English: Bog asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum), Cranes Moor, New Forest Bog asphodel grows in acid bogs and wet heaths, and flowers in the summer. There are many specimens growing on the wet heath around the mires of Cranes Moor and Kingston Great Common. The "ossifragum" part of the plant's Latin name means "bone breaker" - so called because it was once thought that cows who ate these plants would more easily break bones. The problem is really down to the nutrient poor soils in the bogs, which lack the calcium needed for strong bone growth.