Urban Wildflowers

How to identify
Herb-Robert is a low growing plant commonly found in more shaded areas, away from acidic soils. It has five-petalled, pink flowers, and reddish stems. The deeply divided, lobed leaves are also tinged with red.

Did you know?
Traditionally, herb-Robert was used to treat nosebleeds and headaches, as a tonic for tummy upsets, as an antiseptic to help heal wounds, and even as a mosquito repellent.

How to identify
You’ll commonly find this plant living in rocky areas, walls, gardens and cultivated ground. Hairy bitter-cress is small and hairy, with a rosette of leaves at its base and small white flowers present for most of the year.

Did you know?
Looking like a miniature water-cress, hairy bitter-cress can also be added to salads. Another similar species, wavy bitter-cress, is taller and often found on riverbanks, and in ditches and marshes.

How to identify
Groundsel is an annual weed of cultivated or disturbed ground, popping up along field edges, roadside verges and on waste ground.

It has long, lobed and ragged leaves that are stalked low down the stem, but unstalked further up the stem. The stems branch to clusters of small, yellow flower heads that look like green and yellow tubes; as the plant seeds, these turn fluffy and white.

Did you know?
Like other members of the daisy family, groundsel has 'composite' flower heads, which are made up of lots of tiny flowers grouped together. 

In the image below, you can see the distinctive black and yellow cinnabar caterpillar on a groundsel. These caterpillars tend to eat ragwort but you can sometimes see them munching on groundsel!