Wild Flowers of Leazes Park

 Daucus carrota                         ............It is a field                         of the wild carrot taking                         the field by force; the grass                         does not rise above it. William Carlos Williams ‘Queen Anne’s Lace’ 1921 One of the most striking and photogenic members of the umbellifers is wild carrot or Daucus carrota and it is a flower that repays regular visits as the inflorescence develops, fades then forms its fruits. Indeed, it is perhaps at its most magnificent in late summer and early autumn when the fruits are forming. Wild carrot normally likes dry chalky soils, in spite of this, there is plenty of it to be found in Leazes Park if you know where to loo...

Chenopodium album I'll no more go roaming, no more seeking, No more crushing goosefoot in the wood. With those oatsheaf locks you tossed when speaking You have vanished from my dreams for good. Poem by Sergey Yesenin (translated from Russian). It is easy to walk past this initially inconspicuous and commonplace flower that appears in the park just as summer is coming to a close and autumn is getting started. However, if you do see it you should stop and take a closer look and perhaps come on further occasions and watch it develop. Fat-hen ( Chenopodium album ) growing near Barrack road Taxonomy Fat-hen belongs to what used to be called the Goosefoot family or Chenopodiaceae but is now in the Amaranthaceae. There are a lot of members of this family that can look similar including good King-Henry ( Chenopodium bonus-henricus ), fig-leaved goosefoot (C.ficifolium), nettle-leaved goosefoot (C.murale) and others. Sometimes people give up trying to separate out different members ...