Purple Loosestrife

Day spent mainly in hospital and nursing homes - not the most inspiring of places. But went for a walk along Newhall Valley with M. late this evening. He knew this was loosestrife, but not how it was spelt.

It is actually an erroneous translation of Latin lysimachia, as if from Greek lusimakhos - ending strife, instead of from the name of the supposed discoverer, Lusimakhos.

In Canada and the USA, it is destroying their natural wetlands, and is extremely hard to eradicate. Here, it seems it's encouraged, as it feeds bees and other insects. There is also a yellow variety.

There you go - education by Google - wonder if any Blippers will enlighten further...

Question to consider - What is more important in a nursing home: chandeliers, or staff that treat the residents like people?