I've been asked if I can identify a flower a friend saw on a visit to
Scotland, but I'm not having much luck.

It was growing wild in the grounds of a ruined Abbey, and there is a picture of
it here.

http://www.ttforumfriends.com/images/forum/f1.jpg

I'd be grateful if anyone can help.

http://www.webster-dictionary.org/de...n/Siam%20Tulip is very similar...
siam tulip Curcuma alismatifolia


"Isatis" wrote in message
m...
I've been asked if I can identify a flower a friend saw on a visit to
Scotland, but I'm not having much luck.

It was growing wild in the grounds of a ruined Abbey, and there is a
picture of
it here.

http://www.ttforumfriends.com/images/forum/f1.jpg

I'd be grateful if anyone can help.

(Isatis) wrote:

It was growing wild in the grounds of a ruined Abbey, and there is a picture
of it here.
http://www.ttforumfriends.com/images/forum/f1.jpg

It is probably a Prunella (called self-heal), probably Prunella vulgaris:

http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/B8C.HTM#SELF-HEAL

Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris) also known as hook heal, all heal and
woundwort, is a low perennial herb of the family Labiatae native to
Britain and Europe where it grows in grasslands, woodland clearings,
hedgerows and on waste ground. It has a creeping rhizome which bears
erect or ascending, square, red-tinged stems, branched below. The leaves
are opposite, stalked, ovate and entire or serrate. The flowers are
purplish in colour , two-lipped and arranged in dense, terminal,
rectangular, spike-like panicles. The corolla has a hooded upper lip .
The fruit consists of four smooth brown nutlets, each with a ridge
running from the apex to the base. The flowering stems are used
medicinally as an anti-inflammatory and haemostatic.

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"S. M. Henning" wrote:

(Isatis) wrote:

It was growing wild in the grounds of a ruined Abbey, and there is a
picture of it here.
http://www.ttforumfriends.com/images/forum/f1.jpg

It is probably a Prunella (called self-heal), probably Prunella vulgaris:

http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/B8C.HTM#SELF-HEAL

This description of Prunella vulgaris makes it even more certain:

SELF-HEAL

Family LABIATAE Prunella vulgaris

Commonest by the wayside and in damp pastures, and abundant throughout
Britain.

It is a perennial with a creeping rootstock, with ascending flowering
branches, three to twelve inches high. The stem is square and the
stalked leaves are long, oval in shape, with either toothed or entire
margins. Both stem and leaves are more or less HAIRY.

The bracts of the flowerspike have PURPLE EDGES. The lipped flowers are
mostly purple, sometimes white or crimson. There are four stamens. There
is a peculiarity in the form of the stamens worth noting. The filament
branches at the tip, and one branch bears the anthers whilst the other
is pressed against the upper lip. The flowers are dimorphic, large and
small-the large perfect, the small having no anthers.

The plant is also known as Carpenter's Herb, Hook-heal, Sickle-wort and
Prunella. In olden days it was considered one of the most useful
medicines for inward and outward wounds.

Flowering from July to September.

[from The Observer's Book of WILD FLOWERS Compiled by W. J. STOKOE, 1973]

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"S. M. Henning" wrote in message ...
(Isatis) wrote:

It was growing wild in the grounds of a ruined Abbey, and there is a picture
of it here.
http://www.ttforumfriends.com/images/forum/f1.jpg

It is probably a Prunella (called self-heal), probably Prunella vulgaris:

http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/B8C.HTM#SELF-HEAL


Hmmm, looks along the right lines.

Much thanks.