Went round to Janes to pick up some books and paper. As I was turning the Smart-Idiot to leave I noticed a few little white points in the grass. It was a plant with tiny pinky-white flowers that I had never noticed previously.

I snipped out a plant and took it back with me I had to take my hearing aid in and leave it for a new tubing to be fitted. After that I quickly headed home to the ring-flash and Sony A77.

The flowers were only about 5mm across and I had to add a 4 dioptre to my 10 on the end of the Tamron 90mm. This brought me up to just over 3 x lifesize. Had a good session and also tried it with the 1.7 tele extender as well. Looked in Octopus but couldn’t make it out. Went through the Readers Digest Wild Flowers book page by page and located it. That book is the best buy - 50 pence - I ever made at a car boot sale. Octopus had had it mixed in with the blue flowers, when I checked by name, Vervain Verbena officionalis. 

Now I can post it to the Flora group in Flickr.   I hate not being able to post flower pix without an identifying name. Culpeper says amongst other things of this :—

Vervain is hot and dry, opening obstructions, cleansing and healing. It helps the yellow jaundice, the dropsy and the gout; it kills and expels worms in the belly, and causes a good colour in the face and body, strengthens as well as corrects the diseases of the stomach, liver, and spleen; helps the cough, wheezings, and shortness of breath, and all the defects of the veins and bladder, expelling the gravel and stone. It is held to be good against the biting of serpents, and other venomous beasts, against the plague, and both tertian and quartan agues. 

And that is only about one third of its virtues, a real 

Panacea it would seem

Delicate little flowers and a mid-stalk leaf.

.