Photographs: Macroom, Co. Cork

Ground-elder / Goutweed / Bishop's Weed Aegopodium podagria Lus an easpaig Family: Apiaceae Flowering time: May-July. Perennial. Introduced. Terminal umbels of white flowers without bracts or bracteoles on hollow erect flower stems. Followed by small ovoid fruit with long downward-hanging styles. Many basal leaves, the leaflets broad-lancelate, toothed, pointed and hairless. Spreads very rapidly by subterranean rhizomes. Height: 40-70cm Grows in moist nitrogenous soils on waste ground, river banks and road verges and in gardens and woodland. Widespread, persistent and can be very invasive.

Ground Elder, Aegopodium podagraria, Lus an easpaig