One Tree Hill - Green

Llama. One Tree Hill, 27 April 2012.

The llamas were still there.

This is more from my recent wild flower course day, run by the knowledgeable Sue Buckingham.  As well as the flowers, which I showed some of in my last post, there were many leafy sights.  After all the recent rain, it was quite lush.  This one was new to me:

Beech seedling, Fagus sylvatica.  One Tree Hill, 27 April 2012.

It's a newly sprouted seedling of a Beech tree.  Those broad leaves are the cotyledons, the seed leaves that are held in the seed until it germinates, and which then give the new plant its first dose of sunlight energy.  More typical leaves are just beginning to sprout in the centre.

Foxglove leaves, Digitalis purpurea.  One Tree Hill, 27 April 2012.

Here is a Foxglove, among the Bluebells and with a Dandelion to one side. 

Grey Sedge, Carex divulsa ssp. divulsa.  One Tree Hill, 27 April 2012.

Sue is good at sedges; we had a lesson on them last winter, but most of them still look very similar to me.  This one stands out to the experienced eye (Sue's) because it looks greyer than the surrounding leaves.

Here's the flower of one sedge I do know:

Pendulous Sedge, Carex pendula.  One Tree Hill, 27 April 2012.

The male flower is at the top, shedding pollen.  Female flowers are lower down.  This sedge stands out because it is so large, and has the creased leaves that are typical of sedges.  There is a mnemonic: "Sedges have wedges, rushes are round, grass stems are hollow wherever they're found."

Dog's Mercury is green, always green, with green flowers and green fruits.

Dog's Mercury, Mercurialis perennis, female.  One Tree Hill, 27 April 2012.

It is a very common woodland plant and often covers swathes of ground early in the year.

This next one is a humble little plant that looks much like a chickweed.  This specimen has one flower, which has lost a petal.

Three-nerved Sandwort, Moehringia trinervia.  One Tree Hill, 27 April 2012.

You can see a single central "nerve," and two more which curve to either side.

This, too, has flowers, but the green leaves are its predominant feature.

Wood Sorrel, Oxalis acetosella.  One Tree Hill, 27 April 2012.

This is not related to the Common Sorrel, Rumex acetosa, which is sometimes used in soup; eating this one is not advised.  This one normally grows in these small clumps, but in one place the whole woodland floor was covered.

Lastly for today, a Wood Sage. I think this plant is edible, or at least not poisonous, but the leaves do not seem particularly aromatic when crushed.

Wood Sage, Teucrium scorodonia, among Bluebells, Hyacinthoides non-scripta.  One Tree Hill, 27 April 2012.

All today's photos were taken with my EOS 60D and 100mm macro lens, with ring flash.