Caprifoliaceae
Elder's cousin, the familiar Snowberry, planted as food and cover for game, is found throughout Surrey. Another childhood memory is "snowballs" - pelting each other with the waxy, white fruits. Artists John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt, who stayed in Ewell and Cuddington to create their well known Pre-Raphaelite masterpeices, describe playing the same game at Worcester Park Farmhouse - you are never too old for a game of snowballs!
Epsom & Ewell Flower Finder
Caprifoliaceae: Elder Honeysuckle & Valerian Family
Superb wildlife plants and very pretty additions to any garden. The common Elder and the characteristic earthy smell of the leaves is a powerful memory to any child who has explored and created dens in a park or woodland area.
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Centranthus ruber
Red Valerian, Jupiter's Beard, Fox's Brush
Blue-green hairless leaves. Plant 0.8 metres high.
About
Highly attractive flowers, spreads easily thanks to "parachute" seeds. Red, pink and white examples have been found growing together. Popular with butterflies and moths. A walk though a coastal village in Cornwall will give you a good view of one of this family. Growing on old walls, along with Fuchsia and Hydrangea, the pink (and sometimes white) Red Valerian is such a pretty sight!
As well as nectar hungry bees, you may spy a "hummingbird". Many have been fooled by this sight - it is a Hummingbird Hawk Moth. Like Red Valerian, it is a migrant from the Mediterranean region. The plant has followed us home from our holidays and grows all over the borough - on roads, in gardens and parks.
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Sambucus nigra
Common Elder, Aelder, Ellhorn
Deciduous shrubby plant. Height up to 10 metres.
About
Making alcoholic drinks from the May blossom and Autumn berries have been a popular country craft since ancient times. Elder is found throughout the world and is a food plant for First Nation peoples of North America. UK wildlife depends heavily on this plant.
Raw Elderberries are slightly toxic and will give you a bad stomach. Cooking removes the chemical responsible and with the addition of sugar and a wine yeast, the results are good. Badgers are happy to enjoy them as they are.
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Valerianella locusta
Common Cornsalad, Lamb's Lettuce, Mâche
Sparsely hairy. Height up to 0.4 metres.
About
Tiny blue/lilac flowers. Originally cultivated as a salad crop, it escaped and now decorates old walls, pavements and gardens. Contains three times the Vitamin C as lettuces, so as long as you KNOW WHAT YOU ARE PICKING worth adding to your vegetable patch.
As a wildflower it is scarce so I was pleased to find it growing on a retaining wall. In French cuisine it is known as Mâche, a speciality of Nantes in the Pays de la Loire region (produces most of the country's supply). Grazing mammals enjoy the leaves.
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More information
SURREY'S WILDFLOWERING PROJECT is a community-led initiative, aiming to build a partnership that enables wildflowering in the county as well as promoting and celebrating the boroughs/districts diverse environments. Do take the time to find out more about the project and if you can get involved, even in a small way, you will make a difference.
THE SCC BLUE CAMPAIGN© The Epsom & Ewell Flower Finder. I'm out and about but you can get in touch via Cuddington Online Facebook 