Capsella bursa-pastoris - Shepherd's Purse

Phylum: Magnoliophyta - Class: Equisetopsida - Order: Brassicales - Family: Brassicaceae

Shepherd's Purse is one of our most common annual wildflowers, and because it blooms throughout the year there are nearly always a few of its distinctive seed pods in evidence to help confirm its identity.

Description

Four-sided stems typically 30 to 40 cm tall arise from a rosette of pinnately-lobed basal leaves with smaller arrow-shaped leaves up the stems, which are topped by loose racemes of white, four-petalled flowers. The seed pods are heart shaped (often likened to a medieval pouch-like draw-string purse).

Habitat

All sorts of grassland, track edges and field margins are colonised by this prolific and ubiquitous wildflower, one plant of which can produce up to 3000 seeds.

Flowering times

Shepherd's Purse can be seen in flower throughout the year except for periods of prolonged, heavy frost. The seeds can survive in the soil for many years, germinating as soon as disturbance brings them near to the surface.

Uses

This wildflower has been used in homeopathic medicine as a treatment for kidney and gall bladder diseases as well as being considered effective in preventing scurvy.