Lunaria annua, Honesty

Common Name: Honesty

Lunaria annua, more commonly known in the UK as Honesty, was originally from south-east Europe, and is a garden escapee that can often be found on waste ground, railway cuttings and roadside verges.

Its purple flowers appear in May and June and are attractive enough, but it's the seed pods that most people will recognise - translucent and papery silver 'coins' that hang on the skeleton of the plant throughout the winter. In fact, it is known as the 'Money Plant' in South East Asia and 'Coins of Judas' in The Netherlands. Here, the name Honesty likely arose from the see-through nature of the pods.

Honesty has heart-shaped, green leaves with toothed edges, and pink, purple or white flowers with four petals. The flowers are followed by the recognisable oval, papery seed pods. Common in England, but scarcer in other parts of the UK. The attractive silver 'coins' of Honesty are regularly used in flower arrangements.

https://www.uknature.co.uk is a website dedicated to showing the immense diversity of UK nature and wildlife. Our vast range of habitats, from lowland arable to snow covered mountains, from storm-ravaged coastlines to peaceful inland freshwater lakes and rivers, from dry, sandy heaths to deciduous and coniferous forests, all these habitats contribute to the abundance of UK nature. We have wild birds in huge numbers either residing or visiting our shores (597 recorded species as at July 2013) and we must also not forget the humble back garden with its grass lawns, flower beds filled with nectar rich flowers, shrubs and trees, all designed to attract huge numbers of insects such as bees, moths, butterflies and hoverflies; and finally the small ponds which provide safe havens for frogs, toads, newts and even slow worms and grass snakes. www.uknature.co.uk is the showcase for my personal passion, photographing uknature in all its glory. I sincerely hope you all enjoy the fruits of my labours.