Middlesex Meeting July 7th 2007
Lathyrus aphaca (Yellow Vetchling)
Lathyrus latifolius(Broad-leaved Everlasting Pea)
Bunias orientalis (Warty Cabbage)
Lepidium latifolium (Dittander)
Lathyrus hirsutus (Hairy Vetchling)
Solidago gigantea (Early Goldenrod)
Allium vineale (Crow Garlic)
Inachis io (Peacock Butterfly caterpillar)
Ham River Lands: More Meadows
Further into our Meadow we discovered two European species of the pea family growing close to each other. The first plant has characteristic oval stipules like a pair of clapping hands and scrambled up the tall grasses producing a small yellow flower on a long pedicel. This was the increasingly scarce Lathyrus aphaca (Yellow Vetchling) which some regard as a native species but probably isn’t according to Stace. It is a common European plant but there produces larger paler flowers. The other pea plant was Lathyrus hirsutus (Hairy Vetchling). This has a similar habit to L. aphaca but with purple/pink flowers and distinctive hairy pods. Nearby was a delightful patch of Lathyrus latifolia (Broad-leaved Everlasting-pea) an introduction which is becoming commoner around the country in our grasslands and particularly seaside dunes.
Late summer plants are beginning to show early this year and we saw several stands of a Solidago (Golden Rod) close examination of which showed it had hairs on the veins under the leaves. This meant that we were looking at Solidago gigantea (Early Golden-rod). Nearby we were shown how to identify the different sub species of Rumex crispus but the one we saw only had one seed in the three sided tubercle structure and so was identified as Rumex crispus ssp crispus – the common species of Curled Dock. Around the same place we saw one of the specialities of this part of the world: Bunias orentalis (Warty Cabbage). It doesn’t look anything like a cabbage of course but that English name is attached to many yellow crucifers. It has golden yellow flowers and round fruit covered in bumps (or warts). Its most endearing characteristic and one not used often enough in identification of wild flowers in my opinion, is its fragrance. Basically when in flower it stinks. However Stinking Warty Cabbage (Bunias foetidissima?) might be too many pejorative adjectives for any one plant to bear. Shortly after this we found some nettles with several dark coloured caterpillars. In the butterfly books we read that the Peacock, Tortoiseshell and the Red Admiral all prefer the common Nettle (Urtica dioica) to lay their eggs upon and many’s the time I’ve risked injury poking in nettles for sign they do live there with no success. These were the caterpillars of the Peacock butterfly one of our most beautiful native species.
A short walk from the caterpillars we saw a large clump of the rare Lepidium latifolium (Dittander) which is native on bare ground by the sea but has been successfully naturalised on sites like this one. Nearby the bulbils on some Alium vineale (Crow Garlic) had started to germinate producing the wisps of green from the fruit.