The year's first flowers.

 ,  Among the early flowers to appear, along with the ubiquitous Daisy which is with us all the year round, is the Butterbur. The flowers appear well before the very large leaves, which in olden days were used to wrap butter as the name implies. There is a flourishing patch just east of the pumping station on the Weymouth Road, and a much smaller one at West End near the sluice which controlled the flow to the former water meadows. It's Dorset names include Early Mushroom, from its appearance when it first pushes its way through the soil, and Snake's Rhubarb. The dried roots, powered and mixed into wine, were taken against fevers, especially the plague, to provoke perspiration and 'drive from the hart all venomwere taken against fevers, especiall the plague, to provoke persperation and 'drive from the hart all venom'

  Butterbur.  Photo. John Elliott