Brookweed

Brookweed - Samolus valerandi

Description

Low to short creeping plant; leaves oval or spoon shaped, pale green, in a basal rosette and alternate up the stem. Flowers white, cup shaped, 2 to 3 mm, petals joined to half way.

Identification difficulty
Recording advice

Photo of the whole plant in habitat, plus photo of the flowers and fruits (RPR)

Habitat

Damp shaded habitats, pool, river and stream margins, ditches etc.

When to see it

Flowers June to August.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Previously almost exclusively coastal, but becoming more frequent inland now.

VC55 Status

Rare and decreasing in Leicestershire and Rutland; may occasionally be introduced. 

In the Flora of Leicestershire (Primavesi and Evans 1988) it was found in 3 of the 617 tetrads, and in 1 tetrad in the Flora of Rutland (Messenger 1971).

It is listed on the current VC55 Rare Plant Register (Hall and Woodward 2022) as Locally Rare (i.e. present in less than 3 sites)

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Additional images

No additional images available for this species.

All NatureSpot records