Village Country Diary Bugle
Purple loosestrife and ragwort
continued from previous page
not disturbed is another purple flower. This is the knapweed, a close relative of the thistle but without the prickles. Like all the daisy family, its “flowers” are made up of many small florets, each of which carries nectar and pollen to attract the insects. There are two kinds, a smaller and a larger one, the latter quite spec-
Watermint
tacular. Knapweed grows really well in Eades Meadow at this time of year and is often covered with the beauti- ful red and black burnet moths. There are also lots along the Droitwich canal near Hanbury wharf, and near Alvechurch station. Knapweed is also called “hard-
heads” in recognition of the solid round head the florets come out from. These can be seen well into the autumn and winter, giving an attractive structure even after the flowers have gone. There is a rarer small
cousin of knapweed called saw-wort, which grows in Eades Meadow. It is very attractive: the hard head has prettily-marked scales and it has short purple florets. Thistles are the common-
est purple flower in July. They are everywhere. I don’t know why people dislike them so, as they are one of the most important species for bees, butterflies and other insects, which they are always covered with. Their prickliness makes them great survivors, as they are difficult for animals to eat. It also stops people picking them. Some of them are
44 The Village July 2017
extremely beautiful, though unfor- tunately many of these, such as the woolly thistle, only grow on chalky soils. Here we get the spear thistle, creeping thistle and marsh thistle, among others. The spear thistle is probably the
source of the famous thistle of Scot- land. I have a very comic tea towel headed “wild flowers of Scotland”, in which all the flowers are kinds of this- tle! This shows how tough they are, surviving in our harsher climates. Teasels are like bigger thistles, with
a lovely delicate ring of purple flowers round their prickly heads. They were used to “tease” the nap on cloth, and are also well-defended. And burdock is another well-known prickly plant, with purple flowers, huge leaves, and a root that was used to make the famous drink. The burnet moth I mentioned is one of our most striking day-flying moths. Many moths do fly by day, contrary to popular belief, and many are as beautiful as butterflies. Burnets are red and black, the forewings carrying red spots on a black back- ground. They carry a poison, and their colours indicate how nasty they taste to any predator! Their caterpillars feed on trefoils and the adults get nectar from knapweeds and scabious, so they love meadows. Cinnabar moths are also red and
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