By the end of May the golden display of the Cowslips is over and the meadow has gone from yellow to green. The hedges are all in full leaf and the hawthorn blossom has almost finished.

Larvae Web on Spindle	Spindle Ermine Caterpillars

Along the bottom hedgerow the Wayfaring Tree is still just in bloom and tiny flowers are appearing on the Spindle bushes, too small to be seen from a distance. There is one Spindle shrub in the hedge behind the seating area, just beyond the gap to the mound, and this bush has had an infestation of caterpillars, hatching out in spider-like webs all over the bush. The caterpillars are the larvae of the Spindle Ermine moth, Yponomeuta cagnagella, and can clearly be seen inside the webs as they grow towards maturity. They can become a serious problem and strip whole spindle bushes of leaves, spreading to others in the same hedgerow but as this bush is fairly isolated we hope it will not become a problem. We will keep a careful eye on the area.There are already a lot of other insects around the meadow, seeking out the flowers as they open. The first little blue butterfly I have seen this year was flitting around busily in the warm sunshine but would not sit still long enough to be examined or photographed. There are numerous beetles, weevils and other tiny creatures on many of the plants, often too small to be noticed until they show up in photographs later!

Early Greenery	Spring Greens

Our page this month has a green theme. At the start of the growing season in Reg’s Meadow it is always a challenge for us to try to identify the first small plants as they appear and even as they grow larger it can still be confusing. Some plants have quite similar foliage to others around them and until the flowers begin to appear in April and May it can be hard to tell them apart. Here are a few of the species that feature most prominently in our meadow. As you walk round in early June you will find a lot of flowers already coming out, but have a look at the areas that are still just green and you should be able to identify some of them.

Bird’s Foot Trefoil

Bird’s Foot Trefoil

The Cowslip leaves are among the first to appear and are quite distinctive, as pictured in previous pages. Another plant that comes up early is Bird’s Foot Trefoil, sending up tiny light green rosettes that gradually open out to show the leaf shape. Although this is called a trefoil it actually has five leaflets, three in the clover-like shape and two more at the base, attached to the stem. Bird’s Foot Trefoil is one of the most abundant species in the meadow and as the flowers are already appearing they will be easy to spot.

Greater Knapweed	Greater Knapweed
Lesser Knapweed	Lesser Knapweed

A little more difficult to identify are the two Knapweeds, Greater and Lesser, both of which grow abundantly in Reg’s Meadow. The foliage is rather variable at different stages of growth and we usually say “What on Earth is that?” as the clumps first appear! Greater Knapweed has very pinnate leaves, with deep lobes, quite rounded at the base of the plant but thinner and more sparse towards the top, when the flowers come out. Even on the same plant the leaves can come in quite different shapes. Lesser Knapweed, also known as Black Knapweed or Hardheads, has narrow leaves, not pinnate, with lower leaves slightly lobed and again these can vary significantly in shape. Both form quite distinctive tall clumps and we are beginning to get the hang of them!

Lady’s Bedstraw	Young Foliage

Far easier to recognize is Lady’s Bedstraw, which has circular whorls of eight to twelve thin, needle-like leaves around the stem, looking unlike all other plants in the meadow. Later in the year this seemingly unimpressive plant will bring a haze of yellow blossom and a sweet scent back to the whole meadow.

Wild Carrot	Yarrow	Wild Carrot & Yarrow

Two plants which can be difficult to tell apart before their flowers appear are Wild Carrot and Yarrow. Both have thin, delicate, frond-like leaves, growing low down among all the other vegetation where they are almost lost in the growing frenzy. The Wild Carrot leaves are carried on opposite pairs at intervals along the stem and the individual leaflets are pinnate, while the more feathery Yarrow leaflets are also pinnate but spaced out evenly. Seen together side by side they are quite obviously different, but if you come across one on its own it is easy to have a moment of doubt. Once the flowers form there is no doubt which is which, but at the moment you could still be forgiven for not being sure.

 

St. John’s Wort

Some plants have quite recognizable greenery and are not easily mistaken for anything else. We don’t have space to show all of the ones in Reg’s Meadow which fall into this category, but here are just a few. Salad Burnet has pretty leaflets, rounded and pinnate, in four to twelve opposite pairs. Young stems of Perforate St. John’s Wort are red and the tiny perforations in the leaves which give the plant its name are clearly visible, even when the stems are quite small. We have plenty of Common Vetch in our meadow and this also has distinctive foliage, consisting of three to eight pairs of small oval leaflets, with a curled tendril at the tip.

Salad Burnet	Common Vetch

This foliage is similar to other vetches, though the number of leaflets varies from one member of the family to another. The flowers of different vetches differ in colour, so it is much easier to identify them from their flowers than their greenery.

Wild Marjoram	Wild Basil

The last two plants we are looking at can be confused quite easily when they are young and even if you know what you are looking for it is not always easy to be sure which species you have found! Once again it is easier if you have the two plants side by side, so that the slight differences are more obvious. Both plants grow in a similar way, with opposite, alternate pairs of leaves. Both are hairy, with the hairs on the Wild Marjoram leaves more obviously around the edge of the leaves and the hairs on the Wild Basil all over the surface. The veins on Wild Basil are more indented, giving it a crisper look than the Marjoram. Both plants have a similar pleasant herbal scent if you rub the leaves. As they grow taller they become much easier to tell apart, especially when the flowers appear – so if you can’t decide, wait for the flowers – that’s what we do!

7-Spot Ladybird

For many people this will be one of the most familiar of the beetles and one which is held in great affection. There are around 5000 species worldwide, of which about twenty or more are found in Britain. They come in a variety of sizes and colours and have different numbers of spots. Probably the best known is the bright red Seven-Spotted Ladybird, Coccinella 7-punctata. The bright red colouring is believed to act as a warning to predators that ladybirds taste nasty. If a predator eats one it is likely to be the first and last time!

Ladybirds are small and domed, 5-8mm long, with males smaller than females.

Ladybird Larva

The female lays up to 300 eggs at a time on the underside of leaves on plants that are infested with aphids, ensuring an immediate supply of food for the developing larvae, which look nothing like the adults. I photographed this larva on a plant in Dorset and had no idea what it was until I found a picture of one in “Nick Baker’s Bug Book”, just in time for this article! The larvae grow rapidly on this good diet, shedding their skins as they grow. The final moult is into a pupa, from which they emerge again as adults after only one week. Adult ladybirds continue to feed on aphids and other small insects, eventually gathering together, often in groups, to hibernate from autumn through the winter, when the cycle begins again.

Alternative names include Ladybugs, Ladyflies, Ladycows, God’s Little Cows, Cowladies, Cows of the Lord (France), Virgin Mary’s Little Hens (Sweden), Indra’s Cowherds (India) and Lady Beetles. Many of the names come from religious folklore. It was said that when a plague of insects was destroying crops the farmers prayed to the Virgin Mary, who sent the ladybirds to eat the pests and save the crops. The red wings are said to represent Mary’s cloak and the spots her joys and sorrows. The number seven is often thought to signify good luck and therefore the common 7-spotted ladybird was also considered lucky, while to kill one would bring bad luck. If a ladybird landed on a young woman’s hand she would soon marry, as the ladybird was said to be measuring up her hand for wedding gloves. On farms they predicted good weather and good crops and farmers would say the well-known rhyme “Ladybird, Ladybird, fly away home, your house is on fire and your children are gone...” before setting light to their stubble fields, to warn the ladybirds. Other uses - it was said that crushed-up ladybirds were sometimes put into a tooth cavity as a cure for toothache.....!

2-Spot Melanic	2-Spot Ladybird

Also found in our meadow, this spring, were two black Ladybirds with red spots. These are known as a 4-spot melanic variation of the 2-spot Ladybird Adalia bipunctata (confusing, isn’t it!), where “melanic” means black or dark in pigmentation. The red, black-spotted version shown here is also the 2-Spot Adalia bipunctata, photographed in Surrey. Two spot ladybirds are carnivorous and also cannibalistic and can apparently have more than two spots.

Calvia 14-guttata

This last Ladybird was photographed in Surrey and is called Calvia 14-guttata, showing yet another colour variation found in British species. There is one other which we hope not to see too often, called the Harlequin Ladybird, a large species introduced in Europe as a pest control. Larger and hungrier than our native species it competes for the same food and could become a serious problem in the future.