Billard's Bridewort is a very pretty, bushy hedgerow shrub. It can grow to a height of 2 metres. It bears small, 5mm, 5-lobed, deep-pink flowers in dense ovoid panicles on erect branches. Each flower has an abundance of long, projecting stamens. Its leaves are 3-7cm, coarsely toothed, alternate, ovate-oblong, without stipules.
This shrub is a garden escape that has naturalised in some places and it turns up on roadsides and waste ground. It is a perennial and this is the commonest among a group of subspecies. Leaf shape is an important point for identification. It is scattered across Ireland, mainly ococuring in Counties Monaghan, Kerry, Wexford & Mayo.
I first came across this attractive shrub in 2019 near Kilmore Quay in County Wexford where I also photographed it.
If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre
