I’m not normally one for picking wild flowers as I prefer them to be left to fulfil their natural life cycle, and I believe them to be more beautiful in their own environment than in a vase. However with this year’s abundance on my wife’s birthday when the Pennywort came out in flower I wanted to show a simple pleasure which would have graced many a cottage table in times gone by.
Pennywort is a rock plant that has evolved to grow on man-made walls. A most delicate edible plant that was revered by Nicholas Culpepper in his 1652 “The English Physitian” as a cure for many ailments, too many to list here. With its belly button looking leaves and nectar rich flowers its existence is usually low key in quiet damp rocky areas or under trees. However in Treflach with its many walls it shows itself off with style!