Plantwatch: Roadside wonders

Roadside verges are one of our great wild plant refuges. They are only narrow strips of land, but verges along our major roads total an area the size of the Isle of Wight. And they provide a home to more than 700 species of plants, almost half the native flora of Britain, with some of the last habitats left for many wild flowers, especially meadow plants – which is why the charity Plantlife is campaigning to get verges looked after better to encourage these wild plants.

Many of the roadside plants are flowering now, such as the familiar red clover, common buttercup, brilliant white oxeye daisy and the tall rosebay willowherb with its distinctive clusters of purply-red flowers. There are even rare flowers, such as the green-winged orchids on the M40 in Buckinghamshire, the Deptford pink in Devon and Worcestershire and wood bitter-vetch in Powys.

Perhaps most iconic of the roadside flowers out now is the beautiful star-shaped yellow flowers of St John’s wort. This was a magical flower in pagan rituals on Midsummer’s Day (traditionally 24 June and distinct from summer solstice) when the flower was burned on bonfires to purify crops. It was also believed to ward off witchcraft, although in Christian times Midsummer’s Day was turned into St John’s Day, hence the name of the plant. In herbal medicine, St John’s wort was also valued for treating wounds – recent research has shown that it can indeed fight bacterial infections – although its best known use these days is probably for calming the nervous system and treating sleeplessness and depression.