Mistletoe

Mistletoe on a street-planted Rowan tree in Hayes.  Male plant in flower.  16 February 2016.

Mistletoe, Viscum album, is familiar for its sticky white fruits and the supposition that you should kiss someone if they are standing under a sprig.  Few are familiar with its flowers, and that's not surprising, for they are not very showy.

It's also not well known that the plants come in separate genders.  The male flowers above are all you will get on that mistletoe plant.

Rowan with two Mistletoe plants in Hayes, 17 March 2016.  Female Mistletoe on the left, male on the right.

Luckily for me, this small Rowan is only a short walk from my house and has two Mistletoe plants on it at around head height, one of each gender.  Mistletoe is a parasite that sucks the goodness from its host, so this Rowan is doing quite well to still look so healthy.  It is smaller than other trees on the same street, but Rowans are small trees anyway.

Mistletoe on a street-planted Rowan tree in Hayes.  Female plant with flowers and berries.  9 March 2016.

Here are the berries on the female plant, and above them the female flowers, only noticeable at all if you look carefully for them.  They are reported to be pollinated by small insects, which obviously manage without the showy display of petals that characterise bee-pollinated plants.

The sticky seeds are spread by birds, mostly Mistle-thrushes in the UK, hence the bird's name.  They do not seem to have been very hungry this winter as there are lots of berries left. 

I was interested to see that the male flowers opened about a month before the female ones.  But there was still plenty of male pollen available when the female flowers eventually cracked open.

Wood Ground Mosses

Pseudoscleropodium purum, Neat Feather-Moss.  Keston Common, 3 March 2016

In the woods are some mosses that form branching mats on the ground.

This one, Pseudoscleropodium purum, likes a bit of light, and covers the ground beside paths or at the edge of a wood.

The vernacular name  suggests the neat tips to the stems and branches.

As with many plants, the key to correct identification of mosses is learning which features make them different from other similar species.  Those plump stems coming to a point are the key to this one.

Kindbergia praelonga, Common Feather-moss.  Keston Common, 3 March 2016

This one, Kindbergia praelonga, is superficially rather similar, covering - in this case - a low stump with feathery branches.

But it is rather smaller and finer than Pseudoscleropodium purum, looks more feathery, and does not have those plump tips.

A close inspection shows that the leaves on the main stem are much wider than those on the branches.  That's a useful distinguishing feature for this species, but you will probably need a hand lens (or magnified photo) to see it.

Mnium hornum, Swan's-neck Thyme-moss.  Keston Common, 3 March 2016

Mnium hornum covers large patches of ground in one section of Keston Common, a path through an old gravel pit.  In habit it is more like the wall mosses I showed recently than the branching mats of the other two shown here.  It is growing among beeches, as you can see from the piece of beech mast in the photo.

Last for today ..

Dicranum scoparium, Broom Fork-moss.  Keston Common, 5 March 2016

I came across some patches of this pretty moss whole on my way to photograph something else, so I was pleasantly surprised.  It's a common woodland moss, but that does not mean you see it everywhere.  It has a very distinctive spiky habit ...

Dicranum scoparium, Broom Fork-moss.  Keston Common, 5 March 2016

In fact, the leaf tips are almost triangular in cross-section and are slightly rough.

Some Wood Mosses

Atrichum undulatum, Common Smoothcap.  Hayes Common.  28 February 2016.

Now some mosses from my local woods.  The first photo is an iPhone snap of Atrichum undilatum, a moss that tends to grow on hummocks in the wood, such as might be caused by a falling tree lifting part of its root ball.  Those root ball hummocks stay visible for decades after a tree falls. 

This first one has broad, wavy leaves.

Polytrichastrum formosum, Bank Haircap.  Keston Common, 3 March 2016

This second one, Polytrichastrum formosum, grows on the same kind of hummocks, but has harder, spikier leaves.  It's sometimes mistaken for ...

Polytrichum commune, Common Haircap.  Keston Common, 6 March 2016.

This one, Polytrichum commune, but this is much larger, grows in looser clumps and likes much wetter ground.  This clump is actually in part of a bog.

Also on Keston Common, but this time actually underwater, you can find ...

Fontinalis antipyretica, Greater Water-moss.  Growing freely in Keston Ponds.   Keston Common, 5 March 2016

Fontinalis antipyretica.  It gets its scientific name from its supposed use in putting out fires, when scooped up by the handful.  I pulled this piece out of the pond to photograph it.  This photo is enlarged, but it's quite a robust moss.

Next, some woodland ground cover.

Common Wall Mosses

Tortula muralis, Wall Screw-moss.  On a wall on Station Hill, Hayes, 2 March 2016.

There are some pretty mossed on the low walls near my house.  These are all common mosses, and it was interesting to see the differences in general appearance and the types of their spore capsules.

They all have names in the vernacular, but these cannot really be called "common" names because they were all invented very recently and no-one actually knows them without looking them up in a book.  It's generally safer to stick to the scientific names.  But I have included the vernacular names anyway, mostly because I hae looked them up!

These mosses mostly grow in the cracks between the bricks or stones.  This might be because they like the alkaline mortar, or because they find water is retained better there, or both.

Bryum capillare, Capillary Thead-moss. On a wall on Station Hill, Hayes, 2 March 2016.

Ypu can see that the capsules on this moss are very different to the first.  That helps a lot in identification!  They tend to grow close together or even mixed up, and here you can see two small clumps of a third type of moss, one that keeps its capsules on low stems that curve back into the greenery.  Here's a larger clump of that one:

Grimmia pulvinata, Grey-cushioned Grimmia.  On a low brick wall on Bourne Way, Hayes.  17 February 2016.

I think the name inventors were running out of steam when they got to this one.  Anyway, you can see that it does actually make a greyish cushion, specially when it is a bit dry.  You can only just see the capsules nestling in with the leaves.

Brachythecium rutabulum, Rough-stalked Feather-moss.  On a low brick wall on Bourne Way, Hayes.  16 February 2016.

This one has quite a different style, with distinct branching stems.  The capsules are already dry.  I would expect a moss like this to need a wetter environment, as it can't ball up into a protective clump when it dries out, and doesn't have an outer layer of bristles, which help maintain a moist microclimate as well as attracting dew.  There are more mosses with this style of growth in the nearby woods, and I'll show a couple next time.

Mixed Trap Insects from 2015

Nut Weevil, Curculio species.  In my garden light trap in Hayes on 13 August 2015

All sorts of insects that can fly end up in my garden light trap.  You would not think that this weevil could fly by just looking at it, but it certainly can.  It's probably an Acorn Weevil, but there are a few other nut weevils that look very similar.

Beetle, Dromius quadrimaculatus.  In my garden light trap in Hayes on 9 August 2015

Beetles in general can fly.  I saw a few of this small spotted one.  Their wings are protected by the tough wing cases, which are normally all you can see.

Hawthorn Shieldbug, Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale.  In my garden light trap in Hayes on 13 June 2015

This is a true bug, from a group called shield bugs or stink bugs.  It has sucking mouthparts and this one lives on Hawthorns.  I have a couple of hawthorns in my tiny garden so I see quite a few of these.  Bugs are a type of beetle, and in this group you can see the ends of the wings, which are not completely covered by the wing cases.

Orange Ladybird, Halyzia sedecimguttata.   In my garden light trap in Hayes on 18 June 2015

I also see plenty of ladybirds, including my favourite, this Orange Ladybird.  I like the generally translucent appearance, and the way the white and yellow spots are clearly on the top surface of the transparent shell, looking as though they have been dotted on with a paintbrush.  They feed on mildew and sometimes small aphids, so should be encouraged.

Leafhopper, Ledra aurita.  In my garden light trap in Hayes on 23 August 2015

I also see leafhoppers, another group that sucks plant sap.  This Ledra aurita is the oddest-looking one, with those big projections on its thorax that make it look like a tiny dinosaur.

Speckled Wood, Pararge aegeria.  In my garden light trap in Hayes on 13 July 2015

This was my biggest surprise of the year - a Speckled Wood butterfly!  I set my trap before it gets dark, so maybe it flew in during the last of the twilight.  But a butterfly attracted to light?  That sounds wrong.  Yet I did see another butterfly come to a light trap at night when out with some mothers on Keston Common.  That was a very bright light trap.  It's unusual, but not unheard of.