Ashdown Woods

Ashdown Forest looking south from below Church Hill car park, 19 August 2018

Hot and dry weather has been kind to this part of the Ashdown, which I think must never be entirely dry.  Water runs down this slope into a stream at the bottom.  Here, the heather is in full bloom (this is Ling, Calluna vulgaris) and there is plenty of bracken, broom and young silver birches.  The larger trees are Scots Pine.

Path from Marden Hill to the Secret Lake, 19 August 2018

This path runs parallel to the stream.  Here the uphill slope is to the left, and lush Pendulous Sedges line the path on the damper side, where water tends to collect.

Part of the Old Mill, 19 August 2018

Some old stonework, overgrown with trees and their roots, is part of the Old Mill.  I mentioned that in another post with photos from the same pathway, here: Ashdown Woodland Track.

There are several areas where one type of vegetation seems to run riot.  The Pendulous Sedges above are an example.

Woodland grass.  19 August 2018

This is another.  I don't know what grass this is. The smaller clumps at the front are Wood Melick, but I'm not good at identifying grasses so the larger one has me stumped.  It is certainly doing well here, though.

Here's a photo from close by this spot, taken last year:

Hard Fern, Blechnum spicant.  Ashdown Forest, 20 October 2017.

To show that it's not just grass that can take over a section of woodland.  These are Hard Fern, and I have not seen this many on one spot elsewhere.

Track through the woods, Ashdown Forest, 22 August 2018.

Other inviting tracks lead off from this one.  Here's one - with a row of rushes in its centre, another sign of damp ground.

A few views of Wakehurst

A meadow at Wakehurst, West Sussex.  17 August 2018.

Wakehurst is a botanic garden in West Sussex, owned by the National Trust but run by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.  It's half an hour's drive from my current house and I joined as a friend soon after moving here.

These are just a few shots from a recent visit. 

A path at Wakehurst, West Sussex.  17 August 2018.

It's styled as a "wild" botanic garden, but it only merits that name in comparison with Kew where almost everything is in glasshouses.  It's intensively tended and kept up.

On my way in I noticed some small Wollemi Pines for sale.  This is a rare tree.  (Wollemia nobilis, family Auracariaceae.) There are less than 100 specimens known in the wild.  As you might expect, these small potted plants were very expensive.  But later, on this path, I recognised the young conifers at either side - this is a Wollemi Pine pathway!  They are doing very well.  I don't think they would be selling them unless there were plenty of spares.

Sandstone at Wakehurst, West Sussex.  17 August 2018.

In common with many spots in Sussex, Wakehurst has several sandstone outcrops.  Picturesque tree growth like this is easy to find.  What's odd about this particular spot is that the path on this side of the wooden bridge does not seem to go anywhere.

Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst, West Sussex.  17 August 2018.

Outside the Millennium Seed Bank are a set of plots with different soil types - gravel, hillside, chalk, hay meadow, wet meadow and others.  It is interesting to see examples of the different ecologies. 

Sign showing various charges at Wakehurst, West Sussex.  April and August 2018.

But one thing they don't seem to be able to do is produce clear and unambiguous signage.  The old version (on the left) just stopped my in my tracks.  What, it costs £25 to get in if you're a Friend?   And why is it free to enter the car park for a day, but also £10 to park for a day? 

The new version (probably produced because rates had increased) does away with the first oddity.  But it still says that an adult ticket is free.  If only the sign had read "Adult Ticket Holders" it would have been quite clear ...

Catkins

Hazel catkins on Hayes Common, 5 February 2017.

I was searching my photo folders with the key work "cat" and I came across a lot of interesting pictures, including cathedrals and catkins.  So here are some of the catkins.

This photo is what people probably think of first.  Hazel catkins in early spring.  This is the male reproductive organ, and you can tap off showers of pollen.  It is spread by the wind to the tiny red female flowers:

Hazel, female flower.  The Knoll, Hayes, 19 February 2017.

No petals, because they do not need to attract insects.  Just sticky stigmas, with some tiny yellow pollen grains already stuck on.

These catkins are one of the first signs of spring, showing new growth on the trees.  But quite a few different sorts of trees use catkins to reproduce.

Pussy Willow catkins in Jubilee Country Park, 15 March 2011.

Pussy Willow is what we called this where I grew up, because the catkins were soft and furry.  These ones have been rained on!  It seems to be more often called Goat Willow here in the south, which matches its scientific name, Salix caprea.  The female flowers are on separate trees and are also bunched up into a sort of catkin:

Female goat willow catkins, Hayes common; 2 April 2011.

These are either Pussy Willow or a close relative.   Other catkin trees include:

Catkin of a Silver Birch.  Hayes Common SSSI, 16 May 2012.

Birches - this one is Silver Birch.

Oak catkins in Spring Park, 22 April 2011.

Oaks.  These rather straggly catkins can sometimes have their own parasitic galls, caused by the sexual generation of same gall wasp that produces leaf galls later in the year.

Currant Galls, sexual generation of the gall wasp Neuroterus quercusbaccarum.  Heathfield Road, Keston.  4 May 2015.

And the last catkin tree that I have photos of, Alders.

Alder catkins, Alnus glutinosa, on the roadside on Hayes Lane, Hayes.  4 March 2013.

You can see the alder cones, but otherwise this looks a lot like a tall Hazel.  But these catkins can sometimes be quite showy.

Alder catkins, Alnus glutinosa. Cudham recreation ground, 25 February 2012.