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Ragwort and friends

Our early morning walk is flanked with ragwort, Jacobaea vulgaris and handsome stands of the lovely rosebay willow herb.  
The curse of farmers, because it is so poisonous to animals, particularly horses, ragwort is one of our top ten pollinators, so, hooray for ragwort!  
It is beloved of the cinnabar moth caterpillar.  Last year I saw a single yellow and black stripy caterpillar, but this year I am pleased to say there are masses.  And they are making short work of the ragwort plants, which is precisely why they were introduced into the country, in order to control the plant!  
The good news is that the caterpillars will eventually morph into one of these beauties!

Comments

  1. Sally31 July 2018 at 23:14

    Beautiful flower of the ragwort plant but it is a curse to horses. Having seen a horse die of ragwort poisoning....it shouldn't be allowed to spread. Like all things there is always the positive versus the negative. Great photos as usual Mrs R W. Love xx

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