Dead-nettles

Some members of the dead-nettle family (Lamiaceae):

White dead-nettle Lamium album, a favourite plant of bumblebees

Red dead-nettle Lamium purpureum, flowers all year-round

Ground ivy Glechoma hederaceae, in damp grassy places, often on the edge of woodlands

Bugle Ajuga reptans grows in woodland and damp meadows

Self-heal Prunella vulgaris, in short grass and waste places

Henbit deadnettle Lamium amplexicaule, grows in disturbed ground e.g. edges of arable fields



Marsh woundwort Stachys palustris, in ditches and wet soils, hybridises with hedge woundwort (below)

Hedge woundwort Stachys sylvatica, common in shady hedgerows and woodland edges. Unpleasant pungent smell when crushed.

Wood sage Teucrium scorodonia, woodland edges, especially on acid soils

Black horehound Ballota nigra, hedgerows, stiff hairs make it rough to the touch, very pungent when crushed

Common hemp nettle Galeopsis tetrahit, often on arable land and usually with flowers tinged pink; this white-flowered form is a weed in my garden

Betony Betonica officinalis, often in grassland beside roads and footpaths

...... and now for the good news.....

If you let it, taking an interest in natural history could be very depressing because so much that is written about our flora and fauna in the press seems to be unrelenting bad news. The abysmal weather in the early part of this summer  produced also sorts of hyperbolic headlines of the disastrous/cataclysmic/catastrophic kind about its likely impact on birds/butterflies/insects and almost everything else in the natural world - and it's undoubtedly true that it has been a bad summer for all of these (although it's important to bear in mind that over last few thousand years there have been periods of far more adverse climatic conditions that our wildlife experienced and rebounded from: like investments, rates of growth in populations of living organisms can go down as well as up, all the time). The natural world isn't a natural history museum, it's a living, constantly evolving interplay between organisms.

Anyway, last weekend we happened to notice a positive effect of the wet early part of the summer, when we took a walk along the cliff tops between Dawdon and Hawthorn Dene on the Durham Coast Heritage Path. The summer wild flowers there seem to be flowering more spectacularly than I can ever remember. I have a theory as to why this might be so, and it's all down to the rain. 

The cliffs are porous magnesian limestone which is free-draining. In a 'normal' summer the surface soil dries out quickly and the plants suffer from moisture stress, so they flower quickly while they have the chance, when they are quite small. This year, with plenty of water, the well-watered vegetation is unusually lush and as a result the flowers are truly spectacular. So, without further ado, here are some examples....

Drifts of meadowsweet in the gullies on the cliffs and ....

.... forming a backdrop for devil's bit scabious which .....

...... includes some exceptionally fine examples ..... although this one looks a tad unusual - very short bracts under the inflorescence and it looks like it might be male-sterile, judging by the tiny stamens.

... along with field scabious .....

... flowering in profusion in the meadows at the end of Hawthorn Dene ...

... where there are some fine specimens of giant bellflower.

I suspect that alkaline soil might be the reason for the very blue hue of the tufted vetch on the cliffs but .... 

... this unusually pale betony plant (normal flower behind) is probably a genetic mutation.

Bloody crane'sbill always puts on a good show ....

.... and this year centaury has done well too, with some very floriferous plants ...

This is hemp agrimony .....a major constituent of the taller vegetation while .....

.... hoary plantain is blooming down amongst the grasses.

Plenty of knapweed Centaurea nigra, alongside the ....

.... greater knapweed Centaurea scabiosa.

Drifts of marjoram aka oregano (crush the leaves and sniff for a tantalising hint of Mediterranean cuisine!)....

Spear thistle already running to seed ....

.... likewise agrimony, producing its little bell-shaped hooked fruits ....

Yellow loosestrife ....

.... and some wonderfully robust specimens of yellow-wort, with its strange glaucous, stalkless leaves.

In dry summers yellow-wort, which is an annual, is often a stunted plant and only produces a few flowers - but this year some plants have responded to the rain with a wonderful display...

... and the North Sea provides a fine backdrop for the floral spectacle ....

..... and for haymaking ....

Perfect weather for haymaking in Teesdale ...

    































 
Perfect weather for haymaking in Teesdale today .....

... turning hay to dry in dawn-to-dusk sunshine .....

.... and baling hay that was already dry .....

...... leaving bare fields that were full of hay meadow wild flowers a few weeks ago ....

     
































  .... but there are still mountain pansies flowering on the banks that are too steep to cut ....

.... and betony, a late summer flower of rough grassland and pastures, is in bloom ....

... with flowers that are almost as attractive as an orchid, while ....

    .... ripening hazel nuts are a reminder that autumn isn't far away ....