Two walks today… it snowed in the morning and I couldn’t resist recording my icy footprint from earlier in the day, still pressed into the gravel and resisting the warmth of the winter sun. Children were sliding down the path the whole morning on shopping bags and polythene sheets.
It was 5pm before I reached the Flieschmann corner, and took another look at both paths leading into the grove, still wondering about the ghost form of the house
There was a young plant seeking sunlight through the snow…on the grounds of the house ….is it a rose?
On the forum it has been identified as either ground Elder or Wild Angelica, Angelica sylvestris, Gallfheabhrán … I do hope it is Angelica
In damp, grassy places and woods, from July to September this majestic, sweet-scented perenniel is to be found throughout the country. Almost hairless, with deeply grooved purplish stems, the large (15cm) hemispherical umbels of pale, pink-flushed white flowers can be borne up to 2m. The bi and tri-pinnate leaves have large sheaths which clasp the stem and serve to protect the developing flower-heads. A native plant it belongs to the family Apiaceae
This plant species is said to yield a good, yellow dye and the stems have long been used in the kitchen as a decoration for sweetmeats. It has also been used for flavouring liqueurs.
Culpeper wrote that ‘the distilled water (of Angelica) applied to places pained with the gout, or sciatica, doth give a great deal of ease.
Angelica and its Umbellifer cousin, Fennel, are the preferred foodplant of Lacewing moths.