Two interesting plants

Such botanical expertise as I possess is underused and rusty so it was pleasing to met two out-of-the-ordinary species today. Something to get the grey matter working. 


The first one was perhaps the more interesting of the two as it is a native plant and rather scarce. We are all familiar with the Teasel, Dipsacus fullonum. It is frequent on waste ground, particularly if the ground is on the damp side. It seems happy with clay soils so here in Northamptonshire conditions are to its liking. What we are all less familiar with is the Small Teasel, Dipsacus  pilosus.

Dipsacus pilosus beside a ditch at Foxhill Farm. 8 August, 2020

I found it today when on a visit to Foxhill Farm. To be honest I found it last January, leafless, flowerless and at that stage it was - to me at least - unidentifiable. Today it was flowering and its true nature was obvious. It was not just the flowering heads, smaller than but broadly similar to, those of D. fullonum, but the spiny stems, these having just the same texture as it larger cousin . There are two centres of its distribution in Northamptonshire: one is a region in the east of the county between Oundle and Stamford, whilst the other is north and west of Daventry. The total number of known sites seems to be about twenty. I found it in a typical situation beside a ditch. It may have been recorded at this site before but to be on the safe side I will let the county botanical recorder know.

The flowers of D. pilosus are smaller and more globular than the larger

species. Foxhill Farm again, 8 August, 2020

It was while out walking with Chris later in the day that I had my second surprise. It was a Manna Ash, Fraxinus ornus, and it shouldn't have been a surprise as I saw the plant in flower some fifteen months ago, but had forgotten about it. Its leaflets are not unlike those of the Common Ash, Fraxinus excelsior, but are rather broader.

The leaflets of Manna Ash are broader than those of the Common Ash.

Badby Road East, Daventry. 8 August, 2020

 

In flower and fruit it is rather different. The 'keys' (posh name, samaras) hang in longer, more drooping bunches than common ash but are unremarkable.

The same tree showing the drooping fruit.

So it is down to the flowers to make this tree an arresting sight. They are in panicles, creamy white and pleasantly fragrant. The species seems to be perfectly hardy so why it is not planted more is a mystery. The answer could be that the tree is dioecious and only the female bears the lovely flowers, although few books seem to mention this. As for fruit, fortunately the local authority planted a pair side by side and so cross-pollination occurs.

Manna Ash flowers. Fragrant, beautiful and visited by many insects;

 what more could one ask?

But why manna? This is referred to twice in the Hebrew Bible and in the Quran it gets three mentions. It was an edible substance provided by God for the Israelites in their wanderings following the Exodus and prior to their settling in Canaan. 

Israelites gathering manna. 'The Gathering of the Manna'

by Dirck Bouts. c. 1465

Manna Ash, when the bark is slashed, exudes a sweet and nutritious substance (Reference 1) so inevitably some scholars have suggested that this was the biblical manna but there are several other possibilities. The desert shrub Haloxylon salicornum provides another potential source (Reference 2) but I do not intend to go further into the debate.

In fact the manna ash grows plentifully in Sicily and 'manna' is apparently sold in some villages there.

References


1. Blamey, M. and Grey-Wilson, C. 1993 Mediterranean Wild Flowers  Harper Collins


2. Guttman, V  Manna is Real and Not So Heavenly  Jewish World, Winter Issue, 2019

Myrtle

We are all surely familiar with the old limerick:


                             There was a young woman called Myrtle,
                             Who had an affair with a turtle;
                             By the cold light of dawn
                             She gave birth to a prawn,
                             Thus proving that Myrtle was fert'le.


But why did it come to mind today as a strolled round our back garden?


Of course it was down to the fact that our Myrtle bush, Myrtus communis is in full flower and presents a lovely sight. It is reasonably hardy (it was cultivated in Britain during the 16th century) and I am surprised that it is not seen more often, especially as it is a compact shrub which sits easily in a  tub and is generally well suited to today's smaller gardens. It is also much visited by bees. In all it surely deserves the Award of Merit granted on it by the R.H.S. 1972.

Our myrtle is confined to a tub. Stefen Hill, Daventry.

5 August, 2020

It gives its name to the Myrtaceae, a large family which, slightly surprisingly, includes the mighty Eucalyptus genus.

The flowers are visited by bees and the foliage is fragrant.

Of course, when the flowers of Eucalyptus are examined the relationship becomes a little clearer. In both genera the stamens are very long, creating a pom-pom effect. Then there are the leaves: those of myrtle are pleasantly fragrant; those of eucalyptus are also pungently scented but often with the 'cough medicine' smell with which we are all familiar. The oil from myrtle leaves is known as Eau d'Anges and is sometimes used in perfumery.





Eucalyptus globosus shares with myrtle long stamens, giving the flowers a

fluffy appearance.

There are in fact many species of myrtle and Hilliers list nine species in their invaluable, 560 page manual (Anon, 1974). At least one, Myrtus chekan, aka Luma chequen, is rather intriguing. It hails from Chile and would appear to be hardy. It certainly appears to be attractive, judging from photographs.

Myrtus chekan is apparently hardy.

Perhaps I should give a mention to the edible nature of myrtle berries. They are described as 'sweet, with juniper and rosemary-like flavour' but as I have tasted neither juniper nor rosemary, that is not helpful to me.  I have often noticed myrtle jam for sale in Greece and Italy and maybe I should have taken the plunge and bought some.




But perhaps the fact that it is often blended with figs should tell us something.

Reference                  


Anon, (1974 edition)  Hilliers' Manual of Trees and Shrubs  David and Charles, Newton Abbot

More from the wet basin

Just a month ago, i.e  on the 4th July, I made a visit to a nearby housing development, still under construction. The feature which caught my interest was a large 'wet basin' , designed to hold flood water should the need arise.


Today I made a further visit to monitor developments in terms of the flora and fauna. There has been no water (as far as I am aware) in the basin since its construction so I was surprised to find several pond snails beneath loose stones. They appeared to be specimens of the Wandering Pond Snail, Radix balthica, but I failed to bring any home for closer examination. There were willow saplings too plus Yellow Flag, Iris pseudacorus. Remarkable!

The flora consisted, as might be expected, of typical weeds of waste ground. Wall Lettuce, Mycelis muralis (= Lactuca muralis) grew on drier ground. It is not a photogenic plant; the specimens I noted were straggly things and my pictures were unsatisfactory so I won't trouble you with them, but it is one of those basic plants that the botanist needs to recognise. The leaves are reasonably distinctive.

Wall Lettuce was present in drier areas on waste ground at

Badby Road West, Daventry. 4 August, 2020. Photo via the internet

A waste ground plant par excellence is the Common Ragwort and it was almost inevitably present, although in small numbers. Its name has recently changed from Senecio jacobaea to Jacobaea vulgaris. Of course, although some botanists would argue that the new name is the 'correct' one, this is not the case. Is the name-change justified?  In this instance it is a matter of opinion and it may be some years before the new name achieves general acceptance.

Ragwort can be a lovely plant. Waste ground, Badby Road West, Daventry.
4 August, 2020

There can be little doubt that, weed or not, a well-grown plant is a handsome thing. Under different circumstances it could be a valued garden plant and there is no doubt at all that it is valued by many insects. Today Honey Bees, Apis mellifera, were tucking in.

A Honey Bee was busy at a capitula (the name given to this type of

composite flower head). Badby Road West, Daventry.

4 August, 2020

Docks are also generally unwelcome plants in gardens or on farms, but they are important for a surprising number of insects. Among butterflies both the Small and Large Copper, Lycaena phlaeas and L.dispar depend on docks for their larvae and up to about twenty moths also use docks as food plants. Today however it was the Dock Bug, Coreus marginatus which was the most obvious, being large and present in large numbers. I was astonished to find, on checking, that one of the best-known books on the subject (Salt and Whittaker, 1998) fails to give this insect a mention!

It is ubiquitous throughout Britain and, although strictly speaking it is not a shieldbug, it is generally regarded as such - an honorary shieldbug. Today there must have been hundreds of specimens present, with every plant (Broad-leaved Dock in this case) carrying several.

A Dock Bug on Broad-leaved Dock. Hundreds were present.

Badby Road West, 4 August, 2020

I photographed a Gatekeeper butterfly, just for the record so to speak. Its Latin name of Pyronia tithonus, bestowed on the creature by Linnaeus, recalls the unfortunate boy who sought immortality. Zeus granted his wish but failed to explain the implications. Tithonus remained alive but instead of staying young he degenerated into a senile, pathetic wreck.  Peter Marren (Marren, 2019) suggests that the shades of brown which the wings display are the secret;  '...the butterfly is one of the browns, and brown is the colour of melancholy and disappointment'.

The Gatekeeper, a study in browns. Badby Road West, Daventry.

4 August, 2020





And finally, just before leaving with a full specimen tube, I spotted a Nursery Web Spider, Pisaura mirabilis, at its web entrance. It posed long enough for a photograph but then, clearly overcome by coyness, scuttled back into its 'den'.

References

Marren, Peter 2019  Emperors, Admirals and Chimney Sweepers   Little Toller Books

Salt, D.T and Whittaker, J.B 1998  Insects on Dock Plants  Richmond Publishing Co. Ltd.

A female Nursery Web Spider on waste ground. Badby Road West,

Daventry, 4 August, 2020

Nettles

I have frequently broached the subject of nettles, and will doubtless do so again. They are ubiquitous, memorable (thanks to their never-to-be-forgotten sting), ecologically significant, conspicuous (individuals over 3 metres tall have been measured), commercially valuable - think fibres for ropes and cloth,  rich in folk-lore...and are thugs.


We are often encouraged to grow them in our gardens, but given the opportunity they will frequently form the near-impenetrable thickets with which we are all familiar. Insects which depend upon nettles have no trouble in finding bountiful quantities.

Nettles can soon create an impenetrable thicket.

Stefen Hill Pocket Park, 3 August, 2020

The list of insects dependent upon nettles is a long one and includes among the lepidoptera the Peacock (Inachis io), Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae), Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), the Mother-of-pearl (Pleuroptya ruralis) and the Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana). Many weevils and plant bugs are similarly dependent upon nettles.

Peacock butterfly feeding at Spear Thistle.

Byfield Pocket Park, 2 August, 2020

Not that nettles depend upon other organisms. Their flowers, held in pendulate, catkin-like inflorescences, are wind-pollinated and they are also able to spread via tough rhizomes (which, along with the leaves, make useful dyestuffs). Their various visitors simply use the highly nutritious leaves as a pabulum.

Urtica dioica showing the dangling strings of flowers.

Stefen Hill Pocket Park, 3 August, 2020

But how do taxonomists view them? We have two species present in Britain. All the remarks I have made so far were made with the common perennial stinging nettle, Urtica dioica, in mind but gardeners and farmers on lighter soils will also have come across the Annual Nettle, Urtica urens (urens means 'stinging or burning') but this species is rarely a problem. These plants together with their close relatives are generally placed in their own family, the Urticaceae. The late David Bellamy claimed that they were named thus because they 'urt you and indeed the Latin word urtica doesmean sting.

There are some 500 species in what appears to be a self-contained family. But life is never that simple. The Urticaceae is closely related to the Cannabinaceae family which, apart from its obvious significance in terms of drugs, is another source of important fibres.


I include a picture of cannabis for readers who, like myself, lead simple, sin-free and generally blameless lives.

Cannabis sativa; sativa means planted or grown, as opposed to wild.

Over recent years the advances made in molecular studies have turned many previously-held ideas on their heads. It appears that nettles more properly belong in the largely tropical Cecropiaceae family. Like the Cannabinaceae, the Cercopia family includes species of importance pharmacologically.

 Fruits of the Red Embauba, Cercropia glaziovii, are consumed by toucans

and sloths.

I have a suspicion that it will be many years before writers of British floras recognise the Ceropiaceae family as a component of our flora.

A nice surprise

A very interesting walk can be taken from Byfield via 'Muddy Lane' (more officially known as Pit Lane) to Byfield Pool and Boddington Reservoir. It is a walk I have enjoyed many times over the years but yesterday Chris and I, together with our friend Lynda, made the journey in pursuit of a clump of orchids.

Lynda had located them a few days previously following a tip from 'Pom' Boddington (whose surname, incidentally, has nothing to do with Boddington Reservoir). Having walked a couple of hundred yards along Muddy Lane we turned south-west to follow the track-bed of the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction railway. It was a locally valuable but generally uneconomic line which, having left Byfield continued, via Aston-le-Walls and Fenny Compton, to Stratford. There was a tiny halt at Aston-le-Walls from 1910 to 1953 which appears to have been mostly used for the transportation of sheep and cattle.

One of the last times the track was used was for a specially organised tour,

 here seen near Aston le Walls. Date unknown.

The line was single track and therefore our path was narrow. Nevertheless a steady stream of walkers has kept this (unofficial) footpath open and clear of brambles, etc. Few plants of interest were noted, the most exciting being a few specimens of the foul-smelling Black Horehound, Ballota nigra and some spikes of Weld, Reseda luteola.

Black Horehound plants were present here and there
beside the old track. 28 July, 2020

Eventually we turned off the old railway track and began skirting the edge of Parson's Spinney. Finally we found our quarry and the plant in question proved to be Broad-leaved Helleborine, Epipactis helleborine. Interestingly in 2009 it was found in Daventry, again beside the disused railway there, although in general it is an orchid of old, even ancient, woodland.

Broad-leaved Helleborine on the edge of Parson's

 Spinney, near Byfield. 28 July, 2020

We discovered ten spikes but there is little doubt that a careful examination would have revealed several more. Lynda told us that she had noticed some growing in an adjacent cornfield - a surprising habitat.

Botanically this is a little-known area and an observant botanist could possibly find many species of more-than-usual interest.

Thanks to Lynda we had a very enjoyable walk and I returned well pleased. Once home I sent the record off to Brian Laney, Northamptonshire County Botanical Recorder.

If only...

If only DDC (Daventry District Council) could be persuaded to hold back in the incessant mowing of the roadside verges hereabouts.


I popped out early today to post a letter, a walk of less than thirty yards, and for curiosity checked out the plants in the close-cut sward. There was Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), White Clover (Trifolium repens), Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris), Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), Dove's Foot Cranesbill (Geranium molle), Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata), Common Cat's-ear (Hypochoeris radicata), Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens), Lesser Trefoil (Trifolium dubium), Dandelions (Taraxacum spp) and, of course, Daisy (Bellis perennis). Eleven colourful species within a few paces (ok, Ribwort Plantain isn't colourful but you can't have everything). Apart from one plant of Broad-leaved Dock, Rumex obtusifolius, I saw no plants that could be perceived as a potential nuisance.


Anyway, postal duties completed I strolled over to our local pocket park, passing on the way a hedge of Box, Buxus sempervirens, and I took the opportunity to (badly) photograph its curious fruits.

Box is currently carrying its curious fruits, Stefen Hill, Daventry.

28 July, 2020

It gives its name to the Buxaceae, a family which, to quote Colin Tudge (Ref. 1) 'has not been easy to place'. Despite lacking latex some taxonomists have seen a link to the Rubber Tree family, the Euphorbiaceae, but that was never satisfactory. It is now seen as allied to the proteas, which on the face of it seems equally odd.

As so often seems to happen, dark clouds obscured the sun as I entered Stefen Hill Pocket Park and the brisk wind carried a few raindrops. But was I deterred? Well, yes, and a few minutes I turned on my heel and, after directing a few choice words in the direction of the Hyades, I headed home.

However, in those precious minutes I took a look at the Honeysuckle, Lonicera periclymenum, as it scrambled through some shrubs. Its scarlet berries were intact, as they are in my own garden. Succulent and tempting they may look, but in our back garden they are ignored and the local blackbirds are instead stripping the fruit from our blueberries.

Honeysuckle fruits seem to be failing in their attempt to attract birds.

Stefen Hill Pocket Park, 28 July, 2020

The leaves of the honeysuckle had been mined by Aulagromyza cornigera. This fly, a member of the Agromyzidae, is common enough, but pleasingly was a new species for the pocket park.

Nor was I finished, for a few paces further alone a plant of Common Ragwort,  had been mined by another Agromyzid fly, Liriomyza erucifolii. This too was a new record for the site, bringing up the 350 mark. Leaf miners are ideally identified by obtaining the organism responsible, but by carefully examining the plant species, position of the mine, its shape, and the distribution of the frass (poo) many can be determined with accuracy. 

Liriomyza erucifolii mines on ragwort. Stefen Hill Pocket Park.

28 July. 2020

I netted a few flies too, so my visit wasn't entirely a waste of time, but a reliably warm and sunny day would be welcome (ask the cricketers currently playing in the Third Test). Perhaps tomorrow...

Reference

Tudge, Colin (2005) The Secret Life of Trees  Penguin Books (A fascinating book to which I constantly return.)

Cinnabars and Urchins

I was very pleased, when walking, in our neighbourhood today, to find evidence that the recent wildlife campaigns, basically calling upon people to 'forget the lawnmower' are having an effect. Here and there Chris and I have chanced upon gardens where the owners have done just that, with remarkable results.



Yeomanry Close, Daventry. 19 July, 2020

It may be that the bulk of organisms that take advantage of the new habitat are commonplace, but all have a place in the resultant food webs. Imagine the delight a child - or indeed, an adult - will get from seeing cinnabar caterpillars on groundsel and ragworts.

Caterpillars of the Cinnabar, Tyria jacobaeae. Yeomanry Way, Daventry.

19 July, 2020

And of course, if they see the imago, that is a bonus.

The Cinnabar imago is a lovely creature.

Given time many other organisms will move in and one of the creatures which could benefit is the hedgehog. I was reminded of this when, a little later, I ended up in our local pocket park. I was told recently that hedgehogs, or to use the older vernacular term of urchins, are frequent in Stefen Hill Pocket Park at dusk. But I am rarely out that late so to find a specimen in the daytime, as I did today, was a pleasant surprise.

Hedgehog, Erinaceus europaeus, in Stefen Hill Pocket Park.

19 July,2020

It was quite a young specimen and was out on the grass in a potentially vulnerable situation where dogs (of which there are many) could bother it, so I moved it into a rather concealed area of long grass.

Each year, around now, the female catkins on the alder trees show that they have been infected by alder tongue, Taphrina alni. Of course the tongue-like growth has been developing for many weeks but it is now that they become conspicuous. Given a few more weeks they could turn red or even purple. These female catkins are often referred to as cones, and indeed in winter they do look cone-like but structurally they are quite different.

The tongues of the fungus, Taphrina alni, are now obvious on female

alder catkins.

There are several apple trees dotted around the pocket park and the fruit, though not to the taste of most people, can become an important autumn/winter food for thrushes and other creatures.

Apple trees are carrying a heavy crop of fruit.

Stefen Hill Pocket Park, 19 July, 2020

I examined the fruit of one tree but in truth the foliage was more interesting. It had been mined by the larvae of (probably) Callisto denticulella.

Known as the Garden Apple Slender, this moth is frequent in orchards and gardens over much of Europe.

The Garden Apple Slender

Maybe sometimes I'll be able to find the rather attractive imago.