Wild and Weedy Wednesday: Lysimachia arvensis

I’m back with another weed to share today, and it is one that I have seen regularly both in the UK and Germany since I was very young.

Lysimachia arvensis (also Anagallis arvensis) is known to me as Scarlet Pimpernel, and it pops up in gardens and meadows all over the place almost year round.

The bright orange flowers have always identified it for me, but I have recently heard the flowers can be blue! Well, if you have ever seen a blue scarlet, do let me know!

Its creeping habit means it can spread into flower beds sneakily. It is, however, an easy plant to pull up, with only shallow thin roots. The flowers are barely a centimetre across, and only open when the sun shines, while the soft green leaves seem pretty resilient to heat and dry weather.

What I didn’t know until now is that it is toxic, and animals avoid grazing it due to its extreme bitter taste. It has nonetheless been used in herbal medicine for treating wounds, and even internally for treating depression or mental disorders. This explains the common (and nowadays rather disrespectful) name in German: Gauchheil, roughly translated as ‘healing the cuckoo’!

Have you seen Scarlet Pimpernel in your garden? And does it always make you smile with its bright and cheery flower? I love seeing it as it reminds me of when I was first told its name in my Mum’s garden when I was a child.

One more Wild and Weedy Wednesday post to come, and then I will be wrapping it up for another year. I have covered so many of our weeds and wild flowers again this year, but I think I will still have a few to share next spring…

Happy Weeding!