The busy Weymouth Road is not the best of places for an afternoon walk, even on a Sunday when there is little commercial traffic It is however highly rewarding from the botanical point of view, providing an agreeable contrast to the South Winterborne as it passes through the village and has been dredged to a mono-culture of Hemlock Water Dropwort, the most poisonous plant in the country. Going downstream from the pumping station the enormous leaves of Butterbur dominate the bank for some metres, their pink flowers, which are the first wild flowers to appear in the Spring, are long since over and gone. Burdock has now developed the hooked seed-heads which children used to delight in throwing at each other to stick on their clothing.
All along the stream banks the long tendrils of Large Bindweed support the large white trumpets of its flowers, but dominant at the moment along the length of the stream are the metre high pink flowers of the Great Hairy Willowherb, rapidly turning into little white parachutes waiting for a bit of breeze to disperse them. Here and there the purple flowers and bright red berries of Woody Nightshade, another poisonous plant, appear. The nearby Elder is now bearing its dark red fruits which make it one of our most useful hedgerow plants, The fruits make excellent wine or jam, while earlier in the year a couple of flower heads can be turned into Elderflower champagne. A few plants of Comfrey and Lords and Ladies appear, the latter now spikes of brilliant red, and poisonous, berries. A single dried up stem of Hemlock is still standing, The purple blotches on the stem which identify this very poisonous plant still show. Definitely not for peashooters.
Ribwort Plantain is common all along the stream. This is another plant which children used to play with as the seed heads can be fired a considerable distance at ones enemies. The few Yarrow plants are rather small. Regarded as a powerful herb since Anglo-Saxon times, it was used in divination rituals and as a charm against bad luck, as well as staunching wounds. Water Mint is a frequent occurrence all along the valley. A single plant of the very attractive, but unwanted, Himalayan Balsam is all that remains of a once frequent occurrence. The efforts of the Dorset Wildlife Trust to eradicate it seem to be succeeding. Hedge Woundwort and Purple Loosestrife and a single Oxeye Daisy complete the list.
Away
from the stream a single Pyramidal Orchid
has now flowered and gone over. This was not in the same place as
last year’s specimen which was unfortunately dug up and taken. Now
that that danger has gone perhaps I can show a picture of this
year’s rather small
specimen.Perhaps it didn't like the heat.
Pyramidal Orchid. Photo. John Elliott
