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Lovely ragwort under fire again

Plantlife and partners write letter to press in defence of this misunderstood plant

July 18 2011

Recent letters published in the Telegraph have made exaggerated claims about common ragwort and false claims about the laws surrounding it.

In response Plantlife and our partners wrote a letter hoping to set the record straight. This appeared in Monday 18 July's edition of the Telegraph and a copy of what was published can be read below:

SIR - Ragwort (Letters, July 15) does not poison people who inhale its seeds, and it is not illegal to grow ragwort, although in exceptional circumstances someone could be ordered to control its spread.

It is a plant upon which at least 30 insect species, many rare, entirely rely. Ragwort is also an important nectar and pollen source for hundreds of species of butterflies, bees, moths, beetles and flies, helping to maintain what remains of our wildlife.

Nicola Hutchinson
Plantlife
Matt Shardlow
Buglife
Martin Warren
Butterfly Conservation
Neil Jones
Swansea Friends of the Earth

Common ragwort is not a non-indigenous weed - it is actually native to the UK. Its seeds are big and normally only travel a matter of metres from the plant hence why it is incorrect to suggest that people or animals might be poisoned by breathing them in.

There has been a great deal of anti-ragwort misinformation in circulation which is why the Advertising Standards Authority recently clamped down on companies and organisations who were making false claims about the law or exaggerated claims about the plant.

To read Plantlife's position statement on ragwort in full, please click on the link below.

• Download Plantlife's position statement on ragwort.

With the British Horse Society and Butterfly Conservation in Scotland, Plantlife has also produced a free, downloadable guidance leaflet for managing common ragwort entitled Ragwort: Friend or Foe.