1. [Cornwall, 1950s] Pennywort sap rubbed on nettle stings [Hilltop Garden Club, Eastcombe, Gloucestershire, December 2013].

2. Umbilicus rupestris: The lower epidermis peeled off the leaf and the leaf then used as a dressing to ‘draw’ a boil or septic spot. This method was still used in the 1940s [St Martin, Guernsey, April 2002].

3. Pennywort, also known as pennypies. used for rubbing on chilblains (information from a local man aged 65+) [Kingsbridge, Devon, April 1999].

4. Gower plant-lore … juice of pennywort as a cure for warts [Bishopston, Swansea, April 1997].

5. Pennywort leaves can be softened, a piece of grass used to pierce the stem and then blown up like balloons. (I could never do this but often saw others do it) [Minehead, Somerset, November 1993].

6. A local farmer tells me he always uses pennywort if he gets a thorn or splinter in his fingers. He peels the skin from the back of the leaf before applying and ’tis drawn out in a day or two’ [St Ervan, Cornwall, February 1992].

Images: Winchelsea, East Sussex; May 2014; inset, card from Wild Flowers (series 2), issued by Brooke Bond, 1959, ‘a card is given free in every packet of “Choicest”, Edglets and P.G. Tips Tea, also two cards in each ½lb tin of Brooke Bond Pure and French Coffee’.

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