Wild flowers

[spelfish]

I think coffee for the wealthy 'needs' a similar process

The World's Rarest Coffee. Naturally Refined By Elephants.

Naturally refined by elephants, Black Ivory Coffee (aka elephant dung coffee) is the world's rarest and most expensive coffee.

blackivorycoffee.com

Blimey! I've tried the Vietnamese coffee that has been 'processed' by civet cats (delicious if ethically questionable) but didn't realise you could use elephants. Do they absorb any of the caffeine? The idea of an elephant with a caffeine rush (or caffeine withdrawal) is a bit alarming...

 

[Karen L]

The volunteers I used to be part of have regular ragwort pulls on some reserves around Arnside Silverdale, especially where horses or cattle graze. It is very good for (among other things) cinnabar moth caterpillars and they do a pretty good job of munching it.

There's a field near Monsal Head that pretty much full of ragwort and cattle grazing, plus the field I used to graze my horse on had ragwort and there was never an issue. I believe it's more dodgy when it's cut in hay because I understand that horses will then eat it. Love to see Cinnatbar caterpillars on it.

 

[Karen L]

Pendulous Sedge.

I had some of this in the garden until I discovered what it was!

 

[Karen L]

I have counted at least 9 pyramidal orchids in my "lawn" this year. I have a fairly large area which I have deliberately left unmowed every year for the last 10 years and all sorts of things are now appearing. The maximum no. of these orchids we had was 53 one year and the minimum since they first appeared around 2010 is 3. The first ones appeared at the western end of the patch of "lawn" close to where we get out of a parked car onto the driveway so assumed it was seeds carried on shoes. The spread and number of them must depend on the prevailing west wind blowing the seeds further along the area. The year when we counted 53 the furthest ones had actually crossed the road and appeared on the grass verge around 50 yards to the east from the first ones in our grass area. (They never spread the other way, i.e. upwind.)

Sadly the council grass verge mowers now eradicate the orchids before they get a chance to flower. The cowslips just about escape before the first mowing of the verges and I now have hundreds of these all around the grass areas and even growing on the edges of paths.

Karen L might like to note that there are orchids alongside the track to the Cottage, just above the bridge gate, and that twayblades have been found in the past on the embankment just over the stile leading to the new SRT setup.

That's great! Yes, we spotted the Commons next to the track a couple of weeks ago but I had no idea there were Twayblades on the trail. I remember Jenny H telling me there'd been a bit of a fire along the trail somewhere near the cottages and some really unusual orchids that need fire to trigger growth appeared shortly after - can't remember what type, but I'm sure someone will know. The old steam trains often set patches of vegetation alight, but it doesn't happen now, so no orchids sadly.

 

[Lankyman]

I had some of this in the garden until I discovered what it was!

Me too. I realised that if all those seeds fell and took hold then it was going to be hard work to get rid of. I had the same problem with wild garlic (which I'd planted a few years ago) not realising how invasive it can be. I think I've managed to grub it all up but we'll see next spring. My current battle seems to be with willow herb (the American sort) which I'm uprooting as soon as it's distinguishable from the 'good' stuff.

 

[tony from suffolk]

Me too. I realised that if all those seeds fell and took hold then it was going to be hard work to get rid of. I had the same problem with wild garlic (which I'd planted a few years ago) not realising how invasive it can be. I think I've managed to grub it all up but we'll see next spring. My current battle seems to be with willow herb (the American sort) which I'm uprooting as soon as it's distinguishable from the 'good' stuff.

I really like pendulous sedge. There's a big clump growing in front of next-door's drive & I took a chunk to put in our wild area. I've tried to get wild garlic to take, but it doesn't seem to like our chalky, clayey soil in Suffolk. Surprising really, since the first time I encountered masses of it was in the Longwood valley. Loads of it round here in Keswick.

 

[Lankyman]

To avoid the heat of the day I was in the woods above Scorton this morning. I've seen these American skunk cabbage flowering down by the stream before but must have missed the actual big yellow flowers this year. It's an invasive non-native so must have come in from somewhere else.

 

[Karen L]

I don't really mind something like this in the garden, but when said garden is 5m x 4m, you have to be a bit choosy!!

 

[Lankyman]

I don't really mind something like this in the garden, but when said garden is 5m x 4m, you have to be a bit choosy!!

Skunk cabbage definitely not a good idea as it appears to be illegal to sell it in the UK and should be dug up and disposed of responsibly if you do have it in your garden ...

Skunk cabbage

Advice on identifying and dealing with skunk cabbage, in our guide.

www.gardenersworld.com

 

[kay]

They *want* to be eaten. The seeds pass through a digestive system unharmed and are spread around in fertiliser. Some seeds *need* that - "digestive scarification".

I think what Lankyman is pointing out is the apparent contradiction - loud colours in insects "don't eat me, I'm poisonous" (some of them are lying), loud colours in fruit "eat me, I'm delicious". Though thinking about it, a lot of poisonous/pretending to be poisonous insects are various shade of yellow and orange (like unripe fruit), and certainly birds don't seem to eat yellow berries with such enthusiasm - see for example yellow berried hollies and Sorbus,

 

[pwhole]

Remember also that many (most?) animals don't have trichromatic vision like we do, and so won't be able to perceive certain colours as 'different'. Dogs can see yellow and blue very well, but red and green look identical - i.e. grey. They're also short-sighted compared to us, and their 3D perception is weaker due to their relatively side-mounted eyes. However, they're much better adapted to low light levels than we are, and can almost see in the dark. I don't know what bird vision is like, but I would imagine it has similar specialisations/limitations.

 

[Jim MacPherson]

Remember also that many (most?) animals don't have trichromatic vision like we do, and so won't be able to perceive certain colours as 'different'. Dogs can see yellow and blue very well, but red and green look identical - i.e. grey. They're also short-sighted compared to us, and their 3D perception is weaker due to their relatively side-mounted eyes. However, they're much better adapted to low light levels than we are, and can almost see in the dark. I don't know what bird vision is like, but I would imagine it has similar specialisations/limitations.

Some birds have good night vision, like owls and apparently petrels have a fine sense of smell hence their nocturnal habits.

This thread's been quite good fun for picking up snippets of useful stuff.

Jim

 

[Lankyman]

Remember also that many (most?) animals don't have trichromatic vision like we do, and so won't be able to perceive certain colours as 'different'.

Hah! Who needs trichromatic vision when you have the finest infrared detection system in the universe?

 

[pwhole]

Staghorn Sumac. I see these around Sheffield occasionally, usually near the rivers, though I guess they're spread via ornamentals in gardens as they're not native. I didn't realise you could make a refreshing drink from them though! Nor that its wood has a high catoyance value, which it turns out is another word for anisotropic highlights, which I regularly came across in my CGI days

Rhus typhina - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[kay]

Remember also that many (most?) animals don't have trichromatic vision like we do, and so won't be able to perceive certain colours as 'different'. Dogs can see yellow and blue very well, but red and green look identical - i.e. grey. They're also short-sighted compared to us, and their 3D perception is weaker due to their relatively side-mounted eyes. However, they're much better adapted to low light levels than we are, and can almost see in the dark. I don't know what bird vision is like, but I would imagine it has similar specialisations/limitations.

Some birds have tetrachromatic vision.

UK doesn't have very many bright red flowers (Scarlet Pimpernel is the only one that immediately comes to my mind) - the reds and oranges tend to come from more tropical regions where allegedly they're pollinated by birds, which would suggest that birds are good at picking up the reds and oranges of rowan berries, hips and haws.

 

[Karen L]

I don't really mind something like this in the garden, but when said garden is 5m x 4m, you have to be a bit choosy!!

I meant the Pendulous Sedge, but forgot to refresh myscreen. I certainly wouldn't want Skunk Cabbage in my garden!

 

[Cantclimbtom]

Remember also that many (most?) animals don't have trichromatic vision like we do, and so won't be able to perceive certain colours as 'different'. Dogs can see yellow and blue very well, but red and green look identical - i.e. grey. They're also short-sighted compared to us, and their 3D perception is weaker due to their relatively side-mounted eyes. However, they're much better adapted to low light levels than we are, and can almost see in the dark. I don't know what bird vision is like, but I would imagine it has similar specialisations/limitations.

Bird vision is quite different to mammals, many have 4 cones (4 colour) including a UV colour. The UV colour is particularly useful for flowers and other birds. Some birds that look evenly dark/drab to humans are brightly patterned to other birds

 

[Lankyman]

Bird vision is quite different to mammals, many have 4 cones (4 colour) including a UV colour. The UV colour is particularly useful for flowers and other birds. Some birds that look evenly dark/drab to humans are brightly patterned to other birds

Years ago I remember seeing something on the telly about this (might have been an Attenborough thing?) and seeing what a starling looks like to other starlings and probably other birds. It was transformed into a rainbow jewelled creature. I suppose you get a sense of this when you see the irredescense in some light.

 

[kay]

Bird vision is quite different to mammals, many have 4 cones (4 colour) including a UV colour. The UV colour is particularly useful for flowers and other birds. Some birds that look evenly dark/drab to humans are brightly patterned to other birds

Yes, apparently male bluetits, which look just like females to us, have much brighter uv crests on their heads than females, so tits have no difficulty whatever distinguishing the sexes, and females prefer males with brighter crests.

 

[Fulk]

I was surprised to see harebells the other day, as I associate them with autumn, not July (there was quite a strong wind blowing and it was difficult to get them in focus properly):