It’s that time of year when all the insects and the like start emerging from hibernation or their warm place of safety in search of a good bit of wood to munch, reproduce or emerge as a flying insect. So, It is also a great time to go looking for them.
Here are a few links to really useful websites for ID sheets that you can print or use on an iPad etc. Just click on the pictures.
When you are collecting your minibeasts please remember to replace moved logs or detritus and gently place the minibeasts back to their homes gently, i mean, imagine someone 1000000 times bigger than you dropping you from a great height. Also a key tip is some insects are predators, try not to mis predators with prey, or little Jimmy will wonder what happened to Francis the Fly…
Look under logs, leaves, stones (if you have stepping stones in your garden, lift one of them), under flower pots, in corners of sheds, under mats, and in bushes.
Most of all… have fun!
A really good beginners ID sheet.A great game to play, this website can generate as many bingo cards as you like, can you name them all?MINIBEAST HUNT BINGO
There are some amazing ancient trees across Britain, many of which are hundreds of years old and some of them are thousands of years old. Here we look at six of the oldest trees in Britain that are around today, having stood testament to the history of Britain. If you get a chance to visit some of these trees, hopefully you’ll have a little knowledge of each one.
The trees
Fortingall Yew – Anywhere between 2000 and 5000 years old – one of the oldest trees in europe. The Fortingall Yew has a girth of 52ft (twice as long as a double decker bus). Yew trees and many other trees are single sex, meaning that there are both male and female varieties. The female tree has berries and the males pollen pods. The Fortingall Yew is male, however in 2015 scientists noted that one branch of the tree had changed sex and become female, known to happen in conifers.
Bowthorpe Oak – to be found on Bowthorpe Park Farm in Lincolnshire is over 1000 years old and has a girth of 40ft (twice the height of a giraffe). It has an opening in its trunk and you can fit 39 people in it. The Bowthorpe Oak is featured in The Guinness Book of Records and was filmed for a short TV documentary about its size. It also appeared in the documentary Oak Tree: Nature’s Greatest Survivor, hosted by George McGavin about the life of oak trees.
Bowthorpe OakFortingall YewAnkerwyke YewBig Belly OakLlangernyw YewMajor Oak
Big Belly Oak – To be found in the Severnake forest in Marlborough is coming up to 1000 years old, seeded around the time of William the Conqueror defeated king harold in 1066 – legend has it that if you dance naked around this tree the devil will appear – however it’s situated by a main road so it is more likely the police would appear.
Llangernyw Yew – 4000 years old and found in the village of Llangernyw, Conwy, North Wales. It has a girth of 35ft which is the same as the height of a telegraph pole. It is said that it is inhabited by an ancient spirit called Angelystor (translated to ‘Evangelist’) who twice a year appears at the nearby church and announces the demise of those locals who are to die in the next year.
Major Oak – Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire it is thought to be between 800 and 1000 years old. Legend has it that Robin Hood himself lived in this tree with his merry men, however this tree is not old enough to have been used as a tree house at that time. It is the Woodland Trust’s 2014 tree of the year. It is the largest oak tree in Britain weighing in at a whopping 23 tonnes (about twice the weight of a cruise ship anchor). And a girth of 33ft.
Ankerwycke Yew – somewhere between 1500 and 2500 years old in Runnymede – present when the magna carta was signed in 1215 it is also rumoured that henry the VIII courted Anne Boleyn under this ancient yew tree and proposed to her under the shadow of the tree.
All in all the ancient trees of great Britain are our last surviving witnesses to some of the Major events of the last 5000 years. Bringing wisdom and commanding respect from all that encounter them. Remember to enjoy visiting the trees and spend a moment wondering what they have been through.
Let us start with some background information about fungi and how they interact with the environment.
We all, generally, see something that has a stem and an umbrella type head and say ‘mushroom’ or ‘fungus’ however this is not really the complete fungus. What you are looking at is the fruiting body of some types of fungi (plural of fungus) which have emerged from the ground, plant, or tree.
The main part of the fungus that develops the fruiting body is known as ‘mycelium’ and lives within its hosts. Many fungi live independently in soil; others have a symbiotic or parasitic relationship with plants or animals.
Some trees use the mycelium network that runs throughout the soil to send messages to each other. When one tree is being attacked by a pest it sends an ‘i am being attacked’ signal down its trunk, along its roots and the fungi*, attached to the tree roots, picks up this signal and sends it along to the neighbouring trees in which the fungi is also attached. This allows the trees to send out hormones, pheromones or any other defence to protect itself.
Families of fungi
There are over 99,000 species of fungi currently known and these can fall into one of four main categories:
Basidiomycota (Club Fungi) – mushrooms puff-balls, smuts, rusts, and toadstools
Ascomycota – yeast, ruffles, cup fungi and mildews.
Zygomycota – found on decaying food like cheese and bread.
Deuteromycota (imperfect fungi) – So called because they lack sexual reproduction. They reproduce with spores known as conidia which are asexual. This type of fungi cause disease in humans like ringworm and athlete’s foot – both of which are fungi.
Along with bacteria, fungi help digest decaying and dead matter which digest the organic matter externally before absorbing it into their mycelia. They can be a great source of food, as long as you know what you are doing. One of the best uses is in medicine like penicillin. Which is derived from the fungi Penicillium.
Up to 60% of fungi have fruiting bodies and use these fruiting bodies to reproduce by means of spores. An average head can produce an impressive 16 billion spores that are then carried on the wind.
The largest living organism on earth is thought to be a specific honey fungus that measures 2.4 miles (3.8 km) across and is located in the Blue Mountains of Oregon.
Here is a selection of 12 rare, not so rare, edible and deadly fungi.
1. Common earth ball – is very numerous during the summer and autumn months, in and around damp woodland in rich peaty soil or moss.
2. Puffball – Come in many varieties and get their name from the cloud of spores that are released. Unlike some other fungi the puffball produces its spores internally and releases them in a ‘puff’ when impacted like raindrops or an animal brushing past. While it is edible it can be confused with the younger versions of the Death cap and the Destroying angel, not something you would want to do.
3. Death Cap – The most deadly fungus known and is common in England. It is responsible for most fatal mushroom poisonings worldwide. Ingestion of just half a cap can lead to death.
4. Destroying angel – A pure white, deadly poisonous mushroom. One piece of this fungus is enough to kill a group of people. A particularly nasty fungi as once poisoned you start to feel better and then you die.
BeefsteakFly agaricTurkey tailPuffball
5. Amethyst Deceiver – A beautiful coloured mushroom, the amethyst deceiver likes to grow beneath beech and oak trees, turning brown with age.
6. Fly agaric – Probably the most iconic mushroom there is, made famous in fairytales and paintings, often associated with Alice in Wonderland when Alice was given a piece of Fly agaric to eat. That said it causes psychoactive and hallucinogenic episodes and should not be eaten. It can often be found under birch or spruce trees. It’s said that shamans used to collect fly agaric and give it to the younger members of the tribe who would have the hallucinogenic properties of the fly agaric, but also with the sickness that comes with it. The shamans would then drink the urine of the younger tribesmen after it had been filtered through the kidneys and liver giving them the high without the sickness.
7. Shaggy ink cap – AKA ‘lawyer’s wig’ gets its name from the inky like secretions that are produced when it spores. It will dissolve itself once it has spored or has been picked, usually within hours. It is edible when young, but because it dissolves it does not remain edible for long. it is also similar to the Magpie inkcap.
Magpie inkcapShaggy inkcapLemon discoYellow brain
8. Lemon disco – This bright yellow fungus grows on dead hardwoods, that have lost their bark, including oak and appear ‘jelly like’. Usually seen in their hundreds, they grow in a small cup shape unlike its cousin the common jelly spot which is smaller and blob shaped.
9. Yellow brain – AKA ‘witches butter’ is so named for obvious reasons. An edible but flavourless fungi. It lives on dead wood and will shrivel and expand depending on how much rain there is.
10. Jelly ear – Fairly frequent in Britain and Ireland as well as in most countries of mainland Europe and parts of Asia and North America, the Jelly Ear fungus is seen mainly, but certainly not exclusively, on dead Elder wood in damp, shady locations.
11. Ox tongue – Also known as the ‘beefsteak’ mushroom due to its resemblance to raw meat. It likes living or dead oak and sweet chestnut and is fairly common. This mushroom is edible and the wood of infected trees develop brown rot which makes the wood richer, darker and of great interest to the furniture building trade.
12. Turkey tail – So called due to its resemblance to a turkey’s tail. Its latin name, Trametes versicolor, refers to it being many different colours. A good one to look out for on rotten tree stumps.
Death capEarthballJelly earAmethyst deceiver
I hope you get a chance to see some of these amazing organisms and now know not all is what it seems within the damp world of fungi.
Please note: You need to be an expert to pick edible fungi this information is for education not consumption. Some can cure you and others can kill you and most look alike, assume all are deadly.
*Symbiotic fungi, meaning fungi that exchange this service for sugars or moisture from the roots of the tree.
Many plants that we see and love in the U.K. are not native to us. They are either long established and have become part of our ecosystem with the damage done further back in history or they are non-invasive meaning they pose no current threat to the ecosystem. Many invasive plants were released in the 18th and 19th century when budding botanists collected plants from around the world, continuing to grow them here in the UK not knowing the damage some can do when released into the environment.
There are currently around 70 NNIS (non-native invasive species) of plants and wildlife that are causing damage around the U.K. The ones I mention here are some of the more common or dangerous ones found in our gardens and countryside, most are a criminal offence to plant or sell, if you discover any of these plants then please contact the relevant body for advice on removing. You can find this list of NNIS here.
Plants
Giant Hogweed – Originally from Russia,giant hogweed looks like our native hogweed except, as the name suggests, it’s giant. Regular hogweed grows up to around 2m and poses no threat to humans. Giant hogweed however, can grow up to 5m!
It’s sap, when skin is exposed to it, can cause blistering of the skin and permanent damage because it removes the skin’s ability to process UV light. Even tiny amounts of sap are dangerous with the effects lasting at least 20 years!
It also, like many invasive species, out competes other local flora and it’s roots damage the soil around riverbanks leading to unnecessary erosion and an increased flood risk. The flower heads (umbels) can produce 50,000 seeds each which makes control of giant hogweed difficult.
Himalayan Balsam – A stunning plant in its own right, Himalayan balsam comes from west and central Himalaya and can grow up to 2m tall. It loves river banks and damp woodland and establishes quickly in clumps. It’s seed pods explode and fire small seeds that are then carried by the wind. Because it spreads easily and grows along riverbanks it can slow the flow of surface water entering the river when it rains and as a result can cause localised flooding. There is a popular trend amongst some of the more ecologically minded to go ‘Balsam Bashing’ where teams of people attempt to control the spread. Conveniently It is easily removed, as it has a small root structure and can be pulled by hand from the soil.
Japanese Knotweed – This is a hugely successful plant at reproducing. It does this by using rhizomes. Rhizomes are underground plant stems that send out roots and shoots to produce more plants) or viable parts of it’s stem.
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Knotweed grows in clumps as it spreads using it rhizomes and its roots have the power to work its way into, split apart, and destroy concrete and asphalt. Therefore it is extremely difficult and costly to remove. Houses that have Japanese knotweed on its land are usually unmortgageable because of the structural damage this plant can cause. To remove every trace of knotweed the soil for 2m below and around the plant must be removed and disposed of correctly, usually by a specialist company, as any fragments of the plant are viable and could create new plants thus spreading the plant. After that strong chemicals are used to try and control the growth of any remaining fragments. This process of removal can take up to four years to complete.If you think you have knotweed please visit this government site for more information.
Rhododendron – Native to south west Europe and southwest Asia. This beautiful plant is loved for its large vivid purple flowers and is commonly found around the U.K. in woodland and ecologically sensitive areas. Rhododendron is something most people will have seen growing wild at some point. Being so pretty It can still be found in many people’s gardens all over the country. It spreads easily as its small seeds are carried on the wind.
If left alone It can grow to cover a large area reducing sunlight and as a result restricting the growth of other plants beneath it. This has a knock-on effect to insects and wildlife that rely on those plants for life. Although it’s not illegal to plant rhododendrons I would suggest not doing it and removing it if you already have it.
Trees
Non-native oak trees – Worldwide there are over 600 species of oak tree, all of which can be found in the northern hemisphere. Of the 600 oaks only two are native to Britain with a further three commonly found non-native oaks. Native oaks are the English oak and sessile oak. The three non-native oaks are holm oak, red oak and turkey oak. Holm oak is the only evergreen oak to be found in britain and is used for firewood and it’s acorns for pig feed. The red oak is native to America and gets its name from the colour of its leaves in autumn which turn a deep shade of red. The turkey oak is native to parts of Asia and southeast Europe. The main concern is that it is the host of a type of wasp called the knopper gall wasp, which in spring forms small galls (a reaction from a plant or tree to grow a home for insects, very clever) within the catkins of the Turkey Oak. The female wasps that develop from these galls on the turkey oak then lay eggs within the acorns of the English Oak causing galls to develop and therefore affecting the fertility of the English Oak and reducing the viability of the acorns.
Red Oak (Quercus rubra) autumn leaf. Jersey Farm Woodland Park, Sandridge, Hertfordshire, 11 November 2012. A very lovely sunny autumn day!Sessile OakTurkey Oak GallTurkey OakHolm OakEnglish Oak
False Acacia – there is a road near me called Acacia walk and it has about half a mile either side of the road planted with these stunning trees. That is half of the reason why they are so popular, they are stunning with big golden cascades of flowers. The acacia spreads by ‘suckering’ that is that it sends new shoots up from around its base and spreading that way, more so than by its seeds. This suckering effect can damage, pavements and homes as it sends up shoots. The false acacia also has a tendency to rot and then drop the rotten branches causing obvious problems. It also casts shade, as many non-native species do, over the native trees and plants of Britain reducing their ability to grow.
For factsheets on NNIS then please visit this sitewhere they are listed by common name.
