Purple Loosestrife

A few weeks ago the Yellow Flag Iris brought the first splash of colour around the pond in Stefen Hill Pocket Park. This was followed by the fragrant cream flowers of Meadowsweet and today these plants were joined by the lovely Purple Loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria.




The lovely flowers of Purple Loosestrife are now present beside the pond.

Stefen Hill Pocket Park, Daventry. 24 June, 2020

It is a member of the Lythraceae and is thus unrelated to the Yellow Loosestrife, Lysimachia vulgaris, a member of the Primrose family, Primulaceae. As I have mentioned before, it seems that in ancient times a species of loosestrife was fed to cattle (and horses too?) in order to calm them down prior to stressful occasions - they would apparently lose strife.

Yellow Loosestrife is a frequent garden escape.

Photo: thetortoisetable.org.uk

Though not as common as a century ago Purple Loosestrife is still very frequent beside lakes, rivers and canals. In Canada the plant has become an invasive weed and two beetles, species of Galerucella, have been used to try and effect control. Today I saw no insects on the plants or visiting the flowers.

Almost overhanging the pond was a Hornbeam, Carpinus betulus. It is possibly a native species in some parts of Northamptonshire but this county is right on the edge of its natural range; all the specimens I have seen appear to have been planted as amenity trees. Anyway, I did pass my net through some of the foliage and out tumbled a Forest Bug, Pentatoma rufipes.

A final instar Forest Bug was present in a hornbeam. It is common in

the pocket park. 24 June, 2020

It was a last-stage instar, i.e. it will go through one more moult, when it will emerge as an adult with fully-developed wings, etc. It is a common insect and was not new for the pocket park.

I am always intrigued my the neat spacing of Aceria nalepai galls on alder leaves and often pause to photograph them. Of course there is a simple explanation: the mites responsible simply choose to develop in the angles between the leaf veins and the midrib. But it results in a pleasing symmetry.

These neat galls on alder leaves are the work of a mite, Aceria nalepai.

Stefen Hill Pocket park, 24 June, 2020

The alder tree in question was at the very edge of the pocket park, where a garden almost intrudes into the area.The garden plants included some fine mallows which I believe to be Malva sylvestris var mauritiana, sometimes called French Mallow.

Malva sylvestris var mauritiana. In a garden beside the pocket park.

24 June, 2020

It is a lovely thing and I carefully examined the blooms to see if any of the six tiny beetles associated with mallows were present. I had no luck but but I may check again in a few days time. (And later on still I may sneak a few seeds!)

The flowers were sumptuous - but sadly free of beetles.

And that was about it although just before leaving I did pass an ash tree (painful; no wonder I've been constipated) and photographed some cauliflower galls.

Again they are the work of a mite, in this case Aceria fraxinivora. The galls tend to develop within, or near to, the bunches of 'keys' and presumably are therefore only found on female ash trees. They were not new to the pocket park either and so in terms of additions to the site list the visit was fruitless, but in terms of enjoyment it was time well spent.

Cauliflower galls are common on ash trees at this time of the year.

Stefen Hill Pocket Park, 24 June, 2020

But, as with yesterday, the heat was becoming intolerable and I decided it was time to admit defeat and 'goo 'ome' (to use the old Northamptonshire dialect).