Navelwort
Umbilicus rupestris
Family · Crassulaceae · Harmless
The round fleshy leaves that grow in the cracks of every stone wall in the north. Each leaf has a dimple in the middle, exactly where the stalk attaches, which is where the name comes from.
Walls and rocks · Uplands · Oak woods · Streams and ditches
Also known aswall pennywort, navelwort
How to tell it
A disc-shaped succulent leaf attached at the centre with an obvious navel. A spike of greenish tubular flowers in spring. Always on stone, walls or shady banks.
What it is confused with
Ivy-leaved toadflax
Cymbalaria muralis
They share the wall. Ivy-leaved toadflax has a lobed leaf like a miniature ivy and lilac flowers; navelwort has a perfect fleshy disc.
What it is for
Young leaves are eaten raw in salad, fresh and slightly sour. In northwest Iberian folk medicine the leaves were applied to burns and chilblains.
Traditionally used as food. This is not permission to eat it.
With documented traditional uses. Not a therapeutic indication and not a dose.
Where it occurs
Each square is an area with recorded observations of this plant. The lighter background is the set of areas where any of the entries has been observed, and serves as a reference. Note what this is not: it is not where the plant lives, it is where people record it, so trails and towns always look fuller than the mountains. Data from GBIF.
Sources
Community
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