Weeds - undervalued plants of Jaywick, 2017

Often described as ‘a plant in the wrong place’, weeds are much undervalued, sometimes considered ugly, and generally unloved. Yet for all the negative press weeds receive, they can prove to be highly useful and have medicinal properties. Weeds are also recipients of common names that vary from community to community. Lotus corniculatus, for example, has also been given names such as Eggs and Bacon, Devil’s Fingers, Ground Honey Suckle, and Grandma’s Toes. These names reflect the different ways we look at weeds.

For my exhibition at Jaywick Martello Tower, I researched the weeds that live around the tower. Selecting ten weeds in particular, I canvassed the public in order to discover the common names they knew the weeds by. I have reproduced the weeds as prints with the size of each edition being determined by the number of names collected. In this way I invite you to reconsider our community’s relation with these undervalued plants and see them under a whole new light.

Alongside this exhibition ran a series of talks and workshops, hightlighting the cross-disciplinary nature of this project. For more information about these events please click here.

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Daucus carota*

Bird's nest
Bishop's lace*
Carrot
Fool's parsley
Queen Anne's lace*
Wild carrot*

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Senecio vulgaris*

Birdseed
Chickenweed
Chickweed
Common butterweed
Flower of St Macarius*
Grimsel
Grinsel
Ground Glutton
Groundsel
Grundsel
Grundy swallow
Old-man-in-the-Spring
Old-man-of-the-spring*
Simson
Squaw weed
Swallow

 
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Rosa canina

Bird briar
Briar rose
Buckieberries
Canker
Cankerberry
Canker rose
Cat whin
Choop tree
Common briar
Dog-rose
Dog briar
Dogberry
Hep briar
Hep rose
Hep tree
Itching powder
Rambling rose
Wild rose
Witches briar

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Galium aparine

Bedstraw
Burrs
Catchweed
Cleavers
Clivers
Goosegrass
Greyhound asparagus
Grip grass
Stickyweed
Robin-run-the-hedge
Sticky bud
Sticky willy
Sticky willow
Velcro weed

 
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Papaver rhoeas

African rose
Blind-eyes
Blue-eyes
Canker rose
Cheese couls
Cheese cowl
Cock rose*
Coquelicot
Common poppy
Corn poppy
Corn rose
Cop rose
Copper rose
Cornflower
Field poppy
Flanders poppy*
Headache plant
Headwark
Prophetic leaf
Red cornflower
Red poppy
Red weed
Shirley poppy
Thunder flower
Wind rose

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Lotus corniculatus

Bird's eyes
Bird's foot clover
Birdfoot Deervetch
Bloomfel
Butter-jags
Cat in clover
Cheesecake grass
Common bird's-foot-trefoil
Cross toes
Crowtoes
Crow's foot
Devil’s fingers
Eggs and bacon
Fingers and thumbs
Fingers and toes
Granny's toe nails
Ground honeysuckle
Lady's fingers
Lady's slipper
Lamb's cress
Lamb's toes
Sheep foot
Shoes and stockings

 
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Malva sylvestris

Blue mallow
Cheese-cake
Cheese flower
Cheeses
Common mallow
Country-mallow
High mallow
Hock
Hock herb
Marsh mallow
Mauls
Maws
Pick-cheese
Round dock
Tall mallow
Wild mallow
Wood mallow

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Trifolium pratense

Bee bread
Broad-leaved clover
Clover grass
Common clover
Cow grass
Marl grass
Pinkies
Purple clover
Purplewort
Red clover
Suckles
Sugar plum

 
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Cirsium vulgare

Bank thistle
Bird thistle
Blue thistle
Boar thistle
Bull thistle
Bur thistle
Button thistle
Common thistle
Horse thistle
Scots/Scottish/Scotch thistle
Spear thistle

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Vicia sativa subsp. segetalis

Common vetch
Garden vetch
Narrowlef vetch
Tare
"The Vetch"

 

All prints for sale
£120 framed
£80 unframed

* denotes already sold.