Oaks in winter

Although mature oaks shed their leaves in winter, the youngsters hold on to theirs. 

Here's a way to recognise oaks without leaves:  The bud at the end of each shoot doesn't have just one or two buds, it has several.  

Photo:  Jean Murray

The oak tree may grow straight but there is a good chance that one of the buds pointing sideways will carry the shoot off at an angle.This is what makes oak branches so sinuous.  

Frosty art

Early on Thursday morning the grass was edged with white  .  .  .  

.  .  .  and so were fallen oak leaves.  

By lunchtime the frost had melted and things were just .  .  .  wet!

Raking the hill-top meadow

On Sunday 11th, six of us completed raking the cut grass off

 the hilltop meadow at Filnore Woods.

The cuttings were dragged in dumpy bags over to the woodland edge, where they will rot down.

This means that the whole of the hilltop meadow has now been cut and the cut material removed.  We look forward to a floral extravaganza in summer.

The stakes in the background were put in to show the mowing machine operators which trees we wanted to retain.

King Alfred let the cakes burn

One more common fungus.

This fungus Daldinia concentrica, also known as King Alfred's Cakes or Cramp Balls (a more uncomfortable name), grows on dead ash wood.  With the possible increase in ash die-back there may be a lot of it about in the coming years.  

Underneath the 'cake' you can see the concentric rings, like the rings in trees, which give it its Latin name concentrica.

There is also a mysterious channel of white dust in my example specimen.  I'm guessing that this is the fras left by some kind of insect larva.

Apparently there is a beetle, the Cramp Ball Weevil (Platyrhinus resinosus) which feeds on these fungi.  Maybe it's him.  

Photo: Naturespot

The Blushing Bracket

Another fungus in fruiting mode.

The Blushing Bracket, Daedaleopsis confragosa, often grows on dead willow wood.  I found this little group on a fallen willow branch near number 16 in the old tree nursery.  If the underside is bruised it turns red - hence the name Blushing Bracket.

It is also known as the False Maze Gill because it has a pattern of pores on the underside similar  to the Maze Gill Daedalea quercina.

You may remember Daedalus from Greek mythology.  To escape from the Labyrinth created for King Minos of Crete he built wings for his son Icarus.  Unfortunately Icarus got over-excited and flew too high so that the sun melted the wax holding the feathers on his wings, and he plunged to his death.  So you can see the link to the fungus names of Daedalea and Daedaleopsis with their labyrinth pattern on the underside.

The Brown Roll Rim

Autumn is a good time for spotting fungi - or at least the fruiting bodies, which means toadstools or brackets in many cases.  The principal part of any fungus though is the bit you can't see, the white threads called mycorrhizae, that spread out of sight underground, in the leaf litter, inside trees or in dead wood.

Several of these toadstools have appeared in the welcome area.  Identified as Brown Roll Rim (Paxillus involutus).

The gills underneath extend partway down the stem, which can help identify them.  Also Simon, our fungus expert, says they are often near birch trees.

They are dangerously poisonous but there is no need to kick them to bits, as someone has done in the photo below !

Just examine with caution and don't try frying them up.  

Rowan and Guelder Rose

Around the woodland edge you can find the smaller berry-bearing shrubs like rowan with its bright orange berries.  

You have to be quick to see them because the thrushes and blackbirds love them.

The bright red berries on Guelder Rose bushes are not quite so popular with birds .  .  .

.  .  .  so they last a bit longer.

Pollinator Highway flowers

The last flowers of summer are lingering on on the pollinator Highway along Morton Way.  

Red Clover

Ragwort

Smooth Hawksbeard

Not dramatic but reassuring.