Thursday 21 May, starting at 11 a.m., Culinary and other Uses of Wild Plants, walk starting from the Woodfield Pavilion, Tooting Common, London Borough of Lambeth.

Report: Five people turned up for, and apparently enjoyed, this walk.  Initially we examined hedge garlic (Alliaria petiolata),  which despite its English name is not a garlic, but a member of the Cabbage Family, Brassicaceae.  Flowers of this family have four petals, and are said to resemble the Holy Cross, hence all species are said to be edible.  Other plants discussed included lords-and-ladies (Arum maculatum),   the roots of which were used to produce starch used for stiffening ruffs worn in Stuart times, and elder (Sambucus nigra), which has ‘the unusual distinction of being useful in every part’.

Image: elder, Romford, London Borough of Redbridge, June 2024.