Sundew

On the poor, acidic soils of the moors, such as at Bridestones, some plants need an edge to survive. This small Tolkienesque plant, “the dew of the sun”, supplements its diet by catching small insects. Sticky hairs project from a rosette of red round leaves trapping insects, slowly turning them into a nutritious soup to be absorbed by glands on the surface of the leaves.

Folklore says sundews are good for coughs, bronchitis, whooping cough, and tuberculosis. Modern science has indeed confirmed this antitussive property. But the plant is also supposed to be an aphrodisiac, as well as being good for your heart and used to treat sunburn and toothache. Sounds like a real panacea. It also prevents freckles (!).

And if you are Scottish and have purple or yellow in your tartan than traditionally the dyes were prepared from sundews.