Yellow-wort

Description:

Yellow-wort is a native plant found in dry grasslands on shallow chalk and limestone soils. This plant will not grow on shaded sites. It is a perennial and flowers from June to October. The stem and leaves are bluish-green and are hairless. The oval leaves are stalkless and form a loose rosette at the base of the stem. The leaves on the stem are in pairs with their bases fused together, making it appear as if the stem passes through the middle of a single leaf. Yellow-wort grows to between 15 and 45 cm high. The petals are yellow and there can be between six and eight on each flower. They are joined at the base into a short tube. The Yellow-wort is a member of the gentian family and like other members of this family the flowers close up in the early afternoon.

Habitat:

Yellow-wort is distributed throughout most of southern Britain, extending as far north as north-west Yorkshire and Northumberland. This plant is thought to have expanded its range in recent years, especially in northern England, due to its inclusion in commercial wildflower mixtures on road verges and other landscaped sites.