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From May to August, wood avens opens small yellow flowers along woodland edges, hedgerows and shady banks. Behind its five rounded petals sit five large, pointed sepals, alternating with five smaller ones, so that from behind the flower looks like a green star. Its flowers are visited by small bees and hoverflies.
Once pollinated, each flower becomes a round cluster of seeds, every one ending in a tiny hook. These catch on the fur of passing animals and on clothing, carrying the seeds into new ground, which helps it spread through hedges and young woodland.
Its other name, herb bennet, comes from the medieval Latin herba benedicta, "the blessed herb." Its roots smell of cloves and were once used to flavour ale, scent linen and keep moths away, and the plant was hung in homes as a charm against evil. In medieval Christian symbolism, its three-lobed leaves were linked to the Holy Trinity and its five petals to the five wounds of Christ.
From May to August, wood avens opens small yellow flowers along woodland edges, hedgerows and shady banks. Behind its five rounded petals sit five large, pointed sepals, alternating with five smaller ones, so that from behind the flower looks like a green star. Its flowers are visited by small bees and hoverflies.
Once pollinated, each flower becomes a round cluster of seeds, every one ending in a tiny hook. These catch on the fur of passing animals and on clothing, carrying the seeds into new ground, which helps it spread through hedges and young woodland.
Its other name, herb bennet, comes from the medieval Latin herba benedicta, "the blessed herb." Its roots smell of cloves and were once used to flavour ale, scent linen and keep moths away, and the plant was hung in homes as a charm against evil. In medieval Christian symbolism, its three-lobed leaves were linked to the Holy Trinity and its five petals to the five wounds of Christ.