Common name:
Annual mercury
Family:
Scientific name:
Mercurialis annua
Main flower color:
Range:
England, Wales, southern Scotland and southeast Ireland; most common in coastal regions
Height:
Up to 50 cm
Habitat:
Waste ground, roadsides, arable fields
Flowers:
Dioecious. Male flowers are arranged in catkin-like spikes; they have three green sepals and exserted stamens with thin white filaments and yellow anthers, while female flowers (on separate plants) also have three sepals, and a bristly ovary. Flowers form at the tip of the branched stem, and at the upper leaf nodes
Leaves:
Opposite, ovate, hairless, up to 5 cm long, lined by shallow teeth. Attached by short stalks, up to 15 mm
Season:
July to October
Rarity:
★★★★★
