Tag Archives: British wildflowers

Late summer brights

29 Sunday Aug 2021

Posted by in flowers, wildflowers

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

A selection of the wildflowers in bloom during these last weeks of summer – last week, my video featured flowers of more mellow, subtle hues; this week, you’ll need your sunglasses as these are the brights!

Featuring Agrimony, Bird’s-foot trefoil, Bristly oxtongue, Creeping buttercup, Creeping cinquefoil, Dandelion, Fleabane, Gorse, Honeysuckle, Meadow buttercup, Meadow vetchling, Melilot, Mouse-ear hawkweed, Nipplewort, Ragwort, Scarlet pimpernel, Smooth sow-thistle. Tutsan, Wild parsnip, Wood avens, Yellow corydalis, and Yellow-wort.

Late summer mellows

22 Sunday Aug 2021

Posted by in flowers, wildflowers

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

A selection of the wildflowers in bloom during these last weeks of summer – this week, those of more mellow, subtle hues; next week, I’ll feature the brightly coloured flowers.

These are Bramble, Broad-leaved willowherb, Burdock, Daisy, Everlasting pea, Great willowherb, Hedge woundwort, Hemp agrimony, Knapweed, Large bindweed, Marsh woundwort, Meadow crane’s-bill, Mint, Oxeye daisy, Purple loosestrife, Red clover, Red valerian, Rosebay willowherb, Sneezewort, Tufted vetch, White clover, Wild carrot, and Yarrow.

Variations in pink and white

15 Sunday Aug 2021

Posted by in flowers, wildflowers

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

It fascinates me how many wildflowers vary from their standard colours, often changing from pink to white and vice versa. Here we have Centaury, usually pink but also commonly seen with white flowers; Knapweed, also usually a pinkish lilac, but I occasionally see a white variant; Thistles that are also usually pinky lilac but often flowering white hereabouts; and the usually white Yarrow, which I find growing with quite pink flowers in a local field.

210815 Knapweed pink210815 knapweed white

210815 yarrow pink210815 yarrow white

Balm

11 Wednesday Aug 2021

Posted by in plants, wildflowers

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , ,

This is a new plant for me, an odd one to find growing at the edge of a local lane that’s only used for pedestrian, cycle and horse traffic, at some distance from houses and gardens. Perhaps it’s a result of a seed dropped from a walker’s shoe or a bird dropping.

210811 balm (1)

This is Balm (Melissa officinalis), also known as Lemon balm, a native plant of the Mediterranean and most often found in Britain as a garden plant, though also sometimes naturalised in nearby waste ground.

From the shape of the leaves I originally thought it some kind of mint, though the white flowers didn’t fit with that possibility. A rub of the foliage between my fingers provided an aromatic clue, as the leaves are often used in herbal teas and remedies.

210811 balm (4)

I thought about harvesting a few leaves to try but this particular Balm is low growing and sprawling along the lane edge, and the sight of a dog peeing just a little ahead of where this plant is growing put me off the idea.

In praise of thistles

25 Sunday Jul 2021

Posted by in insects, wildflowers

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Butterfly larvae and various beetles feed on their leaves; scores of insect species feast on their nectar and pollen; the stems of the plants are home to various over-wintering insect larvae; and, when the flowers are finished, birds like Goldfinches, Linnets and Siskin feed on their seeds. The plants I’m describing are the various species of the much maligned thistle family. Despite the derision of some farmers and the ‘neat-and-tidy’ brigade of gardeners, thistles are superb plants for wildlife, and I also think their flowers are rather beautiful.

During recent walks I’ve been capturing images of some of the creatures I’ve seen enjoying the bounty of these wild beauties: Comma, Large skipper, Marmalade hoverfly, Meadow brown, Red admiral, Red soldier beetle, Red-tailed bumblebee, Ringlet, Scorpion fly, Six-spot burnet, Small copper, Small skipper, and White-tailed bumblebee.

The Andrex plant?

22 Thursday Jul 2021

Posted by in flowers, plants, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , ,

I had to laugh when I read in Flora Britannica that, because this plant’s large leaves feel like they are covered in soft grey wool: ‘In a more modern – and practical – vein, mullein has been nicknamed “the Andrex plant”, and its leaves used accordingly.’ I cannot attest to the veracity of this statement!

This is Great mullein (Verbascum thapsus), which also has some wonderful, less recent vernacular names: Aaron’s Rod, Hagtapers, Adam’s flannel, and Our Lady’s candle. These names are no doubt inspired partly by those leaves and also by the enormous yellow-flowered spike, which can grow to four or five feet tall. Mullein is a biennial plant: in its first year there is just a rosette of leaves, and it’s not till its second year that the flower spike grows.

Marjoram and sage

18 Sunday Jul 2021

Posted by in wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

Two of this week’s wildflower finds are herbal so it makes sense to blend them together here. First up, is Wild marjoram (Origanum vulgare), known in the Mediterranean countries as Oregano, though it doesn’t smell quite as pungent when grown in Britain’s cooler climate. This lovely plant can often be found in chalk and limestone grasslands, under hedge rows and in roadside verges, where its flowers are favourites of butterflies and other insects.

210718 wild marjoram (1)210718 wild marjoram (2)

The second plant, a new one for me, is Wood sage (Teucrium scorodonia), another wild herb that doesn’t have the strength of scent you find in the sage you use in cooking. As you might guess from its name, this plant thrives along dry woodland rides, but can also be found in coastal situations, in dunes and heaths and on cliffs.

Heath spotted-orchids

04 Sunday Jul 2021

Posted by in flowers, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

From the often-boggy, mostly acid grasslands at Aberbargoed direct to your screens, this week’s native British orchid is the appropriately named Heath spotted-orchid (remember, the spotted part of that name refers to the marks on its leaves, not its petals). Its scientific name is Dactylorhiza maculata, which the Plantlife website explains as follows: ‘The genus name Dactylorhiza is formed from the Greek words daktylos meaning finger and rhiza meaning root’ – so, this orchid has a multi-fingered root, rather than a single tuber. And maculata means spotted – those leaves.

210704 Heath spotted-orchid (1)

As you can see from the flower spikes below, this is another orchid with some variation in both its colours, which range from white through pink to pale purple, and its markings, which, though they look spotted from a distance, actually have various combinations of streaks and little loops. The shape of the petals is also distinctive, the lower one in particular is less deeply lobed than, for example, the Common spotted-orchid, which the Heath spotted does superficially resemble.