Marchantia polymorpha, Common Liverwort, is a small insignificant plant that I will take as the representative of all Liverworts.
It is also known as Umbrella Liverwort.
Taxonomy
Kingdom – Plants
Clade – Embryophytes (Land Plants)
Division – Marchantiophyta
Class – Marchantiopsida
Order – Marchantiales
Family – Marchantiaceae (Single genus)
Genus – Marchantia
Scientific Name – Marchantia polymorpha
Name
Some species of liverwort were said to look like livers and traditionally some were used to treat the liver medicinally.
Marchantia was named from a botanist called Nicholas Marchant, about whom I can discover nothing.
Description
in [183] Mosses, we learned that Land Plants are almost all Vascular Plants with three minor groups sitting on the fence taxonomically – Moss, Liverworts and Hornworts. Of these, Mosses are very much more common than Liverworts and we can forget about Hornworts. (Traditionally these three were classified together but this is no longer considered to be a valid grouping.)
There are about 9 000 species of Liverwort (and only about a hundred Hornworts.) Liverworts are superficially like flattened mosses and I won’t go into the technical differences. Like moss, they are dominated by the haploid gametophyte phase.
Until recently the family Marchantiaceae contained nine genera. Six of these have been moved to other families and the remaining three have been combined into the genus Marchantia.
Marchantia polymorpha forms a spreading mass of tiny flat leafy structures. Female plants produce a stalk with a star-like (or umbrella like) top. Male plants produce a tiny disc.
Habitat and use
Marchantia polymorpha is found worldwide. It grows in moist and damp places and may be semi-aquatic. It likes man-made environments such as gardens, paths and greenhouses.
Other Notes
I discovered Liverwort in the process of preparation for this blog. A small patch within inches of my home has provided most of the pictures.
Later, I found a much larger patch of it, several metres wide, on a path at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.
See also
It’s just a coincidence that my only other sighting of Liverworts is another species I found a few hundred metres away on the same day.
Conocephalum salebrosum, Snakewort, from a different family, likes shaded, wet conditions, often on rocks. I found it on a concrete wall beside a waterfall forming part of the river Chelt.
(If you have been learning from my many examples, you could hazard a guess at the name of the family that includes Conocephalum – it’s Conocephalaceae.)
Maniola jurtina, the Meadow Brown is one of several similar brown butterflies.
I will also look at Coenonympha pamphilus, Small Heath, which is similar but smaller,
Taxonomy
Kingdom – Animals
Phylum – Arthropods
Class – Insects
Order – Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Family – Nymphalidae
Subfamily – Satyrinae (Browns)
Tribe – Satyrini
Subtribe – Maniolina
Genus – Maniola
Scientific Name – Maniola jurtina
When originally identified and named by Linnaeus, the male was named as Maniola janira and the female was Maniola jurtina.
Name
Meadow Brown is an obvious name.
Maniola is a diminutive of the Latin manes, the souls of the dead, probably because of its dark and gloomy colour. Jurtina is assumed to be an erroneous transcription of Juturna or Diuturna, the Roman goddess of fountains and springs.
Description
You will remember from [028] Ringlet, the tribe Satyrini, with hundreds of genera, including these three in the subtribe Maniolina, that are similar brown butterflies that are common in England.
Ringlet, already covered
[288] Gatekeeper, coming later
Meadow Brown
They are all to some extent sexually dimorphic.
The Meadow Brown male is almost a complete dull brown with a small eye spot that is only visible when its wings are open. The female has a brighter orange area on her upper wings.
There is considerable variation in wing pattern and colour and the male may be a very dark, almost black colour. To be honest they are not much more impressive than the unexciting Ringlet.
They are not even obvious to tell apart when mating.
Another similar butterfly in the subtribe Coenonymphina is the Small Heath, Coenonympha pamphilus.
The Small Heath is very similar to the Meadow Brown but smaller. Its wing-span is about 35-40 cm compared to 50-55 for the Meadow Brown.
Without help from online sources I am not sure that I could identify either of these two species, or discern between males and females.
Habitat
Maniola jurtina and Coenonympha pamphilus are found over almost all of Europe, much of Asia and parts of North Africa. The caterpillars feed on a variety of species, mostly grasses, and adults also have a wide range of food sources. Both are found over the whole of the UK.
See also
There are some other less common similar species and [226] the Marbled White, also in the subtribe Melarnargiina, is coming soon, but does not look so similar.
The Gatekeeper, coming a lot later, is slightly more colourful.
Malva sylvestris, (Common) Mallow, is a common and widespread wildflower that may be treated as a garden flower or as a weed. Malva moschata, Musk Mallow or Musk-mallow, is a similar, less common wildflower. These and others species of Malva are cultivated as garden plants.
The name Mallow is used for most species of Malva and for some others in the wider Malvaceae family
Malva sylvestris is also called High Mallow or Tall Mallow.
Taxonomy
Kingdom – Plants
Division – Vascular Plants
Class – Angiosperms (Flowering Plants)
Order – Malvales
Family – Malvaceae (Mallows)
Subfamily – Malvoideae
Genus – Malva
Scientific Name – Malva sylvestris, Malva moschata and others.
Several species of Malva are available for cultivation in several varieties.
The genus Malva includes all the species that were known until recently as Lavatera.
Name
If you have been following and learning from my blogs you should be anticipating the next two sentences.
Mallow comes from Old English from the Latin malva, which comes from Ancient Greek malakhe.
The English colour mauve is cognate and comes from the French word for Mallow.
You will recognise sylvestris as similar to sylvatica, which we met for [065] Large Bindweed and [142] Beech.
The brothers Johann Heinrich Lavater (1611-91) and Johann Jacob Lavater (1594-1636) were Swiss naturalists.
Mallow
Malva sylvestris is native to most of Europe and adjacent parts of Asia and Africa. It is a vigorous, fast growing wildflower found in fields, hedgerows, roadside verges and as a garden weed. It can be a biennial or perennial but it reappears locally after being cut down every year.
It grows quickly to a small bush. Its leaves are easily recognisable, lobed and dark green, sometimes with mauve veins, but turn to a duller green colour in late Summer.
The flowers are from light pink-purple to darker purple. Each flower had five heart-shaped petals with a radial pattern of darker purple veins.
It has been used traditionally as a herbal medicine and its leaves can be eaten. It was largely replaced as a herb by the related Althaea officinales, Marsh-mallow (which is no longer used in the sweets called marshmallows.)
It is cultivated as a garden plant, with several cultivars.
Musk Mallow
Malva moschata is native to most of Europe and adjacent Asia. It’s a smaller, more low growing plant than Malva sylvestris and is much less common in the UK. I know I won’t have to remind you of [051] Muscovy Duck that shares the same species epithet.
The flowers are a very pale pink or mauve without the darker veins and with petals that tend to be oval rather than heart shaped.
It is also grown as a garden plant and its flowers are supposed to have an attractive, musky scent.
Royal Mallow
Malva trimestris, previously known as Lavatera trimestris, also called Rose Mallow, Annual Mallow, Regal Mallow or Annual Tree Mallow, is native to the Mediterranean but may be cultivated as a garden plant. Several cultivars are available. It supposedly flowers for three months each year which explains the Latin tri-mestris.
Its flowers are more showy than Malva sylvestris and may appear almost circular.
I am not sure of some of the pictures shown earlier that are cultivated versions of either M sylvestris or M trimestris.
Tree Mallow
Malva arborea, previously Lavatera arborea and also known as Malva eriocalyx,is native to Western Europe including the UK, the Mediterranean and Northern Africa. It is found mainly in coastal areas and can tolerate some levels of salt water.
It is not really a tree but its robust stems up to two or three metres make it tree-like in comparison to other Malva species.
It is widely cultivated as a garden plant.
Other Notes
I see this as a very common weed and sometimes in gardens but I have to add my usual disclaimer. I can’t guarantee the exact species of my pictures.
See also
Mallow species are clearly related to [013] Hollyhock, and to the garden plant Hibiscus, which can also be called, confusingly, Rose Mallow.
Malus domestica, the (Common, Domestic or Orchard) Apple, is a very common and widespread tree cultivated for its fruits that are called apples. They may be called eating apples or cooking apples and are generally sold as named varieties. There are about ten thousand named varieties and cultivars.
Other species of Malus may be called apples but are generally called crabapples (or crab-apples or crab apples) or wild apples. Several of these wild species may be found in Britain, especially Malus sylvestris, the Crab Apple.
I will also consider the Pear and some other close relatives.
There are thousands of cultivars. Some more traditional varieties such as Cox’s Orange Pippin, Bramley and Granny Smith are still available but the modern cultivars have been bred to produce fruits of consistent shape, size, colour and taste.
Name
The word apple, derived from Old English, was used as late as the Seventeenth Century to refer to all fruits other than berries, but including nuts. For example, the banana in Middle English was called an apple of paradise. The word pineapple originally meant a pine cone and is still used in heraldry with that meaning.
Malus is the Latin name for the tree from Ancient Greek roots. It looks masculine but is actually feminine – hence domestica, not domesticus.
Description
Malus domestica is a fairly small deciduous tree but is usually cultivated by being grafted on to a rootstock.
The wild crab apple, Malus sylvestris, is more like a straggling shrub.
The five-petalled white flowers emerge from buds that are initially pink.
[You may notice a Hoverfly, Eristalis pertinax, in the last picture. See [333] Hoverflies.]
As you remember what I said in [101] Cotoneaster about the subtribe Malinae, their fruits are technically pomes. For most of these species we can think of pomes as like berries but the fruit of the Apple (and Pear and one or two others) is much larger, even for non-domesticated varieties.
Habitat and use
Apples originated in Central Asia and have developed from a wild ancestor, Malus sieversii, with some hybridisation of others including Malus sylvestris. They have been cultivated for their fruit for thousands of years across Europe and Asia and later in North America.
The fruits have many uses – for eating raw, in cooking, for making apple juice and to produce the alcoholic drink cider. The many different varieties may look red, yellow, green, brown or russeted (rough and brown) – sometimes two or three colours. the flesh of the fruit is generally yellowish white, but may be pink or yellow for some varieties.
There are many references to apples in folklore and mythology. As this will be a long blog, I will mention just two.
In Greek mythology, Atalanta raced all of her suitors to avoid marriage and generally outran them. But Hippomenes, also known as Melanion, who knew that he could not win by speed, used three golden apples (gifts from Aphrodite) to distract her and win.
From the Book of Genesis in the Bible, which I always quote in the Authorized Version, we read….
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
It’s a deeply symbolic tale, often taken as explaining original sin, and I can hear you asking “What has this got to do with apples?” Well, so much folklore and mythology gets modified over the years and the story of Adam and Eve is almost always told as involving temptation to eat an apple, although the origin text talks of ‘the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden.’ Perhaps the confusion dates from the time when ‘apple’ had a more general meaning.
[In much the same way, the traditional story of Christmas Nativity normally talks of the visit by the Three Kings, Caspar, Balthazar and Melchior, where the original text, which only appears in one of the Four Gospels, merely mentions an unknown number of ‘wise men.’]
Other Notes
You may have to go to orchards or specialist gardens to find Malus domestica, although it is sometimes cultivated in ordinary domestic gardens. It’s the sort of tree that you won’t notice until the autumn when the fruit will make it obvious.
See also
Pyrus communis, the (European) Pear, is also from the subtribe Malinae. It is tree, widely cultivated for its familiar fruits called pears. There are many cultivated varieties, of which some, but not all, have the familiar pear shape. Other varieties look like apples. Some of the other species of Pyrus are also cultivated for their fruits. Pears can be eaten raw or used for jam or juice; as a flavouring; or to make a kind of cider called perry. Its wood is used especially for woodwind musical instruments as it does not warp. (The word pear comes via Germanic from Latin pirum or pyrus, from Greek roots probably originally meaning fruit.)
Cydonia oblonga, the Quince, native to Western Asia, has been historically cultivated since before the spread of Apples. It was associated by the Greeks with the ancient Kingdom of Cydonia on the island of Crete. It is still cultivated in relatively small quantities and has a number of cultivars. (Quince, from Middle English is derived ultimately from the Latin Cydonia, and is cognate with Cotoneaster!)
Chaenomeles speciosa, Chinese Quince (not to be confused with Pseudocydonia sinensis, also called Chinese Quince, much more like Cydonia); and Chaenomeles japonica, Japanese Quince, are grown as ornamental garden plants for their red flowers. Hybrids and cultivars are available. (Chaenomeles from Ancient Greek khaino-melon, means ‘gape apple.’)
In the UK, Oregon-grape is usually written as Oregon Grape or Oregon Grape-holly or Oregon Holly-grape. They are, of course, not related to grapes (Vitis vinifera.)
Taxonomy
Kingdom – Plants
Division – Vascular Plants
Class – Angiosperms (Flowering Plants)
Order – Ranunculales
Family – Berberidaceae
Genus – Mahonia
Scientific Names – Mahonia aquifolium and others.
There are several species and many cultivars and hybrids. See text.
All species of Mahonia are sometimes considered to be Berberis.
Name
The berries, generally a dusty purple colour, can look like grapes, although they are smaller.
Bernard McMahon or M’Mahon (1775-1816) was an Irish-American horticulturist who went on the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1803-6) across the newly acquired territory of Louisiana (when the US bought roughly the middle third of modern USA from France.)
The epithet aquifolium comes from Holly, Ilex aquifolium. All I can find about bealei is that it was named after a Mr Beale and planted in his garden. I don’t know who he was.
Description
There are about seventy species of Mahonia, very similar to Berberis species – close enough for some hybrids to form between genera. All are evergreen shrubs or trees. I will not attempt to identify any of my pictures to species level – but most are probably Mahonia aquifolium.
The distinction between the two genera is that Berberis species have simple leaves and Mahonia species have compound leaves. (It is argued that the Berberis leaves are actually compound with a single leaflet!) The leaves of Mahonia are spiked and can look similar to holly leaves.
Like Berberis, they produce masses of attractive yellow flowers from late Autumn through the winter. The fruits are berries that turn dark purple.
Habitat and use
Mahonia species come from The Himalayas, eastern Asia and North and Central America.
Several species are widely cultivated in parks and gardens. They are suitable for quite tall hedges, where they may be allowed to flower each year before being trimmed back.
Other Notes
I think this a relatively new species in Britain but it’s very common where I live now.
Magnolia x soulangeana, normally just called Magnolia, is a very popular tree grown in gardens for its magnificent pink Spring flowers. They last for a few days and for the rest of the year the tree may be unnoticed.
This hybrid is the most common version of Magnolia and may be called Saucer Magnolia, but other species and varieties are sometimes cultivated. All two hundred species of the genus Magnolia may have the common name Magnolia (not surprisingly.)
Taxonomy
Kingdom – Plants
Division – Vascular Plants
Class – Angiosperms (Flowering Plants, sometimes called Magnoliophyta with a subclass Magnoliopsida)
Clade – Core Angiosperms, Mesangiospermae
Subclass – Magnoliidae or Magnoliids
Order – Magnoliales
Family – Magnoliaceae
Subfamily – Magnolioideae
Tribe – Magnolieae
Genus – Magnolia
Scientific Name – Magnolia x soulangeana
Magnolia liliiflora x Magnolia denudata
Other species, hybrids and cultivars are grown. See text.
Name
Some names are so obvious that I say nothing and I expected this genus to be named for its magnificent flowers. But it isn’t. Pierre Magnol (1638-1715) was a prominent botanist from the city of Montpelier in France. One of his main contributions was the invention of families in the classification of species (some time before Linnaeus.) The first Magnolia found on the island of Martinique, was named after him by Charles Plummer (1646-1704) another French botanist who explored the West Indies.
The hybrid gets its name from its originator – see below.
Dicotyledons
We met Monocots in [016] Wild Garlic. Before the days of DNA analysis, plant taxonomy the classification of plants was based on some apparent distinctions and the top level for flowering plants was to divide them into Monocots and Dicots. (You will remember that this is based on whether the initial shoot from the seed starts with one or two leaves.)
All Angiosperms were called Magnoliophytes. Monocots were Liliopsida; and Dicots were called Magnoliopsida. So, the Magnolia was a defining species for the whole of the Dicots.
With scientific DNA analysis, this is now seen as out-of-date because the Dicot clade is paraphyletic. The extant Angiosperms are now split into eight groups, only one of which is the Monocots. Magnoliids is one of the other groups, a relatively small group.
The group of Angiosperms is still sometimes called Magnoliophytes, retaining the Magnolia as a type species, but the term Angiosperms is more generally used.
[I normally call Angiosperms a Class but there is some uncertainty as to its level in the tree of life.]
Magnolia
Lower down the taxonomic tree, there is no general agreement on classification within the family Magnoliaceae and it is now considered to contain just two genera – Magnolia, containing almost all the species, and [212] Liriodendron, the Tulip Tree, which we have seen recently.
The two hundred species of Magnolia may be classified into subgenera, sections and subsections.
The genus is thought to predate the existence of bees (about a hundred million years ago) and plants could have been pollinated by beetles. It has a tough flower structure with petals and sepals combined. Most of its species come from southeast Asia with others in parts of the Americas.
They have large bowl-shaped or star-shaped flowers, which emerge before the leaves of deciduous species.
Saucer Magnolia
Magnolia × soulangeana was initially bred by Étienne Soulange-Bodin (1774–1846), a retired cavalry officer who crossed Magnolia denudata with Magnolia. liliiflora in 1820. The hybrid spread across Europe, and elsewhere now many named horticultural varieties and cultivars are grown.
Both of the parent species are native to parts of China and have been cultivated for centuries in China and Japan. Both are in Subgenus Yulania, Section Yulania, Subsection Yulania. Magnolia liliiflora may be called Purple Magnolia or Red Magnolia or Japanese Manolia and generally has dark pink or purple flowers. Magnolia denudata, sometimes called Yulan Magnolia, has almost white flowers.
Like most Magnolia species, the Saucer Magnolia grows to a large ball-shaped tree. Even young trees at heights below two metres may produce lots of flowers
The large flowers that start some shade of purple-pink and become lighter as they open out. Often the base of the flower remains pink while the rest is almost white. It is deciduous and the flowers emerge in early spring. Cultivars have been bred for different colours but also have been selected to flower earlier.
Habitat and use
Magnolia x soulangeana is by far the most common variety of Magnolia cultivated in England, mainly in the South. It is grown for its display of early flowers and has many cultivars.
See also
Magnolia stellata, the Star Magnolia. native to a small part of the island of Honshu in Japan, has open star-shaped flowers, usually white. It is cultivated as a garden tree and has several cultivars, some with pinker coloured flowers.
Magnolia acuminata, the Cucumber Tree (or Cucumbertree), is a large tree native to parts of North America. It has small and insignificant, yellow-green flowers. Its unripe fruits are green and vaguely similar to cucumbers. They mature to bright red or orange colours.
It is sometimes grown in streets or to provide shade. They grow typically to well over twenty metres in height so are not seen in small gardens. The species is also used to provide hybrids with yellow flowers.
(It won’t surprise you that several other completely unrelated species are also called Cucumber Trees.)
[217] Macrosiphum rosae, Rose Aphid and Other Aphids
Introduction
Macrosiphum rosae, the Rose Aphid, is just one example of thousands of species of aphids (sometimes called greenfly or blackfly or whitefly) that are normally just considered as unwanted garden pests.
Taxonomy
Kingdom – Animals
Phylum – Arthropods
Class – Insects
Order- Hemiptera
Suborder – Sternorrhyncha
Infraorder – Aphidomorpha (Aphids and a few others)
Superfamily – Aphidoidea (Aphididae and some extinct families)
Family – Aphididae (Aphids)
Subfamily – Aphidinae
Tribe – Macrosiphini
Genus – Macrosiphum
Scientific Name – Macrosiphum rosae
See text for other members of Aphididae
Name
Aphides (singular aphis) is New Latin, invented by Linnaeus, of uncertain origin. It may come from Ancient Greek apheides meaning unsparing or lavishly borrowed – from their voracity and speed of reproduction. The name of the family comes from the genus Aphis.
They are generally just called aphids informally. The ending -idae is standard for families and sometimes Aphidae is used erroneously for Aphididae.
Macrosiphum is from Greek macro-siphon, meaning large-tube. Many aphid genera have -siphum or -siphon in their names, derived from their cornicles. The genus Macrosiphum does have some of the largest aphid species.
Aphids
The family Aphididae comes within the order of true bugs, Hemiptera and its species are hemimetabolous. There are several thousand species of aphids, generally soft-bodied and pear-shaped. Most have a pair of tubes on their abdomens called cornicles used to excrete alarm pheromones when attacked.
Aphids are generally green but can be red, brown, black or almost colourless. The same species may have different coloured forms.
They feed on plant sap and excrete honeydew, which is used as a food by ants and bees. Many types are actively farmed by ants for their honeydew.
As for many taxa, classification is not agreed, with up to dozen subfamilies being recognized.
They usually have both wingless (apterous) and winged (alate) forms in a complex life cycle. Generally flightless females may give birth parthogenetically (without sex) to live female nymphs, which may already be pregnant. They mature rapidly and breed profusely – with up to thirty or forty generations in a year. These are all effectively clones. Winged females may develop later in the season and a phase of sexual reproduction may occur later with insects often overwintering as eggs. (In greenhouse conditions generations of wingless forms may persist for years.)
Most species feed on one type of plant only; some alternate between two types; and some are more general in their food sources.
Because they are so destructive to crops, they are sometimes subject to biological control Many of their natural enemies are insects, particularly ladybirds.
Macrosiphum rosae
The Rose Aphid primarily feeds on [303-4] Roses, particularly the growing tips and buds. In late summer when the flowers emerge, some winged forms move to other rosebushes or other host plants such as [170] Holly, [117] Teasel and others. In the autumn winged males are produced and eggs are laid on rosebushes, where they overwinter.
They vary from green to pink or red-brown.
Other Notes
You are very lucky if you have a garden and don’t see aphids. Even the tribe Macrosiphini has about three hundred genera so identification to species level is not easy.
They may be very specific about their choice of host plant but I don’t think it works in reverse. Even if Rose aphids are only found on Roses, that doesn’t mean that every aphid found on a rosebush is a Rose Aphid! I make no claims about my identifications but I think the ones above are Macrosiphum rosae.
See also
Here are some other aphids on other plants.
You will, of course, notice [086] Seven-spotted Ladybird in the last picture feeding on aphids. The header picture features [169] Harlequin Ladybird.
Lythrum salicaria, Purple Loosestrife, is a wildflower with tall spiky inflorescences of purple-red flowers.
It is also known as Spiked Loosestrife or Purple Lythrum.
It is not related to other plants called Loosestrife, for example Lysimachia vulgaris, Yellow Loosestrife.
Most species of Lythrum are also called Loosestrife, as are those in the genus Lysimachia, which is not related (or similar looking!)
Taxonomy
Kingdom – Plants
Division – Vascular Plants
Class – Angiosperms (Flowering Plants)
Order – Myrtales
Family – Lythraceae
Subfamily – Lythroideae
Genus – Lythrum
Scientific Name – Lythrum salicaria
Cultivated varieties are available.
Name
The other Loosestrifes in the genus Lysimachia get their common names from a false back formation of the Greek name lysimakheion. In Sixteenth-Century English it was taken as if from lysis, ‘loosening,’ and makhe, ‘battle’ or ‘strife,’ although it was actually named after Lysimachus (360-281 BC) who succeeded Alexander the Great.
I am not sure how Lythrum salicaria and other species of Lythrum became called Loosestrife but there is a suggestion that at one time they were also called Lysimachia.
Lythrum comes from Ancient Greek lythron, ‘gore,’ – either from the use of its flowers to produce a red-black dye or from the colour of its leaves in autumn. Salicaria comes from Salix, the genus name of [307] Willow, from the shape of its leaves.
Description
Lysimachia salicaria is a perennial plant that grows to one or two metres in height, often as a clonal colony where many erect stems come from a spreading root mass. Its elongated leaves, which grow directly from the stem, are similar in shape to some species of Willow.
The red-purple flowers are clustered tightly along the top of the stem,
As for other some species of Lythrum, Purple Loosestrife has more than one type of flower. Three different types have male parts (stamens and styles) of different sizes and each flower can only be pollinated by the other two types – this prevents self-fertilization. We will find another example of Heterostyly in [277] Primrose.They flower throughout summer and when the seeds develop, the leaves turn bright red in the autumn.
Habitat and use
Purple Loosestrife is found over Eurasia and parts of North Africa and Australia.
It likes wet locations such as ditches, meadows and lakesides.
It has been used traditionally as a medicinal herb but this seems to be true of every native plant known a few hundred years ago.
It is cultivated as a garden plant with several cultivars selected for varying flower colours. It is particularly suited to wet conditions but can also tolerate drier conditions.
It has been introduced and has become widely naturalised in North America and has also been introduced to New Zealand.
Other Notes
I have been delaying writing this in the hope of finding some more pictures. Most of them come from the lakeside of a local park.
See also
We will not meet any others in the same family.
The flower spikes may be superficially similar to Purple [210] Toadflax but are significantly larger.
Lymnaea is latinized from Greek limnaios meaning from a marsh or pool. Stagnalis is New Latin for stagnant water or ponds.
Description
The taxonomy of molluscs is complicated and fluid. There are nearly a hundred thousand species of slugs and snails in the class of Gastropods and [172] Roman Snail is a fairly distant relative of Lymnaea. I have called Hygrophila a superorder above but it may be also considered as an unranked clade. It’s at the same level as Stylommatophora, which you will remember we called an Order for the Roman Snail.
Wikipedia insists on Hygrophila being a superorder but doesn’t specify anything corresponding to the level of an order. We can at least say that what distinguishes Hygrophila from Stylommatophora is that the eyes are at the base of the tentacles rather than at the tips. There have been at least four revisions of the taxonomy of pond snails in recent time and more may be coming! By the time we get to Limpets in November it may have changed again but I have already finished that post.
Taxonomy within the family Lymnaeidae is equally fluid but all the levels up to Lymnaeoidea are defined by the type species Lymnaea stagnalis.
I won’t be looking at any other pond snails in this post but there some others found in the UK.
Although Lymnaea stagnalis may be called the Great Pond Snail, it does not look large in comparison to common land snails. Its shell shape is very different – elongated and conical at one end and more rounded at the other. Apart from the shell, it looks like a snail and is grey all over.
Like all snails they are hermaphrodite and can mate as male or female (not both at the same time.) I think the last picture above may be mating snails.
They are mainly herbivorous and eat algae and water plants, but will also eat small invertebrates and sometimes smaller pond snails.
Habitat and use
Lymnaea stagnalis is common throughout the Northern Hemisphere. It lives in freshwater – either slowly moving or standing water.
It is common and widespread over England and less common over the rest of the UK.
It has a relatively simple central nervous system and is widely used in experiments to study learning, memory and neurobiology.
Other Notes
You can, of course, search for pond snails in ponds but there are many places that make life easier for you by providing pond dipping opportunities for educational purposes and for entertainment. As you will know by now, I visit Slimbridge and they have easily accessible man-made ponds there that provide excellent environments for pond snails.
See also
There are only two other gastropods in this blog. We have already met [172] Roman Snail and other terrestrial snails. The other one, the Limpet, comes conveniently filed with a crustacean, [313] the Barnacle.
Lotus corniculatus, (Common) Bird’s-foot (or Birds-foot or Birdsfoot) Trefoil, is a common and widespread wildflower. Its flowers are all bright yellow but as they emerge the buds are red.
Its other common names include Birdsfoot Deervetch and Eggs and Bacon (a name sometimes used for other plants.).
Other species of Lotus may also be called Bird’s-foot Trefoil.
Greek and Roman mythology include a Lotus Tree of unknown type and the sacred lotus of India is Nelumbo nucifera, which looks similar to a Water Lily but is not closely related.
Taxonomy
Kingdom – Plants
Division – Vascular Plants
Class – Angiosperms (Flowering Plants)
Order – Fabales
Family – Fabaceae
Subfamily – Faboideae
Clade – Robinioids
Tribe – Loteae
Genus – Lotus
Scientific Name – Lotus corniculatus
Name
Bird’s-foot comes from the shape of the emerging group of buds.
The word trefoil is used for types of [343] Clover with the Latin genus name Trifolium, which is cognate. It means, of course, three-leaves. Whereas clover has genuine three-part leaves, the lotus has five – see text.
Lotus come from the Ancient Greek lotos, the name of a plant. As for many plant names, nobody really knows what type of plant the Greeks called lotos and there may have been several different ones.
The Latin corniculum is a diminutive of cornu, ‘horn’relating to the shape of the emerging buds,
Description
Lotus corniculatus is a straggling, low growing wildflower that may go unnoticed when not in flower.
Despite its name the leaves actually have five leaflets, but the central three are often held higher than the lateral ones, giving the appearance of a trefoil.
In spring it is covered in lots of small bright yellow flowers. The buds start red and soon go through orange to red as the flower opens.
Habitat and use
Lotus corniculatus is found throughout temperate Eurasia and in Northern Africa. It is common and widespread in grassland and roadside verges.
It has been used in agriculture for pasture, hay and silage. (See also the next section.)
Lotus corniculatus has many varieties for garden cultivation, which can be small shrubs or trees.
Nitrogen Fixation
This won’t be a detailed lesson in science – just a quick summary. Nitrogen fixation is an important part of the biochemistry of life. I remember being taught about it at school (a long time ago.)
Many of the organic compounds that make up life contain nitrogen and it comes from the air which is 80% nitrogen. But most organisms cannot use pure nitrogen directly as a source as the gas is almost inert.
Nitrogen can be converted to ammonia, NH3, by some microorganisms at the levels of bacteria, and this allows it to be absorbed by plants. Some of these organisms live in the soil but significant nitrification comes from specialist bacteria that live in the root systems of legumes (all members of the family Fabaceae, producing pod-like fruits.) The bacteria form nodules on the roots that help the plant to grow. Clover, alfalfa, lupin and peanut are important agricultural plants in this process.
From the Middle Ages, agriculture in Europe used a three-field rotation system for agriculture. Arable crops that take nitrogen from the soil in the first year were followed by legumes in the second year to produce nitrogen, with the fields lying fallow for the third year. At any time, a farmer might have his land divided into three sections – one of each type.
Modern agriculture allows repeated monoculture without the need for crop rotation – aided by the extensive use of fertilizers. Most agricultural fertilizers provide nitrogen in a usable form. (Some provide phosphorus, potassium or a mixture.)
As noted, this is relevant for all members of the family Fabaceae.
Lonicera periclymenum, (Common) Honeysuckle, is a vigorous climbing plant, native to Britain and widely cultivated as a garden plant. It is also known as European Honeysuckle and was traditionally called Woodbine, although that name is also used for [091] Convolvulus. Most of the two hundred species of Lonicera are also called Honeysuckle.
In the USA it would be called a vine but, in the UK, we reserve this word for grapevines.
Taxonomy
Kingdom – Plants
Division – Vascular Plants
Class – Angiosperms (Flowering Plants)
Order – Dipsacales
Family – Caprifoliaceae
Subfamily – Caprifolioideae
Genus – Lonicera
Scientific Name – Lonicera periclymenum
Cultivars are available and other species and hybrids may be seen
Name
Honeysuckle is an Old English word, derived obviously from honey and suckle, probably from the sweet fragrance of its flowers.
Adam Lonicer, Latinized as Lonicerus, (1528-86) was a German Botanist. Periklymenon, one of the Argonauts of Greek mythology, was the son of Neleus and Chloris and a grandson of Poseidon, who gave him the ability to shapeshift into various animals. Honeysuckle takes his name as an epithet because its flower changes its shape and colour.
Description
Lonicera periclymenum is a vigorous, deciduous climbing plant.
Its long tubular flowers are white or yellowish, sometimes flushed with pink or red especially in bud. They come in closely clustered inflorescences and are highly scented by night.
The familiar view of the inflorescence is a circle of open flowers with one or more circles of growing buds above.
Habitat and use
Lonicera periclymenum is native to much of Europe. It is often found wild in hedgerows.
It is widely cultivated as a garden plant, sometimes climbing round other plants or covering walls.
Several other species of Lonicera are cultivated, especially Japanese Honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica. The flowers may be wholly or partly red or pink. Some varieties are evergreen and some are shrubs rather than climbers.
Other Notes
This is one of the species that are instantly recognisable from their flowers.
See also
As a wild or cultivated climbing plant with attractive flowers, it is best compared to [085] Old Man’s Beard and [084] Clematis, although these are not taxonomically close relatives.
The Species of Britain 