Ragwort is a a beautiful wild flowering plant that provide a vital source of food, shelter and egg laying spaces for over 200 species of wildlife., including bees, butterflies, moths, hoverflies, beetles, bugs and fungi. Of these there are 30 species that are entirely dependent on ragwort as a food source and a further third of those are listed rare or threatened species. From the Sussex emerald moth and Clouded knot horn moth to the Ragwort flea beetle and three different species of leaf beetle.
Ragwort has repeatedly been found to be one of the top ten nectar producing plants in the UK, providing a vital source of food for pollinators. The plants can producing up to 20000 bright yellow, daisy like flowers a year which are rich in nectar and pollen. Solitary bees, butterflies and hoverflies can frequently be seen visiting the flowers to feed on and gather nectar or pollen.
The green, deeply lobed, toothed and sometimes slightly curly or curled leaves also provide a vital source of food for several beetles, aphids and larvae like caterpillars, including those of the cinnabar moth. Other animals like ladybirds and spiders also prey on the insects and invertebrates that feed on ragwort, you can often spot spiders laying in wait or lady birds hunting for prey amongst the ragwort leaves.
Unfortunately the leaves and flowers of ragwort also contain several toxic and bitter alkaloids which makes them highly poisonous to humans and animals like horses and cows. Ragwort is not edible in any form for humans and it is considered a health hazard when found in pastures or fields where cattle and horses are kept. Ragwort can also irritate skin so it is best not to pick or handle ragwort unless you are wearing gloves.
Many insects and invertebrates use these toxic alkaloids to there advantage however, absorbing them as they eat the leaves of the ragwort plant and storing up the toxic compounds to in turn make themselves poisonous and too bitter tasting to deter any would be predators from eating them.
One of the many species that is entirely reliant of ragwort for it’s survival is the beautiful Cinnabar moth, a bright, day flying moth that can easily be recognised by the distinctive red and black markings on its wings. Female cinnabar moths lay their eggs (up to 300 in batches of 30-60) on the sheltered undersides of ragwort leaves, when the eggs hatch out into caterpillars the newly hatched larvae start to consume and eat the ragwort leaves, absorbing the toxic alkaloids as protection in the process. The bright yellow and black stripes on the caterpillar (like the bright red and black of the adult moth) also serve as a warning to wood be predators.
Without ragwort cinnabar moths would have no where to lay there eggs and no food source for their caterpillars and neither would the other 30 species that depend entirely on this beautiful plant for their survival. So although it can be toxic to horses and cattle it is worth remembering that this is a vitally important wild plant that provides an essential source of food and shelter for over 200 species!
It is a shame that these incredibly important wild plants are often thought of as unwanted “weeds” that are often pulled up or killed off by chemicals. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all let these amazing wildflowers grow wild in our garden’s once again. Not only would you be helping wildlife, you would also be able to enjoy many of the fun ragwort activity ideas below.
1. Look for wildlife amongst ragwort
You will often find pollinating insects like bees, beetles and hoverflies on or around ragwort flowers feeding on the nectar. You might even spot other species insects hiding under the petals, leaves or on the stems. The undersides of flowers and plants are often teeming with insects, eggs, caterpillars and larva that you would normally overlook. It’s the perfect place for them to shelter away from predators, wind and rain as well as often providing a source of food. You could take a notepad or camera with you to record your finds or even print out some nature bingo or scavenger hunt sheets. You could also help citizen science by recording any thing you find on either the iSpot or the iRecord databases.
2. Learn about the life cycle of a cinnabar moth
Cinnabar moths have a life cycle like butterflies, they lay eggs which turn into caterpillars (otherwise known as larva), the caterpillars then eat and grow and eat and grow until they are ready to transform into the pupa stage. The caterpillars then crawl down the plant and burrow into the earth where they then harden the outsides of their bodies turning them into protective pupa. Inside the pupa an amazing transformation is taking place, the caterpillars use digestive enzymes to dissolve themselves and then their cells are rearranged and rebuild to form adult moths. Nine or ten months later an adult moth will emerge from the pupa to eat, mate and begin the life cycle all over again. You can find out more about moths here with lots of simple and easy activity ideas.
3. Conduct a wildflower survey
It is so simple and easy to conduct a simple wildflower survey where you learn how to recognise plants like Ribwort plantain. All you need to do is explore a small section of grass, lawn or meadow to see how many wild flowering plants like ragwort you can find. Its a wonderful way to learn about different types of wildflowers and you can easily identify any you find using free downloadable wildflower guide sheets or wildflower guide books (check your local library for free copies to borrow).
4. Egg carton ragwort flowers
We hate to waste anything and recycling and reusing materials is one of many small things we can all do to help the environment. So instead of chucking used egg cartons we like to find ways to use them in crafts and activities. You can cut easily use the bottom cups from egg cartons to make simple ragwort flowers. Simply cut the bottom egg carton cups out and the slits into the edges to fan them out into petals.
5. Egg carton cinnabar moth caterpillars
You can also make a simple cinnabar moth caterpillar using an old egg carton. You will just need the base of an old egg carton and paint, pens of collage material. Simply cut the bottom of the egg carton in half and then careful cut around three of the joined round segment to form the caterpillars body. You can then add colour and details to your egg carton caterpillar using paint, pens or collaged materials.
6. Hand and finger print ragwort
It is so quick and simple to make hand print and finger print ragwort paintings. It’s a great sensory and fine motor skill activity for children of all ages. Simply dip your hands in green paint and then print them onto paper or card to form the ragwort plant stems and leaves. Then dip your fingers in yellow and or orange paint to finger print on the ragwort flowers.
7. Cardboard tube ragwort flowers
To make cardboard tube ragwort flowers simply cut an old cardboard kitchen roll tube in half (or if you are using an old wrapping paper tube cut it into into quarters). Next you need to cut an even pattern of slits into one of the ends of the tube. Finally bend and fan out the strips to form the petals of your ragwort flowers.
You can then dip your ragwort flowers into paint for printing onto paper or card. Or even just decorate and paint the tubes themselves to create pretty ragwort flowers for decorations or use in pretend play.
8. Cardboard tube cinnabar moth caterpillar
You can also make some cute cinnabar moth caterpillars using old cardboard tubes. Old kitchen roll and wrapping tubes work well for this. Simply paint the cardboard tube yellow and then paint on the black head and warning stripes for the body. You could also cut the ends to form a rounded head and bottom. When the caterpillars are finished you can use them as decorations, story props, napkin rings or even fill them with sweets or presents to give as gifts.
9. Ragwort mirror image print
Mirror image painting is a quick activity that also looks really effective. Simply fold a piece of paper or recycled cardboard in half. Unfold the paper or card and then paint half of a ragwort leaf, plant or flower shape onto one half of the paper. Then fold the paper or card back up again and press down firmly across the whole of the surface. When you open the paper or card back up again you should have an interesting mirror image print of your ragwort.
10. Ribwort plantain potato prints
Potato printing is a simple activity for children of ages, all you need is a potato cut in half, a bit of inspiration and some paint to get started. Potatoes are a great environmentally friendly material to use as stamps for printing as you can compost them after use. To create a ragwort potato print you just need to cut a potato in half and then cut one half into a simple leaf shape with lines for the ridges, and then cut the other half into a circle with small triangles cut round the edge to form the flower buds. Finally dip the potato halves into paint and print onto paper, card or fabric.
11. Pom pom ragwort flowers
All you need to make pom pom ragwort flowers is yellow wool, scissors a fork and a stick. Firstly wrap your yellow wool around the prongs of a fork about 20 times. Carefully slide the wrapped wool off the fork and tie another piece of wool round the middle to form a wool bow. Next cut either sides of the wool bow open and fan the wool out to create the pom pom shape. Finally push a stick through the pom pom to give your ragwort flower a stem.
12. Play a pollination game
How about playing a simple ragwort pollination game. All you need for this is a large sheet of paper or cardboard, recycled milk bottle tops, glue, paint string and a stick. First you need to paint a random scattering of ragwort flowers across the surface of your picture. A few of them need to be big enough to place the milk bottle tops in the centre.
Paint the smaller flowers with yellow centres and then glue a few milk bottle tops onto the larger flowers. Next draw, paint or cut out a picture of a pollinating insect like a bee, butterfly or hoverfly and glue a small scrunched up piece of tissue onto the bottom so it can pick up the pollen and transfer to the other flowers. Then glue or tie your pollinator to some string which you then need to tie to the stick. Once the paint and glue has dried on the picture and bee you can then fill the milk bottles tops with orange paint to make your pollen.
Now you can have fun dipping the bottom of your bee into the ‘pollen’ paint and landing it on the other flowers to pollinate them. This is a great opportunity to talk to children about the important role bees and other pollinating insects play in the life cycle of plants and trees. Did you know that a third of the food we eat comes from plants that rely on pollination? Even medicines and materials like morphine, aspirin and cotton are derived from pollinated plants.
13. Let the grass grow wild
And finally you can encourage wildflowers and plants like ragwort to grow in your garden by letting areas of grass grow long and wild. Grass is an amazing and much over looked plant that provides food, shelter and homes for a wide variety of wildlife as well as producing oxygen, absorbing carbon, preventing soil erosion, filtering water and breaking down harmful microbes and pollutants. We’ve already found that leaving areas of long uncut grass growing in the garden has massively increased the variety and amount of insects and wildlife we find. May in particular is an important time to leave the lawn to grow and flourish as this is often when any wild flowering plants (like ribwort plantain) that have been hiding in the grass begin to flourish and flower.
For day 16 of 30 Days Wild 2024 we had a Wild camp out in the garden and I went on a nature walk and minibeast hunt amongst the ragwort at our local nature reserve
If you like this you might like to try:
Ribwort plantain activity ideas
Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground 