Cowslip

Spring has made it at last to Reg’s Meadow and the long-awaited annual carpet of cowslips has opened in the sunshine,

April meadow

just in time to impress the Easter visitors! As the surrounding ground foliage is much lower this year, the full height of the cowslip stems can be clearly seen, ranked like little yellow soldiers across the meadow floor. The first swallows have also appeared in time for Easter and these will soon be followed by more of their fellow migrants.

The opening of the cowslip flowers has brought a number of early insects back to the meadow. There are already quite a few bumblebees around, as well as numerous small flies and a handful of butterflies on the warmer days. The wind is still quite cold, even on sunny days, and some insects are sheltering under the leaves to wait for higher temperatures.

Sheltering ladybird

This ladybird’s food supply of aphids and other small insects will increase as more of the ground cover plants grow up again in the meadow. Most of the usual suspects of these plants can be found if you get down among the cowslips and take a closer look. Some young plants are quite difficult to identify when their foliage is tiny, but others are very distinctive and can be recognized early. There is a lot of Cow Parsley in front of the hides and Wild Arum, also known as Cuckoo Pint or Lords and Ladies, along the hedgerows. We also found Salad Burnet, with its pretty, serrated leaves, Ox-Eye Daisy and Yarrow all over the meadow floor and Red Deadnettle (sometimes called Purple Deadnettle) in the hedge behind the seating area, as well as many others, not all of which we have yet identified!

Wild Arum	Salad Burnet	Ox-Eye Daisy	Red Deadnettle

"Bread and cheese"

Small green leaves are opening around the hedgerows. The Hawthorn has come out in a rush, with the traditionally-named “bread-and-cheese” of its new foliage and the tiny, tight buds of its May blossom already showing, ready to open in a few weeks’ time. The Blackthorn is in full flower on some of the shrubs along the southern hedgerow, with others not too far behind. The frothy white flowers make a bright display in what is otherwise still quite a bare-looking hedge.

Elderflower buds	Wild Rose

Flower heads can already be seen on the Elder bushes. The clusters of blossom are still tiny, but in the next few weeks they will grow into the large, flat discs with the strong, distinctive scent of Elderflower. The leaves of Wild Rose are a delicate green with orangey-red edges as they unfurl.

Ash Tree Flowers

In the coppice in front of the hides the black Ash tree buds are bursting open to reveal their embryo flowers, which appear quite a while before the leaves. Trees produce a wide range of flowers and we will be looking at these in more detail in a later article.

The pond in front of the seating area was removed during the winter, leaving a bare, circular indentation in the soil. It will be interesting to see what plants will grow there in the future. Some of the pond plants such as flag iris are still there, but these will probably disappear before long, to be followed initially by some of the species usually found on disturbed ground and eventually by the meadow species. So … watch this space!

We are also waiting to see what will happen in the small cover strip between the hides and the compost heap at the bottom of the meadow, which was not mowed last autumn. We will be comparing the variety and success of plants growing in that strip with those in the rest of the meadow as we move into the main flowering season in the summer.

Featured Plant – Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa)

A native shrub or small tree, a member of the Rose family, which grows to around four metres and is found in scrubland, woodland edge and hedgerows. It is a very useful plant for hedging, as it grows into a dense, impenetrable thicket.

The plant has long, sharp thorns on sturdy black branches and produces a mass of small white blossom in March or April, the flowers appearing before the leaves. Sloes, the blue-black fruits which ripen in autumn, are sour and extremely astringent to taste.
Alternative names include Wild Plum, Mother of the Wood, Wishing Thorn, Sloes, Slones and Bullums. Prunus is the Latin word for “plum” and spinosa for “thorny” or “spiny”.

Sloe stones have been found at Neolithic sites, indicating that the plant has been in use since early civilisation. It was held in reverence by the Celts and has been used in exorcism rituals as well as for making magical wands and divining rods. In Irish folklore it was thought to be a magical shrub, where the “little people” lived. It was considered unlucky to cut down a blackthorn bush or to bring the flowers into the house, but respectful use of parts of the plant could bring good luck. Bad luck would come if you cut any part of the tree on November 11th (November Day) or May 11th (the original May Day).

The wood is very hard and dense and has been used traditionally for many centuries to make hay-rakes, walking sticks and the Irish Shillelagh, used as either a walking stick or a club.

Medicinal uses include the treatment of stomach and blood disorders. The plant has also been used as a laxative or mild purgative and to treat bladder problems, catarrh, bronchial conditions and inflammation of the throat. Sloes made into a paste are said to whiten the teeth and remove tartar.

Perhaps the best known and well-loved use for the berries is in the making of Sloe Gin, by adding sugar to a bottle of sloes, topping up with gin and leaving for several months before drinking, or at least until Christmas … if you have the willpower to wait that long!