Tag: purple flowers

Even though we are still in June, a walk through Paradise seemed very much like autumn : grasses are turning brown and, while yellow flowers are more typical of spring, purple flowers seem come in the autumn. Along the path, you can see purple Woundwort (if in doubt, smell the crushed leaf) and Betony, while Purple Loosestrife spikes emerge from the tall grasses in the pond. Many flowers are giving way to seed – brambles and rose hips, elderflower (I hope I can still find some flowers for cordial).

My eye was caught by various patches of white, in the woods and just off the path. Unwanted were the multiple deposits of toilet paper, sometimes accompanied by the standard collection of empty bottles/cans/litter. More interesting was the conical top of a fungus I have not seen there before. Initially looking like one of the (deadly poisonous) Amanita family, it turned out to be Volvariella bombycina – edible (but because of possible confusion, much too dangerous to risk!)  A little further on, was a different fungus, clumps of small yellow caps of Bolbitius vitellinus.  Both were in areas which had been spread with wood chippings and both are fungi which like a rich habitat, including wood litter.  (B. vitellinus is known as the Cow-Pat Fungus.)  It is always interesting to see what is colonising such areas – nothing stays bare for long.

The Swans nesting across the river have only one cygnet – preciously guarded by both parents. Let’s hope it evades the Pikes.

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