Julia Tetley introduced her talk with a view of the wild flower bed from a few years ago at Hyde Hall; Ox-eye daisy, Poppy, Corncockle and Pheasant Eye (like a red buttercup) were picked out.
Some wild flowers that were believed to have helpful properties are being scientifically evaluated; e.g. Common Self-heal or prunella, now understood to have a high tannin concentration which can promote healing.
Pictures followed of the pin-eyed and thrum-eyed primrose flowers; the sweet violets in Castle Lane and pyramid orchids of Two Tree Island.
Hoary Willowherb was shown, growing where the pond used to be, just north of Hadleigh Castle.
Back to Two Tree Island, with yellow Agrimony, Wild Fennel and Lady’s Bedstraw — reportedly the sweet-smelling herb strewn on earth floors. Recently this has been used to create a novel etymology for ‘threshold’ by assuming that herbs and straw strewn on floors could be labelled ‘thresh’ which is then kept from spilling out the room with a board or “thresh-hold.” There appears to be no basis for this derivation in the Oxford English Dictionary.
Pictures followed of many other plants, including the two whose flowers differ only in colour. Salsify has pink flowers and Goatsbeard is yellow.
This abundance of interesting and useful wild flowers in the area highlights a valuable resource of local knowledge which researchers could use.
After the tea-break, Julia rounded off her talk with a determined effort to convince us that even Common Plantain has a charm all its own if allowed to flower; the gardeners may not have been entirely persuaded of that; but they were enthusiastic in their applause for such an interesting talk.
Any errors are the responsibility of the reporter.
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