Ficaria verna - Lesser celandine

To look at lesser celandine, you’d have thought that this cheerful little flower said to be the ‘spring messenger’ as one of its common names suggests, would be uncomplicated and its message simple. 

Nothing could be further from the truth. For Ficaria verna, one of approximately 700 plants in the Ranunculus family, being renamed in 2010 and formerly known as Ranunculus ficaria L. It seems, is just the start of the confusion that seems to surround this plant.

For a start there are two very similar plants, Ficaria verna ssp fertilis, the ’true’ lesser celandine formerly named Ranunculus ficaria ssp ficaria and Ficaria verna ssp verna formerly known as Ranunculus ficaria ssp bulbilifer, a subspecies of lesser celandine that has bulbils that break off and arguably spreads wider than the bulbil less form, these little tubers are where the plant gets its other common name pilewort from. It is thought that the bulbil subspecies is under-recorded because the bulbils are not straightforward to spot. Simple right?

On top of that celandine comes from the Greek word chelidon which refers to the bird swallow. There is some dispute as to whether this name refers to lesser celandine as it has usually been in flower for a while before the return of the swallows. It could be that lesser celandine is a sign of spring as is the swallow, but also that lesser celandine was confused with greater celandine Chelidonium majus whose other common name is swallow wort.

Lesser celandine Ficaria verna, found in woods, on hedge banks, in meadows and on roadsides, likes damp soil that’s not too acidic. The flower has a charming habit of closing its petals before rainfall, so in folklore it is said to predict the weather.

Ficaria verna is host to the leaf mining larvae of two flies that can only feed on a few plants from the ranunculus family and two beetles including the jewel beetle Anthaxia nitidula.

Is a host plant also to one of the rarest of Britain’s butterflies, the heath fritillary Melitaea athalia and six moths including the charismatic Yellow shell Camptogramma bilineata.

Galanthus nivalis - Snowdrop

Yep, I know, I know, this isn’t a native…or is it? In Flora Botanica, Richard Maybe alludes to a doubt about this saying ‘Yet this history of deliberate introduction and cultivation [In church yards and gardens] does not mean that snowdrops are not authentic wild natives in some parts of the west and south. And even where their origins are doubtful, they always have a wild cast about them.’ 

The snowdrop is a perennial bulb that grows on moist woodland and in other shaded places, spreading mostly by division; it is often found in gardens, parks, churchyards and on road verges; it was known to be in cultivation in Britain in 1597 but was not recorded in the wild until 1778.

So I’m curious to see what benefits these ‘February fairmaids’ used to celebrate the Feast of Candlemas on the 2nd of February, have in the ecology as, if not native, they are widely naturalized. Here in my wiltshire garden in mid February, it’s pretty much the only thing out apart from a few primroses. In the wider countryside the gorse Ulex europaeus is flowering bright and yellow as it almost always seems to do, does it ever stop flowering?

It seems to be difficult to find much information on where the snowdrop fits into our ecology and as this is such a showy plant, if native, it’s surprising that earlier written records of it growing in the UK haven’t been found. 

It does have the interesting ability to open its petals upwards and outwards when temperatures reach 10°C and above and pollinating insects are likely to be flying.

Even if not previously native, It’s a plant that we seem to accept as our own, as a welcome introduction. With a native colony as close as Brittany and being widespread on the continent this could well be a plant that can help us to confront the challenges of climate change and an upwards move of wildflowers and their animal associates as temperatures rise. 

Primula vulgaris - Primrose

Primula vulgaris is the first plant to flower in my garden this year which is not surprising as it’s all in the (common) name, primrose - prima rosa, or first (native) flower. 

This starts this series where I aim to post every native plant in my 1/4 acre Wilshire garden. Last year I counted 77 so buckle up! 

Primula vulgaris is an herbaceous perennial plant and is found typically in woodland, hedgerows and on North banks but also in grassland though they’re not super keen on hot sun, so no danger of that in the UK at the moment.

The primrose is recorded as hosting 31 British insects including two Diptera (flies) for which Primula is the only host and 29 Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) most of which are moths and a couple are butterflies including the beautiful Pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne) and fascinatingly the Duke of Burgundy (Hamearis lucina) whose larvae’s only food plant is the Primula the primrose and cowslip species.

Richard Maybe tells us in ‘Flora Botanica’ that we have Primrose Day on the 19th April which is a little way off but demonstrates just how long these little rays of sunshine stay in flower and all the early nectar they will supply to our hungry insect pollinators. Primrose day came about with the botanist Sir George Birdwood apparently suggesting this after Benjamin Disraeli’s death in 1881 as the former Prime Minister had such an admiration of the flower.