2023

Bulrush fruiting spikes

0 Bulrush fruiting spikes Look out for bulrush fruiting spikes. These dark brown long cylindrical inflorescence contain thousands of seed each with its own parachute to catch the wind. Bulrush grows up to three metre tall in swamps or standing water on the margins of rivers, lakes and ponds where the leaves and […]
3 December 2023

Haws

Haws Look out for haws, the red berries of the whitethorn loved by birds, such as fieldfare, thrush and migrating redwing, as well as small mammals. In folklore, whitethorn was associated with magic and to interfere with lone fairy thorn trees or trees growing on ringforts or other archaeological features was very […]
19 November 2023

Spindle fruit

Spindle fruit Look out for spindle fruit with the conspicuous colour combination of shocking pink four-lobed fruit, now mostly open revealing bright orange seeds, among vivid crimson and yellow leaves. The fruits are eaten by birds including thrushes, finches and tits while the green four sided stems provide host sites for the […]
18 November 2023

Crab Apples

0 Crab Apples Look out for crab apples. They are not ideal for Halloween apple games such as bobbing for apples or apple on a string as they are far too tart to be eaten raw but are used to make crab apple jelly and jam. Valued for its sugar content long ago […]
5 November 2023

Elderberries

0 Elderberries Look out for hanging clusters of dark blue-black elderberries, so much loved by birds that trees are stripped bare quickly when ripe. They are used to make elderberry syrup and wine. Elder supports many invertebrates, including many that feed on the jew’s ear fungus which grows on elder almost exclusively The […]
4 November 2023

Ivy flowers

Ivy flowers Look out for ivy flowers, which on any dry day are sure to be covered in bees, wasps, flies and butterflies, as well as moths when they come out in the dark. Some are attracted by the putrid smell of fairly inconspicuous lime-yellow flowers on the crown of woody stems […]
25 October 2023

Common knapweed

Common knapweed Look out for common knapweed – one of our later flowering plants. Many of the deep purple compact flowerheads have turned into the black seedheads which remain on their hard branched stems which last throughout winter, while occasional flowerheads stand out at this time of year. Because of the black […]
22 October 2023

Meadowsweet

0 Meadowsweet One of the positive grassland indicator plants in ACRES, which agricultural advisors will be glad to see when scoring Low Input Grassland fields in ACRES General or fields in Cooperation Project areas. Leaves are silvery on the underside and have three to five pairs of larger leaflets with small leafy bits […]
9 July 2023

Ribwort plantain

Ribwort plantain Look out for ribwort plantain, noticeable now with lacy ruffs of trembling cream coloured anthers on long thread like filaments protruding from dark brown bullet shaped flower heads on tall stalks. Pollen within the anthers is carried away on the wind. It is also known as narrow leaved plantain because […]
17 May 2023

Marsh marigold

Marsh marigold Look out for marsh marigold with striking glossy yellow flowers in loose clusters and distinctive, heart-shaped shiny fleshy leaves. Resembling a giant flowered buttercup, they grow in marshes and on riversides. The stout hollow stems have minute air spaces that allow gaseous exchange through parts of the plant above and […]
10 May 2023