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Blooming Flowers

Martyn Stead was in good form for the Wildflower Walk on 2 June 2004. Eight of us learned more about the flowers that bloom in June in the valley and it seems that the more you know, the more you see.

We all know what buttercups look like but we have two different sorts. The flowers are similar but the leaves are entirely different.

To tell them apart, look at their leaves. Black medic has a small point or 'needle' at the tip of its lead. We need clues like this to help us identify plants - a really good one is "Rushes are round but sedges have edges".

Here's a challenge for you. Stand on Bachelors Bridge in early summer and see if you can pick out these flowers. Garlic mustard and hedge mustard - their taste lives up to its name. If the big clump of yellow flag iris has nearly finished flowering you will be able to see that the leaf is wrinkled down one side. Bulrushes have a similar leaf but no wrinkle, instead each leaf has a twist in it.

Watercress has white flowers and a rounder leaf than the fools watercress which is growing next to it. Only a fool would taste the latter.

The large clump of comfrey with its purple flowers is the Russian variety - this is common: it's the British comfrey that is rare.

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