A Year in the Valley

A Year in the Valley

Discovering the flora and fauna in a small square of Portmellon Valley

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  • Today in the Watermeadow

    Today in the Watermeadow

    As with the rest of the valley, there are some clumps of HWD appearing in the middle of the wild bits.  Mr C is planning on venturing into the ‘interior’ to pull them up as we don’t want such a toxic plant on our patch.  They are peeping out of the dry grass to the right of the picture above.

    The paths are in a fragile state of mud and algae, as evidenced by Little Venice above.  We have lost the turf there, but the grass is growing back on the other paths.  I am watching a couple of the plants in Little Venice to see if I can identify them when/if they flower.

    So, the green foliage apart from HWD and algae, is buttercup, bedstraw, dock, and clumps of sedge, which are evergreen.  It’s exciting to see plants coming back to life again, along with bees, and also wolf spiders running over dry grass heaps.

    Daisy D

    06 February 2024
    Views
    Broad-leaved Dock, Creeping Buttercup, Filamentous Algae, Greater Tussock Sedge, Hemlock Water Dropwort, Marsh Bedstraw, Pendulous Sedge, View
  • Greater Tussock Sedge (Carex paniculata)

    Greater Tussock Sedge (Carex paniculata)

    This is our statement sedge standing like an imposing statue centrally near the bank of the stream.   Supposed to be a 1.5m tall by a metre broad, ours is definitely larger than that. However, it stands on its own straw podium into which I have occasionally seen a mouse scurrying. Also, its flowers are spikey, rather than hairy or corn-like, which is how I arrived at Greater Tussock Sedge. Although it looks a bit scrappy at the moment, it is very robust and weathers the winter storms and floods. Its sharp-edged blades fountain out in all directions, waving rough, russet flowers at all who pass by.

    Daisy D

    12 June 2023
    Sedges, rushes, grasses
    Greater Tussock Sedge

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