Ragwort

Ragwort is a member of the daisy family, Asteraceae, usually biennial but able to persist longer, native to northern Eurasia and carried as a weed to North America, Australasia and elsewhere. Its upright stems bear pinnately lobed leaves whose unpleasant smell when bruised explains its many 'stinking' names, and from June into autumn it carries dense, flat-topped clusters of bright yellow flower heads whose seeds drift away on the wind. It is a rich source of nectar and the food of the cinnabar moth's caterpillars, yet farmers treat it as a pest because its alkaloids poison cattle and horses. Grieve records its old use as a poultice for aching joints, a wash for burns and sores, and a source of green and yellow dyes, and its name Staggerwort from a supposed cure for the staggers in horses. Under its Manx name, Cushag, it is the national flower of the Isle of Man. Folklore makes it a steed: witches were said to ride ragwort stems by night in Cornwall and Scotland, Irish fairies to turn it into horses, and leprechauns to hide treasure beneath it. In magic Cunningham gives it to Venus and water, and to protection, noting the Greek amulet against charms; Kynes adds courage, divination and prosperity, and ties it to Samhain.