On 2013-08-15 10:21:58 +0100, Stephen Wolstenholme said:

On Wed, 14 Aug 2013 17:30:20 +0100, sacha wrote:

On 2013-08-14 15:33:44 +0000, Stephen Wolstenholme said:

On Wed, 14 Aug 2013 15:46:40 +0100, Sacha wrote:



Well, let's hope he finds all those. Nightshade would be in the potato
family, wouldn't it? The Solanaceae? And the other two are Asteraceae,
so those must be the preferred food for that caterpillar, presumably.

The one I had preferred deadly night shade leaves. Mum played hell
with me for just picking the leaves. That's were the best caterpillars
lived!

Steve

Yes, it was one of those "we're all going to die plants" in my
childhood! But sensibly, I had very strict instructions never to eat
any plant at all without checking with a grown up! As an aside, living
right by the sea, we children all believed implicitly that sea
anemones, which we called bloodsuckers, really did do just that!

It's pretty when in flower.

When I was young we were told that a sixpence size circle cut from one
of the leaves would be a turn on. One of the gang tried a circle but
it had no effect at all.

I stood on a spiked anemone once and I could not walk after. My wife
had to pull all the spines out with tweezers. It hurt but didn't suck
my blood!

Steve

By 'spiked', do you mean a sea urchin, which is a rather more fearsome
beast. It's what the French call 'oursin'. I'm thinking of those little
blood-red blobs of jelly that cling to rocks but aren't spiny. When
covered with sea water they have little fronds that wave to and fro.
If you trod on a sea urchin, you have my sympathy. I knew someone who
knelt on one in Corsica, refused first-aid treatment and so had about
two weeks of applying ointment and waiting for the spines to emerge and
be pulled out. Nasty!
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk