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What do you reckon to this 'wild flower'

(35 Posts)
BlueBelle Sat 09-Sept-17 19:00:10

This chap has come up in two places and I like it pretty little flower I m sure it's wild and probably presented to me by birds I thought it was maybe a willowherb but in my book it mentions hairy and this leaves and stem is quiet smooth What do you think

Greyduster Wed 13-Sept-17 09:36:48

It looks like Great Willowherb (as opposed to the Rose bay willowherb seen everywhere). It's definitely not balsam. We have acres of the stuff growing by our river. It has got completely out of control in the last five years and is invading everywhere.

Maranta Wed 13-Sept-17 09:02:49

I agree, it's definitely a willowherb.

BlueBelle Mon 11-Sept-17 10:48:57

Well I got my fingers out of the way for the pic I think it must be willow herb but very definitely smooth stems not a hair in sight
Did you have any luck with the Twitter last night

BlueBelle Sun 10-Sept-17 18:35:37

First of all I don't Twitter so please feel free to use the photo under your Twitter name Baggs
Maranta I ll try for a better pic tomorrow at the moment it's gale force winds and pouring rain and the poor flowers are practically hiding ?
It was the hairy stem that fooled me too it's not hairy at all

Maranta Sun 10-Sept-17 16:19:25

It does look like an Epilobium, but hirsutum is hairy and from the photos, it doesn't look like it has hairy stems/leaves.

Hilltopgran Sun 10-Sept-17 16:08:20

It is not Himalayan Balm, which is now a listed weed and must not be cultivated, and is illegal to allow itto spread. I get the same plant in my garden and it spreads very easily if you keep it, fortnately it pulls out easily! From the picture it does looks like Great willowherb. Epilobium hisutum.

Maranta Sun 10-Sept-17 15:38:55

BlueBelle, could you post some pictures without your hands in? Sorry to be picky - you have very nice hands! smile I'm intrigued by this. I follow #wildflowerhour too.

TriciaF Sun 10-Sept-17 15:22:33

Oops - sorry Baggs - that was your picture blush

Baggs Sun 10-Sept-17 15:18:27

If you don't get an ID here, blueb, may I post your pic on Twitter's #wildflowerhour (8-9pm tonight). It'd then be exposed to a lot of very knowledgeable botanists.

Or you could post it yourself if you have a Twitter account.

BlueBelle Sun 10-Sept-17 15:12:41

The one against the wall isn't my picture Tricia
Here's a couple close ups unfortunately we had a lot of wind and rain last night so it's not looking too perky
There are actually 8 petals which lie to look like four heart shaped petals not so obvious in this photo as they were a bit dashed out of shape

TriciaF Sun 10-Sept-17 10:33:49

In the photo against the wall it looks like long seed pods below the flower on the right. That reminds me of willowherb. I think it's this one:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilobium_hirsutum

DanniRae Sun 10-Sept-17 09:11:43

It's very pretty whatever it is!

merlotgran Sat 09-Sept-17 23:05:31

I wondered about calamint. The leaves are right but the flowers are wrong.

Is there a prize? grin

seacliff Sat 09-Sept-17 23:02:32

What do you think, apparently there are a huge number of different roots of calamint

seacliff Sat 09-Sept-17 22:56:51

I think it may be calamint

NfkDumpling Sat 09-Sept-17 22:38:28

My thought too, definitely campanula-ish.

merlotgran Sat 09-Sept-17 22:36:31

That's what I was wondering, Nfk. The flowers are campanula like but not the leaves.

NfkDumpling Sat 09-Sept-17 22:33:35

Is it in any of your neighbours gardens? Could it be a self seeded cultivated plant?

BlueBelle Sat 09-Sept-17 22:06:59

It's definitely not monkshead I know that one and it's definitely not the balsam flower yes Eelegran it has four heart shaped petals
The leaves do look like mint but it isn't mint, wrong flowers and no smell

DanniRae Sat 09-Sept-17 21:23:32

I thought the leaves looked like mint too.

TriciaF Sat 09-Sept-17 21:18:41

It looks like monkshood but that's usually blue.
I see a lot of it along ditches here.

Elegran Sat 09-Sept-17 20:39:49

It looks as though it has four heart-shaped petals. Is that right?

MissAdventure Sat 09-Sept-17 20:36:03

I just did a Google search of the image (which I didn't realise I could do) and Google's best guess is the Himalayan balsam.

BlueBelle Sat 09-Sept-17 20:30:33

Thanks Baggs I like it it's pretty I don't think it's invasive there are two very distinct plants but they ve just grown and flowered and don't look as if they have spread the flowers are not like that balsam Tomorrow in the daylight I ll take a close up of the flower and a leaf

Baggs Sat 09-Sept-17 20:04:45

Whatever it is , it's quite nice, Bluebelle.