Ian knows where the broad leaved helleborines (Epipactis helleborine) grow in our woods and has sent us pictures. In the reserve, our helleborines grow in deep shade, which makes them hard to find and difficult to photograph.
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Hogweed
The reserve’s common hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) can grow two metres tall in just the right place, with flower-heads the size of dinner plates. Every year, somebody asks if it is giant hogweed and the answer is: no.
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This is Stachys sylvatica, commonly known as hedge nettle, hedge stachys or hedge woundwort. It grows at the far end of Lambrok Meadow.
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Orchids
So far we have identified five species of native orchids in the reserve. Two of them, the common spotted orchid and the broad leaved helleborine, are old friends, but bee orchids, pyramidal orchids and southern marsh orchids have appeared in recent years. These may be new arrivals, growing from seed with the help of mycorrhizal fungi, or dormant plants that have been waiting underground for many years for just the right conditions.
What are the right conditions for orchids? Here are five possible factors to take into consideration.
Hope During the Harvest
by Simon Knight
Sunrise during summer for me means early starts in the reserve. And there is no doubt that the first couple of hours of the day is the best time to be there, especially after a clear night. As the sun rises, the dew-covered grass glistens and cobwebs sparkle as the golden light reflects off countless tiny water droplets. As the sun starts its morning climb and the first rays of light illuminate Lambrok Meadow then Kestrel Field, I love to stand in Corn Field and watch the Lone Oak as it soaks up the sun. It’s a beautiful sight.
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Wildflower meadows
Gorgeous pictures taken in our wildflower meadows by wildlife photographer Simon Knight and sent in with a question:
“Here are some pictures from the reserve taken over the past few weeks. It’s a shame we’re about to lose most of the flowers and a huge amount of invertebrate life with the grass being cut so early. Why can’t the grass be cut later in the summer?“
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Pyramidal orchid
Beautiful pyramidal orchids (Anacamptis pyramidalis) from wildlife photographer Simon Knight.
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It’s common spotted orchid time!
Meadow vetchling
Have you spotted the patches of bright yellow meadow vetchling in our hayfields?
Continue reading “Meadow vetchling”Common spotted orchid
The award for the year’s first common spotted orchid picture goes to Pete White.
Common spotted orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii)
Dog rose
Our hedges are full of dog roses. They are fragile, fragrant and short lived so come and visit them while the show lasts.
The header image is by Clive Knight.
Pink hawthorn
Every year, sometime in May, somewhere in the reserve, there is pink hawthorn blossom; not uniformly pink and not always in the same hedge as was pink last year but definitely pink in places. It’s very pretty but we don’t know what causes it.
Continue readingBloomin’ ‘eck
Header image by Peter White; all other images taken in the park by FoSCP members and attributed in the viewer.
Common vetch
Our common vetch (Vicia sativa) is just coming into flower. It’s a scrambling plant and you’ll find it among tall grasses, holding itself upright with the tendrils that grow from the tip of its leaf stalks.
This is black sedge (Carex nigra), also known as common sedge. It grows along the Lambrok tributary either in the shallow water or on the bank and there is a bed of it in the woods just past the wooden bridge. We think there must be a spring there because the ground is always waterlogged, making it perfect for black sedge, which likes to keep its feet wet.
Continue readingOak flowers
These are the flowers of an oak tree. Oaks are monoecious; they have male flowers and female flowers on the same tree.
Continue reading “Oak flowers”Nettles
We humans reserve a particular dislike for things that we think might hurt us: wasps, spiders, brambles, thorns and …. stinging nettles.
Continue reading “Nettles”Grasses
Grasses are flowering plants; they have all the same bits and pieces as a buttercup or a dandelion. The difference is that they are wind pollinated so they have not adapted their structure to meet the needs of insect pollinators; they have no scent, no nectaries, no colours or ultra-violet sign posts and no petals to make landing platforms.
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Hawthorn blossom
The reserve’s hawthorns are in bloom and well worth a visit.
Header image taken in the reserve by Ian Bushell
Wild Garlic
Wild garlic goes by many different names: ramsons, cowleek or cowlick, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek and bear’s garlic are just a few of them.
Continue reading “Wild Garlic”Tree planting
We have been making what might seem to our followers like a great fuss about the planting of just a very few disease resistant elm trees. Here are parts of a post from March 2020, which explain what disease our precious saplings are resistant to, and why we are so eager to get them established in the hedge between Cornfield and Sleepers.
Continue reading “Tree planting”Wild arum
This is wild arum (Arum maculatum) growing in the copse at the top of Brunt’s Field.
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Bluebell time
Header image by DKG; all the photographs were taken in the reserve
No Mow May
Have you joined Plantlife’s No Mow May Movement yet?
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Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 