at last! Annual Mercury

[Two_Sheds]

At last I've found out what this dratted weed is. I've just been to plot and the bladdy thing is flowering, in the middle of winter.

I've never found it in any of my gardening books nor on any websites, but I've just had 'another go' and struck gold.

Mercurialis annua aka Annual Mercury.

"Annual mercury was found in 3% of conventional sugar beet crops surveyed in East Anglia in autumn 1998"

so that explains how it got on my allotment! We're surrounded by beet fields here.

anyone else got it, or is it confined to East Angular? Derby City Council says "Annual Mercury is a very rare annual of gardens, cultivated ground and waste places". It's not rare round here mate.



Oh, and do you like my new signature? I thought it rather ironic

[OverWyreGrower]

We have tons of that stuff (along with the usual culprits!)

My garden was once upon a time farming land, so not a surprise

[Two_Sheds]

"Annual mercury is rich in potassium" Good, I'll keep adding it to the compost heap

"The plant is poisonous if eaten by livestock. The seeds are the most poisonous part but are important in the diet of bullfinches."

Never seen a bullfinch, but I'm glad I never fed it to the guinea pigs (they have a lot of other weeds eg chickweed, sow thistle, dandelions)

[Snadger]

I'm sure thats the stuff I keep pulling out from my mint patch? It blends in well and is hard to spot!

[Glutton4...]

If it's the stuff that starts off looking like Fat Hen then yes, I've seen it all over the place. A lot of the places we worked in my last job were newly-developed farmland. I always wondered what it was called!

You're right Snadger, it looks a lot like Mint in the first picture.

[Nicos]

I've never noticed it when I've been weeding ( N Cheshire)

[FoxHillGardener]

ah yes, we had that in Stoke Newington, East London. Not much sugar beet though