Coltsfoot
Since I’m in Lincoln with an hour to spare I’m off to Whisby Nature Park. It’s a classic exhausted gravel pit which is useless for anything else but being used as parkland. The natural world has a small chance of establishing itself here.
These yellow flowers draw my eye to them. It looks like Coltsfoot. I remember it from being a child. I was told it was good for coughs and was originally called Coughwort.
Its scientific name is Tussilago farfara. Tussis is from the Latin for cough, just like pertussis is whooping cough. I also remember how its leaves appear only after the flower has set seed. I always thought that was strange.
It’s lovely to see it again. Which plants do you remember learning about as a child?