5th April 2009 (Sunday)
A day of leaves today - the main plant I was after was a couple of weeks away from flowering, and two of the three new species I added to the photo database were "foliage-only" finds!
To start the day off, an hour's wander around my local Bristol back lanes turned up a few things of interest; the first
Garlic Mustard (
Alliaria petiolaria) I've seen out this year, a mystery spurge that I've posted on the forum for ID help and a couple of attractive specimens of
Flowering Currant (
Ribes sanguineum) at Abbey Wood Station (Filton).
(
Flowering Currant, Ribes sanguineum)
Then it was off to Edford Wood, in Somerset, where the
Solomon's-seal (
Polygonatum multiflorum) was maybe a couple of weeks away from blooming and plenty of
Monk's-hood (
Aconitum napellus) around the streams was, of course, only in leaf. Apparently it's actually native here, and there sure is plenty of it - it'll be a fine sight in August when it flowers!
(
Monk's-hood (Aconitum napellus)
Once I got my eye in, it was pretty easy to distinguish
Alternate-leaved Golden-saxifrage (
Chrysosplenium oppositifolium), but you could hardly miss the
Wild Daffodils (
Narcissus pseudonarcissus ssp. pseudonarcissus); they carpeted large swathes of the wood, the first definitely wild ones I've seen for quite a few years
(
Alternate-leaved Golden-saxifrage, Chrysosplenium alternifolium)
(
Wild Daffodil, Narcissus pseudonarcissus ssp. pseudonarcissus)