Henk Beentje's Winsham botany walks
Dr Henk Beentje is an active member of our community, and an elected member of Winsham Parish Council. He has been a researcher at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew and editor of the publication series 'Flora of Tropical East Africa' for many years.
Henk also has a great interest and love for our local flora and fauna, and his knowledgeable commentary on his walks in and around Winsham, with the pictures, will, help inform our own ramblings.
August 2022- along Winsham lanes

High summer; very high, hot, dry summer, and not much left in the way of flowers. Some Ragwort, Honeysuckle, Mallow, Meadowsweet and Chamomile, and - apart from the first and the last of these - restricted to shaded and slightly moister places. Luckily our hedgerows and wooded lanes give shade and shelter from the heat to us and other creatures as well: on Cow Down Road I found a young Grass snake, and I regularly see a badger and deer in early evenings. And of course all this sun brings out the butterflies and dragonflies! At the recent Big Butterfly Count I totted up eight different species of butterfly in fifteen minutes, admittedly mostly on garden flowers... of which I am giving you the Brimstone, the original butter-coloured one that gave butterflies their name; two days later we spotted a Silver-washed Fritillary, whose caterpillars feed exclusively on Violets. A nice and common moth is the Six-spot Burnet.

As the summer progresses, and the nettles grow higher still, Brambles are beginning to set fruit, and I have tasted the first good blackberries. Everyone has their favourite sites, and I think mine is just north of Holditch. Among the nettles and brambles you may spot the stalked club-like fruit bodies of Lords and ladies; I found no fewer than seventeen South Somerset local names for this plant, including Bloody man's finger, Adders meat and Wake Robin.

By the way, Forde Abbey has planted some new crops around their large maize field just north of Forde Grange Farm; we spotted the same plants in the recent Winsham Walkers stroll near Dowlish Wake: Phacelia or fiddleneck with purple heads, and Fodder radish with white flowers.

 

 

 

SOME WILD PLANT FACTS: 

·       Fleabane was used, as the name implies, as an effective insect repellent, as well as for sore eyes and against diarrhoea.

·       Honeysuckle becomes much more fragrant at night, and provides rich nectar for butterflies, bumblebees and... dormice. These last also use the bark of the plant to build their nests.

·       Mallow's young seed pods are called 'cheeses' have a nutty flavour. The leaves can be cooked and eaten like spinach.

·       Chamomile flowers can be used for a good herbal tea, said to be good against colds and to make you calmer.

·       Yarrow is used against colds and fever, stomach ulcers and rheumatism. Flora Thompson describes in 'Lark Rise' how yarrow, or 'yarb' was gathered in large quantities to make yarb beer, drunk by both field workers and children.

 

 

May 2022- along Winsham lanes

 Lush, is the word springing to mind for nature at the end of May. There has been a gradual change with hedges filling in, and road- and path-sides filling in as well; our lanes are getting narrower. Grasses are springing up, nettles are shooting up and arching out, and Cow parsley has been replaced by Hogweed: looking rather similar but twice the size, and with much coarser leaves. Gone is the subtlety of the end of April, and in has come the lushness of late May. Bluebells and Ramsons are setting fruit, but in their stead we get Wayfaring tree and Guelder rose flowering in the hedgerows (both Viburnums, for the gardeners among us), and Black bryony and Cleavers scrambling all over the same hedges. Foxgloves and Brambles are coming into flower along many a lane, and Bracken are beginning to elbow much else aside.

 


Guelder rose
Black Bryony
Bramble

I recently enjoyed Paul Smith's little book, 'Landing gently' about his early life on New House Farm, by Purtington. It is a wonderful tale about farming life in the 1920s and 30s. In one chapter he describes a bit of ancient woodland on this farm, with rare plants such as Herb paris, Twayblade and Butterfly orchids. I thought all this would be gone from our parish, what with modern farming methods, but I was recently invited to visit a private bit of old woodland within a few miles from Winsham - and I saw, for the first time in decades, Twayblade and Herb paris, as well as some Early purple orchis.

 As to butterflies, it has been rather poor so far. One positive note is that I have seen several Painted ladies in May, a bit faded in their colouring; this means they probably came from far away, possibly from Spain. Other insect life of note was an ant (probably a Black ant) I spotted feeding on a Wood spurge - I never knew before that they did this. And of course May and June is when we see Cuckoo spit everywhere: these are the brood chambers/birthing pools of Froghoppers, also known as Spittlebugs, with each of the many froth cells containing an insect nymph.

 On Leigh Lane I found a Slow worm, sadly a dead one, squashed by a car. This is neither a worm nor a snake, though it looks like a small one, but a legless lizard.

 A word of warning: by streams and in other wet places there are currently stands of flowering Water dropwort or Hemlock water dropwort, a large herb in the carrot family. The leaves look a bit like Parsley, the stems are hollow, the flowers attractive, sweet-smelling and white. This is the most poisonous plant in Britain... In droughts, cattle may go for this plant, with fatal consequences.

 


Water dropwort                                   

On a more positive note, I have it on good authority that it is a very good year for Elderflower. Should you wish to make some cordial, tea, wine or fritters, go for it!

 Some wild plant facts:
Guelder rose is an indicator of ancient woodland, though I have found it in some hedges between high meadows. It is one of the national symbols of the Ukraine.

·   Black bryony is poisonous; its stems always twirl anti-clockwise.

  

      Herb paris has its leaves in a whorl of four set in a cross, topped by a star-shaped flower with four green sepals and four yellowgreen petals. All this looks very symmetrical, which is why the plant was known as Herb true-love. Again, a poisonous plant; what is it with May?

   Elderflower is, of course, the flower of the Elder. An Elder tree planted by your house was supposed to keep the devil away; so far, this has worked for me. Elder leaves are good for caterpillars of moths such as Swallowtail and Buff ermine; farmers used to hang foliage in their dairies to keep flies away.

 

Walking Winsham lanes-April 2022 

I think it is the prettiest time of the year, from halfway through April into May. The roadsides are lush and green (how do they do it, with so little rain?), the hedgerows are filling out, everywhere the birds are singing, bees and bumblebees are buzzing. The Martins and Swallows are back. When you look over the landscape, you see fifty-two shades of green, from pale Oak to rich reddish-green Field maple. Closer up, colour explodes: Cow parsley white-laces the roadsides and, at this stage, looks very pretty. It is interspersed with vivid yellow of Dandelions and the last of the Celandines, with Yellow archangel beginning to come in; with the white of Stitchwort, Cuckooflower (white to pink) and Jack-by-the-hedge and the occasional stand of Ramsons, the pink of Campion and Herb Robert, and in many places a haze of purple-blue from Bluebells. We are lucky to have our Bluebells not just confined to woods, glorious as they are there, but along hedgerows as well - and even, along Cow Down and Pye Lane, above the hedgerows. All in all it makes for real rural beauty!

This year, like last year, it is very much "Oak before Ash - in for a splash". Several mature Ashes are very late to come into leaf - I'll be keeping a close eye in case of Ash Dieback: blackened leaves, discoloured stems, shrivelled shoots. You can report ash dieback on https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/fthr/tree-alert/ .

Less conspicuous plants are all about as well, from Moschatel to Cuckoopint and Vetch. In fact from now on more and more species will come in, as Spring comes to its full burst.

Birdsong is also at its best, as long as they are not sitting on their nests yet: Thrushes at full repertoire, Blackbird and Robin and Chiff-chaff and Blackcap, and of course the diminutive Wren with one of the loudest songs of all; they and many others are nest-building, too. And at night Tawny owls are calling to and fro. Butterflies are beginning to emerge: Brimstone, Admiral, Peacock, Tortoiseshell, Orangetip. Hoverflies are feeding and pollinating, as Bumblebees and bees are doing. It is a wonderful time of year!

     

Some wild plant facts:

·       Stitchwort (also known as 'Poor man's buttonhole'...) is or was used in a herbal remedy against, you guessed it: stitch-in-the-side!

·       Yellow archangel is a plant of ancient hedgerows and woodlands. It is used in herbal remedies against bladder problems, and old herbals recommend crushed leaves for sores and ulcers. The flowers are edible, but you might leave them for the many pollinators that love this plant!

·       Cuckooflower grows in damp spots and is also known by the names of Lady's smock, Mayflower or Milkmaids. Leaves and young shoots are edible but bitter - they are rich in vitamins (especially C) and minerals.

·       Cow parsley is used in traditional remedies as a digestive aid. Crushed leaves smell a bit like aniseed, and are said to be mosquito-repellent. The same is true for Herb Robert: rubbing fresh leaves on the skin is thought to repel midges.

·       Ramsons or Wild Garlic has edible leaves and flowers - stick a leaf in your cheese sandwich to spruce it up a bit! It is also said to be good for sterilising wounds, and it is full of magnesium - good for the heart, and against stress.

Walking Winsham lanes-March 2022


March went out with some funny old-fashioned weather: a short snowstorm with flakes like little blocks of soft hail, after the sunniest weeks of the month for about a hundred years. And that when everyone was at the work of Spring the day before: Badgers cleaning out their dens, a lark singing over Hill Barn fields, Bumblebees and Great tits beginning to bring in nesting material to their chosen place, Ladybirds at it hammer and tongs.

And flowers, lots of Spring flowers. I can tell you Spring fashion colours are, once again, yellow and white, with accents of mauve.  Yellows are our beautiful Primroses, now at their best (Trish Goddard tells me there are wonderful stands along Horseshoe Lane, South of Forde Abbey); sheets of Celandine along lanes and under light tree shade, their flowers opening when the sun is out; the odd Dandelion, like the Celandine much visited by hungry insects; and Pussy willow. And, of course, Gorse - always out, really, but now probably at its best.  White is Blackthorn, mostly, very conspicuous in hedgerow and as trees in field copses; but Wood anemones are out as well. There are nice stands here and there, and the best I have seen grow below Puthill Farm along Limekiln Lane: a glorious sight. Stands of Stitchwort, um, stand out along steep grassy banks. Much less conspicuous whites are those of the Wild strawberry, the ever-present Hairy bittercress, groups of Dead nettles here and there, Chickweed in fields, and the shy Wood violet. And mauve accents are given by early flowering plants of Campion, Herb Robert, Vetch, tiny Speedwell and Ground Ivy, as well as the now conspicuous Butterbur. These mauve-flowering plants are really at their peak later in the year, but early individuals are useful for insects looking for pollen and nectar, like Bumblebees. And in the last few days of this month I have also seen a new colour, the blue of the very first Bluebells, with odd individuals out by Mello View, by Purtington and along Limekiln, Pye and Leigh Lanes.

All this is against the background of our hedgerows, still mostly bare and looking slashed, but with the first flushes of young leaves of Hazel, young Bramble, Honeysuckle and the first shoots of Clematis (or Old man's beard, or travellers' joy). Oaks are flushing too, a lovely and very welcome sight.

I should not forget the colour green - very visible at the moment are the leaves of Lords and ladies, Hogweed and Foxglove, as well as the easily overlooked greenish flowers: Dog's mercury is the main one, still going strong, and I must have seen hundreds of thousands in almost every hedgerow in the parish; and Golden saxifrage, by streamside. And to prove that some of them are easily overlooked: I was cropping a photo I took of the beautiful stand of Wood anemones near Puthill, with fruiting stems of the Great horsetail, when I spotted a tiny flower I had not seen when I took the photo: Moschatel, or Townhall clock, called that as the minute green flowers are in groups of five, one facing each of the points of the compass - and one pointing up.

As to birds, I have been hearing Yaffle (Green woodpecker) calls fairly regularly recently; also, the Chifchaff has started calling, Pied and Grey wagtails are noticeable, and Juliet heard the first Blackcap last week. The rookery at Whatley is very active, as are the Buzzards over Queen Hill wood.

I will end with a few casual insect sightings: there was a Large bee fly , looking like a strange bumblebee, on garden blossom towards the end of the month; Hoverflies have started to come out, too; I also saw my first Small tortoiseshell feeding on Dandelion, as the Brimstone is still doing on sunny days, while the Comma goes for both Dandelion and Celandine. 

 "To see a World in a grain of sand

 and a Heaven in a wild flower

hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

and Eternity in an hour"  (William Blake, 1803)

Some wild plant facts:

·       The French name for Old man's beard is 'herbe aux gueux', the beggar's herb, as beggars used its acrid sap to irritate the skin and to give it a sore and ulcerated look -  to induce sympathy in, and a donation from, passers by!

·       Dog's mercury is not only poisonous, but it is also wind-pollinated, which means it is no use to early insects.

·       Wordsworth's favourite flower was the Celandine, and he wrote several poems about it (e.g. " There is a Flower, the Lesser Celandine, That shrinks, like many more, from cold and rain; And, the first moment that the sun may shine, Bright as the sun himself, 'tis out again!")

·       This Celandine is extremely useful for insects, as it often grows in large groups, and is an important food plant when not much else in the way of pollen or nectar is available; even bees forage at it.
Walking Winsham lanes-February 2022

In early February there was hardly anything visible apart from Snowdrops and the beginning of Hazel flowering. The very occasional Dead nettle by a gate, and that was about it - or was it? In the hedgerows there were hundreds of the unobtrusive Dog mercury in flower. But what the few bees I saw were living on was not very clear - unless it was the Camellias in the garden! Not on the Hazel flowers, anyway, because they are wind-pollinated and don't bother to produce nectar. Their female flowers are very small, concealed in buds with only tiny bit of red styles sticking out, and what is obvious are the catkins of male flowers, occasionally colouring a whole tree yellow; the leaves of these trees are still in young bud.

 Gradually through the month more and more became visible, but you had to look for it as it was all pretty small. The tiniest were probably the Ivy-leaved speedwell with its minute blue flowers, just a few millimeters across, mostly growing in arable fields. On steep banks in sheltered spots there was the odd  Wild strawberry flower; along Cow Down Lane and in Bridge there were a few very early Cow parsley coming into flower, but as quite short plants compared to the size they reach in Spring. Celandines are coming into flower as well, their buttercup-like flowers beginning to dot roadsides; and the first few of our Primroses.


Ivy fruit

 The hedgerows are still pretty bare, apart from the very common and evergreen Ivy, still in fruit; the old Bramble leaves, and here and there the dark green of Holly. While in our garden Honeysuckle is already in bud and even flower, in the hedgerows I cannot spot them - they must come quite a bit later, in nature. But all that light coming through the hedge is good for all that Dog mercury, and for the various ferns too, which are now coming into their spore stages: the fern version of flowers, but only visible if you lift a leaf to look at the underside. Hart's tongue fern with its entire glossy leaves is the most common, it is said to be an indicator of ancient woodland but in our parishes you can find it everywhere. Our other common ferns are Common polypody (with leathery leaves, once-lobed) and Male fern (much more feathery, and twice divided leaves). On a bank between Cricket and Hollowells I found Maidenhair spleenwort, a small fern usually found on walls.

 

Elsewhere I have seen Blackthorn in flower, but not yet in our parish. Hawthorn is coming into leaf-bud, and I can recommend a nibble: they taste faintly nutty. Speaking of leaves, I have seen young leaves of a whole series of plants that will come into flower later: Stitchwort, Hogweed, Vetch, Lords and Ladies, Cleavers - and along Leigh Lane, lots of young leaves of Bluebells. Just North of Whatley and by Purtington Ramsons are showing their first leaves as well. They are all preparing themselves, but should we get a real cold spell (as often happens in March) they will cut their losses, go back into winter mode, and come again later.

On a walk on the last day of February I could add to my tally: on Limekiln Lane I saw my first Sweet violets, most of them white but a single purple. Surprisingly, also the Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage, whose name is bigger than the plant itself! Tiny yellow flowers in very wet sites, such as where the stream crosses the road. And finally the very first two Butterbur: one at Whatley Cross, and one along Leigh Lane by the bridge. Strange low purple-flowered heads, with the very young leaves beginning to emerge just outside.

 

Some Wild Fern Facts: Hart's tongue fern is used in the treatment of high blood pressure and for healing wounds;  Common polypody isused in coughs and colds, and Male fern is used against arthritis. The tiny Maidenhair spleenwort can be used as a poultice for snake bites and bee stings!

 

 

Walking Winsham lanes-January 2022

John keeps asking, and I have not been ‘filing copy’: as not much has been going on, as to flowering of plants. It has been an autumn of fungi, at which I am not much good; Jamie told me the image here is a Russula (taken in November), and I don’t even know if it is edible or poisonous! The other fungal picture is of a tiny toadstool (possibly Conical brittlestem) growing on a bank in the new ‘nature area’ behind Balsom Close, except that it isn’t a nature area yet – we are still waiting for it to be handed over to us and start planting whips!

Above: Conical Brittlestem?

Left: Russula

Those were pictures of late last year. This January, when the sun is out, small clouds of tiny midges are dancing by the hedgerows, which in our area have been trimmed/slashed recently, again, to give them that ‘short back & sides’ look. Redwings and Fieldfares are busy in the fields; and I have seen young lambs outside at Chard Junction.

Celandine
Dog mercury
Gorse

As there have been a couple of good frosts there are only very few ‘overhang’ flowers from last year, with one or two Herb Robert in sheltered spots, and the odd Dandelion. The leaves of several plants are giving it a hopeful try, just in case it will be mild from now on (I don’t think so) – Nettles, Cow Parsley, Lords and Ladies. But of this years’ flowers there are very few, as yet. Snowdrops, of course, doing well in and around hedge banks; a few tentative Celandine, trying it on; I have seen a single Primrose at the top of Leigh Lane; and in the hedges, Dog Mercury is flowering very furtively. Hazel is starting to flower here and there, with the male catkins conspicuous. And, of course, there is Gorse flowering in suitable sandy spots; “when gorse is in flower, kissing is in season” – and luckily that is all year round!
As there is so little to report, I’ll end with a few history notes on Winsham lanes, harvested from Mr W.H. Paull’s nice little booklet “the Winsham I remember”, published in 1971. This deals mainly with the period pre-Great War, and has a few interesting bits about parish roads: The road from Axewater to the village was along Wynyard Lane and Court Street before the 1890s, when the current main road into the village was built.
The main B3162 road from the village to Whatley (the “New Road”, popularly known as “the Cutting”) was also built in late eighteen hundreds. Before that the only way in the direction of Chard was either by way of Leigh Lane, or by Colham Lane to Windwhistle, says Mr Paull – though my 1811 Ordnance Survey map shows a track to Whatley, too. I add a bit of that old map for your interest!


To view Henk Beentje's 2021 walks- Click HERE

 

 

 

 


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