White and purple are the most prominent colours in Reg's Meadow as we move into August. The blaze of yellow from the Lady's Bedstraw has faded and in its place are bright patches of purple Marjoram studded with the white discs and domes of Wild Carrot.

Marjoram

There is still some Lady's Bedstraw in flower but it no longer stands out and is only seen on closer inspection. The Wild Carrot stands tall above all the other foliage, thrusting up proudly right across the meadow. Some of the carrot heads are beginning to fade and produce their seed. Where the heads are still in full bloom there are noticeably fewer beetles this month. The bright orange Rhagonycha fulva, which seemed to be on almost every flower head in July, have almost disappeared.

There are still plenty of insects around, however, especially on warm sunny days, with bees, butterflies , hoverflies and burnet moths especially plentiful. The bees come in many different colours and sizes and are not easy to identify as they move around from flower to flower quite rapidly. Even in photographs it is necessary to see the insect from more than one angle to note all the identifying features. The two bumble bees shown here have completely different colouring. They are both feeding on Marjoram, a herb with clustered heads of tiny pink flowers and a herbal scent which is attractive to bees and butterflies.

Green-vained White	Common Blue	Common Blue	Brimstone	Gatekeeper

Among the butterflies found in the meadow in August are Meadow Browns (pictured last month), Green-veined Whites, Brimstones, Common Blues, Gatekeepers and various Skippers. Female Brimstone butterflies are distinguishable from the more yellow males by their greenish-white colouring. I also followed a beautiful Peacock butterfly for some time but it would not cooperate and allow me near enough for a photograph! Also uncooperative are the grasshoppers, which can be heard all over the meadow but which are so small and quick that I have not yet managed to capture one on film!

Red Bartsia

We have a new flower to add to our list in August. This is Red Bartsia, a rather unobtrusive little plant with pinkish-purple flowers on branched stems, which has appeared in several places in the meadow this year. It is a member of the figwort family and is known as a hemiparasite, because it draws out water and minerals from the roots of other plants. Unlike Common Broomrape (described last month) it also produces its own food by photosynthesis and is therefore not totally parasitic.

Wild Basil

Other prominent plants in the meadow in August are pink, hairy Wild Basil and golden-yellow St. John's Wort. In the hedgerows there are green Elderberries and the delicate green-veined flowers and curling tendrils of White Bryony. You can also find Self-Heal, with pretty two-tone flowers of maroon and bluish-purple, often growing quite close to the ground and Black Medick, a tiny yellow flower growing on clover- like leaves. Black Medick gets its name from the colour of its seed pods and can be distinguished from other similar plants such as Hop Trefoil by the tiny points in the centre of the indentations in its leaves.

Self-Heal	White Bryony	Black Medick	Black Medick seeds

Featured Flower - St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum)

A native, hairless perennial, found in hedgerows, scrub and grassland, particularly on chalk or limestone. It has small leaves, 1-2 cm long, clusters of golden-yellow flowers with black dots on the petal edges, and grows to a height of around 2 feet. It flowers from June to September.

Alternative names include Johnsweed, Amber Touch-and-Heal, Goatweed, Rosin Rose, Klamathweed, Hardhay and Tipton Weed.

The name Hypericum is apparently from the Greek meaning "over an apparition" because of the belief that the smell of the plant would cause evil spirits to fly away. The specific name perforatum comes from the many tiny translucent glandular dots in the leaves, which look like holes if held up to the light. The common name for the plant has a number of suggested sources. Richard Mabey says (in Flora Britannica) that the juice from the stems is blood red, and thus the plant was burned in ritual fires on Midsummer Day all across Europe, symbolising purification of crops and communities. Midsummer Day is also the feast day of St. John the Baptist and the festival therefore blended from pagan into Christian tradition. Another old belief was that the leaf spots would ooze blood on August 29th, the day on which John the Baptist was executed, or that the spots would only first appear on that day. The plant was traditionally thought to ward off witchcraft or magic.

The plant has been used medicinally in many different ways. The ancient Greeks used it to treat sciatica and poisonous reptile bites. Hippocrates recommended its use for "nervous unrest". In Europe it was traditionally used to heal wounds and burns and it has also been used in folk medicine for treating kidney, lung and bladder problems, diarrhoea, haemorrhages and jaundice. In modern medicine it is mainly used in the treatment of nervous conditions, sleeplessness and depression and is highly regarded by herbalists for these uses. (N.B. It should, however only be used under medical supervision, as it can react with other medicines used to treat these conditions.)