Woodland wildflowers

27 Sunday Mar 2022

Tags

British wildflowers, Lesser Celandine, Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage, Wood anemone, woodland wildflowers

Earlier this week I walked to one of my local woodlands to check what wildflowers were in bloom. The sparse scattering of Wild garlic flowers and just one plant with open Bluebells were a little disappointing but the carpet of lush plants under the trees held great promise of the beauty to come. The Wood anemones, Lesser celandine and Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage were a delight, as were the other wildflowers dotted here and there. I’m already looking forward to my next visit.

Wild in the woodland

18 Sunday Apr 2021

Posted by sconzani in spring, trees, walks, wildflowers

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Bluebells, British wildflowers, Herb-Paris, Lesser Celandine, Moschatel, Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage, Spring colour, spring wildflowers, Wild garlic, Wood anemone, woodland wildflowers

I thought for this week’s Sunday wildflower post, I’d take you on a walk through parts of my local woodlands to show you some of the gorgeous plants a’blooming there at the moment. There are other wildflowers too, of course – Primroses, Violets, Dog’s-mercury, etc – but my video features Wild garlic, Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage, Wood anemone, Herb-paris, Lesser celandine, Moschatel and Bluebells.

35/366 A flowering saxifrage

04 Tuesday Feb 2020

Posted by sconzani in nature, spring, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British wildflowers, Chrysosplenium oppositifolium, Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage

Today’s walk produced yet more evidence of our changing climate in the form of another very early Spring flower, this time Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage (Chrysosplenium oppositifolium), which my wildflower guide tells me shouldn’t be flowering for at least another month.

200204 opposite-leaved golden saxifrage (2)

Today’s location was typical of this plant’s favoured habitat: in woodland, along the edges of a well-shaded small stream. Its liking for damp conditions is perhaps one of the reasons it grows best in western parts of Britain and is less common in the eastern counties.

200204 opposite-leaved golden saxifrage (3)

It can be confused with its cousin Alternate-leaved golden saxifrage (Chrysosplenium alternifolium) – the key thing, as the names suggest, is to check the arrangement of the leaves. In the first photo and the one below you can see how the pairs of leaves are growing opposite each other along the stem. You can only see its slightly odd flowers – they have no petals, just eight yellow stamens.

200204 opposite-leaved golden saxifrage (1)

Birding at Cefn Cadlan and Cwm Cadlan

17 Thursday May 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, plants, wildflowers

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Tags

British flora, British wildflowers, Cefn Cadlan, Common butterwort, Cwm Cadlan, Dog violet, Greater stitchwort, Green-veined white butterfly, Marsh lousewort, marsh marigold, Micropterix calthella, Native bluebell, Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage, Redstart, Water avens, Wood sorrel

You may be surprised to learn that birding trips aren’t always dominated by birdwatching.

180517 near Cefn Cadlan

Last Sunday’s Glamorgan Bird Club trip saw 22 people striding firstly around the high moorland near Cefn Cadlan, north of Cardiff on the way to Brecon, and then exploring nearby Cwm Cadlan National Nature Reserve, an area renowned for the rare plants that thrive in its wet grasslands.

180517 lane to Cwm Cadlan

Of course, we were on the trip primarily to look for birds – and I saw my first Redstarts for the year (always on distant tree tops) and heard my first Cuckoo (exactly a year since my very first Cuckoo).

You’ll just have to believe me when I say that the dot in the centre of this photo is a Redstart

But, when the birds proved elusive, our team of talented amateur naturalists turned their attention to all the other wildlife and wildflowers that surrounded us. We saw frogs and a hare; speculated on what had left its footprints in the mud; enjoyed all the Green-veined white and Orange-tip butterflies that were nectaring on the abundant Cuckkoflowers …

180517 Green-veined white

and we turned our heads downwards to admire all the special wildflowers that surrounded us. It was a glorious sunny day, the scenery was stunning, and the flora and fauna superb.