January&February from British Wild Plants Calendar 2017

Common Hogweed

Heracleum sphondylium

Order: Apiales

Family: Apiaceae

Genus: Heracleum

habitat: in meadows, open woodlands, on roadside verges

distribution: widespread and common throughout the UK isles

Common hogweed is a carrot family, common hogweed is found almost everywhere in the UK.  As the winter here, south east Wales, is mild, delicate buds comes out from the grounds in the late winter such as common hogweed as well as other wild plants.  

Seeds are elliptical and hairless, of which umbels radiate outward from the centre of each stem.  In early summer to summer tiny white flowers in umbels blooms among other carrot family plants.

Giant hogweed is in the same family, but it was introduced as one of the ornamental plants to the UK, and naturalised.  Its appearance is similar to common hogweed, but it is impressively gigantic (2-3 meters) and grows mostly at riversides.

So, this image can be seen in the winter when  we walk in meadows.  The sees pods are almost fallen on the ground but some seeds are still on the umbels.

Today, it was cold but dry and sunny afternoon.  The January blue sky was above the wintry meadow with the mixture of brown of dead plants and green of grass and ever green.



*I had used one vinyl plate for each print before, which means I put a lot of colours on on plate.  For this year's calendar, though, two plates were used for each print.  To be noted; one wild plant print is for 2 month.  I will update the plant story in January (now), March, May, July, September and November.