A glorious carpet of sunshine, these beautiful flowers light up the woodland floor in the early spring.
Before they flower the young leaves can be eaten in a salad and are loaded with vitamin C. The roots are the real prize, but must be cooked before consuming. They have traditionally been used to help aid IBS problems as well as being a famous treatment for piles.
Being one of the first flowering plants of the season it nearly always appears in the last week of February just in time for the arrival of swallows, chelidonia (Celandine) being the Latin for swallow.
Dig yourself up some roots and try them out in a stew to give your digestive system an Easter treat!
Scientific name: Ficaria verna
Happy Foraging!!