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buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Mon Apr 15, 19 9:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Some of the pics on the web show the white ribs on the underside that look a bit cabbagy, but I didn't know they were there to see so didn't try to see/photograph them.

Henry

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Tue Apr 16, 19 6:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Nice picture again. I do sometimes wonder about the descriptive smells; in the mind of different people I think. Some are quite strong, but others just smell sort of earthy of nondescript to me.

Flowers are holding back in the woods here too. One early purple orchid I have been keeping my eye on has taken the best part of a month from 'thinking about it' to actually having a bud. Suspect they will all come into flower this week as it supposed to turn warmer.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Tue Apr 16, 19 10:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Great picture Buzzy.

Are they edible?

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Tue Apr 16, 19 10:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

We are always having arguments about fungal smells! There is always one of our group (not always the same one) who will say "I can't smell anything" (though there was one who DID always say that, but then he had no sense of smell for anything, but sadly he passed away a couple of weeks ago RIP).

And some people will say "But what does mouse pee smell of?" They are perhaps fortunate not to know!

Henry

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Tue Apr 16, 19 10:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

sgt.colon wrote:
Great picture Buzzy.

Are they edible?


The short answer is NO. Other members of the family contain varying levels of monomethylhydrazine, which is toxic and carcinogenic (and a rocket fuel). It can be removed, so it says on the web, by boiling in a well ventilated atmosphere, but I suspect it is best not to bother! If you are really hungry stick to the Wild Garlic that grows on the same site (though not together with the Vinegar Cup).

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Wed Apr 17, 19 6:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

When I was at school we were told mouse urine smelt or acetamide. The wood mice we sometimes see are lovely little animals, but like most mice, they do have this bad habit....

There are several things edible around now; the wild garlic, young hawthorn leaves, although I have never tried them, and where the burdock leaves are starting, the roots are edible. There is also pig nut just showing leaves, and the roots of that are edible too.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45374
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Apr 17, 19 4:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

young hawthorn tastes of bread and cheese, which is one of the local names for the buds as forage.

nice in a salad butty

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Wed Apr 17, 19 6:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

dpack wrote:
young hawthorn tastes of bread and cheese, which is one of the local names for the buds as forage.

nice in a salad butty


I tried nibbling pieces several times when I was a schoolboy in Norfolk, but never detected the flavour of bread and cheese. Perhaps I shall give it another try this spring


Henry

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45374
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Apr 17, 19 7:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

smells of is an interesting addition to a description but as you mention smell is a bit subjective

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Thu Apr 18, 19 10:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

dpack wrote:
young hawthorn tastes of bread and cheese, which is one of the local names for the buds as forage.

nice in a salad butty


Oohhhh well, now there is one to try.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 19 8:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I have heard it called that too, and must try it this year. Turned very warm here, so all the flowers are coming out. A real mix with primroses, bluebells, wood anemones and violets to name but a few. Walkers told me some early purple orchids were out, so must go and see the ones in the coup.

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Mon Apr 29, 19 8:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Today we visited a local wood. Saw Bluebells (with a few white ones) two types of Stitchwort, Cowslips, Primroses and caught a whiff of Wild Garlic. Heard several spring birds - Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Chiff Chaff. Some of us (not me) heard a Turtle Dove.

There were a few Longhorn Moths and one of these:




a micro-moth called the Maple Piercer (Pammene trauniana). An uncommon species - this one is apparently only the ninth one recorded in the county.

Henry

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Tue Apr 30, 19 6:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Good picture again. I sometimes wonder with micro moths and small flowers and fungi whether they are as rare as are thought, or whether people just don't notice them.

Which Stitchworts did you see, as we have mainly the greater, but occasionally find the lesser?

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Fri May 17, 19 3:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Last Monday we went to a old ironstone area. We saw several Green Tiger Beetles - two of them were doing their best to perpetuate the species, something none of us had seen before. They are usually racing around at top speed. There also some Dingy Skippers and Green Hairstreaks, but not in photographable positions. In one area we saw two Red Kites arguing with two crows. It seemed as if the kites might have a nest nearby, since they seemed to be flying around one place.

We also found this:


the Violet Crown Cup (Sarcosphaera coronaria), an uncommon fungus which we usually find at this site, but this year the season had been a bit early and they were past their best - not nearly as violet as we have seen them.

Henry

sean
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon
PostPosted: Fri May 17, 19 4:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Can't imagine that Dingy Skippers are very happy about their name.

Cool fungus.

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