Blackthorn

I saw this lovely specimen growing on the bank of the river Ouse on Sunday when out looking at the ravens building their nest on the chalk cliffs on the other side. It's also pertinent as I was treated to some of Bill and Gail's sloe gin (mixed with a sparkling white wine) on Saturday evening.
Prunus spinosa is a big plant in terms of its utility and folklore. Not quite as much as Whitethorn (Hawthorn), but still considered a powerful tree. The blossoms are unlucky in the house or worn but the shoots are good, especially for walking sticks. Grigson (see Inspiring books) gives the vernacular names which include some real corkers: snag-bush; egg-peg-bush; scrogg; pig-in-the-hedge.
Every year I tell myself I must collect some to have another go at making sloe gin. Our first attempt (many years ago) was considered a failure; too sour. This time we'll take advice.
The other interesting point about it is that it is thought to be one of the 'parents' of domestic plums: Prunus domestica. The latter is hexaploid. Blackthorn is tetraploid and the other parent is thought to be the diploid Cherry-plum, Prunus cerasifera, mentioned only the other day: it's all connected folks!

Ground Ivy

Another flower today. Although named ground ivy, I found this Glechoma hederacea growing on top of a fallen tree trunk down on the Railway Land. It's a member of the Lamiaceae family - the mints and deadnettles - and in keeping with this has zygomorphic flowers. It's apparently very sensitive to boron, so if you see it growing you can deduce a low level of boron in the soil and impress your friends!
Native to Europe and south-west Asia but has been spread around most of the world. It is poisonous to cattle and horses but we humans have used it in salads and in brewing before the use of hops. This explains its other common names: alehoof and tunhoof. Medicinally it has been used, like so many herbs, for virtually everything. In particular it was recommended for colds and coughs and other respiratory disorders. 

Grape hyacinth

Now these really are associated with spring in my book. Grape hyacinths in the garden are almost always Muscari armeniacum as opposed to M. neglectum which is the wild species found only in a few places in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire in dry grassland and hedgebanks. The latter has slightly larger and darker flowers. The specimen in the photo is a rather diminuitive one and unusual in that it's growing almost on its own. It was the first in flower this year and I've only seen one or two others out.

Lenten Rose

These are three different winter roses or Helleborus x hybridus. They are the same genus as H. foetidus and therefore members of the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. The colourful flower parts are not petals but sepals. The former have evolved into nectar-holding structures. Sepals tend to persist after petals are lost, consequently these remain colourful for a long time. They are also evergreen, hardy, winter-flowering and shade tolerant, hence their popularity amongst gardening folk.
It's probably time to grasp the differences between hybrids and infra-specific classification in more detail. I've already mentioned sub-species (denoted ssp.) but there can also be hybrids, varieties and forms.
Hybrids can be biological or taxonomic. Usually I think of them in the latter way: Hybrids are crosses between two different subspecies in the same species (intraspecific); two different species in the same genus (interspecific); two species from different genera (intergeneric) and, very rarely, two species from different families (interfamilial). In this case H. orientalis and its subsepecies or closely related species such as H. purpurascens or H. niger.
Varieties tend to be geographically separate 'versions' of the same botanical species. If different varieties of the same species are brought together they can breed. 
Form is below variety and some consider it a pointless division as it merely reflects genetic variation: e.g. a plant with commonly purple flowers might occasionally produce white forms, usually denoted as Genus species f. alba. In zoology it has no taxonomic validity.
A cultivar (cultivated variety) is a plant with particular characteristics which can be perpetuated by propagation and are selected, usually, by human intervention. All food plants grown commercially are cultivars. e.g. Solanum tuberosum 'King Edward'. 

Greater Ramshorn Snail

Planorbarius corneus corneus or greater ramshorn snail is the other gastropod in our pond. I pinched a couple from a lovely pond in a local house we were visiting and put them in mine soon after I made it a couple of years ago. I thought they'd perished as I hadn't seen any until the other week. 
The pond, as all nature garden writers tell you, has been absolutely amazing for wildlife: loads of damsel and dragonflies. Toads, frogs and newts. Hoverflies.

Giant Pond Snail

This is Lymnaea stagnalis or the giant pond snail. It's pretty common but has been important in allowing us to develop an understanding of how neural networks work. They have a very simple nervous system of around 20 000 neurons which are all quite large. Consequently they have been the subjects of many experiments. This may explain why this one defaecated on me when I picked it up.
They are molluscs and belong to the gastropod class. They are hermaphrodite and demonstrate the Coolidge effect, something the chaps out there might know something about (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).

Water Measurer

Can  you spot it? It's the insect standing on the surface next to the green grass blade protruding through the water in the centre of the picture.
The water measurer, or Hydrometra stagnorum is a 9- 12mm long beastie found throughout Great Britain on still water. It spears mosquito larvae, fleas and other small prey through the surface with its beak.

Wood Pigeon

Something of the annoyed retired Colnel about this bird.
I had thought wood pigeon was spelled woodpigeon but it appears I was wrong. It's Latin name is Columba palumbus, palumbus being the Latin for wood pigeon.
It is one of the most numerous wild birds in the UK with an estimated 3 million breeding pairs and up to 10 million at the end of the breeding season (which is one of the longest of British birds). One is building a nest in the laurel as I type. 
They are the UK's worst agricultural pest. In the past they were widely culled but it was discovered that the culling (which occurred in the Autumn) did little to diminish the numbers as many succumb to insufficient food resources over winter and culling reduced the pressure on said resources.
In a way it's a shame that they're not more widely eaten: a bit like wild deer, they seem a free and 'low carbon' source of protein. A friend of mine who's gone to live in Australia was a regular wood pigeon killer, taking the breasts to pan-fry in various delicious ways. I acquired his air rifle but confess to not yet getting round to exploiting nature's bounty.
Their call is similar to that of the collared dove, but consists of five, not three, syllables. Mr Sample renders it as "a-proud-wood-pig-eon".

They were known as 'culvers' in England, from the Old English name for the bird. This is of interest to me because there is a mysterious man-made structure on build into the cliffs of south Gower just west of Port Eynon called 'Culver Hole'. There are lots of local legends as to what its purpose was, from smuggling warehouse to pigeon-loft. The latter now seems most plausible.

Collared Dove

The sharper-eyed of you may have realised that I skipped a post on 13th, so to make up here are two closely related species for the 16th.
 
If you had been a keen birder in the UK fifty years ago you may have travelled hundreds of miles to see these as they didn't breed here. Then in 1956 the first pair bred and since then they have spread as far as the Shetland Isles. In fact their spread through Europe is the fastest of any species on record! They are in the top ten commonest garden birds. The latin name is Streptopelia decaocto.
They have a distinctive call which can easily be told apart from the woodpigeon. It is tri-syllabic and often rendered as "u - ni - ted". The woodpigeon has a five-syllable call.

They are also the only pigeon/dove in the UK to have a flight call (which I think sounds like it comes from a member of the crow family).  

Chaffinch

Today's offering holds a special place in my heart and the hearts of the members of the The Glorious All-England 249ers: the Chaffinch or Fringilla coelebs. 
The main reason for this is due to the many times over-excitement resulted in the claiming of a bird of great interest and rarity which turned out to be a humble chaffinch. To commemorate our affection we compete for the Chaffinch Hat, a beautifully hand-tooled peaked cap sporting a larger-than-life model of the male of the species (as seen in the photos) on the crown. A gentle squeeze produces a wonderful rendition of the male's song.
This song was one of the first I learned to recognise. The great Lawrence Holloway described it as a bowler running up to bowl with the final flourish being its delivery. 
The finches, Fringillidae, are divided into two subfamilies: Fringillinae and the Carduelinae. There is only one genus in the former and many in the latter. The former feed their young on insects and the latter on regurgitated seeds. 
The binomial comes from the latin for finch, Fringilla, and the latin for unmarried, coelebs. The common name is from the Old English, ceaffinc. 

Blue Anenome

This little beauty returns every year in the lawn not far from the Iris reticulata. It's a mystery how it got there as it wasn't around for the first few years we lived here. There's something a little sad about the fact that it's the only one. It hasn't managed to have any babies. Ahhh.
It's a Blue anenome or Anenome apennina. It looks a bit purple in the photo but in reality it's more blue.
I wrote most of this last night but then couldn't find it in my Wildflower Key (see useful books) so hesitated (and so was lost) and went out until very late.
Today I've tracked it down and am sure of the identity (from internet and Stace).

Myrobalan Plum- 'Pissard's Plum'

Always the first tree to flower in our garden, usually closely followed by the apricot. 
This is not the most attractive tree. It's a cherry plum or Myrobalan plum, Prunus cerasifera var. Pissard's plum. Cracking name. The flowers are delightful, especially when the tree is festooned. (I'll try to remember to add a picture of it in full glory.) You can just about make out the Iris reticulata growing around the base. 

Stinking Hellebore

Scraping the barrel a bit today. Wednesday is always a bit tricky as I get home from work late. But this is a native plant: Stinking Hellebore or Helleborus foetidus. It grows well in our garden and provides impressive greenery and architectural interest to the beds in winter. It's a member of the Buttercup or Ranunculus family. 

Seven-Spot ladybird

First ladybird of the year, albeit a hibernating one found amongst leaf litter in the small bed outside the back door. It's a seven-spot or Cocinella septempunctata. In fact, I think this is the first Coleopteran or beetle to make it onto the blog. There are more species in the order Coleoptera than any other order: about 400,000 so far, with more being discovered regularly. If you want to discover a new species, this is the order to focus on.
I remember the summer of 1976 when there was a 'plague' of ladybirds following an aphid bloom. Once the ladybirds ran out of aphids they started preying on humans. I distinctly remember being bitten by them as they invaded houses and buildings.

Sweet Violet

This is the other 'hairy' violet: sweet violet or Viola odorata. The main differences are that this one has stolons (shoots above the ground that root when in contact with soil to form a new plant) and the hairs are slightly shorter and don't stand up as much (they 'lie down' - are adpressed).This clump are growing just outside our back door.
There are also hybrids between V. odorata and V. hirta which are intermediate in all characters, although quite how one would be sure beats me.
The flower was associated with Aphrodite and her son Priapus because scent suggested sex to the ancients.

Nursery Web Spider

A new taxon - the spiders or Araneae. They form the largest order in the class Arachnida. I always thought spiders were synonymous with Arachnida but the class includes scorpions, harvestmen, ticks, mites, and solifuges. I confess that they're not my favourite group but perhaps by getting to know them better they'll grow on me. 
Spiders differ from insects in having no antennae. Their bodies are also divided into two parts rather than three: the cephalothorax and abdomen. They're also unusual amongst the arthropods in having no extensor muscles, extending their legs instead by a system of hydraulics. 
This chap (or chapess, I'm not sure how you tell) was making the most of the sunshine this morning by basking on our railway sleeper wall in the garden. I am lucky to have a friend who's something of an expert on spiders. He identified it as Pisaura mirabilis or the Nursery Web spider. Thanks Dave!

Common Woodlouse

'At last another crustacean!' I hear you cry. This time it's the larger cousin of the first to be featured on the blog. The common woodlouse, Oniscus asellus, is, oddly enough, the commonest woodlouse in the British Isles. It's also one of the largest. 
The pale yellowish spots on their backs are calcium storage areas. 
Moulting is a game of two halves: first the rear, then the fore. They usually eat the exuvia afterwards. Nice.

Early Bulbous Iris

These come out every year in our garden and must have been planted by the previous owners. Iris reticulata is a native of Russia, the Caucasus and northern Iran but has been widely cultivated.
They are absolutely stunning close up but easily overlooked due to their diminutive nature and brief flowering period; they're at their best for about a week. This year they are brightening my birthday in the early spring sunshine.  

Birch polyphore or Razorstrop Fungus

This is Piptoporus betulinus found growing on a decaying birch stump on Chailey Common. They are multi-layered because the fruiting bodies persist from one year to the next with a new one forming each year. You can see the remains of the oldest ones rotting away in the top left photo. The original would have been much prettier; toasted on top and creamy white underneath. It is a very common fungus found on birch throughout the British Isles.
Interestingly bits of this fungus were found amongst the possessions of the 5500 year old mummy discovered in the Italian/Swiss Alps back in the 1990s. Otzi may have been carrying them to sharpen blades or possibly for its antibiotic properties.

Goat willow

Salix caprea is also known as the pussy willow because of its furry catkins or pussies.
Willows are dioecious and this one is a female with grey pussies.
It also provides equine services as a scratching post.
This was growing on Chailey Common and is quite a mature specimen. 

Grey willow (S. cinerea) is very similar but a key distinguishing feature is that if you peel the bark of a two-year old twig and run your fingernail around the wood you can feel ridges, whereas goat willow is smooth. 
I remember this by thinking of a smooth old goat. Why old goats might be so described is utterly irrelevant.

Scot's pine

 

 It was somewhat remiss of me to return from Scotland without a picture of the Scot's pine, but here's some growing on heath in Sussex. Chailey Common to be precise, a lovely stretch of greensand heath overlying the wealden clays. 

Pinus sylvestris is another of our three native conifers. (I've done one already so there's the customary big money prize for guessing the third. It grows locally on the steep south-facing slopes of the A27 road embankment just outside Brighton.)

It's very late so that's all today. Will flesh this out a bit more tomorrow.

Still very late so perhaps tomorrow...

Jelly Ear

This is the first non- lichenized fungus. It's quite common, can be found all year round, and grows on deciduous trees, especially elder, which these are growing on. Its Latin name is Auricularia auricula-judae, which is probably the most politically incorrect binomial of any organism (big money prize for anyone who can identify a more offensive one). It wasn't that long ago that the common name was Jew's ear, but I note that the current edition of Phillips (see useful books) refers to it as Jelly ear. I wonder if the ICN will catch up and change the binomial?
My thanks to Mr James von Leyden for pointing this specimen out.

Daffodil

What else could it be on St David's day? Narcissus pseudonarcissus or the daffodil. I'm not entirely sure which subspecies this is, but it could the the Tenby daffodil, N. pseudonarcissus ssp obvallaris.
They used to be in the lily family but are now in the  Amaryllidaceae. Most are garden escapes or have been planted, with the majority of native plants found in the west. 
I remember seeing the native ones for the first time when we met my parents in Newent and did the daffodil trail; it seemed unbelievable that such a stunning flower could have evolved in our climate.
Having just acquired a copy of Geoffrey Grigson's superlative work The Englishman's Flora I must include his quote from Gerard Manley Hopkins who, on espying some growing in Lancashire, wrote: "The bright yellow corolla is seeded with very fine spangles which give it a glister and lie on a ribbing which makes it like cloth of gold." Mr Grigson gives the derivation of the common name thus: 'through Mediaeval Latin affodilus and Latin asphodilus, to the Greek asphodelus, the name of the plant which grew across the meadows of the underworld and which belonged to Persephone, the Queen of Hell.'
These were growing on a bank surrounding the car park on Chailey Common on Friday. The ones in our garden are yet to break bud. Iechyd da everyone!