Blooming gorgeous: winter aconite

Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) is native to woodlands of France, Italy and the Balkans, but is now widely naturalised across other parts of Europe, including the UK.

The small yellow flowers pop their heads out very early in the year, which seems like an unusual tactic for a flowering plant. However, as with everything in nature, there’s method in the madness! It grows most abundantly in deciduous woodlands, and the strategy of flowering early enables it to take advantage of the maximum amount of sunlight penetrating the canopy without the leaves blocking the light. Being one of the earliest flowering plants, it has very little else to compete with for light and nutrients at this time of year. Part of its Latin name hyemalis actually translates as ‘winter flowering’.

Interestingly, winter aconite is actually poisonous when ingested by humans, as it contains cardiac glycosides that affect the heart; if ingested in large quantities, it can cause irreparable heart damage. So this is not a plant to mess with! We see it flowering around the reserve car park and the office in the early part of the year, giving us a little burst of hope and spring on those short, gloomy winter days.