A BUGLE IN THE WOODS

A bugle in the woods?

Actually there were three bugle plants in flower close together in amongst the ramsons, goosegrass and ground ivy at Damery.

 

STITCHWORT & CHICKWEED

In hedgerows and woodlands the Greater Stitchwort provides splashes of pure white.  Each flower has five deeply bisected petals.  

The leaves are long and narrow like short grass blades in pairs along the stems.

The stems are as fine as a thread so that it needs other plants to lean on and this is one explanation of the name STITCHwort.  (BTW 'wort' is pronounced 'wert' not 'wart').

The other explanation is that a potion of stitchwort and acorns in wine was once used to cure a stitch in the side or other similar pains.

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A mass of sprawling stems and leaves dotted with tiny white stars is the Chickweed (Stellaria media).

Close to, you can see that it is related to the Stitchwort (Stellaria holostea) with five divided petals looking like ten, but on a much smaller scale.

The leaves are smooth and shiny, quite different from the leaves of the similar Mouse-ear (Cerastium fontanum), which are furry - like a mouse's ear.

WILD GARLIC

Took this photo at Damery, showing how Ramsons or Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum) 

can take over a place.  It prefers damp woodlands.

Ramsons is also present in Cleve Wood and even more so in Hackett Wood (aka Crossways Wood) in Thornbury.  We have a few of these beautiful onion-flavoured plants at Filnore 

and we hope they will spread.

Wild garlic can be used in cooking and makes quite a fierce pesto.

 

GOLDEN SAXIFRAGE

Another plant that likes damp conditions is the golden saxifrage.

Look for it now on the banks of ditches and streams and anywhere damp in woods.

There are two species.   This more common one is the opposite-leaved golden saxifrage, but there is another similar but much rarer one where the leaves are alternate up the stem and it is called (amazingly) the alternate-leaved golden saxifrage

 

PEAK DANDELION

Dandelions are still providing nectar for bees, beetles, flies and all, but the dandelion season is past its peak.  The buds are fewer and the 'clocks' are outnumbering the flowers.

Ten flowers on this plant 

but already there are more spent flowers lying down than new buds forming.  

They will spend a night or so developing 

and then stand up again and open as the familiar 'clocks'.

This photo shows five stages in the life of the flower, starting at the bottom with the buds, then the flowers, then the closed up calyx enfolding the developing 'clock'.  As it was a windy day I could only find one complete clock, and at the top of the photo you have the stalk after the seeds have floated away beneath their fluffy white parachutes.

And here is a growing plant with buds, flowers and recumbent stalks each ending in a closed up calyx.

These have a couple of new buds - and a bee!  Dandelions are great for pollen and nectar early in the year.

  

   

And  here is an amusing and rather crazy video from Stefan Sobkowiak, another dandelion fan.

YAFFLE

I have heard a green woodpecker several times recently.  Their cry is a sort of laugh - hence the alternative name of Yaffle.

Here is a short   video   by Lukas Pich.

They have an undulating flight - up and down as they fly along.  

They are not quite so woody as the greater spotted woodpecker, spending a lot of time on the ground guzzling ants.

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More bird news:  I heard the glorious and joyful screaming calls of swifts today (10th May), and saw them flying high.  They have returned from Africa and will stay until July or maybe a bit later.  I hope they find enough insects to feed on.

 

SOME TREES HAVE TO GO

Trees have two main enemies in the UK: wind and decay and sometimes both acting together.

There are different kinds of decay: some just hollow out the trunk and compromise neither the vitality nor the structural integrity of the tree.  All big old trees are a bit hollow but continue growing healthily and are still safe.

But a decay that spreads across the whole cross section of the tree can make it too risky to retain, particularly if it is near a footpath, road or other vulnerable target.

The pussy willow tree near post 11 was one of these.  There were several dead branches threatening to fall and when they were cut, a serious amount of decay was discovered.  It had to go but the stump has been retained as a habitat and will possibly shoot again.

Below you can see wood in three stages of decay, from initial browning of the heartwood to the very brittle condition, looking like a blue cheese.