GAINING GROUND

You only tend to notice dog’s mercury when it’s flowering in spring woods – this member of the spurge family is hardly showy. But nevertheless it can be a bit of a thug, as it will carpet the woodland floor in great swathes, squeezing out other plants such as bluebells, wild garlic and even the seedlings of trees. It is able to thrive in shady places and has evergreen leaves, spreading rapidly with underground stem-systems called rhizomes.

FIND OUT MORE Learn about the UK’s wild plants at www.plantlife.org.uk