I've been asked if I can identify a flower a friend saw on a visit to Scotland, but I'm not having much luck.
It was growing wild in the grounds of a ruined Abbey, and there is a picture of it here.
I've been asked if I can identify a flower a friend saw on a visit to Scotland, but I'm not having much luck.
It was growing wild in the grounds of a ruined Abbey, and there is a picture of it here.
SELF-HEAL
Family LABIATAE Prunella vulgaris
Commonest by the wayside and in damp pastures, and abundant throughout Britain.
It is a perennial with a creeping rootstock, with ascending flowering branches, three to twelve inches high. The stem is square and the stalked leaves are long, oval in shape, with either toothed or entire margins. Both stem and leaves are more or less HAIRY.
The bracts of the flowerspike have PURPLE EDGES. The lipped flowers are mostly purple, sometimes white or crimson. There are four stamens. There is a peculiarity in the form of the stamens worth noting. The filament branches at the tip, and one branch bears the anthers whilst the other is pressed against the upper lip. The flowers are dimorphic, large and small-the large perfect, the small having no anthers.
The plant is also known as Carpenter's Herb, Hook-heal, Sickle-wort and Prunella. In olden days it was considered one of the most useful medicines for inward and outward wounds.
Flowering from July to September.
[from The Observer's Book of WILD FLOWERS Compiled by W. J. STOKOE, 1973]
Hmmm, looks along the right lines.
Much thanks.
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