Day 339 - Surprisingly Popular Scarlet Pimpernel

Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis)

Hey everyone today's Day 339 and as I have covered Orchids in the the last couple of days, I was in the flower mood. So today I decided to visit something that I found quite a little bit ago in Summer at a place called Nosterfield, a place I love to go to. It's my nearest local nature reserve but it has so many wonderful things, not just birds and bugs (all of which I cover an awful lot) but lots of great plant-life too. Today's post will be about the lovely Scarlet Pimpernel.

So, here are the facts:

• The reason that they are called the 'Scarlet Pimpernel' is because of the lovely colour that they are. 

• Now, I'm colour-blind so I can't really see what the colour is, all I can see is an orangey-red colour that looks like all other things that are orange, so I'm going by what my Dad says. :-)

• They are seen mostly through out Summer, a little bit into both Spring and Autumn, strictly speaking May to September.

• The particular habitats the The Wildlife Trusts say are mainly Gardens and Fields, Grassy areas. This seems right from where I found it.

'No heart can think, no tongue can tell

The virtues of the Pimpernel.'

• Some of its other names are the 'Old Man's Weather-Vane' or the 'Shepherd's Weather Glass'. I wonder why that is...

• ...Well, both of these are linked with the weather. That's because when atmospheric pressure falls, basically when it's about to rain, the petals will close.

• It is a plant that has been used as medicine by people as far back as ancient Greek and apparently for all sorts of illnesses. I'm not sure if we would use in the the modern day but it was used a lot and I found a rhyme about it which you can see under the picture.

• Now, strictly speaking, it's not actually The Scarlet Pimpernel, well not always. It can also have blue flowers which I found quite interesting.

• They are apparently always blue in Spain. The blue ones are most likely to be found when there are more hours of sunshine so they can sometimes be seen in the South of England.

They seek him here, they seek him there, 

those Frenchies seek him everywhere.

Is he in heaven or is he in hell? 

That damned elusive Pimpernel.

• Today's the second day in a row where I have covered something that doubles as something in the media. Yesterday's Herald is an English Newspaper and the Scarlet Pimpernel is also a novel which has been made into a film.

• There are novels and films about the Scarlet Pimpernel, the quote under this picture is the apparently the most famous quote from them.

• The usual thing in these novels is that The Scarlet Pimpernel wanders around France saving young, female aristocrats from the guillotine. He gets his name from the card with a Red Flower on it that he leaves at the scene of his adventures.

• I've covered a lot of species so I find it very interesting that this tiny little flower has so many rhymes, novels and films it features it! Surprisingly Popular! 

Here are some links to some more information:

The Wildlife Trusts - Scarlet Pimpernel 

The Guardian - Scarlet Pimpernel

Hope you enjoyed,

Z.

Day 337 - Orsome Orchids

Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera)

Bee Orchid and dew

Hey everyone today's Day 337 and today I thought I would revisit the things that aren't just one single species. So, in the past I have covered a lot of different types of flowers on my blog such as the Bee Orchid, I've even done a whole post on Spring Flowers, back when it was Spring of course. But today, I'm kind of going back to the Bee Orchid's family. Yes, all of what are named: Orchids. These are one of the most beautiful family of flowers that I know, more so as they're sometimes quite rare.


I've seen a few different types on my nature hunts so I thought it was worth doing a post one them, especially as they are quite colourful on what has been quite a grey day around here.


So, here are the facts:

• The reason that they are called Orchids is because their latin name is Orchidacea. We have changed it to Orchid.

Common Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii)

• Now, they are all quite rare but there are so many different types of Orchid in the world. There are 25,000 different types!

• All of these thousands of Orchid types all have symmetry similar to the human face. If you find an Orchid, it has bilateral symmetry.

• Orchids have been around for millions of years. Scientists have found fossilised orchid pollen on the back of a bee.

I found quite a few of these

• There is actually such a thing called an owl orchid which looks, to me at least, identical to an owl. I saw a picture of it and I thought it was an actual Snowy Owl. They're incredible!

• Vanilla is actually a species of Orchid. More specifically, the Flat-leaved Vanilla plant.

And Northern Marsh Orchids (Dactylorhiza purpurella)

• There are so many species of orchid that the smallest one is only the size of a penny/dime...

• ...On the other side of the spectrum the heaviest one weighs several hundred pounds! That sounds more like a tree!

• Orchids take years to grow. They first flower after about 5 to 7 years after they germinate.

They are really pretty close up

• There are some Orchids that only actually flower for a couple of hours, but then again, there are some that flower for years.

Here are some links to some more information:

Live Science - 5 facts about Orchids

Mamiverse - 12 facts about Orchids

Flowerweb - some amazing orchid photos

Hope you enjoyed,

Z.

Day 326 - Charmingly Fabulous Caddis Flies

Caddis Fly - Limnephilus rhombicus - I think

Hi everyone, Day 326 and a little creature today I found at the weekend. It was such lovely weather on Sunday that we went for a walk at one of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserves we like called Staveley Nature Reserve. It was a lovely warm day and it was nice to see a few flowers still about and insects busy visiting them. There were lots of dragonflies around still too, Common Darters and a number of hawkers, possibly Emperors (they didn't stay still!). I saw one or two insects I hadn't seen before including today's species. At first I thought this would be simple to identify but I found there were lots of types of them and it's very tricky! I'm looking today at a Caddis Fly - I think this one is Limnephilus rhombicus - it looks most like this from my research so that's what I'm covering today (if it's not and you do know what it please let me know :-)

So what did I find out about these creatures:

Close up bugs eye view!

• Well the first thing I found out, much to my surprise, was that there are about 198 species in the UK and Ireland!

• They get their name from their larvae. The larvae are a common fresh water insect that make cases to live in. They make it from silk and then decorate (or disguise it?) with bits of vegetation, small stones and other bits and pieces.

• I found out that the name might come from Elizabethan times - scraps of cloth and silk were called cadices and street traders selling cloth and silk had scraps sown on their coats, they were called Caddice men.

• The cases the larvae make help them in different ways. If they live in streams it helps them not to get washed away with the current. It also forms a little cave to hunt from.

Resting on the flowers

• As they use silk to make cases to live in they are similar to moths and butterflies and are quite closely related to them but Caddis Flys are in the order Tricoptera and Butterflies and moths are Lepidoptera

• The larvae of Limnephilus rhombicus live in weedy streams, pond margins, marshes and lakes. Staveley has some nice ponds so that fits.

• The larvae of Limnephilus rhombicus eat algae and weed at pond margins.

Drinking nectar?

• The adults are quite organey and about 14-19mm long, so that fits too!

• I found far more information about the larvae than the adults and I couldn't find out what the adults eat, but this one seems to like nectar.

If they eat insects this fly's in trouble!

• They are seen as adults between May and June and July and September so this one is maybe a late one enjoying the lovely October weather we've had.

• You can see them across most of the UK right up to the Orkneys and Shetland.

Here's a few links if you want to find out more about these creatures:

Amateur Entomologist Society - Caddis Flies

Nature Spot - Limnephilus rhombicus

The Riverfly Partnership - Caddis Flies

Hope you enjoyed,

Z.