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Harridge Wood
Harridge Wood is an area of woodland in Somerset, England. From about 1300 AD part of the wood was the scene of coal mining, which continued until around 1800. The traces of mining have been well preserved, and are now a scheduled site. The woodland is now part of the Harridge Woods Nature Reserve. Large areas were planted for timber in the mid-20th century, and this continues to be harvested. The nature reserve is steadily reintroducing the original flora. Environment The Harridge Wood mainly lies on clay slopes dissected by streams. It is thought to be very old, although large areas of the original broadleaf coverage was cleared in the mid-20th century and replaced by poplars and conifers. Remnants of the early forest are found in isolated patches, on the edge of the woodland and in wet areas. These include areas of old hazel coppice and low pollards (known as "stoggles") of ash, pedunculate oak and alder. There are diverse woodland flora in the less disturbed areas, incl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radstock
Radstock is a town and civil parish on the northern slope of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England, about south-west of Bath and north-west of Frome. It is within the area of the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset. The Radstock built-up area had a population of 9,419 at the 2011 Census. Radstock has been settled since the Iron Age, and its importance grew after the construction of the Fosse Way, a Roman road. The town grew after 1763, when coal was discovered in the area. Large numbers of mines opened during the 19th century, including several owned by the Waldegrave family, who had been Lords of the Manor since the Civil War. Admiral Lord Radstock, brother of George, fourth Earl Waldegrave, took the town's name as his title when created a Baron. The spoil heap of Writhlington colliery is now the Writhlington Site of Special Scientific Interest, which includes 3,000 tons of Upper Carboniferous spoil from which more than 1,400 insect fossil speci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quercus Robur
''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It grows on soils of near neutral Soil pH, acidity in the lowlands and is notable for its value to natural ecosystems, supporting a very wide diversity of herbivorous insects and other pests, predators and pathogens. Description Pedunculate oak is a deciduous tree up to tall, with a single stout trunk that can be as much as in girth (circumference at breast height) or even 14 m in Pollarding, pollarded specimens. Older trees tend to be pollarded, with boles (the main trunk) about 3 m long. They often live longer and become more stout than unpollarded trees. The crown is spreading and unevenly domed, and trees often have massive lower branches. The bark is greyish-brown and closely grooved, with vertical plates. There are often large burrs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lathraea Squamaria
''Lathraea squamaria'', the common toothwort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae. It is widely distributed in Europe and also occurs in Turkey. It is parasitic on the roots of hazel and alder, and occasionally other trees, and represents the second occasion on which a member of the family Orobanchaceae lost the ability to photosynthesize and became parasitic. It occurs in shady places such as deciduous woodland and hedge sides. The plant consists of a branched whitish underground stem closely covered with thick, fleshy, colourless leaves, which are bent over so as to hide under the surface. The only portions that appear above ground in April to May are the short flower-bearing shoots, which bear a spike of two-lipped dull purple flowers, but is also able to produce cleistogamic underground flowers which fertilise themselves. It is also able to regenerate from broken fragments of the underground stem. Description Toothwort is a perennial plant producing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polygonatum Multiflorum
''Polygonatum multiflorum'', the Solomon's seal, David's harp, ladder-to-heaven or Eurasian Solomon's seal, is a species of flowering plant in the family (biology), family Asparagaceae, native plant, native to Europe and temperateness, temperate Asia. In Britain it is one of three native species of the genus, the others being ''Polygonatum odoratum, P. odoratum'' and ''Polygonatum verticillatum, P. verticillatum''. Name The Botanical name#Binary name, specific epithet ''multiflorum'' means "many-flowered". Description It is a rhizomatous perennial plant, perennial growing to tall by broad, with arching stems of alternate leaves, and slightly necked, pendent tubular white flowers with green tips, hanging from the undersides of the stems. It is valued in cultivation for its ability to colonise shady areas, and is suitable for a woodland style planting. Its fruit persistence (botany), persists for an average of 17.5 days, and bears an average of 2.6 seeds per fruit. Fruits averag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Campanula Trachelium
''Campanula trachelium'', the nettle-leaved bellflower, is a species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ... of bellflower. It is a Eurasian blue wildflower native to Denmark and England and now naturalized in southeast Ireland. It is also found southward through much of Europe into Africa. Common names The alternate name ''throatwort'' is derived from an old belief that ''C. trachelium'' is a cure for sore throat, and the species name ''trachelium'' refers to its use as treatment of the throat in folk medicine. Other folknames include Our Lady's Bells because the color blue was identified with the Virgin Mary's scarf, veil, or shawl; Coventry Bells because ''C. trachelium'' was especially common in fields around Coventry; and "Bats-in-the-Belfry" or in the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colchicum Autumnale
''Colchicum autumnale'', commonly known as autumn crocus, meadow saffron, naked boys or naked ladies, is a toxic autumn-blooming flowering plant that resembles the true crocuses, but is a member of the plant family Colchicaceae, unlike the true crocuses, which belong to the family Iridaceae. It is called "naked boys/ladies" because the flowers emerge from the ground long before the leaves appear. Despite the vernacular name of "meadow saffron", this plant is not the source of saffron, which is obtained from the saffron crocus, ''Crocus sativus'' – and that plant, too, is sometimes called "autumn crocus". The species is cultivated as an ornamental in temperate areas, in spite of its toxicity. The cultivar 'Nancy Lindsay' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Description This herbaceous perennial has leaves up to long. The flowers are solitary, across, with six tepals and six stamens with orange anthers and three white styles. At the time of fertili ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ficaria Verna
''Ficaria verna'' (formerly ''Ranunculus ficaria'' ), commonly known as lesser celandine or pilewort, is a low-growing, hairless perennial flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. It has fleshy dark green, heart-shaped leaves and distinctive flowers with bright yellow, glossy petals.Functional optics of glossy buttercup flowers Journal of the Royal Society Interface 14:20160933Buttercups focus light to heat their flowers and attract insects New Scientist 25 February 2017 [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asplenium Scolopendrium
''Asplenium scolopendrium'', commonly known as the hart's-tongue fern, is an evergreen fern in the family Aspleniaceae native to the Northern Hemisphere. Description The most striking and unusual feature of the fern is its simple, strap-shaped undivided fronds. The supposed resemblance of the leaves to the tongue of a hart (an archaic term for a male red deer) gave rise to the common name "hart's-tongue fern". Taxonomy Linnaeus first gave the hart's-tongue fern the binomial ''Asplenium scolopendrium'' in his ''Species Plantarum'' of 1753. The Latin specific epithet ''scolopendrium'' is derived from the Greek ''skolopendra'', meaning a centipede or millipede; this is due to the sori pattern being reminiscent of a myriapod's legs. A global phylogeny of ''Asplenium'' published in 2020 divided the genus into eleven clades, which were given informal names pending further taxonomic study. ''A. scolopendrium'' belongs to the "''Phyllitis'' subclade" of the "''Phyllitis'' clade". ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circaea Lutetiana
''Circaea lutetiana'', known as broad-leaved enchanter's nightshade, is a plant in the evening primrose family, Onagraceae. The genus name comes from the enchantress Circe of Greek mythology and the specific designation is derived from Lutetia, the Latin name for Paris, which was sometimes referred to as the "Witch City". Despite its name it is not especially toxic, but contains a lot of the astringent tannin. Description ''Circaea lutetiana'' is a perennial herbaceous plant with opposite, simple leaf, leaves, on slender, green stems. The flowers are white, borne in summer. It grows 20 cm to 60 cm, rarely up to 75 centimeters high. The leaves are rounded or slightly notched at the base, they narrow gradually to the pointed tip and are not strongly toothed, but havsinuateedges. The leaf stalks are equally hairy all round. The flower has 2 notched petals, 2 stamens and a 2-lobed stigma. The open flowers are well spaced along the stalk and there are no bracts at t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyacinthoides Non-scripta
''Hyacinthoides non-scripta'' (formerly ''Endymion non-scriptus'' or ''Scilla non-scripta'') is a bulbous perennial plant found in Atlantic areas from the north-western part of the Iberian Peninsula to the British Isles, and also frequently used as a garden plant. It is known in English as the common bluebell or simply bluebell, a name which is used in Scotland to refer to the harebell, ''Campanula rotundifolia''. In spring, ''H. non-scripta'' produces a nodding, one-sided inflorescence of 5–12 tubular, sweet-scented violet–blue flowers, with strongly recurved tepals, and 3–6 long, linear, basal leaves. ''H. non-scripta'' is particularly associated with ancient woodland where it may dominate the understorey to produce carpets of violet–blue flowers in "bluebell woods", but also occurs in more open habitats in western regions. It is protected under UK law, and in some other parts of its range. A related species, ''Hyacinthoides hispanica, H. hispanica'' has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sarcoscypha Coccinea
''Sarcoscypha coccinea'', commonly known as the scarlet elf cup, or the scarlet cup, is a species of fungus in the family Sarcoscyphaceae of the order Pezizales. The fungus, widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, has been found in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and Australia. The type species of the genus ''Sarcoscypha'', ''S. coccinea'' has been known by many names since its first appearance in the scientific literature in 1772. Phylogenetic analysis shows the species to be most closely related to other ''Sarcoscypha'' species that contain numerous small oil droplets in their spores, such as the North Atlantic island species ''Sarcoscypha macaronesica, S. macaronesica''. Due to similar physical appearances and sometimes overlapping distributions, ''S. coccinea'' has often been confused with ''Sarcoscypha occidentalis, S. occidentalis'', ''Sarcoscypha austriaca, S. austriaca'', and ''Sarcoscypha dudleyi, S. dudleyi''. The sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daldinia Concentrica
The inedible fungus ''Daldinia concentrica'' is known by several common names, including King Alfred's cake, cramp balls, and coal fungus. It is a common, widespread saprotrophic sac fungus, living on dead and decaying wood. The fruit of this fungus is hemi-spherical, with a hard, friable, shiny black fruiting body 2 to 7 centimeters wide. It resembles a chunk of coal, which gives it several of its common names, including coal fungus and carbon balls. According to legend, King Alfred once hid out in a countryside homestead during war, and was put in charge of removing baking from the oven when it was done. He fell asleep and the cakes burned. ''Daldinia concentrica'' is said to resemble a cake left to this fate. The flesh of the fruit body is purple, brown, or silvery-black inside, and is arranged in concentric layers. Most sources agree that like tree rings, these layers are related to seasonal growth. The asci are cylindrical and arranged inside the flask-shaped perithecium. W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
