Wednesday 4 May 2011
Common Milkwort
Short turf is currently sprinkled with these tiny blue and pinkish flowers. Just to be confusing, they are the same species, Common Milkwort (Polygala vulgaris). And further confusion is possible because there is another milkwort here which is also plentiful, the Heath Milkwort (Polygala serpyllifolia), which also has blue flowers but never pink ones. The quickest way of working out which is which for blue flowered plants is that the leaves of Common Milkwort alternate up the stem, whereas in Heath Milkwort they are in opposing pairs.
Malcolm
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Thanks, Malcolm. I've often wondered about the difference between these two species. Becky
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