Walking along country lanes with my wife, we play a naming game where we take it in turns to name another wild plant we pass, trying to outdo each other and think ahead for what might be a few paces. She always wins with a plant like Milkmaids Goat Bane or Jack-get-out-of-bed-by-tea

time and such names that I am never quite sure she has not simply made them up with her random plant name generator. However, along the same path Bacon and Eggs can be found in the hedgerow, what a fascinating source of colour and form, and better than that, it really does have a host of

great aliases ……babies slipper, butter and eggs, hen and chickens, Dutchman’s clogs, lady’s fingers, lady’s slipper, granny’s toenails, birds foot trefoil, devils finger and birds foot clover, or if you are a Latin scholar Lotus corniculatus.

“Bacon and Eggs can be found in the hedgerow”

p Lotus corniculatus better known by many other names.

q Pyramid Orchids growing in profusion. u

During June Pyramid Orchids grow in profusion along the coast of the Rade de Brest and are widespread elsewhere in dry chalk grassland as well as in sand dune slacks. Orchids have a unique aura about them, exotic, intricate in pattern and form, apparently infinitely varied in appearance yet technically simple in design. It is easy to see why they capture the imagination of many or send others on world wide searches. The specimens found in France are generally larger than the typical height of British plants but

they have the same narrow, unspotted leaves at the base and sheathing leaves up the stem. This close-up gives a good impression of the conical flower head that gives the flower its English name. The plant is pollinated by a number of butterflies and moths and the flowers are adapted to the proboscises of such species - when the insect withdraws its proboscis the pollinia become attached and are subsequently transported to another flower. u

1

Forward|Back|Home