NEWS

Here are three more woodland related plants you may come across on your daily exercise. As always please follow government rules and don’t travel to exercise and maintain a safe distance from others. Please search online to get better images of the plants.

Greater Stitchwort                                     Hazel                                                         Wild Garlic

Greater Stitchwort can be found in deciduous woodlands, hedges and verges. It is beneficial to many flying insects, including bees and butterflies as a Spring nectar source. It is also the food plant of several moths. It has an explosive seed dispersal system and in late Spring when the seed capsules ripen it can be heard popping. As it’s name suggests it was once used to treat a stitch (the pain in the side felt when exercising) and was also known as the Poor Man’s Buttonhole presumably because it was used for this purpose. Some stories say if you pick it you will start a thunderstorm and in Cornwall it was believed to be the property of Pixies and picking it would anger them. It has a number of other names including Snapdragon, Star of Bethlehem and Stinkwort.

Hazel is a very useful tree found in woodlands and hedges. It can grow up to 12m in height but traditionally it was coppiced (cut down when 10 to 12 years old) and left to regrow. The coppiced wood has a variety of traditional uses as it can be twisted or knotted, including hurdles, thatching spars, furniture and water-divining sticks. It can also be used to make charcoal and is also valued for it’s nuts or cobs. Hazel grows both male and female flowers and in Spring the male flowers appear as yellow catkins before the leaves and the female flowers are small and bud like. The leaves are bright green when they appear and grow to become large and oval and have a hairy underside which makes them soft to touch. The leaves provide food for a variety of moth caterpillars and coppiced Hazel trees provide shelter for ground nesting birds. The nuts provide food for a range of birds and animals and are particularly associated with Dormice. Hazel was known as a magical tree and a Hazel rod was meant to protect against evil spirits as well as being used as a wand and for water-divining. In some parts of England hazelnuts were used as charms or held to ward off rheumatism. In Ireland it was known as the tree of knowledge and in medieval times was a symbol of fertility.

Wild Garlic is also known as Ramsons and at this time of the year can be found covering the floor of woodlands and verges. The long pointed leaves fill the air with a garlic smell and the small white flowers rise up on a long stem. As with some other flowers mentioned before Wild Garlic is an indicator of Ancient Woodland so if seen in a hedge or verge could indicate that there was once a woodland present. As an early flower Wild Garlic is important for bees and other pollinators. It is a popular plant to forage and the leaves can be used raw in salads, blanched and used like spinach or made into pesto or soup. They are best used before the flowers appear. The flowers can be eaten raw in salads. The bulbs are not large like commercial garlic but can be a food source for pigs and boars. The bulb was also used in tonics to help cure rheumatism and high cholesterol.

Here are three more woodland related plants you may come across on your daily exercise. As always please follow government rules and don’t travel to exercise and maintain a safe distance from others. Please search online to get better images of the plants.

Dog’s Mercury                                                  Primose                                                    Wood Anemone

Dog’s Mercury is a medium height woodland plant which is easily overlooked due to it’s small flowers but can cover large areas of ground. It is an Ancient Woodland indicator plant which means that it can be used to determine if a wood is long-established, so if seen in a hedge it can indicate that this was once part of a woodland. This is because it spreads due to underground rhizomes, horizontal underground stems,  so a large area of it shows the area was wooded for a long time even if the wood it developed in has now gone. It is known as Dog’s Mercury as Dog traditionally meant bad or not as good, so this was used to distinguish it from other members of the Mercury family as it is poisonous and therefore not as good. It also has an unpleasant decaying smell. All parts of it are poisonous and can induce vomiting, diarrhoea and even death. Despite this it’s leaves are a food source for some beetles, weevils and molluscs.

Primrose is a bright indicator of Spring and an early bloomer in woodlands. Many woodland flowers bloom early to take advantage of the Spring sunlight before the trees develop full leaves and the woodland floor is shaded. They are a nectar source for pollinators in particular Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies. Traditionally they are a symbol of eternal love and in Irish folklore Primroses in the doorway protected from fairies which in traditional folklore are not the friendly folk we think of now!

Wood Anemone is another indicator of Ancient Woodland due to is slow growth. They can be seen covering the floor of old deciduous woodland and hedgerows. Hoverflies are thought to be particularly attracted to it and to be the main pollinator for it.  They are named after the Greek god Anemos who is said to send them ahead of him in Spring. The Romans considered it a lucky charm and would pick the first flowers to appear each year to ward off fever.

Spring has sprung and at this time of year you can watch as plants come to life. Woodlands with their mix of flowers, shrubs and trees are a particularly good place to see this. As the current government guidelines restrict movement and limit exercise to your local area not everyone is lucky enough to have woodlands near enough that they can walk to, although in Hyndburn there are a number of woodland sites that are near enough to the towns to be visited as part of an hours exercise. Even if you can’t get to a woodland signs of Spring can still be seen and many of these originate from woodlands. If you can walk along a hedgerow or even a grass verge you will see woodland plants. To start you off here are three plants that I have seen on my walks. I’ll be adding more in the coming days. The photos may not be the best so please look the plants up online to get better images!

Lesser Celandine                             Hawthorn                                          Blackthorn

Lesser Celandine is an early Spring flower and very common in woodlands, hedgerows, meadows and verges it is a low growing plant with shiny yellow flowers with eight to twelve petals. As an early flower it is an important nectar source for queen bumblebees and other pollinators emerging from hibernation.

Hawthorn is a large shrub common in woodlands and hedges. One of the first trees to produce leaves it later develops white or sometimes pale pink blossom in May and then bright red fruits called Haws. It is a valuable food source for a wide range of insects, animals and birds. The leaves are eaten by caterpillars, the blossom is eaten by Dormice and provides nectar and pollen for bees and other pollinators and the fruit is eaten by birds and small mammals. The young leaves and shoots can be eaten raw and were known as “Bread and Cheese”, the Haw fruits can be used to make teas, jellies and wines. Hawthorn is known to be good for the heart and was also an ancient symbol of fertility.

Blackthorn is another large common shrub found in woodlands and hedges. Unlike Hawthorn it produces it’s blossom before it’s leaves so at this time of year they can easily be told apart. This blossom provides an early source of pollen and nectar for bees and other pollinators. As with Hawthorn it’s leaves are a food source for a range of caterpillars and insects. It’s blue black fruits are known as Sloes and as well as being a source of food for birds and small mammals are also used to make Sloe Gin. Traditionally syrups made of the bark, flowers and fruits were used to cleanse the blood and treat digestive complaints and rheumatism.

We had a Saturday session on 7th March as part of the Hyndburn Local Nature Reserve Weekend Volunteering Programme. A group of volunteers worked on the old hedge along Plantation Road which is part of the Peel Park & Coppice Local Nature Reserve. The hedge was in need of rejuvenation so some of the hedge was cut down to allow new growth to develop from the roots of the cut trees which will be healthier and thicker. Where there were gaps in the hedge these were planted up with mainly Hawthorn but also some Hazel and Crab Apple. Hopefully once these new plants have grown and the growth from the cut trees has developed then we should see a thicker, healthier hedge which will be an improved habitat for the local wildlife.

The Hyndburn Local Nature Reserve Weekend Volunteering Programme is being run in partnership with the Ribble Rivers Trust on behalf of Hyndburn Borough Council.

Above pictures by Russell Taylor: https://russelltaylorphotography.co.uk/