Lesser Celandine
Yesterday I saw the very first of the lesser celandine in our wildflower meadow. These little yellow flowers are the first of the spring and in a week or two the meadow will be carpeted with them. There are plenty of the heart shaped shiny green leaves but so far only one flower.
This is a member of the buttercup family. The plant can be poisonous to livestock. Lesser Celandine was introduced to the USA where it is called "fig buttercup" and is regarded as an unwelcome invasive species.
The plant has knobbly tubers which allegedly resemble piles (haemorrhoids) and according to the "Doctrine of Signatures" this was used as a herbal remedy for piles. ( According to this doctrine God arranges things so that if a plant resembles the shape of a human body part then this is a sign that these plants should be used to treat ailments of that part of the body). Another name for the plant is pilewort.
The plant was a favourite of the poet Wordsworth who asked for them to be depicted on his gravestone. Unfortunately there was a cock up and the greater celandine (an altogether different plant) was used instead. I wonder what the ghost of Wordsworth has to say about that!
Diary Notes
I moved my trail cams last night to a copse nearer the house because my dog had been showing a lot of interest in the area. I was rewarded with 200 ten second video clips of rabbits and nothing else!
I changed my morning walk today to go through the little hamlet of Waitby and I noted that there first of the rooks had started nest building in the little rookery in the ash trees by the road.
Tree creeper and bullfinch in the garden today.
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