Why looks aren’t everything

Ragwort can grow as high as three feet, producing big, flat-topped clusters of yellow daisy-like flowers.

It’s very pretty, but also very poisonous, particularly to cattle and horses. Thus Senecio jacobaea is hated by many a farmer and all horse-lovers..

In fact, so hated (and feared) that it is just one of only a handful of injurious weeds included in the Weeds Act (the others, for all you quiz question lovers, specifies five injurious weeds spear thistle, creeping or field thistle, broad-leaved dock and curled dock).

And the Ragwort Control Act 2003 (which amends the Weeds Act 1959), imposes a duty of responsibility on landowners to effectively control Senecio jacobaea, by preventing it from spreading onto grazing land.

Ragwort is rarely a problem in gardens but because it produces large numbers of seeds which are dispersed by the wind, it can find a home in paddocks, on rough ground and verges; in fact, just about anywhere and everywhere it’s possible for a seed to germinate.

But ragwort isn’t all bad. In fact, it plays a vital role in the life of many insects, in particular caterpillars of the Cinnabar moth, Tyria jacobaeae.

When they eat it, they absorb alkaloids from the plant, a fact they flaunt by their black and yellow warning colours used to inform predators that it’s not a good idea to take a bite.

The red and black, day-flying adult moth is also distasteful to many potential predators. The moth’s love for ragwort means that it is used as a control for plant in countries where it has become a problem.

In fact, 30 species of invertebrate use the plant exclusively as their food source and there are another 22 species where ragwort forms a significant part of their diet.

And as if that wasn’t enough, English Nature identify a further 117 species who use ragwort as a nectar source – from solitary bees to hoverflies, moths, and some butterflies.

So ragwort isn’t all that bad – just as long as it grows in the right place.