Seen on my walk - bluebells and more.

The `Lock Down` to continue for three more weeks - so went the news. Oh well, just more long walks with the camera, in the sunshine. What a shame!! Several interesting plants this few days which make me glad I live on the edge of the countryside. Most of the images of plant life were taken on this one walk

What would the Spring season be without Bluebells? Here are a couple if images taken from the edge of some woods in Layham. With some really good weather this year they really are looking spectacular. 

Lone Bluebell on the roadside. 

Rands Farm in a lovely setting at the end of Rands Lane. 

Love the shape of this tree on the pathway leading to Bullocky Fen. I am told the name comes from years gone by when drovers took their cattle down this lane to drink at the lake. 

Beautiful lake owned by Hadleigh Fishing Club, tucked away at the bottom of this lane. What a spot. 

Nearby, some Horsetails. 

Horsetails are pretty unmistakable but deciding which specific species can be a bit tricky. Fortunately, the various species tend to have their own habitat preference and if you find a horsetail in damp meadows then it will almost certainly be marsh horsetail (Equisetum palustre). This one was taken in a fen area near a local fishing lake - no problem there! 

Climbing away from the fishing lake, I make my way across some fields, ending up in the driveway to Hill Farm, and then down to the Hadleigh Rugby Club. 

Bird Cherry or (Prunus padus) As its name suggests, the bird cherry is a native tree related to the wild cherry. It can be found in wet woodland or along stream edges and hedgerows. As it can tolerate greater exposure and elevation than wild cherry, it often grows in upland woodlands. Its fragrant flowers appear around April and produce black and bitter fruits. It is a useful tree for a variety of wildlife: the flowers provide nectar and pollen for insects, and the fruit are eaten by birds, badgers and small mammals. Additionally, some moth caterpillars eat the leaves. Seen on one of my walks across the fields and puzzled me for some days! 

Possible a first brood male Green Veined White. Obligingly took a rest while I photographed it 

This I believe is Sun Spurge which is classified as an annual weed, and is common throughout the UK. Seedlings usually emerge from April to October, but it can grow all year round, especially in mild climates. There were several patches near the Bluebell wood. 

Also, Spurge makes an attractive addition to the cultivated garden. This is planted against a wall and looks rather spectacular in that setting. 

Wild garlic is a medium-sized bulbous perennial with a distinctive and pungent garlicky smell that pervades woodland in spring. I believe its proper name is Ramsons or Allium ursinum 

Finally, we have Lords-and-ladies (Arum maculatum) with its bright autumn berries, is a valuable perennial for shady borders, but its tendency to self-seed means it can quickly become a nuisance. I have spotted several in the hedgerows and verges this year, and was not aware that people grew this in their gardens! 

Another great walk, although the fields are a bit rough in places! Well worth it though for all the nature seen. 

  Index of posts

Signs of Spring in Lock-Down time (2)

Some more flowers seen on my morning `One exercise session per day.` It really is surprising to see how much is to be seen every year in our verges and pathways. When you are focused, it's an amazing and beautiful world. All the following were seen on my walks.

When on your lawn, the Dandelion is a pest, but in reality is a rather pretty flower. On the plus side, Dandelion greens are edible and are a rich source of vitamin A. Dandelion has been used in traditional medical systems, including Native American, traditional Chinese, and traditional Arabic medicine.

It also has a long history of use for problems of the liver, gallbladder, and bile ducts. Today, dandelion as a dietary supplement is used as a blood “tonic,” as a diuretic, for minor digestive problems, and for other purposes. The leaves and roots of the dandelion, or the whole plant, are used fresh or dried in capsules or extracts. As a food, dandelion is used as a salad green and in soups, wine, and teas. 

However! - There’s no compelling scientific evidence supporting the use of dandelion for any health condition.! So I have read. 

Here I have two offerings. One of the flower in full bloom and one of its easily recognised seed head form. I wonder how many millions of children around the world are blowing these seed heads this time of year?

This easily missed aromatic, perennial, evergreen creeper is from the mint family Lamiaceae. It is commonly known as ground-ivy,

Now this one is a bit unusual, for me anyway. Known as the Butterbur. With so many small flowers packed densely together, butterbur is very popular with bees. It is a great source of nectar early in the year, when wildflowers are still rather sparse. Butterbur is found throughout the UK, but is rarer in central and northern Scotland. It inhabits wet meadows, streamsides, roadside ditches and copses.

Often seen as a cultivated plant, the Wood forget-me-not can be found along woodland ridges and edges, in ancient and wet woodlands, and sometimes in hedgerows and verges as an escaped garden variety. It flowers between April and June.Although Water forget-me-not may have been the source of many early garden varieties of this popular plant, most are now forms of Wood forget-me-not.

Common comfrey is a hairy plant of damp ground and is found beside rivers, in fens and ditches, and on roadside verges and waste ground. It often grows in clumps and displays clusters of bell-shaped, pinky-purple flowers from May to July. It has become an important plant for organic gardeners as its roots reach deep into the soil making it rich in minerals, while its leaves can be used for slug control, as a fertiliser and as a composting aid.

And another slightly coloured Comfrey. Rather pretty.

A familiar one this, as our hedges have large masses of yellow at this time of year. Broom is a large, deciduous shrub, similar in appearance to Gorse, but without the spines. This member of the pea family is common on heaths, in open woodlands and along hedgerows, and can also be found at the coast. Its bright yellow flowers appear in spring, from April to June, and smell of vanilla. It is quite likely that Broom got its name from the fact that its long, whip-like stems were cut and tied together to make brushes. Although a number of similar species were also used in this way, Broom created the best brooms!

This unusual plant is smelt a week or ten days before the blooms appear. There is an area I pass on my morning walk, and very soon after the green shoots have grown to a few inches tall, the smell of Garlic wafts across the road! It is Few-Flowered Garlic or Leek. 

The few-flowered leek is edible and can be eaten raw as well as made into dishes. It can also be used as a herb to flavour food, much in the same way as other wild garlics. Note the bulbs formed in the bottom picture.

Pink Cherry tree blossom in mid-morning sun

White blossom in late evening sun

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Signs of Spring in Lock-Down time (1)

With the country restricted to one exercise period outdoors per day, I was determined to make my daily walk productive! So, camera in hand (pocket) I have been looking in hedgerows and on road verges for the floral signs of spring. Here are some of my efforts in a sunny but rather windy first 14 days.

Well, you cannot think of spring without the primrose - can you? So my first two pictures are of that favourite spring flower, Primula vulgaris, the common primrose. It is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and parts of southwest Asia. One of my favourite sights is a carpet of primroses!

Blackthorne in profusion this year. This was a cluster in the hedge near Layham Church. There are many of us who say - "is it Blackthorn or Hawthorn"? Well, the answer is - Blackthorn blossoms before its leaves start to show, whereas hawthorn flowers after its leaves have emerged. This is one of the best tips for identifying the two species in spring. Blackthorn usually flowers first, from around March to June. Hawthorn flowers from around April to June.

Sorry about the quality of this shot but the wind did blow hard that day!

More Blackthorne - this time against a blue sky

Cowslips are one of the best known spring flowers. The cup-shaped, yellow flowers grow in nodding clusters on tall stalks. The leaves are oval with relatively wrinkled edges similar to the Primrose, but narrowing more abruptly into the stalk.They can be found in open woods, meadows, pastures and roadsides. Cowslips tend to favour rank grasses and scrub rather than amongst large numbers of spring-grazing sheep.

Its cultural history suggests that it was once as common as the Buttercup however, it suffered a decline between 1930 and 1980, mainly due to the loss of the grasslands where it grows. It's dramatic decline in the 1950s was due to the relentless advance of modern farming, particularly the ploughing of old grassland and the extension of the use of chemical herbicides. Fortunately, it is now showing signs of recovery and has begun to return to unsprayed verges and village greens as well as colonising the banks of new roads. It has probably been assisted by the scattering of wild flower seed mixtures. Vast masses have reappeared in Hertfordshire where grazing pressures have eased. 

If you like fairy tales here is one for you: The nodding flowers suggests the bunch of keys which were the badge of St. Peter. One legend is that Peter was told that a duplicate key to Heaven had been made and therefore let his keys drop. The Cowslip broke from the ground where the keys fell. 

Each to his own I suppose! 

Common Blue and Sweet Violet

A low, creeping plant with fragrant flowers, usually blue-violet or white, the sweet violet has a long and rather romantic history in European and Asian folklore: the ancient Greeks first used it to make perfume and the Romans to make wine. Ancient Britons used it for cosmetics. Medieval French troubadours used it to represent constancy in their tales of chivalrous love.

Sweet violets leaves are broad and glossy and, like the stems, covered with fine hairs. Both flowers and leaves grow from a central tuft. 

The story goes that Josephine threw Napoleon a posy of sweet violets when they first met. After he was defeated at Waterloo he was permitted to visit her grave one last time before he was sent to St Helena. He found sweet violets growing there and picked a few. Upon his death these were found in a locket around his neck. 

Red Dead-nettle

Despite the family it's from, red dead-nettle does not sting. It displays dense clusters of pinky-red flowers in whorls around its stem, and can be found on disturbed ground, such as roadside verges. Looking similar to a stinging nettle, red dead-nettle is a downy annual with heart-shaped, toothed leaves, and reddish, square stems. Dense whorls of pinky-red, 'hooded' flowers appear up the stem. Rather pretty when seen in large numbers as this year.

White Dead nettle, like its cousin above, it does not sting and carpets the roadsides this time of year. 

Its bright, yellow star-shaped flowers often blanket the ground this time of the year. For some reason, this year appears to have been a really good year for them - in our locality anyway. Or maybe it's because I have stood and stared on my daily walks during these strange times!

Each flower is about 3 cm across with eight to twelve petals. It has rosettes of glossy dark green heart-shaped mottled long-stalked leaves.

There's a flower that shall be mine, 'Tis the little Celandine.

William Wordsworth, "To the Small Celandine"

Spot the difference!.

The bottom one is Greater stitchwort, which has five white petals, each deeply notched and almost divided into two. Its green leaves are grass-like in appearance and its brittle stems are square. Greater stitchwort grows in woodland and along roadside verges, hedgerows and grassy banks. It has many other common names, including 'wedding cakes', 'Star-of-Bethlehem', 'daddy's-shirt-buttons' and 'Snapdragon' - the latter because its stems are brittle and easily break.

The top one is the Wood anemone which is a pretty spring flower of ancient woodlands, and is also planted in graveyards, parks and gardens. Its white flowers bloom between March and May, before the canopy becomes too dense, but its seeds are mostly infertile and it spreads slowly through the growth of its roots.

To finish - Stitchwort everywhere this year!

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