The Wild Primrose, Primula Vulgaris, can be seen now in sheltered parts of the hedgerows and woods, poking its way through the frozen earth to introduce a hint of spring, and livelier times to come, to the winter landscape. Its scientific name simply translates as ‘first’ and ‘common’ as it is often the first floweringContinue reading “The Wild Primrose”
Tag Archives: #Butterfly
Cotton Grass
Cotton Grass Eriophorum angustifolium, is a perennial (meaning re-occuring year after year) plant native to the blanket bogs of the British isles and found all over the northern fells. It often covers large expanses of moorland turning them white with its characteristically cotton-like seed heads, which can be an amazing sight in the height ofContinue reading “Cotton Grass”
The Dog Rose
The Dog Rose, Rosa canina, is a deciduous shrub native to the British isles, it is found in a wide variety of habitats but prefers hedgerows and scrubby patches of woodland, where it grows in a sprawling manner, its stems arching over each other and getting entangled with other briars and shrubs. It usually reachesContinue reading “The Dog Rose”
The Teasel
The Teasel, Dipsacus fullonum, is a tall, distinctive looking and handsome wildflower found throughout the British isles wherever nature has been given free reign to do whatever it likes, for this reason some refer to it not as a wildflower, but as a weed. In the first year of its growth it is a fairlyContinue reading “The Teasel”
Devils-Bit Scabious
Devils- bit scabious Succisa pratensis, is found throughout the British isles on unimproved grasslands such as those found along established hedgerows, wasteland, meadows and pastures. Violet, globe-shaped flowers It has pretty, globe-shaped flowers which come in a variety of shades of blue from navy through to violet, and is in bloom from around June toContinue reading “Devils-Bit Scabious”
The Brimstone Butterfly
The Brimstone Butterfly Gonepteryx rhamni, is one of our largest butterflies and quite often the first to be seen as it languidly flaps across the landscape after emerging from its winter hibernation. It is thought to be the original butterfly after which the common name for this type of insect came from, as its wingsContinue reading “The Brimstone Butterfly”
The Cuckooflower
The Cuckooflower The Cuckooflower, or ‘Lady’s Smock’, has the scientific name; Cardamine pratensis, loosely translating as ‘peppery tasting herb of the meadows’ with Cardamine deriving from the Greek ‘kardamon’, meaning ‘pepper grass’, and the source of many plant names, especially ones used in cooking, and pratensis meaning ‘of the meadow’. It is a very pretty,Continue reading “The Cuckooflower”
The Blooming of the Bluebell, Part One; When and Where
The Bluebell The flowering of the native British Bluebell, Hyacinthoides non-scripta, is one of the surest signs that summer is just around the corner. Along with the blooming of the Snowdrop and Daffodil it is one of the three events which mark the flow of spring from the cold of winter through to the heatContinue reading “The Blooming of the Bluebell, Part One; When and Where”
Northwest Nature and History 