Common broomrape (Orobanche minor)

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Comment by Julie 11 hours ago

Thanks so much for sharing Vlada, I'm learning bit by bit about the care of puppies, they can be so full on....we've had our friend over with his puppy for a few days.  We have her a bath and a blow dry today, she was so wriggly so had to be held while I did the blow dry, then the little detangling brush.  

Puppy still managed to pick up the little hook seeds but with patience we picked them out again!

Love those little boots, they made me smile....

Yes she's picked up the little cleaver seeds as that has grown rampant this year despite me pulling it out of the garden.  Puppies are certainly hard work but very loving and fun to be with.  We call it sticky weed and as a child we used to pick it and stick it on each others jumpers!

Core Members Comment by Ꮙℓἇ∂ἇ..aka Reɪvən ღ on Thursday

No this plant I didnt bring it into my garden on my boots I dont wear them in the garden anyway.. it arrived on its own accord...

Now we have a number of plant weeds that we have to watch around our pets,with their seed pods sticking to their fur... one it a grass seed that vets warn us about if it attached to their fur and goes unnoticed it will work its way into their skin and create major issues that only a vet can cure by removing the seed head via surgery.. it kinda looks like a wheat seed initially.. 

think its called wild oats.. and it grows everywhere and no doubt in England as well..it gets between their paws and digs into their skin creating infections cos the dog bites and licks the area continually..so be aware of that one when walking the puppy wont you..I'm sure you have others there we don't have too that do similar things..my Lacuna got one in between her paws once and I had to get the vet to pull it out, she wouldn't let me touch it, she'd licked and bitten it and it was sore... In the end I got her some doggy walking shoes, so it wouldn't happen again.. she hated them initially but got used to them and it was safer than a visit to the vet again.

like these..

that deadly grass is this one..

Another one is this one called burrs I think.. we know it as Barrel Weed, the leaf is like a clover with a yellow flower..when the plant dies these seed pods drop off and so a dog walking past the plant it gets in their fur..

Then there is the Cleavers or we call them 'biddy buds'.. they stick to dog fur and cause matting issues also.. Yes I know about the Wood Avens also we have them too here.. they remind me of the buttercups in their flower but those sticky seeds are a pain in the butt for sure...

Cleaver aka 'biddy buds' in a dogs ear fur

Comment by Julie on Thursday

Yes could have been England originally.  Yes probably birds, but maybe your boots after a trek in the bush?  We have so many things popping up in the garden that we haven't planted, the most prolific being blackberry briars, difficult to trace their roots and very hard to stop them growing.  We used to have asparagus in the garden border where our conservatory stands, think it could have been frost sensitive as one year it just didn't grow at all.  Yes looks like leaves are prolific Vlada.

We have a plant growing too abundantly, it has little yellow flowers and the seed pods form in a ball shape but when the seeds ripen the individual seeds have hooks, so I've been trying to get them cut down before the seed heads form as they stick to clothes and we've had to pick them out of the puppy when she's staying.  

Wood Avens

link about the plant on The Wildlife Trust site

I actually bought this plant from a garden centre when we were planting out the back garden when we moved in, I wish I hadn't !  The other plant I bought at the same time was self heal, which is fine, self heal is edible, I tried a leaf a few years ago.  We find the odd bit in the grass and occasionally in the slate path

Core Members Comment by Ꮙℓἇ∂ἇ..aka Reɪvən ღ on Wednesday

Well it is rare here also, but I have seen it a few times in my short life, I've seen it in the bush also on my treks..so its a very old spore, just where it originally came from IDK I'd say England though it does grow in North Africa, and Macaronesia too.. it was awesome to find it in my garden, and under a native tree at that.. I wonder if birds arn't bringing the spores on their feet. I was clearing those horrid bear beeches on my back section and it was under one of them, you can see the huge leaf of it in the background of the photo. It dosn't need sunlight to start to grow as most of its growing is done underground then it pokes its head up above ground in stalks, just like how a asparagus plant grows.. 

Comment by Julie on Wednesday

here's what the online AI say about it in UK

, where it is the most widespread and commonly recorded species of broomrape. 

Where It Grows in the UK

• Distribution: It is widely recorded across southern England, becomes less common in Wales, and is rarely found in lowland Scotland. It is largely absent from the Scottish Highlands and outer islands. 

Core Members Comment by Ꮙℓἇ∂ἇ..aka Reɪvən ღ on Monday

This is the first time I've ever seen it in my garden too, so took a picture of it and had to look it up on google search, I thought maybe it was a seed that lay dorment in the soil from a previous owner that was here 20yrs ago in my house, or a bird has managed to pick it up on its foot maybe and the rain has washed it down to the bottom of the tree,.. so on looking it up I found that's the case..

Broomrape (Orobanche and Phelipanche species) propagates primarily by producing massive quantities of tiny, dust-like seeds that rely on chemical signals from a host plant to germinate and attach to the roots.. isnt that amazing..

Comment by Julie on Monday

I'm not sure if we have this here in England, I'd have to look it up

Core Members Comment by Ꮙℓἇ∂ἇ..aka Reɪvən ღ on October 25, 2026 at 6:20pm

Parasitic Nature: It lacks chlorophyll (green pigment) and cannot produce its own food. Instead, it attaches itself to the root systems of host plants—commonly clovers, legumes, and other broadleaf plants—to draw water and nutrients.

Appearance: It features fleshy, upright, brownish-purple or violet-tinted flower spikes with small scale-like leaves rather than normal green foliage.

Status: In New Zealand and many other regions, it is considered an exotic/naturalized species that pops up seasonally in lawns, gardens, and pastures where host plants grow..