Weed or flower?

[ameno]

It's ragwort.
It has pretty yellow flowers in the summer, and it's also the food plant of the cinnabar moth, which is a day-flying red-and-black moth which has rather striking orange-and-black stripy caterpillars, which appear in large numbers. The moths are fairly common, so if you leave it you may well see caterpillars on it this summer (I see them in my garden some years).
But, it can also spread a fair bit (it has seeds like dandelions, on little parachutes) and it's poisonous (it's considered a problem weed on grazing land for that reason).
If you decide to pull it out them it can go on the compost bin roots and all. As long as you chop the roots up, they won't grow back, and it won't poison your compost.

[Jungle Jane]

Thanks ameno I’ll google the flowers in a sec I could deadhead before seeding everywhere like with my broccoli
Edit - yeh I like that

[Nicos]

Not sure if it’s the case now, but it used to be a legal obligation to pull ragwort from fields.
I spent hours and hours as a teenager pulling the stuff from fields.

Very toxic to livestock!

[ameno]

Not sure if it’s the case now, but it used to be a legal obligation to pull ragwort from fields.
I spent hours and hours as a teenager pulling the stuff from fields.

Very toxic to livestock!

From fields, perhaps, but there are no laws governing it growing in one's garden.

[stevejelf]

Weeds Act 1959 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga...8/54/section/1



Power to require occupier to prevent spreading of injurious weeds.


(1)Where the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (in this Act referred to as “the Minister”) is satisfied that there are injurious weeds to which this Act applies growing upon any land he may serve upon the occupier of the land a notice in writing requiring him, within the time specified in the notice, to take such action as may be necessary to prevent the weeds from spreading.

(2)This Act applies to the following injurious weeds, that is to say—

• spear thistle (cirsium vulgare), (Savi) Ten.
• creeping or field thistle (cirsium arvense (L.) Scop.),
• curled dock (rumex crispus L.),
• broad-leaved dock (rumex obtusifolius L.), and
• ragwort (senecio jacobaea L.);

and to such additional injurious weeds as may be prescribed by the Minister by regulations.

[ameno]

Weeds Act 1959 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga...8/54/section/1



Power to require occupier to prevent spreading of injurious weeds.


(1)Where the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (in this Act referred to as “the Minister”) is satisfied that there are injurious weeds to which this Act applies growing upon any land he may serve upon the occupier of the land a notice in writing requiring him, within the time specified in the notice, to take such action as may be necessary to prevent the weeds from spreading.

(2)This Act applies to the following injurious weeds, that is to say—

• spear thistle (cirsium vulgare), (Savi) Ten.
• creeping or field thistle (cirsium arvense (L.) Scop.),
• curled dock (rumex crispus L.),
• broad-leaved dock (rumex obtusifolius L.), and
• ragwort (senecio jacobaea L.);

and to such additional injurious weeds as may be prescribed by the Minister by regulations.

That doesn't mean you need to remove it on sight or that you're not allowed to let it grow. It just means that if you let it grow out of control you could be legally forced to take steps to remove it.
Realistically, that only applies to fields or waste land where large numbers of those weeds are growing, not private gardens where you only have one or two.

[stevejelf]

You by law have to to take such action as may be necessary to prevent the weeds from spreading. It kills livestock possibly just one plant So its up to you to make that decision

[Jungle Jane]

I’m on an estate,there’s no livestock but I wouldn’t want it spreading,it sounds like an unwanted weed that could get out of control,I might remove it.

[MelanieSW]

I had one ragwort plant on the allotment last year. By the time I'd id it, it was teeming with cinnabar moth caterpillars, so after some frantic googling decided it was ok to leave it until the caterpillars were done (they did a pretty good job of decimating it), then dug it up in late summer or early autumn. A couple of little plants popped up this spring, but they were dug up straight away.

[ameno]

You by law have to to take such action as may be necessary to prevent the weeds from spreading. It kills livestock possibly just one plant So its up to you to make that decision

That's not what that law means, actually.
What it means is that the government office has the power to serve a land owner notice to prevent the spread of noxious weeds, after which the land owner is legally required to act on it.
Until the serving of such notice, however, one has no legal responsibility to do anything about any of those weeds, although obviously many would say one still has a moral responsibility to prevent them spreading, especially into grazing land.
It's like any legal notice, really - an individual is only required to act if and when a notice is actually served.
It is different to the law governing Japanese knotweed and other invasive non-native species, which does make it illegal to knowingly allow those plants to spread to neighbouring land (the full list of such plants can be found here, and it's actually quite a long list: https://naturenet.net/law/sched9.html

Being responsible is all fine and good, but feeling one has to remove it on sight seems excessive, especially as unlike some of the weeds on that list, ragwort can only spread by seed, not by stolons or root fragments. Just remove the flowers before they set seed and you'll have no problems.

[Plot70]

The caterpillars eat all of the leaves and do not eat the flowers or seed heads. They are cunning little things allowing the plant to spread and provide there offspring with food the following year.
The main problem is if it gets into fields that are harvested for fodder.
They are OK for composting. I have pulled a few out on my plot.

[ameno]

The main problem is if it gets into fields that are harvested for fodder.

I believe that's the only problem, actually (well, the only realistic avenue for poisoning, at any rate).
Livestock won't eat the live plant, as it tastes vile, but when it's dried a lot of the foul taste dissipates so animals are more likely to be willing to eat it, especially when mixed with grass.

[Plot70]

You are right.
It is the dried leaves that are worst for livestock.

[Jungle Jane]

There’s no caterpillars or eggs but I did find a slug at the bottom,I threw it near the bird feeding area where mr & mrs blackbird likes to visit & an ant,I read they farm aphids on it. They love farming aphids everywhere I haven’t dug it out yet,it’ll go in my compost bin well away from any livestock as it dries & decomposes.

[Plot70]

Here is some ragwort on the way to a darlek.
The slugs go to the chickens. one hen likes them much more than the others do.