The weather was quit a lot sunnier today than yesterday. The sun shone hot and was obscured only by the odd fluffy white cloud. Yesterday's hive of slug related activity was now over and I expect the slug population is now tucked up in bed having a siesta.
One thing different about the route today was that there was delicate white flowers everywhere. The daisies in the grass were white, the elderflower on the trees were white and dominating the meadows there is the white Cow Parsley, Anthriscus Sylvestris. No wonder people dance about on mayday in white, or have a white May wedding. White seems to be the colour of nature at this time of year.
The nature reserve off Shady Lane is dominated by Cow Parsley right now. Standing up to six feet high these plant have little foliage and can look kind of all stork, like Parsley. This time of year they all produce large umbrellas of white flowers and hold them aloft in great rafts.
These dense bunches of flowers seemed to be popular amongst the bumble bees but there was a distinct lack of other creatures fertilising them. The apparent scarcity of insects could be due to the shear number of these flowers all demanding pollination in one place.
There is something a bit odd about Cow Parsley though. If you look at the petals in the picture above they resemble stretched heart shapes. Now look at the picture below and compare the petal shapes.
Firstly the petals are nearly round. Secondly the flowers are not laid out in a raft but are nestled in a ball shape. Thirdly the scale of this flower was much smaller. It was like a mini Cow Parsley. It is in fact an entirely different species. This is Greater Burnet-Saxifrage (Pimpinella Major). I'm surprised but glad that I even noticed it.
Firstly the petals are nearly round. Secondly the flowers are not laid out in a raft but are nestled in a ball shape. Thirdly the scale of this flower was much smaller. It was like a mini Cow Parsley. It is in fact an entirely different species. This is Greater Burnet-Saxifrage (Pimpinella Major). I'm surprised but glad that I even noticed it.Still, that's not the full extent of the strangeness. Check out this photo below. It is a purple Cow Parsley.
I really have no idea what this is. I've trawled the Internet for an ID but it seems nobody has ever heard of purple flowering Cow Parsley. Is it a new species? If you know, please let me know!
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