The Cow Parsley has mostly gone to seed in Stefen Hill Pocket Park. Here and there it is still in flower but over some areas it has been replaced by Rough Chervil, Chaerophyllum temulum.
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Some Cow Parsley flowers linger. Stefen Hill Pocket Park.
10 June, 2020
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This is another member of the Carrot Family with typical umbels but composed of very tiny, rather dainty flowers. The leaves have a greyish appearance due to the presence of fine downy hair, but the purple stems afford an easy way of identifying this very common species.
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Rough Chervil on a bank in Stefen Hill Pocket Park, showing its purple
stems. 10 June, 2020
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Chaero means 'pleasing', so the generic name simply means 'pleasing leaf'; the specific name is, on the face of it, more problematic, for temulum means 'drunken 'or 'bewildered'. However, it is a poisonous plant with properties similar to hemlock, although the symptoms are less severe and the poisoning apparently induces some form of behaviour easily mistaken for intoxication.
A few days ago I stated in a blog that the pocket park does not appear to contain any Hogweed. I am pleased to say I was wrong and today I found a small group of robust plants.
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Hogweed completed the trio of umbellifers noted today in the pocket park.
10 June, 2020
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Their leaves were being mined by a species of Phytomyza. At least two species of this fly produce identical mines and for certain identification the grubs need to be reared to adulthood; I have no intention of doing this - life is too short.
Rain was threatening and I turned for home.The tarmac of the perimeter path is, I noted, cracked in many places, allowing Pineapple Weed, Matricaria discoidea, to take root. Even the most urbanised people must be familiar with this plant but it is not native to the U.K. Its original home may have been north-east Asia but this is by no means certain. One theory is that it arrived in the U.K. via ships' ballast.
It was known from a few places in Britain prior to 1900 but since then its rapid spread can almost certainly be attributed to the growth of wheeled transport and increased travel. It is, I find, particularly common in the trampled mud of farm gates.
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Mined formed by a species of Phytomyza. But which one?
Stefen Hill Pocket Park, 10 June, 2020
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Rain was threatening and I turned for home.The tarmac of the perimeter path is, I noted, cracked in many places, allowing Pineapple Weed, Matricaria discoidea, to take root. Even the most urbanised people must be familiar with this plant but it is not native to the U.K. Its original home may have been north-east Asia but this is by no means certain. One theory is that it arrived in the U.K. via ships' ballast.
It was known from a few places in Britain prior to 1900 but since then its rapid spread can almost certainly be attributed to the growth of wheeled transport and increased travel. It is, I find, particularly common in the trampled mud of farm gates.
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Pineapple Weed grew in the tarmac in Stefen Hill Pocket Park.
10 June, 2020
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Does its name refer to the vaguely pineapple-like scent released when crushed, or is down to the shape of the flower heads? Your guess is as good as mine.
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| The capitula of pineapple weed are very interesting in detail. (Photo by John Chayka, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) |
Perhaps it would make an excellent alternative to a camomile lawn (camomile and pineapple weed are closely related), releasing its sharp fragrance when walked upon. The snag lies in the fact that it is an annual and such a lawn would need to be re-sown every year. Bother, bang goes my potential road to fame!
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