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Speedwell - Heath Speedwell
Common Milkwort - Western Isles - Yellow Wild Flowers - Wildflowers - Flora of The Isle of Harris - The Isle of Lewis - Hebrides Flowers
You can see these lovely blue wildflowers in The Western Isles.. The plant is very similar to that of The Heath Milwort, however the leaves of Common Milwort are arranged alternately up the stem, wheras in the Heath Milwort the lower leaves are oppopsite each other up the stem.

Western Isles Wildflowers - Wild flowers of The Hebrides - Blue or Pink

Common Milkwort - Western Isles Blue Wildflowers
Common Milkwort - Polygala Vulgaris
Western Isles Wildflowers
Common Milkwort Blue PInk Mauve or White Wildflowers
These lovely wildflowers are native to the Western Isles, Scotland. Lovely blue, pink or occasionally white wildflowers. A perennial herb that that like the soil in the machair that has had the broken shells blown into the sand. The flowers are udder shaped. These flowers are part of the Polygalaceae family.

Flowers - May - September
The flowers show themselves from May through to Sepember. This wildflower plant grows to about 14 ins in height. The stems have lots of branches and are woody at the base. The flower's outer three sepals are normally small, green and insignificant, while the inner two sepals are bigger

 

Similarities between Heath & Common Milkwort
Common Milkwort is quite similar to the Heath Milkwort but in this species the inner sepals are usually longer than the petals and the other difference is that in the Common Milkwort the hairy leaves are arranged up the stem alternately (as in the picture opposite) whereas in Heath Milkwort the lower leaves are dead opposite each other up the stem.

Food for Moths and Butterflies and Bees
This lovely plant is a favourite food source for moths and butterflie and heavy insects – such as bees – which are able to bend the lower petal’s grooved tip downwards to open the way to the nectar


Name Derivation - Milk Yield for Cattle - Mini Udders - Wild Thyme

The family name is derived from Greek and means "much milk" - it was believed that the cattle that grazed on these plants had a good high yield of milk. Another suggestion is that the plant was so named as the flowers are like mini udders. It was once believed that a nursing mother could increase her production of milk by eating this plant.
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Western Isles Wildflowers - Flora & Flowers of The Outer Hebrides - Hebridean Wild Flowers
Blue - Pink - Mauve or White Western Isles Hebridean Wildflowers
This section of the website details the flowers that I have seen todate. Should I have identified any of the wildflowers incorrectly or given information that isn't correct - All comments welcome Chris@GcwWeb.com

WESTERN ISLES WILDFLOWERS