Silverweed
The yellow flowering plant of the dusty wayside with silvery fern-like leaves that lay flat on the ground has been called the Footsteps of Our Lord.
Category: Rosaceae
Rose family
Size
95 genera, 2830 species.
Distribution
Worldwide distribution but concentrated in northern hemisphere, outside of desert and tropical areas.
Notable genera:
- Apple (Malus)
- Avens (Geum)
- Blackberry and raspberry (Rubus)
- Burnets (Sanguisorba)
- Cinquefoils (Potentilla)
- Cotoneasters (Cotoneaster)
- Hawthorn (Crataegus)
- Ladies mantle (Alchemilla)
- Meadowsweet (Filipendula)
- Pear (Pyrus)
- Plums, almonds, peach, apricot, blackthorn, cherries (Prunus)
- Rose (Rosa)
- Rowan and service trees (Sorbus)
- Strawberries (Fragaria).
Key features:
- Herbaceous or woody, often shrubs or trees.
- Leaves simple or pinnately compound, often arranged spirally.
- Leaf margins are often serrated.
- Eye catching flowers.
- 5 sepals, 5 petals, and many stamen.
- Flowers usually in racemes, spikes or heads. Sometimes single.
- Fruits vary from pomes to drupelets to drupes to dry capsules or nutlets.
Bullace
Often confused with damsons and other wild plums, the bullace has a less pronounced (sometimes not visible) crease and tends to be more round than the oval damson.