Commonon name: Salad Burnet.
A
perennial plant with green
flowers present in June and July. Although the plant persists all year it dies back significantly in
Autumn to leave a very small plant left to survive through
winter. When crushed between fingers it smells like
cucumbers, and can be used as a
herb in salads. The plant's height is generally 10-50cm, with an
alternate leaf arrangement (alternating between each side of the stalk as you go up). This is a
wind pollinated plant, mainly present on chalky bases and on Fixed
Sand Dunes.
Rooting depth of up to arround 35 feet in order to get to
water reserves, as its habitats are often very
dry. In very wet conditions its roots
rot easily. The soils it inhabits are generally
pH 5 - 8, but it can cope with pHs down to as
low as 4.
P. sanguisorba is very trample and grazing
resistant and will
regenerate well and relatively quickly. For this reason it does well in many areas that other plants do not, such as on paths, where it is considerably shorter than in other areas, due mainly to a lack of
competition rather than to damage from trampling.