Whitlowgrass

Common Whitlowgrass (Erophila verna)

Among the things already blooming in the garden (well, to be honest, they're blooming in the driveway) are many clumps of Common Whitlowgrass (Erophila verna). As you may be able to figure out from the pictures, these are tiny plants, measuring only an inch or so in height. In fact, they're so small that, until Mike pointed them out to me, I'd completely overlooked them! In my defence, I'm a bit overwhelmed by the knowledge that we've already recorded nearly 350 plant species, most of which I'm still coming to grips with identifying. This one is a member of the cabbage/mustard family, Brassicacaea. It has four petals, which are so deeply cut that it appears to have eight. The blossoms are small too — a mere 3-6 mm (1/8 to 1/4 inch) in diameter. Its seed pods are flat and oval, and almost as big as the flower.

Common Whitlowgrass is an "ephemeral" annual, springing up on dry, bare ground, well-trodden paths, cracks in pavement, shingle banks, quarries and the like. It's one of our earliest flowers, appearing from February through May. Various sources say it can grow up to 10cm (4 inches) in height, but none of our wee plants is anywhere near that tall. Perhaps it's because they're growing in places where they're regularly stepped on or driven over. Its native range includes Great Britain and Central Europe, but it has been introduced (presumably accidentally) across much of North America, in Chile and Argentina in South America, and in a few countries in western Asia. In the past, the plant was used to treat abcesses in joints and under nails. Those undernail abcesses are called "whitlows" — hence whitlowgrass!