A splash of colour in the park
by Simon Knight
It is lovely to finally see flowers and colour arriving in the park, signalling that spring will soon be upon us.
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Crocus vernus photographed in the park by Clive Knight. Crocuses are not native to Britain; they were brought here from central and southern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and China, in the 15th century.
The sex life of a primrose
Primroses have an interestingly complicated reproduction system.
Continue readingDog’s mercury
Dog’s mercury (Mercurialis perennis) is one of those mysterious, usually nameless, plants that is hardly ever noticed. It forms dense carpets on the woodland floor and beneath old hedgerows but appears to most passers-by as just background for the bluebells and primroses.
Continue reading “Dog’s mercury”A gallery of snowdrops
Header picture by DKG
Ten lords a-leaping
On the tenth day of Christmas, here are the extraordinary flowers of lords-and-ladies, the wild arum (Arum maculatum), photographed in the park during April’s lockdown.
Pictures taken in the park by Suzanne Humphries
Eight maids a-milking
Milkmaids is one of the many common names of Cardamine pratensis, a spring-flowering plant that loves our damp meadows and stream edges. In Wiltshire we know it more often as lady’s smock or, because it flowers when the cuckoo returns to Britain, as cuckoo flower.
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Stinking iris
Clive Knight has sent us pictures of the beautiful scarlet seeds of Iris foetidissima growing in our woods.
Continue readingYarrow
Yarrow, Achillea millefolium, a late-flowering perennial, photographed by Ian Bushell, in the little triangular field between Simpson’s Field and Fiveways.
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The tiny flowers of thyme-leaved speedwell (Veronica serpyllifolia) photographed in Cornfield.
A red tailed bumblebee worker (Bombus lapidarius) collecting nectar and pollen from a meadow cranesbill flower.
Photographed in the park, Friday 11th September.
Woody nightshade
A woody nightshade flower, photographed this week, in the car park.
Continue readingRagwort
Ragwort is extraordinarily successful; all the “injurious weeds” named in the 1959 Weed Act are.
Continue reading “Ragwort”A parasitic plant
Message from a park goer:
I took this picture this morning out in the park. I have no idea what it is – it’s almost heather-like. It’s in Lambrok Meadow by the stream near where there is a ford across into the Church Lane field.
Ragwort again
A version of this post was first published in July of last year.
This year the park produced beautiful hay: a variety of grasses, dry, sweet smelling, full of wildflower and not a single shred of ragwort anywhere. Already, we have turned our attention to pulling and digging the ragwort that might spoil the farmer’s next crop,
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Field garlic
The extraordinary flowers of Allium oleraceum or field garlic, found growing at the bottom of Kestrel Field.
This is common fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica); it is a plant that grows all over the place but nobody ever seems to know its name. As the park’s summer wildflowers go to seed, the fleabane is a welcome splash of colour beside the paths.
Continue readingBotanicals
Angelica, cannabis & scarlet pimpernel
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New species
Wed 15/07/2020 18:48; mail and pictures from Clive Knight
Walking round this afternoon spotted these. The first two pics are of a plant in Sleepers Field – no idea what it is and the bottom pic I found in the pathway through the woods at the top of Village Green. Both single plants.
Sent from my iPhone
Perforate St John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) also known as common St John’s wort.
Header picture taken by Clive Knight, others by Suzanne Humphries
Hemlock water dropwort
This post was first published in June 2019 but the warning bears repeating.
This is hemlock water dropwort (Oenanthe crocata), by some accounts the UK’s most poisonous plant.
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A marbled white (Melanargia galathea) on creeping thistle flowers, photographed in the park yesterday by Julie Newblé. If you look carefully, there are at least three common red soldier beetles hidden in the picture.
Thanks Julie.
The honeysuckle is in flower.
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The year’s best common spotted orchid, photographed last week by Ian Bushell.
Honey bee
A honey bee foraging for nectar and pollen among the flowers of hogweed.
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