Common vetch

Common vetch (Vicia sativa) grows in grassy places and tilled ground throughout Great Britain, although it only lives up to its name in south-eastern England. It is an introduction from continental Europe, where various hybrids have been used for cattle food. 

There are two varieties of common vetch found in Great Britain, one with slender stems and narrow leaflets and the other with taller, stouter stems and broader leaflets. It was this second variety that was cultivated in Great Britain in the 18th century so that its seeds could be used for pigeon food. 

Common vetch can be distinguished from other types of vetch found in Britain because it usually has a pair of flowers and two black-blotched stipules at the base of each leaf. 

The stems of common vetch straggle along the ground or climb by means of tendrils on the leaves, which have four to eight pairs of leaflets. The plant grows up to 48 inches (120 cm) high. 

Common vetch flowers from May to September. The flowers are purple in colour. The pods are smooth or slightly hairy and contain between four and twelve seeds. 

© John Welford

Tufted vetch

Tufted vetch (Vicia cracca) is a common plant of grassland and hedgerows throughout much of Great Britain. Indeed, its tall spikes of up to 40 purple/blue flowers make it one of the more distinctive hedgerow plants. 

Tufted vetch is also sometimes used as a garden plant to provide a display of colour in late summer. This is despite its close relationship to the “hairy tare” (Vicia hirsuta) that is the “tare sown among the wheat” in the parable told by Jesus in Matthew chapter 13.

Tufted vetch climbs by means of branched tendrils that are similar to those used by other members of the pea family. The leaves have between 12 and 30 leaflets. The flowering spikes grow on stalks that are up to 80 inches (200 cms) long. Flowering is between June and August.

The sepals join in a tube that covers nearly half the flower. The seed pods are smooth and square-ended. They each contain up to six seeds.

© John Welford

Bush vetch

Bush vetch (Vicia sepium) is common throughout the British Isles, growing in grassy places, as a garden weed and in hedges. It is a sprawling plant that covers other plants and twines its tendrils around them. 

There are around 150 species of vetch, and they include the highly cultivated Vicia faba, otherwise known as the broad bean. There is evidence that cultivated vetches were planted from Iron Age times. 

However, bush vetch is of no use to humans other than as fodder for animals. 

Bush vetch can climb up to 40 inches (100 cms) off the ground. Each leaf has five to nine pairs of leaflets and a branching tendril. The short-stalked flowerhead has up to six blooms, which appear from May to August. The sepals are joined to form a tube. The nectar is particularly attractive to bumblebees. The seeds form in pods which go black when the seeds are ripe.

© John Welford

Purple milk-vetch

Purple milk-vetch (Astragalus danicus) is found throughout Europe from the Alps to Russia, but in Britain it is mostly found on the eastern side of the country, from the Chilterns to Scotland. It is especially common in the Breckland area of Norfolk. 

The habitat of purple milk-vetch is chalk and limestone soils, and also sandy areas including dunes.

The “milk” element of the name comes from the old belief that eating the plant increased the milk yield of goats, although there is no real evidence to support this notion. The plant has no food value to humans.

Purple milk-vetch has upright stems and many leaflets that are covered with soft whitish hairs. The plant grows up to 14 inches (36 cms) high.

Several purplish flowers are carried on each stem, well above the leaves, the flowers looking at first sight like those of clover. Sepals are joined at the base in a tube covered with short blackish hairs. 

The plant flowers from May to July, after which seed pods form that contain six or seven seeds.

© John Welford

Greater kudu

The greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsicerus) is the third largest species of antelope (after the Giant eland and Cape eland). It reaches up to 270 cms (9 feet) in length and 160 cms (5 feet) in height. Males are larger than females. 

It is identifiable from the conspicuous mane on the throat, neck and back, and the crosswise white stripes on its flanks.

Only the males have horns, which can be to 172 cms (6 feet) long. 

The greater kudu inhabits most of southern Africa south of the Zambezi, and eastern Africa as far north as Sudan and Ethiopia. It avoids open grasslands, preferring thickets, bush and open forests.

The greater kudu lives mostly in small groups of four or five individuals, although older males are sometimes solitary.

Gestation lasts about 210 to 240 days, with a single calf being born except on very rare occasions.

© John Welford

Aardwolf

The aardwolf (Proteles cristatus) is a mainly nocturnal carnivore that is native to the arid and rocky regions of southern and eastern Africa.

Its colouring is yellowish grey with dark crosswise stripes. The conspicuous mane of long hair stretches from the nape of the neck to reach over the back, continuing as a bushy tail.

The shape of the aardwolf is similar to that of the hyaena, but its skeleton is more slender and its skull more elongated. Whereas hyaenas have five digits on both fore and hind limbs, the aardwolf has only four digits on its hind feet.

Aardwolves have small teeth that are widely spaced, the molars being completely rudimentary. This relates to the nature of their diet, which is mainly insects (especially termites) and birds’ eggs. 

© John Welford

Cats that don`t mind water

We all know that cats hate getting wet – or at least, that is true of most of them.

That is because a cat’s fur can easily become waterlogged, although the top layer is water-resistant to an extent. A cat that falls into water can drown very quickly if a heavy, waterlogged undercoat drags it under. 

A cat’s fur does not dry easily, and a cold skin caused by waterlogging can lead to hypothermia. 

However, that is not the case with the Van cat of Turkey, found in the region of Lake Van in the east of the country. This cat does not have an undercoat, but its fur is smooth and water-resistant. Van cats delight in taking a dip in water to cool down on a hot day. The same is true of several “big cats” such as lions, tigers and jaguars. 

There is also the “fishing cat” of Southeast Asia (see photo). This cat hunts in water, diving to catch fish and sometimes even attacking ducks from beneath the surface. 

Domestic cats can sometimes becoming acclimatized to water in moderation. This includes show cats that have to tolerate being washed in order to look their best. And there are even cats that enjoy playing with water – although I, speaking for myself, have yet to come across one!

© John Welford

Emerald tree boa

The emerald tree boa (Corallus caninus) lives in the Amazon rain forest of South America. It is perfectly adapted for life in the trees, being difficult to spot as it coils around a tree branch and blends into the foliage.

These snakes grow up to two metres (6.5 feet) in length. It has white markings along the back that also help with its camouflage, as these mimic shafts of sunlight playing on green leaves.

The emerald tree boa preys on birds and small mammals, which it catches by lunging outwards or downwards while firmly anchored to a branch by its tail. Its eyes have vertical pupils which help it to sense movement. It can also detect the heat given off by an animal, thanks to deep pits in the scales around its mouth. Long teeth enable it to get a firm grip on its prey.

Up to 15 young will be born each season. These are variously coloured in shades of red, orange or yellow, only acquiring their green coloration after one year.

© John Welford

Rhinoceros iguana

The rhinoceros iguana (Cyclura cornuta) is a native of the Caribbean, and in particular the islands of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and Puerto Rico.

It is a large animal, measuring up 1.2 metres (4 feet) in length. It is characterized by several enlarged raised scales on the snout that look like horns. Males are larger than females, with larger horns and crests.

Rhinoceros iguanas walk ponderously with the head held up, but can run at speed when threatened. It will also bite and thrash its tail to defend itself. It is highly territorial.

Food consists of leaves and fruits.

Females will lay anything from two to twenty eggs in a burrow, which will be closely guarded.

Habitat destruction is a threat to the species, as are predations from non-native animals including dogs, rats, pigs and mongooses.

© John Welford

Anteaters versus ants

One might think that anteaters, such as the giant African Pangolin, have an easy life. They eat ants and the plains are full of anthills just waiting to be raided for their contents. However, ants have their own ways of making things uncomfortable for anteaters.

When a mound has been slashed open the ants will swarm out in their thousands to mount a stern defence. Many will perish in the attempt, being caught on the anteater’s long sticky tongue and swallowed whole, but others will try to penetrate the monster’s eyes and nostrils. The anteater will get round this by shutting its eyes with its particularly thick eyelids and using special muscles that close its nostrils.

Even so, the anteater will soon find the experience not to be one worth prolonging and may be forced to give up after having consumed only about a hundred ants. A pangolin can eat up to 200,000 ants in a night, which means that it has to be extremely busy finding ant colonies and grabbing what it can at every opportunity.

There are also ant species that have defences that will dissuade anteaters from even trying their luck with them. These include leaf-cutter ants and army ants, both of which have strong jaws that can give an anteater’s snout a very sharp nip.

The fact that various species of anteater and ant have evolved feeding and defence strategies that put them in balance means that all their species have survived down to the present day. In other words, there are still enough ants to feed the anteaters, but not so many anteaters that all ant colonies are destroyed.

© John Welford

Seduction, lizard style

Female lizards in California have shown that, when it comes to choosing a mate, what matters most is the property he owns rather than any other attribute he might possess!

The lizards in question are side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana) that, being cold-blooded, depend on the heat of the sun. They live on rocky outcrops and the most prized site for basking is a boulder that stays illuminated for as much of the day as possible and has crevices underneath it that offer a hiding place should a predator turn up as well as a place where a female can lay her eggs.

The best boulders are subject to intense competition among male lizards, and soon become the property of the alphas in any lizard community. They then get to breed with the most females, which is all to the good in terms of species survival.

However, experiments have been done that show that being an alpha male is not in itself the reason why females will gravitate in his direction. When top-rated boulders are taken away from an alpha and given to a much punier male, the latter suddenly becomes a lot more popular with the ladies, probably much to his surprise.

It would appear that it is not only human females who can be seduced by the best rock in the window!

© John Welford

A particularly nasty wasp

There are several wasp species across the world that have a life cycle that involves them becoming parasites of other creatures. One of these is a Costa Rican wasp (Hymenoepimecis argyraphaga) that targets a particularly formidable spider (Plesiometa argyra).

The spider is large and fearsome, and therefore avoided by just about every other insect apart from females of the wasp. It hovers above the spider then lands directly on its back, where it lays a single egg before making its escape.

The spider is not affected by this visit at first, but in time the egg absorbs nutrients from the host and the larva that hatches from it injects the spider with a chemical that makes it act in ways that it would not otherwise have done.

The night before the larva is ready to pupate, the spider destroys its web, which is not unusual given that many spiders do so as part of their regular behaviour. However, when a new web is spun, it is very different from what went before because its purpose is entirely to benefit the wasp and not the spider.

This web is hardly a web at all, because it consists of strands of strong silk that provide an anchor to nearby plants. When finished, the spider hangs beneath this framework and never moves again.

The wasp larva then eats the spider, and by dawn it is ready to weave its own cocoon which hangs inside the rough web made by the spider. It will then take its time in transforming into an adult wasp, protected inside its cocoon which in turn is safe from ants and the effects of heavy rain thanks to the strong threads that the wasp forced the spider to weave.

Nature has managed to produce some amazingly unpleasant creatures!

© John Welford

Nautilus

The nautilus (Nautilus pompilius) is a remarkable creature that is regarded as a “living fossil” because it closely resembles animals that lived in the oceans between 400 and 65 million years ago. Six species of nautilus have survived to the present day, with that in the photo living in the western Pacific Ocean and in open waters around Indonesia and southeast Asia. It is found at depths up to 500 metres (1,650 feet).

The shell protects the nautilus from predators and buoyancy is provided by gas trapped in the inner chambers. It swims by using jet propulsion – water is taken into the shell cavity and expelled through a tube which can be directed to propel the nautilus in the required direction.

The head sticks out of the shell and has up to 90 tentacles that are used to trap prey that includes shrimps. The eyes of the nautilus are very primitive, being without lenses and working like pinhole cameras.

The nautilus only becomes sexually mature after about ten years, and then produces as few as twelve eggs per year. Having survived for so long, the species has clearly found an environmental niche that presents few dangers and allows for a slow rate of reproduction.

© John Welford

Box jellyfish

You would not want to get too close to a box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri). It is thought to be one of the most venomous creatures to exist in the oceans and it can kill a person in only a few minutes. 

Fortunately for most of us, it is mainly confined to waters to the north of Australia and eastern Indonesia, but it is plentiful enough at certain times of the year (November to April in northern Australia) to make it necessary to close beaches to the public. 

It is only a small creature – up to 25 cms (10 inches) in size – but its tentacles can extend up to three metres (10 feet) in length. It is possible to be stung without even seeing the jellyfish itself. Its prey is prawns and small fish that swim in shallow water. 

The name comes from the box-shaped transparent body, from each corner of which hangs a bunch of 15 tentacles. The flattened sides of the box contain sense organs that include remarkably complex eyes. 

Should a swimmer be unfortunate enough to be stung, and not be able to get hold of antivenom, the least he or she can expect is excruciating pain and skin damage that can leave permanent scars. Heart failure is entirely possible, as is drowning following loss of consciousness. 

Despite the extreme dangers presented by contact with this animal, some sea turtles are able to eat box jellyfish without suffering any harm.

© John Welford

Wild liquorice

Wild liquorice (Astragalus glycyphyllos) has the alternative name of milk-vetch, from the former commonly held belief that goats that ate the plant would yield more milk.

It grows in scattered location in Great Britain, in rough grassy places on chalk and limestone, but is absent from Ireland. It is a temperate plant that is also found across much of northern and central Europe as far east as the Caucasus.

Wild liquorice is difficult to spot because it often grows among tall grasses and its greenish-cream flowers blend with the colour of its foliage. 

It is a straggling plant that can grow up to 40 inches (100 cm) in height. It has smooth, trailing stems and many hairless leaflets. The stems bend each time they give rise to a leaf, which makes them zigzag. 

The plant flowers in July and August, many flowers being carried on stalks that are shorter than the leaves. The pods are smooth and curved, with a central division such that several seeds are produced on each side of the “wall”.

Wild liquorice is not the plant from which laxatives and food flavourings are produced. However, the root stems of both wild and true liquorice can be chewed – the botanical name glycyphyllos means “sweet stem”.

© John Welford

Water monitor lizard

The water monitor is one of the largest lizards that ventures into salt water. It inhabits low-lying coasts, rivers and estuaries in south-east Asia, Indonesia and The Philippines.

It grows up to 2.7 metres (9 feet) in length and weighs up to 35 kg (75 lbs). It has a long neck, strong legs and a flattened tail that it lashes from side to side in the water.

The water monitor is a predator with a wide-ranging diet, feeding on anything that it can overpower, either onshore or in the water. In common with other monitors, the water monitor will also feed on carrion.

Water monitors are sometimes seen near human habitations, where they scavenge on discarded food waste.

The water monitor lays eggs which the female places at the end of a burrow.

© John Welford

Blackfin icefish

The blackfin icefish is a remarkable creature that is able to live in the coldest waters to be found on Planet Earth. It inhabits the coastal seas on the Atlantic side of Antarctica, where the temperature can fall to -2°C (28°F). It is found at depths of up to 770 metres (2,500 feet) below the surface.

These conditions would freeze the blood of most fish, but the blackfin icefish has its own natural antifreeze. It appears to be ghostly white, which is due to not having any red blood cells. This makes the blood thin enough to flow in very cold temperatures.

The blackfin icefish grows to 72 cms (28 inches) in length and weighs up to 3.5 kg (7.5 lbs). 

It is a sluggish swimmer that needs little oxygen. Its food consists of krill and small fish.

© John Welford

Sainfoin

Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) is often seen on chalk and limestone grassland in southern England, although it is almost certainly not a native plant, having been introduced from central Europe where it was traditionally used as fodder for cattle. The name comes from French – “sain” meaning “wholesome” and “foin” meaning “hay”. It has also been thought that a mythical Saint Foyne might have been responsible for the name.

Sainfoin was mentioned by Nicholas Culpeper, the 17^th-century herbalist, as an aid for nursing mothers, based on the plant’s supposed effect on increasing the milk yield of cows. 

Another former medical use for sainfoin was to treat “stranguary” – a painful bladder disease. The leaves were sometimes used as a poultice for reducing boils or they could induce sweating if pulped and mixed with oil.

Sainfoin is an upright, often branched, plant, growing to a height of up to 32 inches (80 cms). The leaves consist of 6-14 pairs of leaflets with a terminal leaflet. 

The flowers appear from June to August. They are bright pink or red, often with purplish veins, carried in conical spikes. Sainfoin is sometimes called “cock’s comb” or “cock’s head”, which refers to the plant’s spiny toothed seed pods. Each pod contains a single seed and it does not split open.

© John Welford

Kidney vetch

Kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria) favours dry grassland habitats, either on chalk downland or close to coasts. It is common throughout Great Britain. It is a plant that has many local names, including “fingers and thumbs” and “lamb’s foot”. In Yorkshire, East Anglia and Dorset it is known as “lady’s finger” after its silky, finger-like bracts – small leaves that appear just below the flower-heads.

In the Middle Ages the plant was regarded throughout Europe as a medicinal herb, particularly for healing wounds – hence the botanical name “vulneraria”, from the Latin “vulnus”, meaning a wound. 

It was called kidney vetch due to the old superstition that a plant that looked in part like a part of the human body must have been so designed by God as a hint that it had a beneficial role in treating ailments of that part of the body. In this case the kidney-shaped flowers were a clue to the plant’s supposed ability to cure kidney diseases.

Kidney vetch grows more or less upright to a height of up to 24 inches (60 cms). The stems and leaves have a silky feel. On each leaf stem the terminal leaflet is much larger than the rest. 

The flower-heads, which appear between June and September, are carried on long stalks with leaf-like bracts beneath them. The kidney-shaped flowers, which can be yellow, orange, red or purple, are a rich source of nectar but the stiff petals are too heavy for many small insects to open, so the rewards are mainly on offer to bumble bees.

The flowers go brown as they fade, after which the seed pods are enclosed by the purple-tipped woolly sepals.

Kidney vetch is a food plant of the small blue butterfly.

© John Welford

Common pipistrelle bat

The common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipstrellus) is the smallest and commonest bat found in the United Kingdom. 

The pipstrelle weighs between 3 and 10 grams and has a wingspan of 15-25 cms. 

The body is covered in brown fur. They have large black ears and narrow wings that are actually membranes stretched between elongated fingers. Strong claws on the feet enable them to hang upside down when roosting. 

During summer months, pipistrelles can often be seen swooping and diving in a characteristically jerky flight during the late evening over gardens as they feed on flying insects such as moths. A single bat can eat as many as 3,000 insects in one night. 

Pipistrelles roost in buildings, being able to squeeze through narrow gaps to find dry and sheltered spots. 

Female pipistrelles give birth in Autumn. In the UK it is usual for them to raise only one young, but twin births are more common in continental Europe. 

© John Welford

Scorpion fly

There is no surprise about how the scorpion fly (Panorpa communis) got its name. However, this little monster presents no danger to any living creature, with the swollen scorpion-like tail – which only males possess – only being used during mating.

Scorpion flies are found in gardens, hedges and woodland, where they feed mainly on dead insects. They have strong mouthparts that enable them to bite through tough skins.

They are about 1.5 cm ling with a 3 cm wingspan. Their long thin wings have dark markings. They also have long antennae.

The larva of the scorpion fly resembles a caterpillar.

Although the scorpion tail might give the impression that the female fly is at risk during mating, it is actually the male whose life is at stake, given the female’s predilection for eating her mate given half a chance. A male scorpion fly will offer the female a gift of a drop of saliva in the hope of living to tell the tale.

© John Welford

Bird's-foot

Bird’s-foot (Ornithopus perpusillus) gets its name from its slightly curved, pointed pods, which could be seen as resembling bird’s claws. 

It is common throughout Britain, apart from the far north, preferring well-drained sandy or gravelly soils. Although it is a native British species, bird’s-foot is more common in continental Europe as far east as Poland and as far north as southern Sweden.

Bird’s-foot grows up to 18 inches in height (45 cms). 

The stems, some of which sprawl along the ground, have fine hairs. The leaves are split into pairs of leaflets, with a single leaflet at the tip. The first leaflets are often close to the stem and curved backwards.

Bird’s-foot flowers from May to August, with each flower-stalk carrying several small blossoms. The flowers, which are white with red veins, normally pollinate themselves. A characteristic feature of bird’s-foot is a leaf-like bract that grows immediately below the cluster of flowers.

Bird’s-foot is a member of the pea family and produces its seeds in curved pods. However, the pods are segmented with one seed per segment. When ripe, the pods break apart one segment at a time.

 © John Welford

Goat's-rue

Goat’s-rue (Galega officinalis) is widely found on damp and waste ground in Great Britain. The alternative name of French lilac comes from the belief that the plant was introduced from France as an ornamental flowering plant but then escaped into the wild. Its origins actually lie in eastern and southern Europe, where it is grown as a fodder crop. 

It is often seen in derelict gardens where it swamps smaller plants and forms big bushy domes covered with white or lilac flowers. 

Goat’s-rue is an upright bushy plant that grows to between 24 and 57 inches (60-145 cm) in height. 

The leaves comprise stems with 4 to 12 pairs of leaflets with a single leaflet at the tip. In June and July the flowers appear, these being on upright spikes and lilac, pale pink or white in colour. The petals have a narrow, elongated base. 

The pods of the fruiting head are about one inch long, straight and smoothly rounded. There are several seeds to each pod.

© John Welford

We're just like ants!

John Lubbock was a naturalist who was at work during the late 19th century.

He undertook a special study of ants, and during one of his experiments he intoxicated some of them with alcohol and waited to see how their group behaviour was affected when the ants were at a distance from their nest. He noticed that if the drunk ants were from the same nest as the sober ones, the latter would help the former to get home safely. However, if a "stranger" ant came across a drunk ant it would be quite likely to push it into the nearest ditch!

Are humans any better in their behaviour?

© John Welford

Common bird's-foot-trefoil

Common bird’s-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) is found in all parts of the British Isles in pastures, dry grasslands and on roadsides.

It has many alternative names, including “God Almighty’s thumb and finger”, “crow-toes” and “lady’s shoes and stockings” – indeed more than 70 folk names have been recorded for this plant, most of them referring to specific features of its appearance, such as the shoe-like flowers and the seed pods that resemble fingers or claws. The official name also refers to the pod shape and the division of the leaves into three leaflets, although there are also two other leaflets that grow close to the stem.

Common bird’s-foot-trefoil grows to a height of between 4 and 16 inches (10-40 cm). The upright stems grow from a solid woody stem that trails along the ground. The plant flowers from June to September.

The yellow flowers sometimes have red flushes or streaks that give rise to another of the 70 folk names, “bacon and eggs”. Butterflies are attracted to the flowers for nectar, but it is heavier insects such as bees and wasps that are responsible for pollination. Their weight forces pollen to be deposited on their bodies by the flower’s stamen and for pollen from a visit to another flower to be gathered by the stigma.

The butterflies mentioned above may well be those of the green hairstreak and dingy skipper, for both of which the common bird’s-foot-trefoil is a food plant for their caterpillars.

When the seed pods are ripe they twist and split – looking particularly claw-like – to release their seeds, several to each pod.

© John Welford

Baobab trees in trouble

Baobabs are remarkable trees. There are nine species of baobab, most of which are found in arid areas of southern Africa and Madagascar. The typical baobab has a thick truck that only supports branches high off the ground, which can make a baobab look like a fat man waving his arms in the air.

This feature may be one reason why village communities have high regard for their baobab trees – a belief that a baobab contains the spirit of a remote ancestor or is some sort of “guardian angel” – but there are more practical reasons for revering a baobab. This is that the tree has a remarkable capacity for storing water, each one holding thousands of gallons in its swollen trunk that can be tapped in times of drought. It also has edible leaves and fruit and the fibres from its bark and roots can be used to make ropes and clothes. Several bird species regularly nest in baobabs.

Baobabs are extremely long-lived, with some known to be more than 2000 years old.

However, Africa’s baobabs are in trouble. Many trees have died in recent years, some of them suddenly and with little warning. This has included not only ancient trees but others that are much younger. Disease outbreaks have been blamed in some areas, but that cannot be the whole story because many deaths have been of trees that were otherwise perfectly healthy.

The prime cause appears to be climate change, because what baobabs depend on is stability in terms of temperature, rainfall, etc, and recent changes in weather patterns, with more intense droughts and floods, have interrupted that stability.

The natural regeneration of baobabs in southern Africa involves elephants which eat the fruit and deposit seeds in their droppings, which provide an immediate source of fertilizer as the seeds germinate. However, there are now far fewer elephants in these regions than there once were, especially outside official nature reserves.

The good news is that baobabs grow fast and artificial plantings of saplings, if properly tended, could develop into mature trees relatively quickly. The long-term survival of the baobab does, however, depend on mankind being able to get climate change under control.

© John Welford

Horseshoe vetch

Horseshoe vetch (Hippocrepis comosa) is commonly found on downland turf, favouring chalky or limestone soils. It is widespread in all parts of Great Britain except the far north.

The woody rootstock produces many trailing stems that turn up to produce the flower-heads (from May to August). It grows from 4 to 16 inches high (10-40 cms). Each leaf has two rows of leaflets with a terminal singleton.

The yellow flowers have evolved a subtle means of ensuring the production of fertile seed. The most common pollinators are heavy insects such as bumble and honey bees. The petals are so shaped that when a bee lands on the lower petal the stamens force a string of pollen through a hole at the end of the petal and onto the bee. At the same time the stigma touches the underside of the bee where there may be pollen gathered from visiting another flower.

The ripe pods break up into three to six horseshoe-shaped segments, thus giving the plant both its familiar and botanical name – hippocrepis is Greek for horseshoe.

© John Welford

Oceanic whitetip shark

The oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) is one of several species of shark that are on the red list of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as being under threat in the wild. This particular species is listed as “vulnerable”, which is one step below “endangered” but is reserved for species that are still regarded as being at high risk of extinction in the foreseeable future.

The oceanic whitetip is a medium-sized shark that is generally around three metres (9.8 feet) long. It weighs around 170 kilograms (370 pounds). The most distinctive feature of the species is its fins, both dorsal and pectoral, that are rounded and are considerably larger than those of other shark species. The fins and nose have white tips (hence the shark’s name) and the underside is also white.

The oceanic whitetip is found in the tropical and subtropical zones of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. It does not often come close to shore, preferring to stay in the open ocean where it preys on fish such as tuna, barracuda and mackerel, as well as cephalopods (e.g. squid and octopus), turtles and crustaceans. Oceanic whitetips are usually solitary, but groups will gather when a large amount of food is available and they may form feeding frenzies.

Oceanic whitetips can be dangerous to humans under certain circumstances, such as after a disaster at sea. It is believed that up to 600 of the sailors lost when USS Indianapolis was torpedoed in 1945 were killed by oceanic whitetip sharks.

Decline in numbers

Oceanic whitetips have seen a severe decline in numbers in recent years, although the exact rate of decline is not easy to measure given the shark’s migratory behaviour as it follows food sources across large distances of ocean. However, some estimates put the decline at around 70% over the past 50 years.

A major reason for numbers falling has been over-fishing in certain areas, given that the fins of the oceanic whitetip are used to make shark fin soup, which is a highly prized delicacy in parts of Asia. Many have also been lost due to being caught by nets that were set to catch shoals of fish that the sharks were following.

Although the oceanic whitetip has been declared to be a vulnerable species in general terms, it has been classed as critically endangered (the final stage before “extinct” in the IUCN scale) in areas of the central Atlantic Ocean, due almost entirely to losses from “by-catch” in tuna fishing nets. There is therefore considerable pressure on the fishing industry to adopt fishing methods that are less harmful to oceanic whitetips and other shark species.

© John Welford

Hare's-foot clover

Hare’s-foot clover (Trifolium arvense) grows in dry, grassy places throughout Great Britain. It prefers sandy soils and is often found near the sea. The name “arvense” means “of arable land”, which suggests a somewhat different habitat – this is true in other European countries, Asia and North Africa, but in Britain hare’s-foot clover has largely been cleared from farmland.

It is an upright plant that grows about 4-8 inches (10-20 cms) tall.

The leaves are divided into three leaflets. The name clover comes from the Latin “clava”, meaning club, and it is thought that clover was so named because the leaf shape resembled the three-lobed club supposedly carried by Hercules. This is also the reason why the club symbol on playing cards has three lobes, although the leaflets on hare’s-foot clover are much more pointed than on playing card clubs.

Hare’s-foot clover flowers from June to September. The tiny flowers are borne in cylindrical heads up to one inch (2.5 cms) long, on stalks that are longer than the leaves. The flowers are cream in colour with a pink tinge caused by the reddish pointed teeth of the sepals. The soft, downy flowerheads are the reason why the name hare’s-foot was given to this particular clover. An alternative name is rabbit’s-foot clover.

© John Welford

Red clover

Red clover (Trifolium pratense) is common in pastures and grassland throughout Great Britain. It has the ability to “fix” atmospheric nitrogen into the soil, which makes it valuable to farmers.

Red clover has narrow pointed leaflets – usually three to a leaf but occasionally four – with a V-shaped band on each one. Reddish-purple flowerheads rise from a pair of leaves at the end of a stem from May to September. After the flowers die they stay on the fruiting head and conceal the small seed pods.

The nitrogen fixing happens because of the bacteria contained in tiny nodules on the plant’s roots. The nitrogen is then converted into salts which are essential for plant growth. Red clover is ploughed in to enrich the soil or harvested as animal fodder.

The main pollinators of red clover are bumble bees, but the flowers are also attractive to honey bees. Red clover is sometimes called “bee bread” because of this.

Red clover flowers can be used in wine-making, in in past times a syrup was made from them that was used to treat whooping cough. The rare four-leaved variants were believed to bring good luck and were worn on clothing in the belief that they would ward off witches and warlocks.

© John Welford

Fossa

The native fauna of Madagascar bears very little resemblance to that of the neighbouring continent of Africa, due to the separation event that occurred around 160 million years ago. A lot of divergent evolution has happened since then!

The fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) is an animal that occupies the “big cat” niche in Madagascar’s fauna, although it belongs to a more primitive family of animals that includes civets, genets and mongooses.

Like a big cat, the fossa is lithe and agile and hunts by stalking and pouncing on its prey. It is muscular, powerful and an excellent climber.

An adult fossa measures 23-30 inches (60-75 cms) in length and stands 22-28 inches (55-70 cms) tall. It weighs 21-31 pounds (9.5-14 kgs).

Fossas are solitary animals that hunt by day or night. A fossa will patrol an area of 1.5 square miles (4 square kms) or more, which means that the species has a low population density and individuals are not easily seen.

Fossas originality hunted members of another of Madagascar’s unique animal groups, the lemurs, but as numbers of the latter have declined, fossas have been forced to take pigs, poultry and other domesticated animals. That has made them targets for persecution by humans which, together with habitat loss, has added the fossa to the list of highly endangered species.

© John Welford