There are people that we see everyday who we recognise by sight but haven’t got a clue of their name – whether it’s someone on the train to work, or the person at the check out in the local shop. I realised the other week that, for me, the same goes for wild flowers and trees, so I’ve decided to swat up.
My first outing with my new guide to wild flowers was walking home from work last Friday – taking the scenic route back along the canal. The first stretch can’t be much more than half a mile, and yet within that distance, I saw about twelve different species.
I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised to find so many – these flowers are all familiar to me as I see them everyday, but previously I hadn’t given them the recognition they deserve. As with so many things in life, it’s easy to take them for granted.
If I identified it correctly, I think my favourite find was the dove’s foot cranesbill – not only a lovely flower, but also a great name. I also (I think) saw meadow cranesbill, common mallow, herb robert, woody nightshade, tufted vetch and hedge woundwort, to name a few. Not bad for a first attempt. As always, I forgot to take my camera, but will try to get it out this week, and put a few pictures up.
