Streetwise Ferns

Wild West Yorkshire nature diary, Wednesday 28th July 1999

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hartstongue, Phyllitis scolopendriumblack spleenwort, Asplenium adiantum-nigrum THE LIMESTONE PAVEMENT of the Yorkshire Dales is famous for the flora that grows in the cracks between the blocks. Some of the ferns you'll see there are growing here, in West Yorkshire, on a north-facing brick retaining wall by the village shop.

wall-rue, Asplenium ruta-muraria They are all members of the Spleenwort family, a group of tuft-forming evergreen ferns.

  • Wall-rue has leaves shaped like the herb.
  • Hartstongue has large undivided leaves.
  • Black Spleenwort has leaves that look more like the general design for ferns.
procumbent pearlwort Alongside them, a flowering plant, Procumbent Pearlwort, is growing from the weathered mortar. It surprises me that such an inconspicuous plant has such a lot of magic and folklore attached to it. For instance, put a piece between the hooves of your bull and his progeny will be safeguarded against ills.

blusher, Amanita rubescens In the wood the Blusher toadstool has opened up. The cap has split to show white gills.

fledgling robin We startle a Blackbird that is foraging on the path and, a little further on, a fledgling Robin hops along just a few yards ahead of us.


Richard Bell,
wildlife illustrator
E-mail; 'richard@daelnet.co.uk'

  
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