"And we just chop them down"
Aug 18
5 min read
18th August 2024. The whys and wherefores of the plants with animal names...
The keenest readers will know that I was at Stafford Castle last week and spent a very tranquil morning in the herb garden. What they will not know, is that my outgoing journey was less peaceful – involving a hurried detour to a local church and a frantic race against some lawnmowers. Timing, as with last week’s blog, was significant. In short, I wanted to find a plant called Mouse-ear Hawkweed and knew that I would find at least one in the churchyard. Providing the grass hadn’t already been cut, of course.
Earlier in the week, I had been amazed to see the front section of grass carpeted with a veritable mischief of Mouse-ear Hawkweed, and made a mental note to return with my camera asap. On the visit before that I had only seen one, and it had been cut down.
With Sunday service approaching, I guessed that the blades would be back for a tidy up and I was right. Flat on my tummy with my phone outstretched in one hand and holding the plant’s stem steady with the other, I was interrupted no more than 5 minutes later by the sound of a heavy vehicle parking up. Two men, one burly and one ruddy-faced (aka nice chaps), purposefully started unloading whilst I swiftly took another batch of photos and then met them at the gate.
“I knew someone would be here to cut the grass”, I started (forgetting to say hello). There’s a plant I wanted to take a picture of. It’s called Mouse-ear Hawkweed and has hairy leaves shaped like a mouse’s ear”.
To their credit, neither of them laughed at me.
“S’alright. We can start cutting the grass over there, first”, says Mr Burly, unfazed.
“Sorry, I’m a bit of a nerd, when it comes to wildflowers” (This fact was not denied).
“And we just chop them down”. Which neatly drew our brief conversation to a close.
The reason for my preoccupation with Mouse-ear Hawkweed was to do with animals. Or rather the plants named after animals. It’s one of the many things that has fascinated me within the realms of plant identification, and you could say that Mouse-ear Hawkweed is a brilliant example, not least for it being a toofa. A two for one: carrying both a rodent and a bird in its name. Brilliant too is the feature I mentioned to the lawn mowers; the leaves really are hairy and shaped like a little ear, albeit green on top and white underneath.
Very happily, I’ve come across many other plants with animal names throughout my wanderings, including Foxglove, Great Horsetail, Black horehound, Ivy-leaved Toadflax, Goat’s-rue and Common Bird’s-foot Trefoil – but there are many more.
It probably won’t surprise you that I have tried to find out why a plant might be named after an animal and from what I can gather, the etymology variably relates to where the plant grows and its pollinator, its medicinal use, mimicry and form, folklore and fiction.
In Ogden Nash’s book, The Animal Garden, for instance, the children who are lulled into thinking that ‘botany is monotony’ and cannot keep pets, are one day gifted some magic seeds that transform their garden into a haven for plants with animal names. In a similarly whimsical vein, folklore proposes that Foxgloves are so named for the foxes able to silently stalk their prey with gloves on their feet (i.e., the seed heads). Far less prosaic, is the cowslip attribution – that the name is derived from a word meaning cowpat. (But it is at least apt in respect of their appearance in cow-grazing fields.)
Mimicry in the animal Kingdom is worthy of a blog or two in itself, though I must say that the Bee orchid (pollinated by bees trying to mate with what looks like a female bee) is a hugely absorbing example. This orchid and many other animal namesake wildflowers is on my ever-increasing to-see list... Take good care and see you next week.
Mouse-ear Hawkweed: has been described as a ragged relation to the Dandelion and you could even say it is a bit rough around the edges, in view of its hairy leaves. But I love this little wildflower exactly for these reasons – for its colourful character of yellow florets striped with red below, and for its downy green and white leaves. The leaves, incidentally, are situated at ground level in a rosette rather than along the plant’s stem and the stem ranges from 5cm to half a metre in height (though I am yet to see one that tall). Mouse-ear Hawkweed tends to grow in acidic or chalky soil and likes to hang out in dry, sunny and grassy areas in the months of May to October. Whilst the roots are thought to produce substances that inhibit its own growth or that of its neighbours, the plant has also been tapped for its antibacterial properties, its antibiotic agents and for use as a cannabis substitute.
Foxglove: in abundance has led Sarah Raven to imagine that people might expect to see their dense swathes from the moon. They’ve certainly been plentiful in the lanes where I walk during these summer months, towering over their neighbours and calling for my attention like eager children with a tale for the teacher. The deep pink colour of a Foxglove and its tubular seed heads are a striking norm (although white and apricot versions are possible) - but the rings or spots decorating the insides are just as striking. Each plant spike, which can reach 2m in height, is covered with an incredible 20-80 seed heads, and each head is just wide enough for nectar-thirsty bees. Their proliferation in woodland areas, riverbanks, hedgerows and railway embankments is due to their mighty seed production. There are thousands of seeds contained within each head and these can still germinate a decade after their dispersal. Many people probably know that every part of this plant is poisonous, but they might not know that the German word for Foxglove translates as ‘Finger hat’ and is also used to mean ‘thimble’.
References
Garden Organic (2024) Mouse-Ear-Hawkweed. https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/expert-advice/garden-management/weeds/weed-datasheets/mouse-ear-hawkweed
Garden’s Illustrated (2024) Fox's Glove and Butcher's Broom: Where Do Common Plant Names Come From? https://www.gardensillustrated.com/plants/plant-names-source-etymology-common
National Garden Bureau (2024) Those Intriguing Plant Names – Thereby Hangs a Tale. https://ngb.org/animal-plant-names/
Neil Fletcher (2010) Pocket Nature. Wild Flowers. Dorling Kindersley Limited; London
Ogden Nash (1965) The Animal Garden. M. Evans and Company, Inc; New York
Sarah Raven (2011) Wild Flowers. Bloomsbury Publishing; Great Britain
The Wildlife Trusts (not dated, but I assume 2024) Bee Orchid. https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/wildflowers/bee-orchid
The Wildlife Trusts (not dated, but I assume 2024) Mouse-ear Hawkweed. https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/wildflowers/mouse-ear-hawkweed
Wikipedia (2024) Digitalis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digitalis
Wikipedia (2024) Pilosella Officinarum. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilosella_officinarum
Aug 18
5 min read
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