Can anybody identify this plant please?

[Geoff Dann]

1.Well developed herb paris? Paris quadrifolia (cant quite see the shape of leaves)

No. The leaves are shaped more like a goosefoot or nettle, although the texture is unlike either of those (more smooth and shiny.)

2. looks like dog mercury/Mercurialis perennis

No. None of them are Dog's Mercury, which is a ubiquitous weed all over Sussex. Too big.

3. Looks like rose bay willow herb/Epilobium angustifolium

With yellow flowers??

I'm glad they're not easy, anyway!!

 

[The Big Lebowski]

Hmmm.... Wheres harvestman when you need him

Is this for ID, or a bit of bushcraft quiz?

 

[Geoff Dann]

Hmmm.... Wheres harvestman when you need him

Is this for ID, or a bit of bushcraft quiz?

It is for ID. I don't know what these plants are and I'm going to be very disappointed if I still don't know when this thread is over. I'd post them on the WildAboutBritain website, but I'm banned from there for talking about foraging for fungi.

My area is really fungi, but I want to be able to at least say which group any plant I find growing wild belongs to, and I can't with these three.

 

[nodd]

I think you will find Number 3 is Common Gromwell Lithospermum officinale
http://www.ukwildflowers.com/Web_pages/lithospermum_officinale_common_gromwell.htm
http://www.flowers.goodpages.co.uk/index.php?page=common-gromwell

 

[Geoff Dann]

I think you will find Number 3 is Common Gromwell Lithospermum officinale
http://www.ukwildflowers.com/Web_pages/lithospermum_officinale_common_gromwell.htm
http://www.flowers.goodpages.co.uk/index.php?page=common-gromwell

Excellent! One down, two to go. Common Gromwell...seeds and leaves once used as a cure for kidney complaints and stones. Listed by Bartram as an anti-gonadotropic, and once used as a "mild contraceptive." Not as common as it used to be, but likes limestone/chalk, which is where I found it.

I like the map:

http://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/index.php?q=plant/lithospermum-officinale

It's distribution in the south of the country clearly follows the geology. The two arcs in the southeast are the chalk hills of the north and south downs, with the acid/clay of the Weald in between, further west it is widely distributed where the two lines of hills come together to form Salisbury Plain. Further west again, where the chalk is replaced by older rocks, it fades out again.

 

[The Big Lebowski]

I'm going to be very disappointed if I still don't know when this thread is over.

We will do our best'est. The seashore is my prefered playgound.

#2-Dont know why I didn't think of this before. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Impatiens_Glandulifera,_leaves.jpg

 

[Harvestman]

Hmmm.... Wheres harvestman when you need him

Harvestman has looked and doesn't have a clue. Those plants don't have enough legs for my area of expertise.

 

[Geoff Dann]

We will do our best'est. The seashore is my prefered playgound.

#2-Dont know why I didn't think of this before. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Impatiens_Glandulifera,_leaves.jpg

I don't think so, no. The colour of the leaves is wrong. However, I think I've worked out what #2 is. I reckon it's a Datura, and not D. stramonium.

Datura inoxia?

 

[bushwacker bob]

No 1 is Himalayan balsam
No 2 maybe a well grown enchanters nightshade
not sure on no 3

 

[Geoff Dann]

No 1 is Himalayan balsam
No 2 maybe a well grown enchanted nightshade

Cheers BB!