This week, London's cracks and crannies come alive with miniature masterpieces. Discover why Persian speedwells - with their sky-blue petals and white surprise - were feared as storm omens by medieval pilgrims. Learn how these delicate "farewell flowers" earned their gruesome nickname, and why they once starred in cancer remedies.
Meanwhile, cranesbills begin their pink parade: from the velvety dovesfoot to the tearful 'Mourning Widow', whose petals fall like sorrow itself. Could a rogue wood cranesbill from Lancashire be hiding in your local park? And what dark secret gives the bloody cranesbill its name, despite its cheerful magenta hue?
Article
Speedwells
Small blue patches of speedwells Veronica spp., although common in April, are also very much a feature of May. Now several different species occur on lawns, paths, walls, woods and marshy areas. The two most striking of the common ones are Germander speedwell Veronica chaemaedrys and the Persian speedwell V. persica. The first has large, clear blue flowers with red stems and the latter has three blue and one white petal in each flower. Persian speedwell is often regarded as the most beautiful of all the wild speedwells, being a particularly clear sky blue. Germander speedwell has also been called ‘Bird’s eye’, the piercing blue of a jackdaw’s eye being similar in colour.
The old belief that medieval pilgrims wore speedwells on their lapels doesn’t marry with the fact that many drop their petals soon after being picked. This was thought to indicate a storm or something much worse, resulting in another gruesome alternative name ‘Pick your mother’s eyes out’. As they tend to lose their petals easily and intact, they also had other names, such as ‘Farewell’ and ‘Goodbye’. As ‘speedwell’ meant much the same to a medieval pilgrim as it does today, this may also have played some part in the derivation of the name.
Their English names can be quite confusing. Common speedwell is not common. Persian speedwell isn’t really Persian and V. montana doesn’t come from the mountains. Ivy-leaved speedwell V. hederifolia, thyme-leaved speedwell V. serpyllifolia and grey field speedwell V. polita do have names that help in their identification. In marshy areas the larger and more fleshy brooklime V. beccabunga may also now be seen, with its deep blue flowers. Its unusual specific name ‘beccabunga’ means ‘mouth smart’ on account of its sharp-tasting leaves which were used in salads. William Curtis, (1746-1799) who had a botanic garden in Lambeth, noted that many garden plants in his time “were not as notable as speedwells”. They were even stewed in chicken stock as a cure for cancer.
Cranesbills
Up until now there have only been one or two small cranesbills Geranium spp., herb Robert being the one that is noticed the most. Now they are joined by dovesfoot cranesbill Geranium molle, cut-leaved geranium G. dissectum and mountain cranesbill G. pyrenaicum, all of which are common in London. All these plants have small pink petals. G. molle can be separated by its noticeably soft hairy leaves. G. dissectum as its name indicates, has highly dissected leaves and G. pyrenaicum has bilobed petals and a much more straggly habit. Gerard recommended dovesfoot cranesbill with nine dried red slugs as an excellent cure for ruptures.
Other geraniums such as shining cranesbill G. lucidum, round-leaved cranesbill G. rotundifolium and small-flowered cranesbill G. pusillum are all less commonly encountered. Once again, their English names can help in identifying them.
Shining cranesbill has shiny leaves and is usually noticed as a garden weed, small-flowered cranesbill prefers sandy situations and round-leaved cranesbill is more common in the Deptford area. Dusky cranesbill G. phaeum has petals of the darkest purple. Now it is only found in gardens, where it is still common enough.
On warm, still days towards the end of its flowering period it loses its petals one by one at a rate similar to that of falling human tears, hence perhaps why its old name was ‘Mourning widow’. The brightest coloured of all is bloody cranesbill G. sanguineum which is usually found planted in rockeries or in dry gardens. In this case the English name is not helpful, as its colour is a vivid magenta and not the colour of blood.
It is also now the best time to look in gardens for other geraniums. The rock geranium G. macrorhizum and pencilled geranium G. versicolor are great favourites. Meadow cranesbill G. pratense is also very popular. It is also worth seeking out wood cranesbill G. sylvaticum which has white at the base of each of its pink petals. In the wild it is widespread, but only north of Lancashire. Because of its beauty it has been taken south and planted in many London gardens and this may explain why it is also found in Devilsden Wood.
