Shaggy Soldier

All behind again! Chris and I had two days away in Suffolk at the beginning of the week (which I will get around to backblipping soon) and I seem to have been trying to catch up with myself since then. Pressure of work means that photography is rather a low priority just now, and the very autumnal weather, with frequent showers, isn't inspiring me to get out and about that much.

Pete found this Shaggy Soldier Galinsoga quadriradiata today while out on a cycle ride. It's a late flowering annual belonging to the Daisy family, found in arable fields, waste ground, roadsides and rubbish tips, derelict urban sites and cracks in pavements, most often occurring in the larger conurbations. It originates from Central and South America and was first recorded from the wild in 1909 (Middlesex), perhaps being originally introduced with ornamental garden plants, though it is also a bird-seed alien. Early on, it may have been mistaken for the very similar Gallant Soldier Galinsoga parviflora, and there were records from only nine 10-km squares by 1940. In the 1962 Atlas it was present in 98 10-km squares, and it has increased considerably since then.