This tall graceful perennial is found throughout the country growing beside rivers, canals and in meadows. It is happy in both damp and dry soil conditions but grows to a greater height (up to 2m) in damp places. The pale pink flowers (3-4mm long) are borne in dense, rounded clusters on thick, erect stems, blooming from June to September. Each corolla is tubular with 5 lobes and 3 long stamens. The lanceolate leaves are pinnate and toothed and the plant is branched in its upper half. This is a native plant and it belongs to the family Valerianaceae.
My earliest record of this elegant wildflower is in 1979 in Ballyvaughan, Co Clare and I photographed it in 2009 near Baldwinstown, Co Wexford.
If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre
