Why Is It Called Stinky

The plant is said to have got the name ‘stinking willie’ after it spread in the path of William, Duke of Cumberland, as a Jacobite rebellion reached its peak at the 1746 Battle of Culloden.

Is ragwort the same as stinking willie?

Ragwort is a 40-80 cm tall, biennial belonging to the daisy family (Asteraceae). … The green leaves are pinnately lobed, the lobes getting bigger towards the end of the leaf and have a rather unpleasant smell, which explains some of the plant’s English common names like stinking Willie, stinking nanny and mare’s fart.

Why is ragwort called ragwort?

The plant has an unpleasant smell and is also known as ‘Stinking Willy’. After the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the victorious English are said to have renamed the attractive garden flower Sweet William, in honour of William, Duke of Cumberland. The defeated Scots retaliated by naming ragwort, Stinking Willy!