#benweed

Plant of the Day

Monday 1 September 2025

Considered a weed of pasture land Jacobaea vulgaris (common ragwort, benweed, cankerweed, ragweed, felon weed, keddledock, Saracen's compass, St James' weed, staggerwort, starwort, yellow tops) has many common names. This upright biennial or short-lived perennial is poisonous to horses, especially when in hay where it cannot be detected, but by contrast it is an important food plant for the caterpillars of Tyria jacobaeae (cinnabar moth).