Settle Wildflowers - Day 49 - White 14 - From Ground Elder to Elder to Guelder Rose then other members of the honeysuckle family

1. Ground Elder  Aegopodium podagraria - is a member of the Umbellifer family. The leaves are edible, but more tender if picked early in the year.


This Ground Elder was the first to come into flower in the Mains on 29 May. It will be familiar to many gardeners. 

A plant with similar looking leaves and flowers is:

2. The Elder Tree or Elderberry  Sambucus niger



Elderflowers on 1st June

Now this is a "food for free" plant I can recommend: Elder flower Fritters.  Dip  one of the big flowerheads as in the picture above into batter (Yorkshire-pudding batter - same as pancake batter) then fry in deep fat for 20 seconds - then serve with lemon-juice and sugar.


Elderflowers have fused petals (they start of as a tube and then have five lobes. They are members of the Honeysuckle family.
The Honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae) are the only woody plants with fused petals, inferior ovary and stamens only 4 or 5.

Another member of the Honeysuckle family is Guelder Rose

3.  Guelder Rose Viburnum opulus 



Guelder Rose

It is interesting that its head of flowers are arranged like many umbellifers with bigger flowers at the edge.. This one is planted near the path that leads down from the Langcliffe village over the railway to the Caravan Site.


When I was in Addingham on 16 March - (that was before  Lockdown on March 23) a friend showed me a garden shrub and taught me its name.

4. Viburnum tinus - Eve Price

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On 1 June I was walking in the path beside the railway to the Hofman Kiln I espied a shrub with these beautiful flowers - arranged in pairs.

5. Weigela florida

Yes it too is a member of the Honeysuckle family too. It is Weigela florida - a garden escape




Click here for more flowers coming out around Settle