June 2023 - Page 3 of 3 - A Year in the Valley

Pendulous Sedge (Carex pendula)

“Sedges have edges, rushes are round, grasses are hollow, so what have you found?” – Woodland Trust website.

I can see this is going to be a very useful little rhyme – and I like it a lot! This is clearly a sedge, as it has edges to its stem. We have a large patch of Pendulous Sedge in our watermeadow, which we call the Drunken Forest on account of its lolloping appearance when it gets top-heavy or ravaged by the wind. Nearly a metre tall at this time of year, it’s a very untidy plant, but where does curating stop and gardening begin? It seems we must put up with some untidiness. The RHS says it can become a “troublesome weed in damp gardens”. It’s true that it is one of the plants that has moved into the once-bare patches left by the removal of the HWD. One of the things I find interesting about watching our watermeadow is how the dynamics change each year. Different plants seek dominance in different areas – grasses, sedges, nettles. This year the HWD is trying to make a comeback, and the Pendulous Sedge is also gaining ground with tussocks popping up down each side of the watermeadow.

Daisy D

10 June 2023

Sedges, rushes, grasses

Pendulous Sedge

Lackey Moth Caterpillar

No, this cute little caterpillar isn’t a toy! Mr C found it in some long grass and brought it up to the kitchen for identification. It is the caterpillar of another pale brown moth, the Lackey Moth. Common in the coastal areas of Cornwall, this little chap started out as one of a hundred or so eggs laid in a bracelet-style band around a stem of a deciduous tree or shrub, notably hawthorn, blackthorn, or apple tree at the end of last summer. The caterpillar and its siblings hatched out in the spring and started feeding under a web of silk. We’re not sure which tree it came from, but Mr C returned it to where he had found it. When it is fully grown it will fall to the ground and pupate in leaf litter, emerging as a moth July-September.

Daisy D

09 June 2023

Butterflies, moths, caterpillars

Lackey Moth

Hemlock Water Dropwort (Oenanthe crocata)

Hemlock Water Dropwort is in its prime right now. Currently standing over 6ft high with frothy white, or sometimes pinkish flowers. Looks amazing but is highly toxic. It is a thirsty plant, thriving along the riverbanks and water meadows. Its stems are ribbed and hollow, its pretty umbrelled flowers looking like innocent Cow Parsley. But don’t be fooled, its heavy-sweet scent seems to smell menacing when you learn how poisonous it is! Its roots, looking for all the world like a bunch of small parsnips, are known as ‘dead man’s fingers’ and are the most toxic part of the plant.

In the first lockdown, I mounted an offensive on HWD and managed to remove around 90% from our garden, but it was difficult. I soon learned that you have to pull up the entire plant, as the roots will sprout again within days, as will discarded stems, so you have to get rid of it quickly. The large heap I made was too moist to burn and they kept sprouting, but once I spread them out a bit they dried out and died.

Nowadays, when I have to tackle any HWD, I wear my facemask as well as garden gloves, as they are so waterlogged that they tend to spray their toxic juice when cut. But rest assured, it will keel over after flowering and be overtaken by the grasses and reeds in the valley. It will dry out and sink to the ground, putting up fresh green mounds of foliage in the early days of next spring.

Daisy D

08 June 2023

Flowers

Hemlock Water Dropwort

Drinker Moth Caterpillar

We noticed this caterpillar on a dead stick that was marking where we had planted an Alder sapling. Identified on the Wildlife Trusts website the Drinker Moth Caterpillar is distinguishable by the row of white hairs running down either side of its body, a ridge of tufts along its back and ‘horns’ at each end. It feeds on grasses and reeds and therefore lives in “damp grassland, marshes and boggy areas”. This little chap hibernated over the winter as a partially-grown caterpillar, woke up in the Spring and carried on growing. It will be fully-grown this month – up to 7cm in length and will turn into a large moth the colour of an old cork. That’s not why it’s called the Drinker Moth, though. It’s because the caterpillar drinks drops of dew from grass stems.

Blog note: I am disappointed that the first three scheduled posts have appeared on the blog with identical pictures. I’m either doing something wrong or there is a glitch on the site or with the software. We’re going away for a week and after a photography bonanza in the meadow, I have scheduled a week of posts, none of which are going to feature a striking picture of the subject matter. I don’t have time to sort this out now.

Daisy D

07 June 2023

Butterflies, moths, caterpillars

Drinker Moth

This is our patch

A small square that ends where the Hemlock Water Dropwort begins, as we have tried to remove it from our garden. A tangle of green, mostly grass (to be formerly identified) with a weeping willow and alders. Many other plants to be discovered.

Daisy D

06 June 2023

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This is Portmellon Valley

A cross-section. The most striking plant at the moment is the Hemlock Water Dropwort frothing in swathes down the valley. It currently stands at over 6ft high. Dwarfing the grasses which will outgrow them shortly. Yellow irises, now also in flower are hidden from view, but last month, we could pick out their foliage without difficulty.

Daisy D

05 June 2023

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