Thursday 12 June 2008

allotment weeds

I brought home a piece of fumitory from my allotment (it's been hiding under the broad beans) and pored over it with a microscope and a book. On the basis of flower colour, flower size and bract shape I identify is as common fumitory (Fumaria officinalis).

I've realised that one of the plants that's seeded on my allotment is borage (Borago officinalis), but I grew a pack of mixed blue flowered seeds a few years ago, from which this came, so this doesn't count.

I also had a look round the other plots. One of them has hare's foot clover (Trifolium arvense). There are also three species of spurge. The caper spurge (Euphorbia lathyrus) is planted, though it self-seeds happily; I suspect that the other two species are sun spurge and petty spurge, but I have yet to confirm this. There is also a unidentified cichorioid daisy growing along the border of the site.

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