Leaves Green, December

The valley behind Leaves Green on a misty morning.  10 December 2013.

There are already a couple of posts from Leaves Green at this time of year (in 2011) which you can find if you search the blog.  So here are just a couple of shots of the valley behind the village on a misty morning.  The first one was on my way into the valley, no sunshine, so the colours are subdued.

The horses are standing at an angle to the vertical - maybe that's more comfortable for a four-legged animal than trying to stand vertically.  But it makes the photo look rather odd! 

There is a small fire in the valley and its smoke adds solidity to the low mist.

The valley behind Leaves Green on a misty morning.  10 December 2013.

Almost the identical view later on, when the sun was shining through the mist, shows the fire clearly.

These photos were taken with a 100mm macro lens on my EOS 6D, because that's what I had with me.  You can see that it's good for long shots as well as closeups.

One Tree Hill, December

One Tree Hill, 11 December 2013.

Here are a few shots taken on my iPhone, walking around One Tree Hill, a National Trust wood near Sevenoaks, in December.  It was a sunny day, but there was a lot of mist, which shows up nicely in the first photo.

Ferns near One Tree Hill, 11 December 2013.

This walk goes along a track at the low edge of the woods.  There are many lush ferns growing on the slope.  These are Male Ferns and Hart's-tongue Ferns.  There are also clusters of Soft Shield Ferns.

There are some spring flower photos from this area in a post from March last year: One Tree Hill, March.

At the end of this stretch I turned back and climbed a steep path that cuts along the side of the hill and comes out back at the top near where I parked. 

Path to One Tree Hill, 11 December 2012.

You can see the steep drop-off to the left.

Looking down from the path to One Tree Hill, 11 December 2012.

This is a view down to the left.  It looks a lot steeper in real life than the photo suggests, because the camera is angled downwards.  In the distance, not quite visible, is the Weald.

Looking up along the path towards One Tree Hill, 11 December 2012.

This is the last section of this particular path.  One Tree Hill proper starts at a stile at the top. 

A brisk walk around this route takes about an hour, if you can negotiate the steep bits!    A wonderful and refreshing morning.  There is a viewpoint with a seat further along the top, but on this day, nothing at all could be seen because the mist still covered the lowlands.

Toy's Hill in Autumn

The path down into the wood.  Toy's Hill, 7 December 2013.

Early in December I walked round some of Toy's Hill, through part of Scords Wood.  I was looking out for anything still in flower .. and saw nothing.  But it was an excellent walk.  The first photo is the path down into the wood.

Bracken, Pteridium aquilinum, high in a Silver Birch.  Toy's Hill, 7 December 2013.

Not far down, I saw what looked like a fern growing high in a tree!  When I got closer I saw it was an unusually tall stand of bracken, which grows differently; single leaf stems rising from the ground.  It mush be quite dark here before leaf fall to make them grow so high.

View from the edge of the wood over the Weald.  Toy's Hill, 7 December 2013.

There was an amazing view over the Weald at one edge of the wood, with layered distances just like a traditional painted landscape.  I would have liked to go down a little so that the photo would miss out those nearby branches, but the slope was too steep.  That body of water in the middle distance must be Bough Beech Reservoir, much loved by bird fans. 

I turned then, leaving the path, and walked up through the wood.  This turned out to be tricky.

Fallen trees making it hard to climb up the hill.  Toy's Hill, 7 December 2013.

The whole hillside was like this, fallen tree after fallen tree, all laid across my path.  They were all covered with moss, so it must be a damp environment.  I had to climb over, under or around dozens of these. 

Orange fungus crust on old deadwood.  Toy's Hill, 7 December 2013.

Suddenly, this caught my eye; a single piece of old deadwood covered with a bright orange fungus crust. 

Eventually I came to a path and walked back up.  Near the top I saw this:

Triceratops skull?  Toy's Hill, 7 December 2013.

You can see what I thought when I saw it.  Maybe there are other dinosaurs that look more like this, but Triceratops was impressed on my mind as a child, so that's what came up.  Regrettably, this is just wood.

Male Fern and Soft Shield Fern

Male Fern, Drypoteris filix-mas.  In my garden in Hayes, 5 December 2013.

The Male Fern is probably Britain's commonest fern.  This one grew unasked in my carnivorous plant tray, and has thrives since I transplanted it to a shady spot in my garden.

It is bipinnate; the pinnae branch into pinnules.  This puts it in between the simply pinnate ferns like the Polypodies and the tripinnate Broad Buckler Fern, both of which I have posted recently.

Soft Shield Fern, Polystichum setiferum.  Near Leaves Green, 15 December 2012.

It looks superficially similar to this Soft Shield Fern that I saw in a small wood near Leaves Green a year ago.  But if you compare the pinnae close up, like this:

Male Fern, Drypoteris filix-mas, and Soft Shield Fern, Polystichum setiferum.  Pinnules compared.

You can see that the Soft Shield Fern is almost tripinnate, and has "thumbs" at the base of its pinnules.

Fungi at Trosley

Clytocybe geotropa, Trooping Funnel.  Trosley Country Park, 19 November 2013.

A coupe of fungi seen on a walk in Trosley Country Park in November.  "Trooping" means occurring in numbers, but scattered, perhaps a few individuals here and there, perhaps in a curved row.  But I only saw this single Trooping Funnel!  It was fairly large, about 5 inches across.

Coprinopsis picacea (Coprinus picaceus), Magpie Inkcap.  Trosley Country Park, 19 November 2013.

This is the top of another conspicuous species.  The Magpie Inkcap, like its relatives, deliquesces into a black liquid as it ages.  The colour comes from the spores the liquid contains.  Here you can see the "ink" dripping off the edges, which are just staring to disintegrate.  This fungus was about 8 inches tall and 3 inches across.

Common Puffball, Lycoperdon perlatum.  Trosley Country Park, 19 November 2013.

This one was lying on top the the leaf letter.  It must have been kicked there by someone, or maybe an animal, as it was off the track.  It's a young specimen of a common fungus, but always pretty, looking like the head of a medieval weapon.

Ferns on Hayes Churchyard Wall

Hart's-tongue Fern, Asplenium scolopendrium.  On Hayes churchyard wall, 2 December 2013.

The churchyard in Hayes is surrounded by a low wall that borders on the main road through the old village, which is now really just another outer suburb of London.  The wall has a nice range of plants growing on it, and it is good that no-one tries to tidy these away.  They include three types of fern that are perhaps not the sort of thing people usually think of when ferns are mentioned.

The top one is well-known.  The Hart's Tongue grows in many damp, shady places, whether natural or man-made.  The "frond" of this fern is a imple flat blade, with no divisions.

Rustyback, Asplenium ceterach.   On Hayes churchyard wall, 2 December 2013.

The Rustyback is quite scarce in this area, so it's nice to see it thriving here.  You can see under the edges of the pinnae how it gets its name.  It is quite small, but in its form it is more like a traditional fern, straightforwardly pinnate.

Maidenhair Spleenwort, Asplenium trichomanes.  On Hayes churchyard wall, 2 December 2013.

Another small pinnate fern, this one with wiry black rachises and rounded pinnae. 

To survive high on a wall, a fern must be able to withstand drought and recover when moisture returns.  The extent to which these ferns can do this affects where they grow.  The Hart's Tongue can  not withstand drought, and does best at the base of the wall on the shady side.  Even there, the specimens are quite small.  It does not grow on the drier side at all. 

The Rustyback and the Maidenhair Spleenwort grow up and down the wall on both sides, but they are larger and healthier on the shady side.  In a dry summer, Rustybacks curl up and both species look dead, though they are not.  The lively specimens shown here are on the shady side, and we have had a long wet spell, so they are at their best.

High Elms Polypody

Fern, Polypodium species (or hybrid).  High Elms, 26 November 2013.

Last time I showed a Broad Buckler Fern that is tripinnate.  This fern is much simpler in structure.  The pinnae come straight off the main frond stem, the rachis, so it is described simply as pinnate.  There are three native species of Polypody, but it is not easy to pin down a species by eye.  The pointed pinnae suggest that this should be Polypodium interjectum, Western Polypody, but I cannot be certain.

This one was growing on a moss-covered log on the south-east slope of a wood at High Elms.  Facing south-east, you might expect it to be sunny and dry, but the dense cover must allow this slope to stay damp or there would not be this cover of moss. 

I saw several fungi on this walk, including a nice growth of Turkeytail, which often puts on a good show.

Trametes versicolor, Turkeytail   High Elms, 26 November 2013.

Apparently this can be used medicinally, dried and made into a tea, but I would not recommend any herbal medicine as there can be many complex chemicals in them and the dosages are likely to vary unpredictably.  That is on top of the general note of caution about eating fungi found in the wild.  Plants often contain things which repel or harm creatures that want to eat them!

Farningham Wood

Gully with fallen trees.  Farningham Wood, 28 November 2013.

I walked through Farningham Wood recently and came across a depression, a sort of dry gully, full of fallen trees.  They had been there for a long while, perhaps since the storm of 1987, or perhaps they had fallen individually at various times, but none looked recent.  A strange place.

I was watching out for late fungi, but saw very few.  There were probably many more, but the fallen leaves will have covered some up, and also a single person always misses a lot compared to a group.  The only fungus photo I came back with was this:

Ascocoryne sarcoides, Purple Jellydisc.   Farningham Wood, 28 November 2013.

 I find it hard to resist taking a photo of this species, which looks like miniature intestines.  This growth was about three inches across. 

Broad Buckler Fern, Dryopteris dilatata.  Farningham Wood, 28 November 2013.

Not everything is brown.  You can see some leafage in the top photo.  And when there is less greenery, ferns stand out better, and there were a few of these Broad Buckler Ferns.  They are tripinnate; the individual fronds branch three times. 

At the top of a rise at the north end of the wood I saw a crudely made memorial seat.

Crude memorial seat.  Farningham Wood, 28 November 2013.

There were dedications on the oaks at either side, one of them quite old:

Dedication by crude memorial seat.  Farningham Wood, 28 November 2013.

The tree's bark has started to grow over the nail heads at the left of this one.  So, roughly made, but apparently well constructed, and I expect that many people will have rested here.  The slope up from the north is quite steep and there is plenty of undergrowth in other directions. 

Four Beetles From Summer

Red-headed Cardinal Beetle, Pyrochroa serraticornis.  Downe Bank, 14 June 2013.

Here are a few beetles I saw during the year that I don't think I have posted before.  Nothing unusual, but they do look good.  This one is called a Cardinal Beetle because its colour reminded someone of the scarlet dress of a cardinal of the Catholic church.  It's called Red-headed because it has a relative with a black head, known, of course, as a Black-headed Cardinal Beetle.

Black-headed Cardinal Beetle, Pyrochroa coccinea.  Hayes Common, 19 June 2013.

I only had my little Ixus 100 with me when I saw that one, so the depth of field is not so good.  Its close focusing is rather erratic, so I was happy to get this shot.

Orchid Beetle, Dascillus cervinus.  Orchid Bank at High Elms Country Park, 27 June 2013.

This one is more brown, with a hint of muted olive green.  I see it in places where there are lots of orchids, but not actually on orchids, thugh it is supposed to spend most of its time on flowers.

It's covered with short hairs, which helps to show that if you think of beetles as smooth and shiny, you are often mistaken.  At this magnification, the hairs on the plant leaf are also much more apparent than they normally are to the naked eye.

Click Beetle, Denticollis linearis.  Downe Bank, 14 June 2013.

This is one of several click beetles.  When disturbed, they can use those points at the back corner of the thorax to click against the front of their abdomen.  This can make them leap into the air, a good and surprising tactic to escape unwelcome attention.

That's all the beetles for now ...

Coppicing in Spring Park

Trees felled during coppicing in Spring Park, 6 November 2013.

This was a dark wet day in the woods.  The management programme for Spring Park's Small-leaved Limes was under way, with sections being coppiced and the felled trunks being taken out by heavy horses.

This is a Comtois, a French breed.  The use of horses minimises damage to the woodland floor.

Coppicing refreshes the growth of some trees, and creates glades of different ages which provide habitats for plants, insects and birds and increase the diversity of the woods.  The woods have been managed like this for hundreds of years, but now there is not the same demand for the produce, and we have to pay people to do the work.  There were uses in the past we would not think of today.  For example, in the mid 19th century many sweet chestnuts were planted here, and the chestnuts were supplied to London's bread makers.

This exercise concentrates on the Small-leaved Limes, Tilia cordata.  There are many in these woods, including even a few seedlings, which is rare these days as they need a warmer climate than England can provide.  But once established, they flourish.  Branches that touch the ground can root in, and shoots can come from underground.   They sprout easily from the coppice stools.  Coppicing seems extreme, but does no harm at all to the population, and encourages healthy new growth.

Trees felled during coppicing in Spring Park, 6 November 2013.

The trunk nearest us has been down there for some while.  Those fungi look to me like Sheathed Woodtuft, Kehneromyces mutabilis.

(This seems to be my 500th post in this blog, which surprises me!)

Unconventional Fungi at Keston

Purple Jellydisc, Ascocoryne sarcoides. Keston Common, 15 October 2013

Of course, there are lots of fungi that are not at all like the conventional toadstools or mushrooms.  This one, that looks like miniature small intestines, grows on dead stumps and logs. 

Black Bulgar, Bulgaria inquinans, on a felled Beech.  Keston Common, 15 October 2013

In fact, lots of fungi grow on dead wood.  Their mycelium is active inside the trunks, logs and branches, eating them away, and what we see is only a small part of the whole.  This Black Bulgar grows on fallen oak or beech.  In this case, it was on a beech trunk that had been felled as a precaution because it was infected by another fungus, the Giant Polypore, Meripilus giganteus, that causes a weakening white rot.  Such trees are felled by park managers so that they don't drop branches on passers-by. 

Lenzites betulinus,  Birch Mazegill.  Keston Common, 15 October 2013

But most  go for the dead wood.  This one is on a Silver Birch stump.  There are several species with this general appearance, small bracket fungi with a zoned appearance, but this one is particularly pretty; and not very common, apparently.

Pale Stagshorn,  Calocera pallidospathulata.  Keston Common,15 October 2013

This is another saprophyte, an eater of dead wood.  Those blunt spikes are about 1 1/2 cm tall.  There are several similar species, in varying sizes and shades of yellow.

Amanitas at Keston

Amanita fulva, Tawny Grisette.  Keston Common, 19 October 2013.

With names like Deathcap and Destroying Angel, Amanitas are not things you want to find on your plate.  They include the most poisonous and dangerous fungi in Britain.  They also include some of the prettiest.  And they also include Caesar's Mushroom, one of the tastiest edible mushrooms; the ones that the emperor Claudius loved.  It was, it is said, easy to add in some of the poisonous species that killed him. 

This one above, the Tawny Grisette, is also said to be edible.

Amanita rubescens var. annulosulphurea.  Keston Common,  19 October 2013.

This is a yellowish variety of a fungus called the Blusher, because of its reaction to damage.  It is said to be edible when cooked - but the water it is cooked in should be discarded.  In that respect it may be similar to this famous fungus:

Fly Agaric, Amanita muscaria.  Keston Common, 15 October 2013

- The Fly Agaric.  Some say that if this is boiled for a while and the water discarded, it becomes edible.  But that relies on several chancy factors and I would not recommend it.  My book says it should be treated as deadly poisonous; this is probably an exaggeration, but even so, I do not think it would be good for you.

Amanita phalloides, Death Cap.  Keston Common , 19 October 2013.

This one, even less so. This is definitely a killer, and this one specimen might be enough to do it.  The greenish cap, that disintegrating ring, and the bag-like volva at the base are the things to look for.   Even experienced mushroom foragers tend to leave well alone anything with a cap of that colour, just in case.

Lactarius species at Keston

Lactarius rufus, Rufous Milkcap.   Keston Common, 19 October 2013.

Fungus season!  I have been out with a couple of groups and I am learning quite a lot, which is easy from a starting point of not knowing very much at all.

The fungi in this post are Lactarius species.  It's easy to identify the genus, because when they are damaged, they exude "milk".  Of course, there are quite a few species, but most of them are identifiable with a bit of care - or so I am told!

This first one was growing in clumps among Scots Pine.  There are two possibilities for something among conifers that looks like this, and the other one has milk that turns green after a couple of minutes; which this didn't.

Lactarius vietus, Grey Milkcap.  Keston Common, 19 October 2013.

This one just has white milk.  It hides quite successfully in the leaf litter.  There's actually another species that is very similar, Lactarius turpis, and I.m not going to swear that this isn't it.

Some of them can be told by the taste of the milk.  It's not a good idea to taste fungi unless you are sure they are not deadly, and there are some deadly ones out there.  For these, I touched my finger to the milk and dabbed a tiny bit on my tongue.  Some are acrid, some are hot like a chilli.  The first one above has milk which tastes a little acrid, then suddenly becomes hot. 

Lactarius chrysorrheus, Yellowdrop Milkcap.  Keston Common, 19 October 2013.

The milk of this species is yellow from the start, and flows copiously. 

The common names shown here come from the Collins Complete Guide to British Mushrooms and Toadstools.  It's not really complete, but it is pretty good.  But the common names are mostly fanciful fabrications.  Some fungi do have real country names, but most don't.   The ones that sound either convincing or odd are probably genuine, like the Yellowdrop and this one:

Lactarius quietus, Oakbug Milkcap.   Keston Common, 19 October 2013.

It grows near oak trees. 

One of my fungus books, Mushrooms by Roger Phillips, gives brief notes as to edibility.  Of these four, the Oakbug Milkcap is noted as edible; the Yellowdrop is poisonous; L. vietus is listed as not edible, which probably means it doesn't taste good or is perhaps tough or fibrous; and L. rufus, although also not edible, is said to be used in some places as a seasoning after unspecified "special treatment".

Fungus foragers need to know their stuff.

Autumn Sunlight on Hayes Common

Sunlight through the trees on Hayes Common, 6 October 2013.

 When I go for a walk, there is usually a point at which I find I am smiling because my surroundings are so pleasant.  This morning it was here, in the woods of Hayes Common.

The leaves are just starting to change colour and some have fallen, but most are still on the trees.  The air is cool and refreshing, and the morning sun slants through the branches and silhouettes them.  Sunbeams light up irregular patches of ground.

Sunlight through the trees on Hayes Common, 6 October 2013.

And interesting root formations are highlighted.  These photos were taken with my iPhone 5s, and reduced in size but not cropped.  I did lighten the foregrounds very slightly in Photoshop.