Photo by BritishFlora

Form from Isle of Wight. Photo by BritishFlora

Highland Cudweed (Norwegian Cudweed)

Gnaphalium norvegicum

August

This perennial herb occurs on ungrazed rock ledges, crags, river gorges, screes and in gullies, preferring a southerly or easterly aspect and an acidic, well-drained mineral soil. From 600 m (Aonach air Chrith, W. Ross) to 980 m (Sgurr na Lapaich, Easterness). Book about this plant.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Highland Fleabane

(Alpine Fleabane)
(Boreal Fleabane)

Erigeron borealis

July-August

A perennial rhizomatous herb found on unstable, basic, mostly South-facing cliff ledges of mica-schist, usually adjacent to grazed, herb-rich grassland. The surviving sites are inaccessible to grazing by sheep and deer. From 640 m on Craig Maud (Angus) to 1100 m on Creag an Fhitich (Mid Perth).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Jersey Cudweed

(Weedy Cudweed)

Gnaphalium luteoalbum

known as Helichrysum luteoalbum since 2004

July-September

An annual or biennial of sandy fields, dune-slacks and waste ground; now restricted as an apparent native to the Channel Islands, the margins of two recently created pools in Norfolk and an area of excavated shingle in Kent. Recent records elsewhere are mainly of casual plants on waste ground, although it is thriving on tracks and a rubbish tip in Dorset. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Mexican Fleabane (Mexican Daisy, Santa Barbara Daisy, Wall Daisy)

Erigeron mucronatus

(Erigeron karvinskianus Vittadenia triloba)

May onwards

A perennial herb, well-established on walls, rock outcrops and cliffs, in cracks in pavements and on stony banks, to which it has usually spread by seed from nearby gardens. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Michaelmas Daisy (Confused Michaelmas-daisy, New York Aster)

Aster novi-belgii

(Aster eminens, Aster junceus, Aster longifolius, Aster salicfolius, Symphyotrichum longifolium)

August onwards

It is naturalised on hedge banks, railway banks, roadsides, rubbish tips and waste ground. In addition, it sometimes occurs on river banks, lakesides and in fen vegetation. Lowland. It is the commonest of escaped garden plants.

Flower

Flowers from Teston in Kent

Foliage from Teston

Form from East Sussex

Mountain Everlasting (Stoloniferous Pussytoes, Cat's-foot)

Antennaria dioica

June-July

Heath, Mountains and Grassland (widespread on heaths, mountain slopes and dry pastures; common in hill districts, very rare in Southern England). Can grow it your garden.

Flower - Male from Widdybank Fell

Flowers - Female from Applecross Pass in Ross on 22 June

Foliage from Loch Assynt on 22 June

Form from Loch Assynt in Sutherland on 22 June

Narrow Cudweed

Filago gallica

June-September

An annual of well-drained, sandy and gravelly soils in open, disturbed sites such as arable field margins, grassy banks, gravel-pits and quarries, tracks and roadsides. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Pearl Everlasting (Pearl-flowered Life Everlasting)

Anaphalis margaritacea

August

Wasteland and Grassland (well established in waste and grassy places, especially in the South Welsh valleys). The leaves and young plant are edible when cooked.

Flower on 18 July

Flowers on 18 July

Foliage on 18 July

Form on 18 July

Purple Coltsfoot (Alpine coltsfoot)

Homogyne alpina

May-July

Rocks (known only from 1 rock-ledge in the parish of Cortachy and Clova, Angus)

Flowerbud

Flowers

Foliage on 30 April

Form on 30 April

Red-Tipped Cudweed

Filago apiculata

(Filago lutescens) (Filago germanica, Filago pyramidata subsp. lutescens)

June-August

A winter- or spring- annual of dry, open, sandy or gravelly acidic to neutral soils such as the edges of arable fields, tracks, sand-pits, heaths and commons, and particularly characteristic of rabbit scrapes. Populations can vary greatly in size annually. Lowland.

Flower from Hothfield on 11 September

Flower from Hothfield on 15 September

Foliage from Hothfield on 11 September

Form from Hothfield in Kent on 11 September

Sea Aster (Sea Starwort)

Aster tripolium

July onwards

A short-lived perennial herb occurring at low elevations in ungrazed or lightly grazed saltmarshes, especially along creeksides, and also on muddy sea-banks, tidal river banks and in brackish ditches. In W. Britain and Ireland it also grows amongst rocks and on exposed sea-cliffs. It also occurs very locally in inland saltmarshes and recently it has been recorded beside salt-treated roads. Lowland. Use as herb in cooking.

Flower

Flowers from Cliffe in Kent

Foliage from Kent. Photo by BritishFlora

Form from Kent. Photo by BritishFlora

Small Cudweed

Filago minima

June-September

An annual of dry, open, infertile, acidic to neutral soils in a wide range of habitats, including arable fields, open grassland, quarries and mine spoil, woodland tracks, sandy heaths, sand-pits and dunes. 0-365 m (Rannoch, Mid Perth).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage from Borough Green on 18 July

Form from Borough Green in Kent on 18 July

Wayside Cudweed (Life everlasting) (Marsh Cudweed)

(Cotton weed, March Everlasting)

Gnaphalium uliginosum

July-August

An annual of open, muddy ground, usually subject to waterlogging during the winter. It is characteristic of trampled field entrances, compacted arable and cultivated land, the margins of reservoirs and the edges of summer-dry ponds trampled by cattle. It is also found on rutted tracks on heaths and wet rides in woodland. It prefers mildly to quite strongly acidic soils. 0-470 m (Glen Kyllachy, Easterness).

Flower from Kent on 14 July

Flowers

Foliage from Borough Green in Kent on 18 July

Form from Kent on 14 July

Beneficial insectary plants - such as Solidago altissima - are those plants that attract beneficial insects to your garden. Many beneficial plants are ornamental and will also add color and diversity to your garden.

The Plant Press are publishers of gardening databases, books and CDs and publish the following:-

The Plant Finder's Gardening Encyclopedia - The Free Online Plant Encyclopaedia now with over 6,000 plants and more than 20,000 photographs.

Gardening with Wildlife - The New online version of Gardening with Wildlife in Mind from Natural England

Dictionary of Common Names - Online dictionary with over 30,000 plant name pairs

The New Perennial Club in the USA

If you've just purchased or planted one of our New Perennials you can join the club now and then register your plant. At the end of the season we'll automatically send an e-mail reminder asking you to rate how this plant has performed in your garden in the USA.

By logging in and rating plants growing in your garden, you provide us with all kinds of valuable information on their performance over a wide range of climate conditions. This kind of information just doesn't exist in books or research studies.

A well known dairy recently collated a list of unusual notes left by customers for their roundsman:-

"Sorry not to have paid your bill before, but my wife had a baby and I've been carrying it around in my pocket for weeks."

"Sorry about yesterdays note. I didn't mean one egg and a dozen pints, but the other way round."

"When you leave my milk knock on my bedroom window and wake me because I want you to give me a hand to turn the mattress."

"My daughter says she wants a milkshake. Do you do it before you deliver or do I have to shake the bottle."

"Milk is needed for the baby. Father is unable to supply it."

"From now on please leave two pints every other day and one pint on the days in between, except Wednesdays and Saturdays when I don't want any milk."

"My back door is open. Please put milk in fridge, get money out of cup in drawer and leave change on kitchen table, because we want to play bingo tonight."

"Please leave no milk today. When I say today, I mean tomorrow, for I wrote this note yesterday...or is it today ?"

"When you come with the milk please put the coal on the boiler, let dog out and put newspaper inside the screen door.
PS. Don't leave any milk."

"No milk. Please do not leave milk at No. 14 either as he is dead until further notice."

The African Garden

A Photographic Stock Image Library and website dedicated to the photography, culture, promotion and ex-situ conservation of Southern and South African Bulbs 
and their hybrids by David Fenwick.

The APHOTO series of photographic websites that include APHOTOFLORA, APHOTOFAUNA and APHOTOFUNGI, were started by David Fenwick in 2004.

The first website in the series was APHOTOFLORA, the website was initially created to exhibit wildflower images taken locally in the Plymouth Area, but the area involved soon became much wider and in no time the website featured the flora of the whole of Devon and Cornwall. Due to the amount of time dedicated to the photography of wildflowers this website has become very comprehensive and displays a large portion of the Flora of the United Kingdom.

APHOTOFLORA originally included a few images of wildlife; these were removed about four years ago to a new domain that of APHOTOFAUNA. This website used to house all the images of marine wildlife, but these to have now been moved to APHOTOMARINE.

APHOTOFUNGI was registered and started in November 2006 and is continually added to; and features many images of horticulturally important fungal diseases of plants, as well as the more typical mushrooms and toadstools that one would expect from such a website.

All these websites have been created to exhibit an extremely wide range of wildlife photography. The websites try and exemplify the diversity that lies with both the animal and plant kingdoms and show those who visit the websites the flora and fauna that can be discovered locally in the westcountry. The websites have also been designed to be as educational as possible, easy to navigate and optimised fully with Google and other search engines.

From coast to summit - This web site is part of the Scottish Plants Project at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in partnership with Scottish Natural Heritage.

Most conservation work is centred around the Target 8 Project based on the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) which has 16 Targets designed to halt the current and continuing loss of plant diversity (Revised 2011 - 2020).

The name cudweed comes from the fact that they were once used to feed cows that had lost the ability to chew the cud.

A man is recovering from surgery when the Surgical Nurse appears and Asks him how he is feeling.

'I'm O. K. But I didn't like the four letter-words the doctor used in Surgery,' he answered.

'What did he say,' asked the nurse.

'Oops!'

Bookreview of A.R. Clapham, T.G. Tutin et E.F. Warburg Flora of the British Isles. Second Edition. Cambridge University Press.

Collins Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers by David McClintock and R.S.R. Fitter assisted by Francis Rose - ISBN 0 00 219363 9 - Eleventh Impression 1978 refers to the above book for further details about each plant and I have used the plants in Collins Pocket Guide as the basis of all the native UK plants in these Wildflower Galleries. I have put the families and plants in alphabetical order by common name to make it easier to find the plant.

Quick Guide to the Common Goldenrods of New England

by Arieh Tal

This guide should be used as a multi-dimensional "key" to the common goldenrods of New England. It does not include regionally uncommon or rare species. Please note that any one of the "common" species listed in this guide may be locally common in your area, uncommon in your area or even rare. All of the species covered by this guide are native to New England.

The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation grew out of the Convention on Biological Diversity and is being fed into government policy around the world.

The GSPC highlights the importance of plants and the ecosystem services they provide for all life on earth, and aims to ensure their conservation.

The GSPC consists of 16 outcome-oriented targets for conservation with a deadline of 2010.