WHITE UMBRELLAS

The branching stems of Cow Parsley each carry an umbel (like an umbrella) of white flowers.  

 But each umbel is made up of a dozen or so smaller umbels, and each of them carries half a dozen individual flower stalks.  The flowers themselves are not symmetrical with some petals longer than others.  Altogether a wondrous, complex structure.

WILD SERVICE TREE

Post 10 is now painted on a young oak tree halfway along the Valley Woodland path.

If you take a few paces downhill from here you come to one of our rare native trees, 

the Wild Service Tree.

It's recognisable by its five pointed leaves and, at this season, by its white panicles of flowers.

These are the forerunners of the brown berries that form in the autumn and used to be made into a drink called 'chequers'.  This is probably why so many pubs are called The Chequers.

Photo: Wikipedia

 

SLIPPERY CHARACTER

Found this character dozing in the lid of my food waste bin.  I thought at first it might be a leopard slug, the largest slug in Britain but decided after consulting a few sluggish websites that it was a Green Cellar Slug (Limacus maculatus).  The blue/grey tentacles are a diagnostic feature.

It nipped along pretty speedily when I put it on the patio.

Apparently they don't eat live plant material so not a problem for gardeners.  They like lichen on walls and dead plant material so quite good for tidying up in the garden.  They are often found in compost heaps and compost bins.

NETTLE CATKINS

You won't have any difficulty finding stinging nettles.  They are now in flower.

The flowers are in long catkins, looking a bit like millet sprays

 Stinging nettles are not popular with humans but enjoyed by over 40 insect species including several moth caterpillars.  They are also larval foodplants for three or four of our most colourful butterflies:  small tortoiseshell, red admiral, peacock and comma.

SORREL - RED SAILS IN THE SUNSET

With the sun behind them, the flower spikes of common sorrel glow pink.

Lots of them to see in the rather low key wildflower meadow next to the cemetery in Kington Lane

COWSHED THEATRE

Brambles and moss regularly colonise the remains of the cowshed that was here years ago. 

We could just leave it to get overgrown but it seems like a site with potential - maybe a barbecue area, or an  open-air theatre like the Minack in Cornwall, or who knows what ?

So once again we cleared it.  

Perhaps we can encourage teen-age fire enthusiasts to use it as a campfire circle.  We need to let a few trees grow round it to make a glade and perhaps we should provide the firewood.

 

SHEPHERD'S PURSE

 Another small white flower, in the cabbage family, that is easily overlooked, is the Shepherd's Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)

The name relates to the seed capsules which are shaped like miniature hearts held on thin stalks.  If you split one of the 'purses' open you can find 'shepherd's money' (seeds) inside.

It is usually found on waste ground, roadsides or in cracks in the pavement but I found these growing in long grass in the Mundy Playing Field.