I thought I'd end the month with a weed. Why not? Meet, the diminutive-flowered, stinkwort (Dittrichia graveolens). A native of the Mediterranean, I have noticed that stinkwort has, over the past few years, become more and more common in the valley. Maybe I just hadn't noticed before, but now stinkwort seems to be everywhere. And this time of year is their bloom period, so they could have been making seeds as I type. I said, could have.
Stinkwort is a little stinky (like camphor) and sticky, not really a weed that one would want around. (I did read, though, that stinkwort has a claim to fame: it was once traditionally used to treat lice in chickens on the island of Crete.) Mainly found along roadsides, stinkwort had decided a disturbed area of Vinoland was just the place to take up residence. That was until I came along with a shovel. The mature plant can be quite large, so it took me two different days (getting a nasty blister each time), but now the stinkwort is no more. The weed in the photograph is a neighbour's stinkwort. The neighbours are on their own.
Sunday, September 30, 2018
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2 comments:
Invasion of the blossom snatchers.
NHW: I love it!
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