Cleavers: Spring’s Sticky Gift to the Lymphatic System

If you have walked through a hedge in spring and found yourself covered in small sticky green things, you have had an intimate encounter with Galium aparine. Cleavers, goosegrass, sticky willy: it has more country names than almost any plant in the British tradition,...

Violet: The Humble Plant with Deep Roots

Violets (Viola odorata and related species) grow quietly at the edges of things: the corner of the garden, the base of the hedge, the shaded part of the lawn. They are small enough to be overlooked and distinctive enough to be recognized by everyone. Almost nobody...

Burdock: The Overlooked Root That the Herbalist Loves

Arctium lappa is the plant most people recognize by its round, hooked seed heads (burs) that attached enthusiastically to clothes and animal fur throughout the autumn walks of childhood. The plant that produces those burs is less well known: a tall, large-leaved...