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Tag Archives: Winter heliotrope

Winter six

22 Sunday Jan 2023

Posted by sconzani in wildflowers, winter

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British wildflowers, Daisy, dandelion, Field speedwell, wildflowers in bloom, Winter heliotrope, winter wildflowers

After a week of hard frosts and bitterly cold winds, it’s not surprising that I’ve found very few wildflowers in bloom. Indeed, I’m rather surprised to have found any. But those I have found seem to be particularly hardy plants and are wildflowers I’ve previously found during the winter months. They are Daisy and Dandelion, Field speedwell, Gorse, Sun spurge, and Winter heliotrope.

230122 winter six

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Wild in the churchyard

31 Sunday Jan 2021

Posted by sconzani in wildflowers, winter

≈ 6 Comments

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British wildflowers, Crocuses, Daisy, Primroses, Red valerian, Snowdrops, St Augustine's Church, Winter heliotrope, winter wildflowers

I often take a wander through the churchyard of St Augustine’s during my local exercise walks. As this space is purposefully managed to attract wildlife and nurture the environment, it’s always a pleasure to visit, to sit on a bench and listen to the birdsong, to check for what’s growing and blooming. On Thursday’s visit, I looked for wildflowers and was delighted to find my first Snowdrops and Crocuses of the year, as well as a lot of Winter heliotrope, several Primroses, a few Daisies in the grass, and the white-flowered variety of Red valerian.

210131 StAugs wildflowers (1)210131 StAugs wildflowers (2)210131 StAugs wildflowers (3)210131 StAugs wildflowers (4)210131 StAugs wildflowers (5)210131 StAugs wildflowers (6)

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338/366 Leaf mines: Acidia cognata

03 Thursday Dec 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves, plants, wildflowers

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Acidia cognata, British flies, leaf mines, leaf-mining fly larvae, leaf-mining larvae, leafminer, Petasites fragrans, Winter heliotrope

Though the UK Fly mines website says the leaf mines of the little orange fly Acidia cognata are made in October-November, I’m sure the mines will still be visible this month, and possibly further into the winter, so this is one to look out for now when you’re out walking.

201203 acidia cognata (1)

One of the plants this fly mines – this is the one I’ve found these mines on – is Winter heliotrope (Petasites fragrans), which is particularly noticeable now, due to the pretty pink flowers that appear from November to February. Other favoured larval plants are Butterbur (Petasites hybridus), a plant very similar to Winter heliotrope, and Colt’s-foot (Tussilago farfara), the leaves of which don’t appear till after the flowers, so approximately from April onwards.

201203 acidia cognata (6)
201203 acidia cognata (7)

After hatching, the Acidia cognata larvae create a corridor on the upper surface of the leaf. As the larvae grow, the mine widens and eventually becomes more of a blotch, especially if there are several larvae on a single leaf and their mines meet. I’ve found these mines in two local patches of Winter heliotrope but not found any sign of them in other locations, so distribution does seem a little random. If you spot any, please do record your sightings as, like many leaf-miners where the adult flies are not often seen, this species is probably under-recorded.

201203 acidia cognata (2)
201203 acidia cognata (3)
201203 acidia cognata (4)
201203 acidia cognata (5)

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Winter 10, week 4

16 Sunday Dec 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers, winter

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#WildflowerHour, #winter10, British wildflowers, cats, flowering wildflowers, wildflowers, winter flowers, Winter heliotrope

It’s certainly getting a little more difficult now to find any wildflowers in bloom but, tucked away from the prevailing westerlies and battering rain in small sheltered niches, a few wee beauties still persist.

181216 wildflowers (1)
181216 wildflowers (2)

And, of course, the winter-flowering species, like the Winter heliotrope pictured above, are just beginning their flowering period. I managed to find several large swathes of this invasive plant in and around Penarth this week. My other finds are shown below.

181216 wildflowers (3)
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181216 wildflowers (7)
181216 wildflowers (8)
181216 wildflowers (9)
181216 wildflowers (10)
181216 wildflowers (11)

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Winter heliotrope

12 Friday Jan 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, parks, plants

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Alexandra Park, Dingle Park, non-native invasive plant, Petasites fragrans, Winter heliotrope, winter-flowering plant

Officially, Winter heliotrope (Petasites fragrans) is a non-native invasive; unofficially, I think it’s got a rather lovely flower, which is particularly nice to see in the dead of winter, and its vanilla smell is divine.

180112 winter heliotrope (4)

According to Mabey’s Flora Britannica, it was brought to Britain as a garden plant in 1806, and the GB non-native species secretariat website states that it was first recorded in 1835 – presumably they mean the first record of it straying outside the bounds of the gardens where it had been planted. Though native to the Mediterranean and North Africa, it’s made itself at home in Britain, where it favours roadside verges, woodland margins and rough grassland. It seems very adaptable: in my local area, it favours sloping banks, a sunny slope in Dingle Park and a very wet and shady, steeply sloping streamside in Alexandra Park.

180112 winter heliotrope (1)
180112 winter heliotrope (2)
180112 winter heliotrope (3)

It can be difficult to get rid of because it grows very readily from the smallest discarded stem, sending its ‘roots’ (actually underground stems called rhizomes) spreading horizontally in all directions. Sneaky!

180112 winter heliotrope (5)

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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