CQuaking Grass	Golden Oat Grass

Among the early grasses, Quaking Grass was abundant all over the meadow and as other species have grown up we have found more Timothy Grass, a lot more Golden Oat Grass, but less Crested Dog’s Tail and some other grasses. We have not had time to study the grasses closely this year, but will hopefully do so again next year. There are some which we have not yet identified for certain and we feel sure that there must be other species still to be discovered growing out there.

St John's Wort	Musk Mallow	Musk Mallow

Self-Heal grown tall	Self-Heal
Clustered Bellflower	Musk Thistle

The quantity of rainfall has had a quite dramatic effect on some plants. If you look out across the meadow in July you will see numerous large clumps of golden yellow St. John’s Wort, standing above the grasses which have now mostly seeded and are dying down. Less conspicuous but also growing well this year is Musk Mallow, showing in delicate pink patches here and there. In other years we have had only a few Mallow plants, but conditions this year seem to suit them.
Self-Heal has been one of the less prominent flowers in previous years, growing mainly low down along the mown paths or hidden among the taller foliage, but this year the plants have shot up and are really tall, as seen here with a plant almost as tall as the surrounding grasses. We have not found many Clustered Bellflowers this year, but where it is growing it is fairly spectacular – this patch is growing at the bottom of the meadow, in Huckle’s Copse and there is one other very tall specimen just coming into flower near the right-hand, northern hedge. Also in Huckle’s Copse is a splendid Musk Thistle, which has grown up much taller than usual, right to the top of one of the tree guards. There is not much Musk Thistle to be found this summer, but this one is thriving.

Agrimony	Bladder Campion

There have been some interesting new arrivals this year. Just beyond the low evergreen hedge as you walk to the meadow seating area we have a small clump of Agrimony, with its pretty five-petalled yellow flowers and reddish-brown stamens. This plant is our featured species at the end of this page. Another new plant for us is Bladder Campion, found this year in a patch close to the path running down the meadow on the left hand, southern side.

Bladder Campion	White Campion

Bladder Campion has white flowers similar to White Campion, but can be easily distinguished by the inflated, bladder-like calyx which give it its common name. We found one attractive small sedge plant early in the year, close to the path near the hides, which we have not yet identified with certainty. Common Broomrape has been found in the meadow before, but this year we think we have found a second species, Knapweed Broomrape, much taller, the brown spike showing in the centre of the second picture below, and with yellowish stigmas, as opposed to the purplish ones of Common Broomrape. Broomrape is often much easier to spot as it dies away, when the brown seed heads stand out more clearly against the meadow greens, and it is then that we often find it!

Sedge (unidentified)	Knapweed Broomrape
Red Bartsia	Rough Chervil

Our meadow now has two different subspecies of Red Bartsia, which we will describe in more detail in a later page. One plant, which we have been uncertain about, we have now identified as Rough Chervil. It looks very similar to Cow Parsley but flowers later, has slightly more delicate flowers and solid stems, often spotted with purple, as opposed to the hollow, ridged stems of Cow Parsley. This plant has been flowering in profusion along the hedge at the bottom of the meadow. Another member of the same family is Hogweed, also doing very well this summer, mainly white-flowered, but also occasionally a delicate pink. (This should not be confused with its larger and nastier family member, Giant Hogweed, growing up to 10 feet tall, the juice of which can cause blistering to the skin if handled).

Male Pheasant and Stock Doves	Small Tortoiseshell & Marbled White

There is plenty of other wildlife in the meadow. A family of pheasants has been seen regularly along the right hand hedgerow, visiting the feeder placed there. The female is shy and I wasn’t able to catch her on camera, but the male is seen here with two stock doves. The insects are busy now that summer is here (supposedly!) and the sound of grasshoppers can be heard all around.

 

Burnet Caterpillar	Burnet Chrysalis
Six Spot Burnet	Hoverfly

The air is full of butterflies and moths, with many more Marbled White Butterflies than we have seen in any other year. Some Six-Spot Burnet moths are already flying, with their distinctive flash of red, while others are still in their caterpillar or chrysalis forms and will fly later. Beetles are busy feeding on the flowers and we have many different hoverflies, wasps and bees. We will bring you another Insects and Invertebrates page later in the year.

This time of year is the very best for seeing all kinds of life in Reg’s Meadow, so if you haven’t been out there for a look round, make the most of any days (or minutes!) of sunshine and see what you can find.

An upright perennial, a member of the Rose family. It grows up to around 2 or 3 feet and is found in open woods, hedgerows and meadows, more often on chalky soils. It is a deep green plant, slightly fragrant, covered with soft hairs, and has pinnate, toothed leaves and yellow 5-petalled flowers carried on short stalks. It is abundant in England and found in most of Europe, though absent from northern Scotland, flowers from June to September and contains tannins, bitters and essential oils.

Alternative names include Church Steeples, Cockebur, Garclive (Anglo-Saxon) Stickwort, Sticklewort, Philanthropos and Liverwort. Cockebur and Sticklewort refer to the hooked seeds which attach themselves to clothing or animal fur. The scientific and common names Agrimonia and Agrimony are thought to come from a Greek word Agremone, which was used to refer to plants that supposedly healed diseases of the eye, such as cataracts. The specific name eupatoria is thought to refer to a king who lived in the 1st century BC, called Mithridates Eupator, who was renowned for concocting herbal remedies.

The ancient Greeks offered up Agrimony in ceremonies of worship to the goddess Athena. In the folklore of the Middle Ages the plant was believed to have magical powers, a protection against goblins, poisons and other evils. It could detect the presence of witches, while witches themselves used it to dispel negative energy and ward off bad spells, returning them to the sender. It was said that placing Agrimony under a man’s head would cause him to fall into a deep sleep, as described in an Old English medieval manuscript:

Medicinal use has been made of the herb for many centuries. It is one of the most famous vulnerary herbs, meaning that it was used to treat wounds of all kinds. The ancient Greeks believed it to be a cure for warts, rabies, snake bites and jaundice, and in Chaucer’s time it was used for bad backs and “all wounds”. As in the poem above it was thought to induce sleep and used to fill herbal pillows for use by insomniacs, as well as medicinally for complaints involving stomach, gallbladder, intestine, liver, throat, gum infections, sprains, bruises and many more. In the 1800’s it was believed to be a cure for lunacy. In England it was used as a spring tonic drink for purifying the blood and recovering from winter colds and in the more modern Bach flower remedies it is said to help peaceful and cheerful people who are distressed by quarrels or arguments.
Making use of the high concentration of natural tannins found in Agrimony, it was also used in the tanning industry for dressing leather.