Heather or Ling

14 Sunday Jul 2024

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British wildflowers, Calluna vulgaris, Heather, Heather flowers, Ling

Many of you will, I’m sure, be familiar with this plant, with the way it paints hillsides, heaths and moorlands in subtle shades of pink, lilac and purple when flowering, but have you looked more closely at its flowers? They are really quite beautiful. This is, of course, Calluna vulgaris, commonly known as Heather, and also Ling. As the Wildlife Trusts website reminds us

Historically, heather has been used for many purposes, such as fuel, fodder, building materials, thatch, packing and ropes. It was also used to make brooms, which is how it got its Latin name – Calluna is derived from the Greek word meaning ‘to brush’.

240714 heather

Selfheal

07 Sunday Jul 2024

Posted by sconzani in plants, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, herbal medicine, Large skipper, medicinal plants, Prunella vulgaris, Selfheal

The bluish-violet flowers of Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris) are very common in the summer months, sometimes as short plants popping up in grass and gardens, yet also growing up to a foot tall in the less managed areas provided by woodland rides and wildflower meadows. Bees love to feed on its nectar, and I also spotted a cute Large skipper butterfly slurping away with its amazingly long tongue.

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As its name implies, Selfheal has long had a reputation as a herbal medicine, used for a variety of purposes from treating wounds and sore throats to stopping a cut from bleeding. I can’t personally attest to its efficacy but I do really enjoy the pop of colour this lovely little plant provides in the warmer months.

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Variations on a theme

30 Sunday Jun 2024

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British orchids, British wildflowers, Common spotted-orchid, native orchids, orchids

Presumably because of our very wet Spring, the orchids are enjoying a magnificent season hereabouts, with more Bee and Pyramidal orchids than I’ve ever seen before. The beautiful blooms collaged below were all growing within a metre of each other at a local park and, in theory, they’re all Common spotted-orchids. You can see what a wide variation of hues and patterns they exhibit, though I suspect a couple of these may have a few grains of Southern marsh-orchid mixed in to their DNA. Both species grow at this park and are known, sometimes, to cross-pollinate.

240630 common spotted orchids

Brooklime

23 Sunday Jun 2024

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British wildflowers, Brooklime, speedwell family, Veronica beccabunga

I’ve probably walked past this plant many many times but last Sunday was the first time I knowingly thought ‘Oooo, that must be Brooklime’.

240623 brooklime (1)

It was the tiny blue flowers that gave it away, and the fleshy succulent-like leaves, and the fact it was growing in the wet muddy area of a local horse field (that has a public footpath running through it, which I often use to get to a favourite local woodland). The flowers of Brooklime (Veronica beccabunga) are the clearest indicator that this is a member of the speedwell family, just one that prefers to live in damp habitats.

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The Plantlife website has an interesting section on this plant, entitled ‘Things you might not know’:

Brooklime was used as a salad plant in much of northern Europe in the past.
It used to be eaten with watercress and oranges to help prevent scurvy.
Although edible, the leaves are bitter and the same precautions should be taken with them, as with watercress, in order to avoid liver fluke.

240623 brooklime (2)

Willowherb rust

21 Friday Jun 2024

Posted by sconzani in fungi

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British rust fungi, British wildflowers, Puccinia pulverulenta, rust fungus, rust on willowherb, Willowherb, Willowherb rust

I’ve probably ignored the yellowing leaves of various willowherb species when I’ve seen them previously, thinking they were just drying out or perhaps diseased, but this time I turned a leaf over and discovered a new fungus (and lots of tiny orange grubs – likely fungus gnat larvae – feasting on that fungus).

240621 Puccinia pulverulenta (1)

This is Willowherb rust (Puccinia pulverulenta) (luckily, most rust species are host specific so are easy to identify if you know what the host plant it). The tiny orange rings, which, with their white fringing look a little like miniature flowers, are aecia – it’s from these that the rust releases some of its spores. Later in their complicated life cycle, the rust also produces the brown uredinia that can be seen in the photo on the right below. (Rust fungi have five different spore states – if you want to delve in to that life cycle, Science Direct has a good explanatory, though very technical article on its website.)

240621 Puccinia pulverulenta (2)

Milkwort

16 Sunday Jun 2024

Posted by sconzani in wildflowers

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British wildflowers, Common milkwort, milkwort, Polygala vulgaris

It’s always a delightful surprise to spot the tiny blue flowers of Milkwort in amongst the grasses and other wildflowers. Apparently, the flowers, which bloom from May right through to September in some locations, can also be deep purple and white but I’ve only ever seen this wonderful bright blue hue.

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Wikipedia reports that Classical and Renaissance writers stated ‘common milkwort was used medicinally as an infusion to increase the flow of a nursing mother’s milk’.

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I have assumed until now that the Milkwort plants I’ve seen, in various locations from grasslands to a coal spoil tip, have all been Common milkwort (Polygala vulgaris) but I admit that I have been so taken with the flowers that I haven’t paid much attention to the leaves. It seems that Heath Milkwort (Polygala serpyllifolia) is another possibility and, in future, I need to check whether the lower leaves are opposite each other on the stems (Heath milkwort) or alternate (Common milkwort).

240616 milkwort (3)

The hatchling, and family

12 Wednesday Jun 2024

Posted by sconzani in insects, wildflowers

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British weevils, British wildflowers, Cionus scrophulariae, Common figwort, Figwort weevil, Scrophularia nodosa

My little alien has hatched. As I had begun to suspect, it’s the most gorgeous Figwort weevil (Cionus scrophulariae).

240612 figwort weevil (1)

I’ve just returned from delivering my tiny miracle to the small group of Figwort (Scrophularia nodosa) plants near where I first found its cocoon.

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These are two other Figwort weevils I found on those plants; they are probably some of its siblings. Aren’t they just delightful creatures?

240612 figwort weevil (3) 240612 figwort weevil (4)

On the Oxeyes

09 Sunday Jun 2024

Posted by sconzani in insects, wildflowers

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British insects, British wildflowers, insects on Oxeye daisies, Oxeye daisy

Perhaps because they are so common and abundant I am guilty of ignoring both the beauty and the usefulness of Oxeye daisies.

So, during my walks over the past few days I have been taking more notice and taking photos of the creatures either using the daisies as perches or feeding on their pollen.

If the weather had been more cooperative, without the constant breezy conditions, I probably would have got more photos.

Still, it was nice to see such a variety of invertebrates: bees and hoverflies, ladybirds and their larvae, several species of spider, grasshoppers and froghoppers and tiny beetles.

Common broomrape

26 Sunday May 2024

Posted by sconzani in plants, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, broomrape, Common broomrape, Orobanchaceae, Orobanche minor, parasitic plant

The broomrapes, the Orobanchaceae, are curious plants – as they’re unable to produce their own chlorophyll they get it by parasitising the roots of other plants. Until last week, I had only ever seen Ivy broomrape (Orobanche hederae) but, on my way to Grangemoor Park for a meander, growing amongst wildflowers along a road verge, I found another of the nine native species of broomrape in Britain. This strange beauty is Common broomrape (Orobanche minor), which most often taps in to the roots of members of the pea family (the Fabaceae) and the daisy family (the Asteraceae), but will also parasitise many other plant species.

240526 common broomrape

Just peas, no carrots

19 Sunday May 2024

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers

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Black medick, British wildflowers, Broom, Bush vetch, Common bird's-foot trefoil, Common vetch, gorse, Grass vetchling, Pea family, red clover, Spotted medick, White clover

The challenge for the regular Sunday night 8-9pm Wildflower Hour (#WildflowerHour on most social media platforms) this week was to find flowering members of the carrot and pea families (#CarrotsAndPeas). I decided, for no particular reason, to stick with the peas, the Leguminosae, and here they are …

240519 birdsfoot trefoil and vetchling grass

Common bird’s-foot trefoil and Grass vetchling

240519 broom and gorse

Broom and Gorse

240519 clover red and white

Red and White clover

240519 medick black and spotted

Black and Spotted medick. These look very similar so you need to check the leaves: Spotted medick has splotches on its leaves, while the leaves of Black medick have no marks but have tiny points at their ends.

240519 vetch bush and common

Bush vetch (top) and Common vetch (bottom). I’m a bit confused about the white-flowered vetch in the centre – is it Bush or is it Common? I’ll ask the experts on tonight’s Wildflower Hour.