[345] Triticum aestivum, Wheat

[345] Triticum aestivum, Wheat

Introduction

Triticum aestivum, Wheat, is the familiar, very widely cultivated crop species from which we get the flour for bread and other culinary uses. It is less common as a farmed species in Britain than fifty years ago but is still the most common arable crop.

There are many Triticum species, hybrids and varieties also called wheat so Triticum aestivum may be called Common Wheat or Bread Wheat.

In Britain (but not in the USA and Canada) the word corn can be used generically for grain crops such as wheat.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Plants

Division – Vascular Plants

Class – Angiosperms (Flowering Plants)

Clade – Monocots

Clade – Commelinids

Order – Poales

Family – Poaceae

Clade – BOP Clade

Subfamily – Pooideae

Supertribe – Triticodae

Tribe – Triticeae

Genus – Triticum

Scientific Name – Triticum aestivum

It has the scientific synonyms Triticum sativum and Triticum vulgare and is sometimes mis-spelled as Triticum aestivatum.

Wheat has been cultivated for at least 10 000 years and it is a complex hybrid. See text for more details. Many varieties are cultivated.

Name

Wheat comes from old Germanic roots and is cognate with white.

The Latin word triticum for wheat comes from tritus the perfect passive of ‘to grind,’ (so it means ‘has been ground.’) Aestivum means Summer.

[The word ‘flour’ is generally pronounced the same as ‘flower’ and until the Nineteenth Century it was spelled the same with a similar meaning – the finest portion of ground grain. It gradually replaced the older word ‘meal,’ which remains in words like ‘wholemeal’ and ‘oatmeal.’]

History and Origins

Bread Wheat is a hexaploid species. It has six sets of chromosomes – three pairs of sets. These are presumed to have arisen naturally in the same way as the Triangle of U that we met in [057] Oilseed Rape.

Types of wheat have been domesticated since about 10 000 BC, towards the end of the Stone Age, in Western Asia. It spread to Europe, North Africa and East Asia in prehistoric times.

About 8 000 BC ago Triticum urartu, Einkorn Wheat, was hybridized with a close relative of Aegilops speltoides to produce the tetraploid species Triticum turgidum, Durum Wheat. Then about 6 500 BC, this species was hybridized with Aegilops tauschii, Wild Goat-grass, to produce the hexaploid Triticum aestivum.

[The two genera Triticum, wheat, and Aegilops, wild goat grasses, are very close and are sometimes treated as a single genus.]

It has gradually replaced other types of wheat, barley and rye as the source of flour for breadmaking.

Description

The sight of wheat field is very familiar but you may not see it in its early growing stages. It is like a type of grass, with long thin green leaves but the flowers and fruit soon develop and take over.

It is more familiar in late summer when the whole plant turns a light brown colour and all that is visible is the ears of corn.

It is now generally seen in very large fields, cultivated with such precision that the straight-line gaps left by the tractor wheels are clearly seen.

Modern varieties have been developed to grow to an even height and stalks are much shorter than they were fifty years ago.

Habitat and use

Wheat is of course a crop species and it is widely cultivated throughout the World. About 95% of the worldwide cultivated wheat production is Triticum Aestivum. Almost all of the rest is Triticum durum, Durum Wheat, Macaroni Wheat or Pasta Wheat.

There are some other species of Triticum and there are many hybrids, varieties and cultivars.

Wheat and Flour

I could probably write a book about wheat, flour and breadmaking but I don’t want to say much about what comes after the growing process. The wheat is harvested and threshed to remove the out layers of chaff. Then the seeds are normally ground into many different forms of flour.

Flour is not only used for bread. It goes into many other cooked products – especially pastry, pasta, cakes and biscuits, and is used as a thickening agent.

China, Europe, India and the USA are the main producers of wheat.

In the UK, wheat and cow’s milk are the two most valuable agricultural products, both significantly ahead of the next three products – sugar beet, potatoes and barley. We produce about 15 million tonnes of wheat per year, of which about a third goes to human consumption

Other Notes

In some other countries, flour can be produced from many other substances, for example soya and other beans, and chestnuts.

See also

Two other important arable crops come from the same Tribe, Triticeae.

• [177] Hordeum vulgare, Barley
• Secale cereale, Rye

Oats come from a more distant different supertribe, and [364] Maize is not even in the same subfamily.

[344] Tringa totanus, Redshank

[344] Tringa totanus, Redshank

Introduction

Tringa tetanus, the Redshank, is a common wading bird generally seen at the edges of lakes, rivers, estuaries and the seashore, often in small groups.

It is, of course, not to be confused with Persicaria maculosa in the same family as [143] Bukhara Fleeceflower, also sometimes called Redshank.

Even when being compared to Tringa erythropus, the Spotted Redshank, it is normally just called a Redshank, but it may occasionally be referred to as a Common Redshank. Its legs may appear red but they are usually more accurately described as orange-red or orange.

I will look briefly at other wading birds.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Chordates

Class – Aves (Birds)

Order – Charadriiformes

Family – Scolopacidae

Genus – Tringa

Scientific Name – Tringa totanus

Name

Naming of birds within the family Scolopacidae is a bit messy because there are several genera containing some species called Sandpipers and some species with other names. Several species have names referring in various ways to the colour of their bodies or legs, sometimes from a tiny hint of a shade that is not always obvious.

Shank is an old-fashioned word for the lower part of the leg.

Tringa was defined as the New Latin name for the Green Sandpiper, the defining species for the genus, coming from Ancient Greek trunga/trynga used for some kind of bird, possibly the Redshank.

Totanus comes from the Italian name for the bird, totano, derived from Latin totanus. At first the bird was called Totanus totanus but the separate genus Totanus has been absorbed into Tringa.

Description

In breeding plumage, the Redshank is mottled brown all over, slightly lighter in colour below. The legs and feet are completely orange to orange-red and the bill is the same colour with a black tip.

In winter the mottling almost disappears, the top becoming grey-brown and the underneath almost white. Legs become more orange.

I did manage to get some pictures of Redshanks chicks from a visit to the coasts of Norfolk. They are fluffy, mottled grey-brown like many young birds.

Redshanks are gregarious, noisy and wary. Their piping calls alert other nearby wading birds.

Habitat

The worldwide distribution of the Redshank extends from Iceland to China and from Norway to central Africa. It spends its summer to the North and its winters to the South with a relatively small resident area in countries near the northern Mediterranean and the North Sea.

In Wales and Southwest England this bird is a winter visitor or passage migrant. For the rest of the UK, it is resident or a summer breeding visitor. Birds that breed in central areas will move towards the coast for the winter.

Other Notes

Like most wading birds, you may not see these in your everyday lives unless you live very near the coast. But if you go on any expeditions to wetlands with groups familiar with birds these are a fairly common species.

See also

I will list briefly some of the other wading birds (families Scolopacidae and Charadriidae) that you may see near the shore or at special breeding sites. Many of them are winter visitors seen only in dull winter plumage. They may congregate in large numbers but at distances where you will need binoculars or telescopes. Some of them are very small.

• Spotted Redshank, Tringa erythropus, superficially a bit like the Redshank but much rarer.
• Greenshank, Tringa nebularia, like the Redshank without red legs but larger. ‘Green’ is very much an exaggeration.
• Wood Sandpiper, Tringa glareola, similar but uncommon.
• [006] Common Sandpiper.
• .
• Red Knot, Calidris canuta, named after King Canute. May be seen in very large flocks on the sand flats of the Wash. (They are not red in winter and in the UK, we just call them Knots.)
• Golden Plover, Pluvialis apricaria, sometimes seen in large flocks in winter. Not golden in its winter plumage.
• Grey Plover, Pluvialis squatorola, as for Golden Plover.
• Ringed Plover, Charadrius hiaticula, small colourful bird breeding in some locations.
• Little (Ringed) Plover, Charadrius dubius, very similar to the Ringed Plover. Possibly slightly smaller.
• [035] Turnstone.
• Sanderling, Calidris alba, small bird occasionally seen on sandy coasts.
• Dunlin, Calidris alpina, small bird generally seen in large flocks.
• Little Stint, Calidris minuta, smallest of our waders.
• Ruff, Calidris pugnax. The spectacular summer plumage that gives this bird its name is rarely seen. Its dull winter plumage is not so impressive. The female bird may be called a Reeve,

[The second picture above has a Little Stint behind the Ruff.]

I have not included some larger, more distinctive species that we have already met. [354] The Lapwing, the last one, is coming soon. There are also some much rarer vagrant visitors.

[343] Trifolium Species, Clover

[343] Trifolium repens, White Clover

Trifolium pratense, Red Clover

Trifolium medium, Zigzag Clover

Introduction

There are about three hundred species of Clover, Trifolium, of which seventy may be found in the UK. Depending on circumstances they are forage crops, wildflowers or garden weeds.

The three most common species are Trifolium repens, White Clover; Trifolium pratense, Red Clover, and Trifolium medium, Zigzag (or Zig-zag) Clover.

Trifolium repens is also called Dutch Clover, Ladino Clover or Ladino.

The Irish word shamrock usually refers to Trifolium repens or other species of clover.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Plants

Division – Vascular Plants

Class – Angiosperms (Flowering Plants)

Order – Fabales

Family – Fabaceae (Legumes)

Subfamily – Faboideae

Tribe – Trifolieae

Genus – Trifolium

Scientific Names – [A] Trifolium repens, [B] Trifolium pratense, [C] Trifolium medium

[A] and [B] are widely cultivated and have several varieties and cultivars.

Names

Clover comes from old Germanic roots as the name of these plants.

The Latin tri-folium, of course, means three-leaves, repens means creping, and pratense means meadow.

Ladino is the Italian for the Ladin language, derived from Latin and still spoken in parts of Northeast Italy. It’s an area where Trifolium repens is found.

Shamrock is an old Irish name but it is unclear which clover species it refers to.

Clovers

As leguminous plants in the family Fabaceae, clovers play a significant role in nitrogen fixation. They are often grown for cattle and other livestock mixed with perennial grasses.

They all have the trifoliate leaf structure that gives them their scientific name and their flowers are familiar and recognisable. Although florets have the same structure as others in the pea family, they are too small to notice in detail. They are bunched in a tight spherical inflorescence.

Several species of Trifolium are cultivated as garden plants, generally varieties that are more colourful than the three listed below.

[A] White Clover

Trifolium repens is native to Europe and central Asia and is one of the most widely cultivated types of clover. As a forage crop it has been introduced and cultivated worldwide and is now a very common weed in lawns and gardens.

The leaflets generally have a lighter coloured mark across them

The flowers are white and in general it is called White Clover. They may be tinged with a pale pink or cream colour. As agricultural crops intermediate or sometimes small varieties may be called Dutch Clover and large varieties may be called Ladino Clover. As the epithet repens would suggest, it spreads by underground runners.

I sometimes note unusual chromosome numbers and Trifolium repens is tetraploid so it would be expected to have two diploid ancestors. Despite some research there are several suggestions for one ancestor and it is possible that at least one of the two is undiscovered or extinct.

White Clover is the most important forage legume used in temperate climates. It is sometimes added to lawn grass as it survives close mowing and grazing. It is often a very common unwanted weed in lawns.

[B] Red Clover

Trifolium pratense is native to Europe, western Asia and Northern Africa and widely cultivated and naturalized elsewhere. Its cultivated uses are much the same as White Clover.

The flowers are more often coloured pale purple or pink but there are varieties with red flowers. It also has a white flowered form. (Some other species of Trifolium have darker red flowers.)

It is said that Red Clover can be distinguished from White Clover by the leaves, which have hairs where White Clover leaves are toothed. In practice you will need a microscope, excellent eyesight or a very good macro camera to see any evidence of either of these.

I am going to put these two together. You may see fields of clover, or grass mixed with clover.

If you look closer you will recognize the leaves and both species look the same.

If you zoom in microscopically, you can see the edges, which determine which of the two you are looking at. I will let you decide which is which.

When there are flowers, it’s easier to distinguish Red Clover from White Clover.

[C] Zigzag Clover

Trifolium medium is also native to most of Europe but remains a wildflower rather than a crop. Its flowers are similar to Red Clover but leaves are narrower without the white markings.

Its stems have a zigzag appearance.

Other Notes

I need to add some of my usual disclaimers. It’s almost November as I write this and too late to augment my stock of pictures. I can’t guarantee any of them to species level. Finally, in real life the red flowers are redder than their pictures. The camera generally seems to reduce colours like red to much paler shades of pink, 

See also

We have met some close relatives [198] Sweet Pea, [214] Bird’s Foot Trefoil, and [227] Yellow Sweet Clover.

[342] Trachycarpus fortunei, Chusam Palm

[342] Trachycarpus fortunei, Chusan Palm

Introduction

Trachycarpus fortunei, theChusan Palm, is the most northerly species of cultivated palm. With recent changes in climate, it is increasingly seen as a cultivated garden plant in the UK but it is more likely to be seen in the warmer climates of southern coastal towns. It is also known as the (Chinese) Windmill Palm.

All species in the order Arecales are called Palms or Palm Trees and those in the subfamily Coryphoideae may be called Fan Palms.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Plants

Division – Vascular Plants

Class – Angiosperms (Flowering Plants)

Clade – Monocots

Order – Arecales (Mostly Palms)

Family – Arecaceae (Palms)

Subfamily – Coryphoideae (Fan Palms)

Tribe – Trachycarpeae

Genus – Trachycarpus

Scientific Name – Trachycarpus fortune

Cultivars are available.

Name

‘Palm’ in reference to a plant is cognate with its use for the part of the hand. Both usages come from Classical Latin and earlier roots.

This plant was first seen by Robert Fortune in Chusan Island, now known as Zhoushan Island in the East China Sea. The Chinese zhoushan means boat, referring to the shape of the island. You will remember some of the problems in the transliteration of Chinese from [025] Hubei Anemone.

Trachycarpus comes from Ancient Greek trachus/trachys, rough, and karpus, fruit, from the hairy fruit of some species.

Robert Fortune (1812-1880) was a Scottish botanist who introduced many plants from China and Japan to Britain, Australia and the USA as garden plants.

Palms

All taxonomy at the moment in botany is changeable and sometimes disputed. The order Arecales contains all the palm species in the family Arecaceae and possibly one other small family.

There are nearly 3 000 species of palms, including those that produce coconuts, dates and palm oil. They are generally tropical and the ones seen in Britain are mostly specimen potted plants in gardens. They may reach their full stature in isolated areas of relatively warm climate such as south facing coasts.

We saw a little about monocot trees in [093] New Zealand Cabbage Tree. They don’t form annual tree rings like other trees but they do have another mechanism for secondary growth. When palms do become palm trees, the trunk is long, straight and cylindrical with no branches.

The leaves of palms are evergreen and they are generally compound – either pinnate or palmate – with many long, thin leaflets, spirally arranged at the top of the stem.

I feel the time has come for a note about botanic terminology. (Yes, I know, it’s a bit late. If you have been following avidly, think of it as a reminder.) Botanists talk of a ‘compound leaf’ consisting of several ‘leaflets.’ In ordinary parlance the individual leaflets would be called leaves. Here is part of one example of a Pinnately Compound leaf from a Date Palm (Phoenix species),

We may see it as lots of very long, thin pointed leaves but it’s just one compound leaf. For Date Palms you can expect about 150 leaflets to each leaf. Pinnate means feather-shaped.

Here are two Palmately Compound leaves.

Palmate means hand-shaped but with so many leaflets it makes sense to think of them as fan-shaped. All the leaflets come from the same point at the end of a long petiole. Palms have many more leaflets than other species with palmate leaves such as [008] Horse-chestnut.

As a first approximation, species in the Fan Palm family Coryphoideae are palmately compound Fan Palms and the others are pinnately compound. But, as you may have guessed, there are exceptions both ways.

You can also divide palms into two types by their ‘habit’ – a posh botanical word for shape or structure. We think of palms as trees with all the growth spread out at the top. This is solitary growth. The other type is clustered growth, where growth occurs nearer the base to form a bushier structure. Of course, it won’t surprise you that some genera have both types and some species can occasionally change their type!

Chusan Palm

Trachycarpus fortunei is a single-stemmed fan palm. (That’s palmately compound and solitary growth.) It can grow to twenty metres but in the UK is unlikely to be seen more than two or three metres.

As with many palm trees, the trunk is rough and is usually covered with the persistent leaf bases from many years of growth. As new leaves emerge higher up, the old ones die away leaving their bases surrounding the growing trunk.

It has been cultivated for so long that its natural range is difficult to identify but it is from the area of southern China and Japan. It has also been cultivated round the World in subtropical and temperate climates. In the USA this restricts it to the South and extreme west only.

It survives without flourishing in the more southern parts of the UK or in relatively protected garden environments. It has cultivars that are developed for their hardiness.

It has been cultivated for its leaf sheath fibre, used for ropes and sacking. It is widely grown in the UK in parks and gardens and elsewhere, generally as the only palm tree likely to survive.

See also

There are only two other types of palms from the family Arecaceae likely to be seen in Britain. They are less hardy than the Chusan Palm and will only be found in warm or protected areas of microclimate – including greenhouses and as pot plants.

Chamaerops humilis, the European Fan Palm, also in the tribe Trachycarpeae.

It has the most northerly natural range of any palm, coming from Eastern Mediterranean coastal areas. It is a fan palm with clustered growth, so it looks like a bushy version of the Chusan Palm. As a cultivated plant, with many cultivars available, it is usually just a large pot plant.

Phoenix species, Date Palms, in their own tribe, Phoeniceae within Coryphoideae.

These are more like what we think of as palm trees, or at least they would be if they grew to their full height. They have the compound pinnate structure shown above and the solitary habit that makes trees.

Phoenix dactylifera, the main species that produces crops of edible dates, grows to over twenty metres.

[After noting the etymological connection between ‘palm’ and the hand, it is interesting to note the Ancient Greek ‘dactyl’ for finger could also mean the fruit of the Date Palm.]

Cultivated plants in the UK are most likely to be varieties of Phoenix canariensis, the Canary Island Date Palm, but may be other species.

Here is one spotted in the warmer climate of the southern parts of the Isle of Wight.

• 

• 

• 

I have one in a pot in my back garden that is more typical in size. I could say it’s like the top leafy bit of the one above but its actually much, much smaller. It is already three or four years old but only grows about two new (compound) leaves each year.

[341] Tipula Species, Crane Flies

[341] Tipula oleracea, Tipula paludosa

Tipula maxima, Tipula vittata

Introduction

Tipula oleracea, the Marsh Crane Fly; Tipula paludosa, the European Crane Fly; Tipula maxima and Tipula vittata are four common and widespread species of crane fly found in Britain.

There are over a thousand species of Tipula, of which nearly twenty may be seen in Britain. Most of species of Tipula are just called crane flies without a more precise common name. This is also true of about 15 000 species within the wider family Tipulidae.

In the UK crane flies are informally called ‘daddy-longlegs,’ a name used elsewhere for [258] the Cellar Spider and for Opiliones, Harvestmen. The larvae of crane flies are generally called leatherjackets.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Arthropods

Class – Insects

Order – Diptera

Suborder – Nematocera

Infraorder – Tipulomorpha

Superfamily – Tipuloidea

Family – Tipulidae (Crane Flies)

Subfamily – Tipulinae

Tribe – Tipulini

Genus – Tipula

Subgenera – Tipula and Acutipula

Scientific Names – See text

Name

Crane flies in general are named from their long legs after [166] the Crane.

The Latin tipula was a water spider. Oleracea means related to vegetables or herbs; paludosa means swampy; maxima means largest; and vittata means banded.

Tipula

See [235] Nephrotoma for Crane Flies in general. Tipula species are similar in size, with bodies about two to three centimetres in length. Their bodies are more or less plain, drab grey or brown. There are about 2 500 species within the genus, divided into 40 subgenera, and I won’t attempt to describe the differences.

I am hoping that the next three pictures are Tipula oleracea, Tipula paludosa and Tipula vittata.

Here are two close-ups from Tipula oleracea. The first one shows a haltere, one of the modified wings that define Diptera. The next one shows the pointed ovipositor that distinguishes females from males.

Tipula oleracea adults appear in early summer and a second generation appears around September. The short-lived adults can only eat liquid food such as nectar from flowers. They lay eggs in open grassland and each female can lay about a thousand eggs. Mostly living underground, the larvae eat decaying vegetable matter and delicate roots and can be agricultural pests. They pupate underground. The second generation hibernates until spring. Other species are similar.

Habitat

All four species are common all over Europe and wider areas. All are common and widespread over the UK.

Other Notes

My very early memories are of craneflies coming into our house but I don’t see this as much now as sixty years ago. I see them mostly now in open grassland, generally just crawling around on low vegetation at ground level. I’m afraid I can’t always identify the species.

See also

The family of Crane Flies also includes the genus Nephrotoma, which we have seen. Apart from these two genera most species seen in the UK are much smaller.

[340] Taxus baccata, Yew

[340] Taxus baccata, Yew

Introduction

My last conifer, Taxus baccata, the Yew Tree, comes in a small family, Taxaceae with only about thirty to forty species. All of these species are called Yews, so our species can be called the Common Yew, English Yew or European Yew.

Other species in the closely related family Cephalotaxaceae are also called Yews, as are some other coniferous tree species.

Many old trees are found in churchyards and the species is also increasingly popular as an evergreen hedge.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Plants

Division – Vascular Plants

Class – Pinopsida (Conifers)

Order – Pinales (All extant conifers)

Family – Taxaceae

Genus – Taxus

Scientific Name – Taxus baccata

Several cultivars are available.

Historically Taxaceae has had its own order Taxales but modern botany includes it within Pinales.

Name

The word come via Old English and earlier roots for the yew and perhaps other trees.

Taxus was the Classical Latin name for the tree. The Latin baccata means having berries from bacca, berry. (Like most trees, taxus is feminine but looks masculine.)

Description

All species of Taxus are very similar and they are sometimes treated as subspecies of Taxus baccata.

Some of the oldest trees in the UK are Yew trees and we gave several over a thousand years old, some possibly 2 000 years old. They are slow growing trees. Sometimes they have a pink tone to the thin brown bark.

The leaves are dark green, flat and needle-shaped. Wikipedia describes them as spirally arranged on the stem with their bases twisted to two flat rows except on leading edge shoots. What this means is that for established leaves, they look flat on both sides but the new growth at the end forms a spiral bunch. The new growth each year also starts much lighter in colour.

Like other coniferous tree they produce cones but they don’t look like the cones of other trees. Each female cone, containing a single seed, is surrounded by a soft red structure that looks like a berry. (It’s called an aril.) The ‘berries.’ which are not poisonous, mature and are eaten by birds such as thrushes. Birds such as Great Tits and finches eat the seeds within them.

All parts of the tree, apart from the berries, are poisonous and should not be eaten. Yew trees have been eliminated from some forests because of the danger of being eaten by cattle or horses.

Habitat and use

Taxus baccata is found in most of Europe except Scandinavia, western Asia and northern Africa. This includes its original range and extended areas of naturalization.

Its wood has been used traditionally for musical instruments, furniture and particularly longbows. In places it was felled almost to extinction. In modern times it is not a practical commercial timber because of its slow growth.

It is now widely grown in gardens and parks for hedges and topiary.

Other Notes

Many old Yew trees in England are found in churchyards and cemeteries. I was led to believe that they were put there to keep cattle out – as they are poisonous to them. But the tradition arose to protect the cattle. In mediaeval times when fields were not enclosed, churchyards were generally surrounded by walls so they protected cattle outside from the possibility of eating from the trees. They were the only places where yew trees could grow safely.

The green growths in the following picture are Yew bud galls produced by Taxomyia taxi, a tiny gall fly in the family Cecidomyiidae.

See also

The Yew is not only our last conifer. It’s the last proper tree. We will look at Palm trees soon.

[339] Taxodium ascendens, Pond Cypress

[339] Taxodium ascendens, Pond Cypress

Introduction

Taxodium ascendens, the Pond Cypress (or Pondcypress), is a North American species of deciduous conifer grown in the UK as an ornamental tree. It is sometimes considered to be a variety of the species Taxodium distichum, the Bald Cypress or Swamp Cypress.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Plants

Division – Vascular Plants

Class – Pinopsida (Conifers)

Order – Pinales (Conifers)

Family – Cupressaceae (Cypress, Junipers and others)

Subfamily – Taxodioideae

Genus – Taxodium

Scientific Name – Taxodium ascendens, sometimes treated as a variety of Taxodium distichum

Name

Taxodium comes from the genus Taxus, [340] the Yew tree, coming next. Distichum means having two rows, from the arrangement of the leaves.

Description

Coming within the family Cupressaceae, the Pond Cypress is a relative of [190] Juniper. The needle-shaped leaves look very much like all the coniferous trees we have met but the shape of the tree is more like a typical deciduous tree.

Unlike most conifers, it is actually deciduous and the colours of the needles change throughout the year.

New needles appear each Spring and are initially a pale green colour. They gradually turn to darker green through the Summer before turning brown in the Autumn.

In the pictures below you can see long series of paired flat needles.

Habitat and use

Taxodium ascendens is native to the south-east of the USA and likes slow-moving swampy river environments that are found there.

They are prized for their timber, which contains a natural preservative. The wood from Taxodium was used historically in the USA for roof tiles.

The only specimens I have seen are beside constructed lakes.

Both Taxodium ascendens and Taxodium distichum are available as cultivated trees. They are probable not usually a garden species because of their preferred environment.

See also

The only relatively common tree in Britain that is a deciduous member of the coniferous group Pinales is [194] the Larch.

[338] Taraxacum officinale, Dandelion

[338] Taraxacum officinale, Dandelion

Introduction

I used to think of Taraxacum officinale, the Dandelion, as an easily recognizable common wildflower often found as a lawn or garden weed. But I was wrong. It’s a common weed but it is not so easy to identify. There are many other wildflowers with almost identical yellow flowers and its taxonomy is very complicated.

It has had many other traditional common names but is now generally just known as a Dandelion. All other species of taraxacum are called Dandelions, so it’s officially the Common Dandelion.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Plants

Division – Vascular Plants

Class – Angiosperms (Flowering Plants)

Order – Asterales

Family – Asteraceae

Subfamily – Cichorioideae

Tribe – Cichorieae (Chicory, Lettuce, Salsify, Dandelion and many others)

Subtribe – Crepidinae

Genus – Taraxacum

Scientific Name – Taraxacum officinale

The genus is taxonomically complex. It may have from 30-60 species and about 2 000 microspecies.

Name

I had always thought that the name dandelion, from the French ‘dent de lion’, alluded to the circular yellow florets. But, again, I am wrong. The French word actually came from earlier Mediaeval Latin ‘dens leonis’, and it relates to the jagged shape of the leaves.

(In modern French the dandelion is called pissenlit, from its diuretic properties!)

Taraxacum is derived from Mediaeval Persian tarashaquq, Latinized since the Twelfth Century.

Description

We start by remembering the taxonomic complexity of the very large family of asters, Asteraceae.

For the Taraxacum genus, we have the complication that we found earlier in [306] Blackberry.

Wikipedia notes: ‘The genus contains many species, which usually (or in the case of triploids, obligately) reproduce by apomixis, resulting in many local populations and endemism. In the British Isles alone, 234 microspecies are recognised in nine loosely defined sections, of which 40 are probably endemic.’

This means that the plants can spread without the complications of sexual reproduction. For the bit about triploids, see what I said about Saffron in [104] Crocus. Triploid species cannot reproduce sexually.

I’m going to assume that all the ones we see in Britain are Taraxacum officinale, but that is still just as complicated. Again, loosely quoting Wikipedia, ‘Taraxacum officinale … in Europe has … partially overlapping populations of diploid sexuals and triploid or tetraploid apomicts in the central and northern regions. European dandelions can be divided into two groups. The first group reproduces sexually, as do most seed plants … Diploid dandelions have eight pairs of chromosomes … The second group consists of polyploid (mostly triploid) apomicts, meaning that (fertile seeds) form without prior fertilization.’ (I have simplified it a bit.)

That’s enough science. The Dandelion is a vigorous weed seen almost everywhere wherever there is cropped or mown grass.

The long recognizable leaves at the base all originate from the centre, with one or more stems each bearing an inflorescence. The leaves are sometimes erect but often very flat.

Inflorescences are completely yellow and contain ray florets only.

The flowers turn into familiar spherical balls of seeds that disperse in the wind. They are known colloquially as dandelion clocks.

But there are difficulties with identification. There are many similar plants in the Aster family with similar yellow flowers. Here are some of them.

• Hypochaeris, Cat’s Eyes, known as False Dandelion.
• Tussilago farfara, Coltsfoot. Common with very different leaves.
• Hieracium, Hawkweed. Over 100 UK species
• Crepis, Hawksbeard. About a dozen UK species.
• Sonchus oleraceus, Sowthistle. Similar flowers but distinctive leaves. Widespread.
• [173] Helminthotheca echioides, Bristly Oxtongue. Similar but with bristly leaves.

Habitat and use

Dandelions are native to Europe and Asia. Generally, as a food product, they have been taken to other countries and are now widespread and naturalized in North America, South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

The species is very widespread in the UK and is generally seen as a weed in gardens and lawns. Its flat nature and deep tap root make it difficult to eradicate.

Dandelions have been known and used since prehistoric times – as food or for medicinal use. All parts of the plant are edible. Dandelion and [033] Burdock has been a traditional English drink since the Middle Ages. Originally a kind of alcoholic mead it is now a carbonated soft drink which derives none of its contents from Dandelion or Burdock.

It is still a cultivated crop plant and cultivars are available.

See also

We have seen [049] Daisies and [296] Buttercups. The last very common lawn weed to come will be [343] Clover.

[337] Tanacetum vulgare, Tansy

[337] Tanacetum vulgare, Tansy

Introduction

Tanacetum vulgare, Tansy, is a wildflower with bunches of small yellow flowers.

Other species of Tanacetum are called Tansies so Tanacetum vulgare is Common Tansy. It has also been called Golden Buttons, Bitter Buttons or Cow Bitter.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Plants

Division – Vascular Plants

Class – Angiosperms

Order – Asterales

Family – Asteraceae

Subfamily – Asteroideae

Supertribe – Asterodae

Tribe – Anthemideae

Genus – Tanacetum

Scientific Name – Tanacetum vulgare

Name

Tansy comes via Old French from the Mediaeval Latin tanacetum or atanacetum. This may come from Ancient Greek athanasia, immortality, derived from the hallucinogenic effect of the plant, or from the Latin/Greek taenia, tapeworm, from its medicinal uses.

Description

Tansy has a strong erect stem that supports a bunch of flowers at its top. There are dozens of inflorescences, each consisting of hundreds of tiny yellow florets.

Habitat and use

Tansy is native to Eurasia apart from Siberia.

It has been cultivated since the Ancient Greeks for medicinal purposes. It has been used to treat worms, rheumatism, fevers, sores and measles. In the Middle Ages it was used to induce abortions or to help women conceive and prevent miscarriages!

It has been cultivated as an insect repellent for funeral embalming; in meat packing and to prevent malaria (by repelling mosquitos.) It is also planted alongside potatoes to repel Colorado Beetles.

Historically it has also been used to flavour omelettes and desserts; to make a yellow dye and as fuel for beekeepers to make smoke.

Tanacetum vulgare and other species of Tanacetum are available as cultivated flowers.

[336] Tadorna tadorna, Shelduck

[336] Tadorna tadorna, Shelduck

Introduction

The last of our waterfowl is Tadorna Tadorna, the Shelduck. It’s not exactly a duck and it’s not a goose. It’s a bit in-between.

Some species in the subfamily Tadorninae are called shelducks, some are sheldgeese and some are, confusingly, called ducks or geese.

You can tell it’s a type species because the two parts of its scientific name are the same. It’s a Common Shelduck. (As you know, this doesn’t happen with plants.)

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Chordates

Class – Aves (Birds)

Order – Anseriformes (Waterfowl)

Family – Anatidae (Waterfowl)

Subfamily – Tadorninae (Shelducks)

Genus – Tadorna

Scientific Name – Tadorna tadorna

Name

My first comment about the word ‘shelduck’ is to compare it with ‘cattail,’ another name for [349] the Bulrush. (Coming soon but I’ve already written it!)

We know how to pronounce cattail because, even without a hyphen, it looks like cat-tail. The pronunciation of shelduck looks like shell-duck and that’s how we say it. But it has nothing to do with shells and it was probably originally pronounced as sheld-duck. Sheld is an old dialect word meaning, variegated, speckled or piebald – possibly derived from the heraldic ornamentations on shields.

One of the quirks of taxonomic naming is that the first species to be named defines scientific names and common names that may work their way up the taxonomic tree. So, although the Common Shelduck could be described as having a ped or piebald appearance, this doesn’t really apply to other birds in the genus Tadorna or the higher subfamily – but the name shelduck propagates upwards.

Shelducks used to be called sheldrakes, a word now sometimes used specifically for a male bird as with ducks and drakes.

The derivation is clearer with sheldgoose. Because of its derivation, it is clear that the plural of sheldgoose is sheldgeese in a way that is not true of mongooses.

The French name for this bird has been tadorne since the mid-Sixteenth Century, possibly also derived from Celtic roots meaning pied-waterfowl. This is Latinized as Tadorna.

Description

You will remember all about the subfamily from [018] Egyptian Goose, which is actually a shelduck (or sheldgoose.) If not, just think of them as between ducks and geese. They are bigger than most (but not all) ducks and smaller than most (but not all) geese.

They are colourful in a way that gives them their name. Tadorna tadorna is basically white with some black bits and some brown bits on its body. The head and top of the neck are black, the bill is red and the feet are pink.

Male and female birds are similar but the male has a knob on his bill and may have more sharply defined colours in mating plumage.

Habitat

The Shelduck is generally migrant but can be seen throughout the year around the UK at wetland sites that are not distant from the coast. Its numbers increase considerably in winter.

[335] Tachybaptus ruficollis, Little Grebe

[335] Tachybaptus ruficollis, Little Grebe

Introduction

Tachybaptus ruficollis, the Little Grebe, is much smaller than [273] the Great Crested Grebe, but has its same habit of diving deeply. It is often called a Dabchick.

These are the only two types of Grebe commonly found in the UK.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Chordates

Class – Aves (Birds)

Order – Podicepiformes (Only One Family)

Family – Podicepidae (Grebes)

Genus – Tachybaptus

Scientific Name – Tachybaptus ruficollis

Name

Tachy-baptus, from Greek roots, means fast sinking or fast diving and rufi-collis, from Latin roots, means red-necked.

Description

See [273] Great Crested Grebe for an introduction to grebes.

The Little Grebe is a round looking bird, much smaller than the Great Crested Grebe. In summer its upper body is black with a dark red-brown neck, but in winter it becomes a mixture of slightly buff shades of grey.

Its habits are much like its Great Crested cousin. They dive for fish and aquatic invertebrates.

Habitat and use

They can be migratory but have large areas where they are resident – including much of Europe, sub-Saharan Arica, India and the far East. They like heavily vegetated areas of freshwater lakes.

Other Notes

It’s hard to get any idea of how common these birds are. I see them at one of the Cannop Ponds in the Forest of Dean whenever I go there, but have only very rarely seen them elsewhere.

Here is my only picture of a young Little Grebe and another shot beside Mallards to show how small they are.

The next two shots show some of the hazards of modern photography – timing and auto-focus.

See also

Apart from the Great Crested Grebe, there are some other grebes that may occasionally be seen In the UK or just off the coast. They are not common.