One of the attractive wildflowers growing mainly in hedges and on verges is the Green Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens) with its little deep blue flowers.  The name “Sempervirens” comes from  “everliving ” meaning  “evergreen” as the leaves grow in winter and “Alkanet” from the Arabic word for “henna” because the roots were sometimes used as a cheap substitute for henna used by Egyptian women for dyeing their hair and nails.. Although it was not very common until fairly recently it was introduced into Britain before 1700 and first recorded in the wild in 1724.  It can be a problem in a garden because of its seeds and it has a long tap root which is difficult to remove as just a tiny bit can grow then soon spread.  It seems a more apt name would be Blue Alkanet because of the flowers and also as a blue dye could be made by adding alkali hydroxides to the root extracts whereas adding acids makes the dye red. The stamens are hidden inside narrow flower tubes with the white centre helping bees and insects locate the flower especially in early spring when there are fewer flowers. In a long stretch of these plants beside the road, this one attracted my attention because it alone had some pink flowers too.