My theme this year is wild flowers. Most of us will be aware of the flowers that grow in our gardens but what surprises me is how few wild flowers that I know.
I pass them every day but rarely look at them. Well this year will be different - even if many of them may fall under the letter 'X' for unknown.
'E' - Eggs and Bacon, Elder
I was surprised when a flower that I've known since I was a boy and that has its name in the Oxford English Dictionary does not appear with that name in my wildflower books.
I pass them every day but rarely look at them. Well this year will be different - even if many of them may fall under the letter 'X' for unknown.
'E' - Eggs and Bacon, Elder
I was surprised when a flower that I've known since I was a boy and that has its name in the Oxford English Dictionary does not appear with that name in my wildflower books.
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| Eggs and Bacon (on Portrack Nature Reserve, Stockton) |
The dictionary says that eggs and bacon is the name of any of a group of flowers marked with orange, red or brown suggestive of eggs and bacon, especially -
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| Bird's-foot-trefoil (on a rocky shore) |
The common name of this plant comes from the elongated seedpods - each with a hood at the tip, which resemble a bird's foot. Besides eggs and bacon, it has numerous folk names including granny's toenails and devil's claws.
Bird's-foot-trefoil is highly toxic to humans although it has been used in a compress to relieve inflamed skin.
A bush commonly found in woodlands and roadside hedgerows is the Elder which has flowers and berries that can be put to good use.
Bird's-foot-trefoil is highly toxic to humans although it has been used in a compress to relieve inflamed skin.
A bush commonly found in woodlands and roadside hedgerows is the Elder which has flowers and berries that can be put to good use.
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| Elderflower |
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| Elderberries |
In June the clusters of white flowers have a heavy fruity fragrance and may be used to make tea or add a musky flavour to pies.
The berries are favourites with birds; their droppings help to spread the elder. You can recognise the droppings by the purple stain they leave behind. The black juicy fruits make a distinctive flavoured wine and may also be used in pies and jellies.
The elder thrives on rabbit warrens as rabbits find it distasteful. It may also be found around badger setts and below tall trees where starlings and pigeons roost.
The pith in elder twigs is easily hollowed out with the twigs being used for peashooters or whistles - not that I've seen these for years.
Elder stems develop hard white wood which among other things may be used for carving combs and chessmen.
Attribution:
- Bird's-foot-trefoil - 19 may 2008, ex geograph.org.uk, by David Baird, CC BY-SA 2.0 generic
