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Science/nature/environment

Help please.

(52 Posts)
Lona Thu 05-Sept-13 13:55:06

Can anyone tell me what these two plants are please?

JessM Fri 06-Sept-13 07:50:10

Def not Alchemilla mollis jen, much yellower.
The flowers are like mini ragwort daisy types. But the ragwort family all have fluffy seeds. bags you know the kind of common little burs that stick onto your clothes. Well not much bigger than those, but with hooks only at one end. I will venture out between showers and capture it on digital media.

thatbags Fri 06-Sept-13 08:16:14

I'm thinking possibly Solidago virgaurea, but I don't know what its seed heads look like. Grows on western cliffs.

thatbags Fri 06-Sept-13 21:42:42

Did you get any further with identifying that plant, jess? #intrigued

Jendurham Sat 07-Sept-13 00:39:21

Could it be Kerria, Jess. I only ask because I have noticed that my Kerria has just started flowering again for some strange reason. But I have no idea what the seedpods look like because I always prune after flowering.

thatbags Sat 07-Sept-13 07:26:45

I thought kerria was a shrub. BTW, jend, the pruning after flowering may help it to re-flower, though actually many of my shrubs have a second flowering in autumn. It's not usually as abundant as the spring/summer flowering, but it's certainly very common.

JessM Sat 07-Sept-13 08:15:02

Not a shrub, a wayside plant about 20-30 cm high. Will try to do field trip with camera today.
It's very similar *bags" to the goldenrod but that family, like the ragworts have fluffy seeds not hooky ones. Isn't it interesting the way you get convergent evolution in different flowers. In uk spring for instance there are lots of bushes and wayside plants that produce frothy white flower heads with a mass of tiny florets - starts with blackthorn and goes through to elder, meadowsweet and cow parsley. I always think they must be aimed at the same 'customer base' of insects. Many of them even smell similar.

annodomini Sat 07-Sept-13 09:26:29

There are close-ups of bog asphodel on this site which look like your description, but the habitat doesn't seem to fit.

JessM Sat 07-Sept-13 11:40:33

ah - anno i went to the site and started clicking down the list of yellow flowers and there it is, second on the list - ta -daaa.... It's AGRIMONY. The ones round here have a few more flower heads than the pic, but the seeds are unmistakable! Thanks for nudging me in the right direction.

Jendurham Sat 07-Sept-13 11:49:10

Kerria is a shrub, but when shrubs grow on cliff tops they are often stunted because of the effect of the wind.
The reason I mentioned the Kerria is because this is the first time it has flowered in the Autumn. Over 30 years ago, we went on holiday to the New Forest. My husband mentioned to the B&B owner that he liked a particular plant and asked him what it was. When we left there was a cutting potted up for us. It has accompanied us to Hull, York and now Durham, as cuttings every time we moved, sometimes potted, sometimes planted.

annodomini Sat 07-Sept-13 12:04:43

Glad to oblige, Jess, even if I was wrong about bog asphodel. grin

Jendurham Sat 07-Sept-13 12:13:41

An amazing site, Anno.
Agrimony is a Bach flower remedy. Apparently Agrimony people often take to drink and drugs!

JessM Sat 07-Sept-13 12:34:38

Agrimony people? hmm
The info does say that it contains some powerful anti worming chemicals etc.

Aka Thu 13-Feb-14 14:25:52

Just seen a bird on the feeder that looked liked a robin, but slimmer, slightly bigger and with longer legs. Any suggestions please!

durhamjen Thu 13-Feb-14 15:06:08

A brambling?
Could it just be a hungry robin?

Aka Thu 13-Feb-14 16:05:40

I'll look up brambling Jen but it was just too.....elegant.....to be a robin.

Aka Thu 13-Feb-14 16:09:51

Yes, I think that's it. Thanks Jen

durhamjen Thu 13-Feb-14 16:20:42

Good, I can stop looking now. I know that there are birds that have been blown over from the USA and the American Robin is more thrush size, but bramblings would come into gardens now, and in flocks with goldfinches.
You'll have to have a camera ready for when it comes back.

shysal Fri 14-Feb-14 08:52:42

Could it be a redstart? It is a member of the robin family and I seem to remember that they waggle their bottoms. I snapped one a few years ago but too small on photo to show here.

shysal Fri 14-Feb-14 08:59:17

This is my photo in case it shows well enough.

ffinnochio Fri 14-Feb-14 09:59:14

Looks to me like a common redstart shysal

durhamjen Fri 14-Feb-14 11:50:47

Yes, that's a picture of a redstart, young male by the look of it, with the stripe on the neck. However, Aka did not say that her bird had a black face.

TriciaF Fri 14-Feb-14 12:53:58

We have lots of those, we call them black redstarts, don't know if that's correct. They breed in our barn.
Characteristic clicking warning call.

durhamjen Fri 14-Feb-14 13:52:52

click.email.rspb.org.uk/?qs=8e36fa7cc4e6faba8e04505c95d8d1508512040c0997b76f6bdc326ea0c50ec5072c88a3d988df9a
Anyone interested in birds and needs a new nestbox, the RSPB has commissioned people like Conran and Rhodes to design nestboxes. They are being auctioned on e-bay at the moment.

durhamjen Fri 14-Feb-14 13:57:15

There is such a thing as a black redstart, Tricia, but they do not have the red breast, and the back as well as the face is black.

TriciaF Fri 14-Feb-14 14:55:47

I'll get the bird book out and have a closer look. They're lively birds, bobbing up and down like robins do.