Saw-wort
Saw-wort, Powerstock Common, Dorset
Flowerhead from side
Flowerhead from above
Small, lanceolate upper leaves
Saw-like lower leaf
Serratula tinctoria
Asteraceae
July to September
It is found throughout the country but is patchy in the
Midlands and the North and absent from parts of East
Anglia and the Southeast.
See the BSBI distribution map for Saw-wort
It grows in calcareous grassland, hay meadows, wet
heaths, open scrub and woodland, cliff-tops and beside
roads and railways.
Saw-wort is a native, perennial, variable herb, growing
up to 1m.
Flowers are up to 2cm, reddish-purple and dioecious
- the flowers shown are female with forked styles.
Bracts are pointed ovals with downy margins.
Upper leaves are sessile and lanceolate and lower
leaves are pinnately lobed with bristle-toothed margins.
Saw-wort was used to provide a greenish-yellow dye,
hence the latin name.
Previous page: Round-leaved Fluellen
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Saw-wort, Powerstock Common, Dorset
Flowerhead from side
Flowerhead from above
Small, lanceolate upper leaves
Saw-like lower leaf
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