Pratt's Bottom

Greater Periwinkle, Vinca major.  Pratt's Bottom.  1 December 2012.

Here are just a few photos from an Orpington Field Club walk on the fringe of Pratt's Bottom at the start of December.  This little place has a very unfortunate name for modern sensibilities.  It happens to be a village in a hollow.  There are woods and fields nearby ...

It was a frosty morning.  This Periwinkle is a common garden plant, great for ground cover in shaded areas, and this one was in a hedgerow opposite houses.  The frosted edges look delightful.

Viburnum tinus, Laurustinus. Pratt's Bottom.  1 December 2012.

In the same hedgerow was this evergreen Viburnum with the horticultural name Laurustinus.  It's another common garden plant, and it flowers happily through the winter.  It seems likely that someone has added a few garden plants to this particular hedgerow.

Coprinellus micaceus (Glistening Inkcap).  In the woods by Pratt's Bottom, 1 December 2012.

At first the woods seemed rather bare of growth, but in the end we found several colourful fungi.  This one is usually covered with glistening spicules, but they must have been washed off this clump by the recent rain.

Phellinus species.  In the woods by Pratt's Bottom.  1 December 2012.

These strange furry bumps on a Birch branch are probably a fungus called Cinnamon Crust, but there are a couple of similar species and you can't be certain which one you have without a microscope.  It starts out like this and ends up covering the whole surface of the branch.

Stereum subtomentosum (Yellowing Curtain Crust).  In the woods by Pratt's Bottom, 1 December 2012.

This is probably the most colourful one we saw.  It's similar to several others, but its size and lack of pores on the underside mark it out.  It grows on dead wood, which you can just see under those leaves.

It's a pleasant area, quite near a main road, but the low rolling hills and the woods make it quiet and very countrified.

View over the fields near Pratt's Bottom.   1 December 2012.