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Weed I.D.

BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,499
Can someone put a name to this weed, please



I wonder why plants have evolved to have roots in a variety of colours. I am sure ‘for ease of identification by Rutland gardeners’ was never part of the master plan.


Rutland, England

Posts

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,391
    Brassica of some kind by the looks of it, probably Brassica napus (Rape)?
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,499
    edited April 2021
    Thanks for the suggestion, Bob, but I would be surprised if it is a brassica. This one grows to about 8” and there are isolated clumps of it, each shoot a couple of inches away from the next spreading by these visible white roots, not unlike couch grass. The full sized leaves are an inch long and half an inch wide.
    Rutland, England
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,499
    Checking online, I think it is selfheal, prunella vulgaris. I see it can be bought from herb nurseries for £5 a throw. I can just imagine Catherine Tate’s ‘Nan’ having decided views on that.
    Rutland, England
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,462
    Could it be Enchanter's Nightshade, Circaea lutetiana?
    I have it in some parts of my garden, likes a cool, moist root run and does run, but nothing like ground elder. The flowers are pretty in a dainty, understated way.
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,499
    Thanks @Buttercupdays, I think you have it.
    Rutland, England
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