Dappled white butterfly

The dappled white butterfly (Euchloe ausonia) is only found in southern Europe where it inhabits flowery meadows up to around 2000 metres. There are three varieties of dappled white, the commonest being the one that is found at lower latitudes.

The wingspan is up to 4.8 centimetres. The wings are white with black tips and a black spot on each forewing. There are black and yellow scales on the underside. Females are darker than males.

The caterpillar is green with a white line down the sides, yellow stripes down the back and small black spots all over. The pupa is straw coloured and looks like a dead leaf.

The dappled white flies in early summer at higher latitudes and in early and late spring in the lowlands. The food plant is candytuft and related species.

© John  Welford

Field mouse-ear

Field mouse-ear (Cerastium arvense) is found on chalky, dry or slightly acidic grassland in much of Great Britain, although it is only seen rarely on the eastern side of the country.

It is a low plant, growing up to 12 inches (30 centimetres) high. The stems are hairy, as are the narrow pointed leaves, the downy texture of which accounts for the name “mouse-ear”. The non-flowering stems sprawl on the ground but the flowering stems are more upright.

The white flowers, with deeply-divided petals, appear from April to August. The cylindrical seed capsules only release seeds in dry air, thus ensuring that they can be blown by the wind. The slightly curved shape of the capsules was what prompted the botanical name Cerastium, because they look a bit like miniature cows’ horns, and the Greek for horn is “keras” – which is also the root of “keratin”, the horny substance that forms horses’ hoofs and human fingernails.

© John Welford

Bombardier beetle

The bombardier beetle is found in woodlands and gardens. It lays its eggs in leaf litter and similar environments, where its grubs will have food ready to hand when they hatch.

It can be recognised from its dark abdomen (the rest being yellowy-brown in colour) and its long antennae.

When they hatch, the grubs grow quickly and shed their skin as they grow bigger before they pupate, after which they emerge in the adult state.

Bombardier beetles cannot fly, but they defend themselves by emitting a burning liquid from their rear ends. The chemicals they need for this liquid are stored in the abdomen and mixed in a special chamber before being sprayed at a would-be predator.

© John Welford

Cuckoo flower

The cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratensis) is an attractive wild flower that is commonly found in damp places throughout the British Isles as well as other countries.

The name has no direct connection with cuckoos and might come either from an association between its flowering time and the arrival of cuckoos in England, or that the fact that it is often found partly covered in foamy “cuckoo spit”, which also has nothing to do with cuckoos but is produced by the nymphs of the frog hopper beetle.

The cuckoo flower grows to a maximum height of 24 inches (60 centimetres). It is erect and hairless with divided leaves, the lowest of which form a rosette at the base.

The flowers, which appear from April to June, vary in colour from white to deep lilac. They grow in clusters and are more noticeable than some wild flower blooms because the petals are much more prominent than the green sepals.

The seed-pods grow upright on long stalks. When ripe they burst open to eject the seeds which, if caught by the wind, can therefore land and germinate at a distance from the parent plant.

Alternative names for the cuckoo flower are “milkmaid” and “lady’s smock”, due to associations with springtime, fertility, purity and the Virgin Mary. However, in Europe the plant has been linked with more sinister pieces of folklore, such as the belief in Germany that bringing the plant indoors would cause the house to be struck by lightning!

The British affection for the plant is probably more justified than German antipathy, given that cuckoo flower leaves are perfectly safe to eat as a substitute for watercress.

© John Welford

Comfrey

Common comfrey (Symphytum officinale) grows throughout England and southern Scotland, preferring damp places. It is also found growing in gardens where it is one of the more welcome weeds because it makes excellent compost.

Comfrey grows up to 48 inches (120 centimetres) in height. The stems are branched, with leaves growing all the way up. Leaves at the base grow on long stalks whereas those higher up have margins that grow down the stem as wings.

The flowers appear from May to June and are very attractive to bees. A patch of comfrey can often be heard as well as seen, with all the buzzing that comes from it! The flowers are bell-shaped and grown in sprays that hang down. A typical colour is purple, but comfrey flowers can also be white, cream or pink.

Comfrey has a long history as a medicinal plant. Herbalists in the 16^th century recommended the use of its roots (mixed in ale) as a remedy for back pain and a more recent use has been as a cough linctus when mixed with sugar.

However, the plant takes its name from its use in setting broken bones. The roots would be grated up and mixed with water to produce a sludge that was then wrapped round the broken limb. As it dried it worked like plaster of Paris by hardening to form a rigid cast. The Latin for “to bring together” is “conferre”, from which it is not a big step to “comfrey”.

The leaves are edible and are not unlike spinach when boiled.

The photo was taken in my own garden, which has always had comfrey in it despite all efforts to keep it down. As mentioned above, it can be used to make compost or be laid on the soil around other plants to provide “green manure” and prevent other weeds from growing.

© John Welford

Corn spurrey

Corn spurrey (Spergula arvensis) is found on waste ground throughout Great Britain, and it often invades crops as an unwanted weed - it is known in some places as 'pickpurse' because of its effect on crop yields. However, there is evidence that in past times it was used as a food crop.

When fully grown it can be anything from 3 to 16 inches high. The stems branch close to the ground; they grow horizontally at first but then bend upwards. The leaves, which are narrow and fleshy, grow in clusters. Flowers appear from June to August. They are small and white, with the five undivided petals being slightly longer than the sepals.

© John Welford

Lesser celandine

Lesser celandine (Ranunculus ficaria) is a welcome sight in the British countryside as it is one of the first wild flowers to bloom in the spring, doing so from March to May. It carpets woodland floors with its golden yellow display, alongside bluebells, and can also be seen in meadows and gardens.

The lesser celandine grows to between 2 and 6 inches high (6-15 centimetres). The leaves are dark green (sometimes with lighter markings) and heart-shaped. The flowers grow singly on their stems, each comprising 8-12 petals and three green sepals. They close up in dull weather but open again when the sun shines on them.

William Wordsworth was very fond of the lesser celandine and wrote a poem about it, paying special attention to the behaviour noted above. However, a mistake was made when his tomb in Grasmere churchyard was carved because it features the related greater celandine, which does not open and close in the way that Wordsworth noted.

The lesser celandine is known to have medicinal properties. The 17^th century herbalist Nicholas Culpeper claimed to have used it to treat scrofula (a skin disease related to tuberculosis) with great success.

© John Welford

Clams

Clams are bivalves, which means that they have two shells that protect their soft bodies. These are left open when the clam is feeding on the tiny animals and plants that float in seawater, but snap tightly shut when danger threatens.

Clams feed by filtering water through the gills which then direct the food towards the mouth.

The clam has a single muscular foot that enables it to dig into soft sand to anchor itself. However, clams are able to move, either by pushing with the foot or by taking in water and pushing it out again in a form of jet propulsion.

Although most clams are small, the giant clam (see picture) can grow as big as 1.5 metres long. Clams, like oysters, can create pearls. The largest pearl ever found, at 12 centimetres diameter, was found inside a giant clam.

Razor clams have thin, elongated shells. They are very fast diggers, and pose a hazard to the feet of any swimmer who is unfortunate enough to tread on the sharp edge of one.

© John Welford

Stinking hellebore

It has to be said at the outset that stinking hellebore (Helleborus foetidus), also known as dungwort, is not the most pleasant of plants – not only does it not look all that pretty, but it smells awful and is poisonous just for good measure!

It is found in woods and on scrubby land on chalk and limestone soils in southern England and Wales. It grows to about 30 inches in height (80 centimetres), forming long evergreen leaves on stout stems and a large number of yellowish-green flowers, fringed with purple, that are visible from February to April.

The unpleasant smell, which is even worse if the leaves are crushed, is much less unpleasant to the insects that pollinate it. It offers copious amounts of nectar, with five to ten nectaries to each flower.

When the seed is produced the plant has an unusual way of getting it spread, using snails to do the job. Each seed has a film of oil on it which is attractive to snails. However, it is only the oil that interests them and they discard the rest of the seed, which then sticks to the snail’s slime and is carried away to another site where it can germinate.

Stinking hellebore was once used for medicinal purposes, namely for killing worms in children, who would be violently sick and throw up the worms along with the hellebore. Unfortunately, any hellebore not expelled in this way would be just as likely to kill the child. An infusion of hellebore was also formerly used externally for treating boils, but again its poisonous nature was found to do just as much harm as good and the practice has long since ceased.

If you feel tempted to try using stinking hellebore for such purposes, you would be well advised to try something else!

© John Welford

Annual knawel

Annual knawel (Scleranthus annuus) is also known as German knotgrass. The name 'knawel' derives from the German for 'a tangle of threads’. It grows throughout Britain on waste ground and also cultivated areas, with a preference for sandy and gravelly soils.

It is a small plant that grows to no more than ten inches above the ground and often much less than that. It is a wiry plant with narrow pointed leaves and hairy branching stems.

The tiny flowers, which appear from June to August, grow in clusters and are notable for having no petals. Each flower produces a single nut-like fruit.

© John Welford

Sea beet

Sea beet (Beta vulgaris maritima) can be found round the coasts of most of Great Britain.

It is a sprawling plant with stems that lie flat on the ground and others that grow upright. It can reach a height of as much as 50 inches (127 centimetres), but may only reach 12 inches (30 centimetres).

The leaves are leathery and glossy, and often red-tinged. The flowers have five greenish segments containing yellow styles and stamens. These appear from July to September.

The wild plants are descendants of ones that were originally cultivated as a food crop in the Middle East some 2,000 years ago. Sea beet belongs to a family that includes commercially important crops such as beetroot, sugar beet and spinach. It is known as sea spinach in some parts of Britain, where its leaves were formerly eaten after being boiled.

© John Welford

Cardinal butterfly

The cardinal butterfly (Argynnis Pandora) is the largest of the European fritillaries with a wingspan of up to 8 centimetres. It is fairly common in southern Europe, inhabiting woodland edges and flowery meadows up to 2000 metres above sea level. It flies in early summer.

The cardinal is bright orange-brown with black spots and lines. The underside forewings have a pinkish-red patch. The brown caterpillar has a wide black band with grey flecks down the back, plus rows of branched brown spines. It feeds at night and pupates under a leaf of the food plant, which is violet. Adult cardinals are particularly attracted to thistle flowers.

© John Welford

Snakes found in Great Britain

There are three species of snake that are native to Great Britain, these being the adder, the grass snake and the smooth snake. The slow-worm is often mistaken for a snake but is actually a legless lizard.

Adder (Vipera berus)

This is the only venomous snake that is found in Great Britain (it is absent from the whole of Ireland). The venom is used for catching its prey, mostly mice and voles, but it is not powerful enough to do much harm to humans. Adders are in any case very timid and are likely to move away from people rather than towards them.

Adders (also known as vipers) are usually grey or brown in colour with a characteristic zigzag pattern on the back and a V-shape on the back of the head. Males grow to about 60 centimetres (24 inches) long and females can be longer.

They inhabit heaths, moors and open hillsides and are sometimes found in sand dunes. Shed skins are a sign that adders are likely to be around. They often bask in groups in early spring; they prefer gentle warmth to the full heat of the midday sun.

Male adders emerge from hibernation in February or March, with females appearing a little later. The young are born fully-formed (i.e not hatched from eggs) in late summer and take up to three years to reach maturity. Female adders usually become pregnant only every two years.

Grass snake (Natrix natrix)

Grass snakes (see picture) are larger than adders, with females growing to 120 centimetres (48 inches) in length (males are smaller). They are light green in colour with black bars on the flanks and dots on the back.

They inhabit damp grass and ditches and the banks of ponds and streams. They are found throughout England and Wales apart from the far north-west of England. They are absent from Scotland and Ireland.

Grass snakes are entirely harmless to humans and most animals, their prey consisting of frogs and other amphibians.

They emerge from hibernation in April, after which courting and mating take place. Female grass snakes may travel a long distance (up to a mile) to find a suitable place to lay their eggs, this being somewhere warm such as a compost or muck heap or a haystack. Many females may choose the same site, so hundreds of young grass snakes may hatch at the same time, which will usually be in August or September.

Young grass snakes provide ready meals for birds, hedgehogs and badgers.

Smooth snake (Coronella austriaca)

This is by far the rarest of the three British snake species, being found only on the heaths of Dorset, Hampshire and Surrey. It is a protected species, the continued future of which is by no means certain. It is not easy to spot, especially as it tends to bask underneath warm stones rather than in the open.

The smooth snake grows to 60 centimetres (24 inches) long and is slimmer than the adder. It can be any colour from grey to reddish brown with dark spots down the back.

Smooth snakes prey on lizards and small mammals. As it is neither venomous nor a constrictor, it holds its prey in its coiled body so that it can get it into position to be swallowed head first.

Mating takes place in May and up to fifteen young are born in August or September. The young are delivered in a membrane that is easily broken. Smooth snakes are self-sufficient from birth.

© John Welford

Leafhopper

There are many different species of leafhopper, an insect that is found throughout the world in many different environments.

They are related to cicadas and are often well camouflaged by being shaped and coloured like the leaves on which they feed.

They are strong fliers and can also jump great distances, hence their name.

Eggs are laid in plant stems where they can remain dormant for some considerable time – up to a year in some cases. On hatching, the bugs feed on the sap of the leaves which causes them to shrivel up. Leafhoppers, like aphids, are therefore widely regarded as plant pests.

Leafhoppers are a food source for many species of bird, reptile and large insect.

© John Welford

Sand spurrey

Sand spurrey (Spergularia rubra) is found on sandy and lime-free ground in much of Great Britain, although it is absent in Scotland and Ireland. It is the only species of spurrey that grows inland in Britain.

It is a sprawling plant with many stems, some of which branch. It grows to anything from two to ten inches above the ground and flowers from May to October.

The leaves are pointed with triangular silver-brown stipules growing at the base of the leaf stalk. The flowers are pink and star-shaped, with five undivided petals that are slightly smaller than the sepals.

The fruit is about as long as the sepals and opens by means of three valves.

© John Welford

Roe deer

Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) are small elegant deer that are Scottish in origin but are now found in many places in Great Britain and abroad. They inhabit grassland, woodland and moors.

An adult roe deer weighs up to 25 kg and stands up to 75 cm at the shoulder.

The fur is reddish in summer and a variety of darker shades in winter. There is a prominent white patch on the rump. The head features a white chin and throat patches and a black muzzle.

Males sport small antlers that usually have three points. The antlers are cast at some time between October and January; when they grow again they are covered in soft velvet that contains blood vessels.

Roe deer are not easy to spot during the day because they normally feed at dawn and dusk and hide or rest at other times.

Fawns (also known as kids) are born in May or June. When very young they are left alone while the parent feed, being protected by the camouflage offered by their spotted coats. However, from the age of around six weeks they follow their mothers all the time.

© John Welford

Pilot whale

Pilot whales are actually dolphins (in a group known as blackfish) but are also classed as “toothed whales”. They feed mainly on octopus and squid.

They are related to orcas (killer whales) but are smaller at around seven metres in length. They have rounded heads and small beaks. The body is grey or dark brown and the dorsal fin is swept back.

There are two distinct species of pilot whale, namely short-finned and long-finned. Short-finned pilot whales are found in tropical and sub-tropical waters whereas the long-finned variety lives in much colder seas both north and south.

Pilot whales form close-knit family groups known as pods, with female members never leaving the pod they were born in. They feed their young for several years and also care for the offspring of their sisters and daughters.

The close bonds formed by pilot whales can lead to disaster. Should the leader of a pod become disorientated for any reason and beach itself, the rest of the pod is quite likely to follow suit. Pilot whales were formerly hunted extensively, with whalers finding it relatively easy to corral a whole pod and force them ashore.

© John Welford

Hairy rock-cress

Hairy rock-cress (Arabis hirsuta) is widespread in the British Isles, growing on rocks, dunes, chalk slopes, banks and walls.

The lower leaves form a rosette from which flower stems shoot upwards to a height of up to 24 inches (60 centimetres). These stems bear stalkless leaves that clasp the stem. The leaves and stems are covered in hairs that are stiff and forked, like miniature catapults.

The white flowers appear from June to August. The seed-pods are cylindrical and pressed close to the stem. The reddish-brown seeds have small “wings”.

© John Welford

Allseed

Allseed (Radiola linoides) is a plant that is relatively unknown because it is easily overlooked. It is a heathland plant that favours damp patches and is found throughout Great Britain, but more particularly on the heaths of Dorset, Hampshire and Surrey.

It is a very small plant, growing no higher than three inches (7.5 centimetres) above the ground and is therefore often dwarfed by taller grasses and other plants. It has a bushy habit, with the stems branching repeatedly. The leaves grow in opposite pairs up the stems.

The tiny flowers, which appear in July and August, grow at the ends of the stems. The white petals are about the same length as the sepals. Each seed-pod has four compartments, each of which produces two minute seeds. Given the profusion of flowers on each plant, allseed certainly lives up to its name.

© John Welford

Large tortoiseshell butterfly

The large tortoiseshell (Nymphalis polychloros) is fairly common throughout most of Europe, and is also found in north Africa, Asia Minor and as far east as the Himalayas. It is, however, extremely rare in the British Isles, being restricted to southern England and Wales, in very small numbers, and completely absent from Ireland. Indeed, the number of recorded sightings over the last 50 years in the UK has not exceeded 200, and many of those were probably accidental migrants blown in from continental Europe.

There may be several reasons for the decline of this species, which was regarded by the Victorians as being a common butterfly. One cause is doubtless the virtual extinction of the English elm, due to Dutch elm disease, as this is one of the standard food plants for the large tortoiseshell.

The large tortoiseshell lives in woods, parks and cemeteries, and can be seen sucking sap from damaged birch, oak and fruit trees. It is found at altitudes from sea level up to about 1500 metres.

The effects of high and low temperatures on the chrysalides have produced sub-species, notably Nymphalis polychloros erythromelas, found in mountainous areas of north Africa where it flies at altitudes up to 1800 metres. The sub-species may be difficult to identify because of its different wing markings.

The wingspan of the large tortoiseshell is 50-63mm. The forewings are orange-brown with black markings, rounded in the centre and more elongated at the leading edge. The hindwings are orange-brown with fewer markings, and paler nearer the body. The scalloped wing margins are well-defined, with a line of small blue crescents on the hindwings only. The underwings are darker towards the base with an irregular blue-grey marginal band.  The hair covering the legs is very dark brown or black. There are no noticeable differences in markings as between the sexes.

Eggs are laid after the female large tortoiseshells emerge from hibernation, the eggs being red-brown and barrel-shaped. When they first emerge, after about three weeks, the caterpillars stay together on their food plants, which are elm, willow, poplar and fruit trees. As they prepare to pupate, which they do beneath leaves of the food plant, the caterpillars move apart.

The pupal stage lasts for two to three weeks, with the imagos flying from June or July before hibernating over the winter. Large tortoiseshells are often seen together with Camberwell Beauties, as they have similar ways of life and seasonal habits.

© John Welford