Worcestershire
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How to tell Smaller Cat’s-tail (Phleum bertolonii) from Timothy (Phleum pratense)
When there’s small-looking Timothy, do you flee um? It’s time to whip out that ruler and check for Smaller Cat’s-tail (Phleum bertolonii).
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What’s Flowering? July 6th – July 19th (Weeks 28, 29) – Heatwave / Drought
Worcestershire’s landscape has become increasingly parched over the past couple of weeks, yet some flowers are still to be found despite the conditions. A visit to Kemerton Lake Nature Reserve in the south revealed numerous flowering species, including Clustered Bellflower and Round-leaved Fluellen. Meanwhile, the moister oak-bracken-bramble woods still present a reasonable flora.
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What’s Flowering? June 29th – July 5th (Week 27)
Common Centaury – Creeping Thistle and a lady – Gatekeeper Bracken – Stachys star jumps – Rosebay Wiggleherb – Wood Sage in dune woods – Buttonweed & Sea-heath on the tidal floodplain – Lesser Centaury – Rock Samphire Notes: I was fortunate to be working in Glamorganshire this week near the Merthyr Mawr NNR. I…
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What’s Flowering? June 1st – June 7th (Week 23)
Heath bedstraw & Sheep Sorrel – Bladder Campion – Grey Hair-grass – Dyer’s Greenweed – Great Burnet at Upton Ham – Brown Sedge lawns – Common Meadow-rue – Water Purslane – Heath-grass – Dactylorhiza – Pushing Daisies – Tower Mustard on the verge – Creeping Forget-me-not – Common Yellow-sedge – Heath Rush – Ivy-leaved Crowfoot…
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How to Identify Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort (Oenanthe silaifolia)
I was super excited to come across Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort Oenanthe silaifolia yesterday whilst doing a recce for our in-house floodplain meadow training at Upton Ham. This species is nationally scarce, and we’re lucky to have a few good populations on the Worcestershire floodplains or ‘Hams’ along the River Severn. The Oenanthe genus can be scary,…
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This Week in Photos 11th – 24th May (20, 21)
Week 20 – 11th-17th May Bluebell Ffridd – Lousewort Upper Gam – Bird Cherry – Malvern View – Brassica Week 21 – 18th-24th May Sheep sorrel carpet – Meadow foxtail medley – Wild strawbs – Herb paris paradise – Common Spotted Orchids Notes These last two weeks have really seen the grasses explode into flower.…
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How to tell Wood-sedge (Carex sylvatica) from Thin-spiked Wood-sedge (Carex strigosa)
Two similar sedges to look out for in woodlands in May are Wood-sedge Carex sylvatica and Thin-spiked Wood-sedge Carex strigosa. They sometimes grow together, even side-by-side (Shrawley Woods) but are relatively straight-forward to tell apart. Wood sedge Carex sylvaticahas utricles which gradually taper to a long beak, has narrower, more ridged leaves and the ligule…
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This Week in Photos & Flowers : April 20th – 26th (17)
Bluebells at Pound Green – Bitter-vetch – ‘Wonky Horns’ – Annual knawel leaves – Ducklings – Teesdalia habitat – Pudford Sunset – Stork’s-bill on the verge Notes This week, St. Mark’s Flies have taken to the skies coinciding nicely with the start of the hawthorn blossom. The docile flight of St. Mark’s Fly seems to…
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This Week in Photos: 13th – 19th April (16)
Rapeseed sunset – Jack-by-the-hedge – Bluebells at Shrawley – Apple Blossom – Lords-and-ladies – Small nettle vs. Common nettle Notes I haven’t managed to capture as much as I’d have liked to this week, but Week 16 has felt like the true start of spring. Apple blossoms are fully out, cow parsley is starting, but…
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What’s Flowering? Hartlebury Common – Acid Grassland Flowers – Week 16
Woodlands often hold our attention at this time of year, but before the parching heat of the summer, acid grasslands are also wonderful spots to botanise. This week, the minute plants of sandy grasslands and disturbed areas of Hartlebury Common have woken up. With the turf littered with little botanical gems, here is a quick…
