Dog rose

 

The dog rose (Rosa canina) is the ancestor of the cultivated garden rose and has been a symbol of the British monarchy and England itself ever since it was adopted by King Henry VII as his official emblem, the “Tudor rose”.

However, the use of the word ‘dog’ to describe a plant usually implies that it is something of no worth, and that does sound very strange in this case.

One possible explanation is that the ancient Greeks believed that the roots of the plant could cure a man who had been bitten by a mad dog. The Romans adopted the name Rosa canina and that translates to English directly as dog rose. The name has therefore stuck.

The dog rose is common in hedgerows and scrubland throughout England and Wales although rare in Scotland. It is a climbing plant with arching stems that can grow up to 12 feet (280cm) long. The stems bear strongly hooked thorns and each leaf has two or three pairs of toothed leaflets.

The plant flowers in June and July with the light pink flowers being flat with large petals. The fruits, known as hips, are oval and smooth.

Whatever the dog rose’s supposed usefulness in curing the bites of rabid dogs, the syrup made from rose hips is rich in vitamin C.

© John Welford

Barnacle goose

 

The barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) is a winter visitor to the British Isles, flocks coming from two separate homelands. Those that visit the Solway Firth area breed on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen. Birds seen in western Scotland and Ireland are from Greenland.

In past times, before people knew where their nesting grounds were, people thought that the birds grew on trees. They also believed that the barnacles seen on floating timber were embryos of the birds, and so came to apply the same name to both the bird and the crustacean.

The barnacle goose is unmistakable, having a white face contrasting with a black crown, neck and breast. The upper parts are grey with white-edged black bars. Juvenile birds have duller head and neck plumage than the adults. The sexes are alike. Barnacle geese are 23-27 inches in length (58-68 cm).

Flocks of barnacle geese often fly in irregular, ragged packs with a chain stringing out behind, but never in regular formation. Both in the air and on the ground, family groups of barnacle geese continually bicker with a yapping noise like that of small dogs. Rarely silent for long, they make most noise when taking flight.

The favourite food of barnacle geese is coastal grass that is periodically flooded by high tides. They will also graze on pastureland.

The mating display includes a characteristic wing-flicking action with the paired birds rushing about and calling loudly as they do so.

Family bonds are strong. Although goslings can soon look after themselves, they stay with their parents until the next breeding season. For the annual migration, family groups join together in large travelling parties.

 © John Welford

 

Burnet rose

 

The burnet rose (Rosa pimpinellifolia) is found throughout Great Britain on downland, heaths and dunes, especially near the sea. For many years, varieties of this flower have been popular garden plants. Its rootstock suckers freely, spreading vigorously underground from the main root in producing new flowering stems at a distance from it. A single hybrid rapidly fills out into a dense bush covering a large area, which makes the plant popular with gardeners.

Botanists once called the burnet rose Rosa spinosissima, which means ‘the spiniest rose’ due to the large number of thorns. Another characteristic, unique among wild roses, is the purple black swelling or ‘hip’ that forms on the end of the flower stalk after fertilisation. All other wild rose hips are red or scarlet.

The burnet rose is an upright, spiny, bushy plant that grows to between 6 and 24 inches (15-60 cm) in height. The stem has many spines and bristles. The leaves are hairless, and each leaf has seven to nine small, toothed leaflets.

The plant flowers between May and July. The flowers are solitary with woody styles. They are creamy-white and sometimes splashed with pink. The fruits are round, with a crown of long sepals.

Both the common and the scientific names of the burnet rose derived from the close resemblance of its leaves to those of the burnet-saxifrage (Pimpinella saxifraga), which is a member of the parsley family.

© John Welford

 

White-fronted goose

 

The white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons) is a visitor to the United Kingdom from Greenland and Siberia between October and April.

It is perhaps the most easily recognised of the grey geese, with its white forehead ‘blaze’ and its transverse black belly markings. It measures 26-30 inches in length (66-76 cm). The sexes are alike in appearance. In flight, the darker forewing of the white-front distinguishes it from the pink-footed goose.

The plumage of immature birds shows fewer contrasts than the adult’s, and it lacks a white forehead. Orange legs and a paler chest distinguish it from the pink-footed goose.

Those that come to Western Scotland or Ireland are from Greenland, and have orange-yellow bills. Visitors to England breed in the far north of Russia; they have pinkish bills. White-fronted geese favour freshwater marshes and water-meadows during their winter stay in Britain.

In flight, white-fronts may be distinguished by their call, which is higher pitched than that of other common geese. Even shriller in its call is the lesser white-fronted goose (Anser erythropus), which is classed as an ‘accidental’: flocks do not habitually migrate to Britain, but a few arrive among other species almost every year. It breeds in Arctic Scandinavia and Russia, and normally winters in the Balkans and south-west Asia.

Flocks feed at night if the moon is bright. They graze on pastures, plant shoots and grain.

Like greylags, mating white-fronts pair for life, and reinforce their bond by repeating a similar courtship ‘triumph ceremony’ whenever they meet.

The nest is little more than a depression in the ground, lined with grass and down. Incubation takes up to 4 weeks, and the young fledge after 5 to 6 weeks.

© John Welford

Great burnet

 

Great burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis) is a plant that is found on damp grasslands in central England and Wales.

The plant grows from 12 to 36 inches (32-90 cm) high and it flowers between June and September. The stems are upright and hairless. The leaves are composed of paired rows of toothed leaflets.

The flowers of this plant are bisexual, in that each flower has both male and female parts that produce abundant nectar for insect pollination. Each flower-head has an oblong outline. The fruit has four wings.

People who studied herbs in the past believed in what was known as the doctrine of signatures – this meant that plants advertised their medicinal powers by outward signs. In the case of great burnet, the dark crimson flower-heads suggested blood, and for centuries the plant was used to staunch wounds and as a remedy for internal bleeding.

In more recent times, a root of great burnet, if freshly dug up and peeled, was applied to burns to relieve the pain and encourage healing. This reputation is preserved in the botanical name, the first part of which means blood-absorbing.

Great burnet is not as common as it once was due to the increased efficiency of British farming.

Salad burnet, which can indeed be eaten in salads, is related to great burnet but is much smaller having male only flowers in the lower part of the head, which flower first, while the female and bisexual flowers, which are higher up the head, open later. This is a common device used by wind-pollinated plants to avoid self-fertilisation.

© John Welford