How to Spot

Water Mint can grow up to 90cm tall. It has pretty, pale purple flower heads and hairy leaves and stems. The leaves can be between 2cm and 6cm and grow in whorls around the stem.

Peppermint shares a resemblance, but has darker flowers, leaves and often has a purple stem.

Where to Spot

This pretty, aromatic plant is common all over the UK. You can find it growing in wet meadows, fens and marshes, streams, ponds, riversides and damp woodlands.

Things you might not know

It is said that Water Mints pleasant scent was used during the medieval era, to make their dining halls smell fresh.

Reportedly the plants were laid on the floor so that guests would step on them upon entering, and release the sweet smell of mint.

How’s it doing?

Brooklime is doing well in its preferred habitats.

Things you might not know

• Brooklime was used as a salad plant in much of northern Europe in the past.
• It used to be eaten with watercress and oranges to help prevent scurvy.
• Although edible, the leaves are bitter and the same precautions should be taken with them, as with watercress, in order to avoid liver fluke.

How to spot it

Branched Bur-reed is a quirky looking waterside plant with spherical flowers. It might occasionally be mistaken for its unbranched relative (appropriately named ‘Unbranched Bur-reed’) but little else. Branched Bur-reed is a tall plant with linear leaves that lie broadside on to stem. The smaller male flowers sit above the female flowers on the stem.

Where to spot it

This wild plant is widespread around the UK, growing by waters edge, ponds, slow rivers, marshy ground and ditches. Branched Bur-reed is an easily uprooted plant and so prefers slower waters.

How’s it doing?

Branched Bur-reed is commonly found in its preferred habitats.

Best time to see

You can spot Lesser Celandine from late February to May.

Has Lesser Celandine been used in herbal medicine?

One of it’s local names is “Pilewort” since the herb was traditionally given for haemorrhoids. This was based on the doctrine of signatures since the knobbly tubers were thought to resemble piles!

Things you might not know

• Its the floral equivalent of the swallow: both reappear around the same time and herald the coming of spring. In fact the word ‘celandine’ comes from the Greek word chelidon meaning ‘swallow’. Its early flowering time also gave the Lesser Celandine the nickname ‘spring messenger’.
• Despite sharing the name, it isn’t actually related to the greater celandine. Lesser celandine is a member of the buttercup family. Greater celandine is related to the poppy.
• Wordsworth’s favourite wild flower wasn’t the daffodil – it was lesser celandine. He wrote no less than three poems about it: The Small Celandine, To the Same Flower and To the Small Celandine.