Wednesday 19 November 2014

Edible wild plants found by the sea – Sea Beet or Wild Spinach


Sea Beet amongst seaweed and rocks. Photo by Steve Andrews


Sea beet is a common edible plant found at the top of beaches and near the sea in the UK and Europe.
Its leaves are very good cooked as greens and taste very much like spinach. This is not surprising because the plant is an ancestor of cultivated spinach beet and beetroot. In fact, the sea beet is also known as wild spinach.

It produces masses of glossy dark green oval or diamond-shaped leaves in rosettes that can be found all year around. Its flowers are small and greenish and form in summer and autumn.

Sea beet can be found growing amongst pebbles and rocks at the top of a beach and on coastal land and is easy to recognise. You are not likely to find anything else looking like poking its greenery through the pebbles. It can be found growing where seaweed and other floating rubbish has been washed up by the tide.


The leaves of Sea Beet. Photo by Steve Andrews


The stems of sea beet and the leaf stalks sometimes have a purplish-red colouration which shows their link with beetroots.

The leaves of sea beet can be eaten raw in salads as well as being cooked like spinach. Many people think their flavour is actually better than spinach we grow and buy.

Richard Mabey recommends it strongly in Food For Free his classic book on foraging which is now in its fortieth year and contains info with illustrations for some 200 types of edible plant and wild mushroom.

The sea beet is known to botanists as Beta vulgaris ssp. maritma and used to be classed as in the Chenopodiaceae but it is now in the Amaranthaceae. Many other plants in this family, such as the goosefoot (Chenopodium album), are also edible.

Tuesday 18 November 2014

The Swallowtail Butterfly is very rare in the UK


Swallowtail (Papilio machaon) Image by Pixabay


The swallowtail butterfly is attractively marked in yellow and black and is one of the rarest butterflies in the UK being confined to the fenland in the Norfolk Broads area. This is because in Britain its caterpillar will only feed on the milk parsley (Peucedanum palustre).

The swallowtail takes its name from projections on its hind-wings which also have some blue colouration on them and a bright red spot.

The British swallowtail is one of the largest butterflies to be seen in the country and is actually a subspecies known to science as Papilio machaon ssp. britannicus. 

Caterpillars of continental swallowtails will eat a wide variety of food-plants including species in the Apiacae (parsley family) such as wild carrot (Daucus carota) and fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), as well as the rue (Ruta graveolens).

Swallowtail caterpillars are easy to spot because they have bold blackish stripes on their green bodies. They also have a weird forked organ known as an osmeterium that is protruded if the insect larva is threatened. This organ emits an unpleasant smell that is thought to help ward off predators.


Swallowtail caterpillar on rue. Photo by Steve Andrews


Swallowtails are fairly common and widely distributed in many parts of Europe and in Portugal, for example, they can be seen in gardens where the eggs get laid on rue.

Swallowtails sometimes migrate from France to the UK and there have been reports of them breeding but the only native species are to be found in the Norfolk Broads as already noted.

There are many other types of swallowtail butterfly found around the world. Some of these are common but others are endangered butterfly species.
The swallowtail butterfly is a very beautiful insect and it would be a very great shame if the British type ever becomes extinct.


Detox For Your Home With Houseplant Decoration


Houseplants in window In Public Domain

Most people know that houseplants can contribute to a natural atmosphere, but they might be unaware of the fact that indoor plants can make them a healthier person. As always, being environmentally conscious is important, but we should also be thinking about how to bring the natural world into our living spaces using a variety of  houseplants for our own health as well as considering them for their natural beauty.

Indoor plants, as decoration, not only look good and add a splash of colour but they can actually help make your home a healthier place to live by cutting down on pollutants in the air. Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis), ivy (Hedera helix) and the mother-in-laws-tongue or snake plant (Sanseveria trifasciata), for example, are all recommended for improving air quality.


Mother-in-law's tongue  In Public Domain

One way you can plot out your plants is by using 3D design software on the Internet. This method can help you with deciding where each type of houseplant is most likely to thrive. You can also get an idea of what space is available and how much lighting there is by using a birds eye view.
Natural light coming in through windows, as well as keeping plants in good condition, can enhance the foliage, casting some shadows that add depth and create some interesting visual effects.
Most houseplants look best against a simple and uncluttered background to provide contrast. Plants also help you scale the look of your rooms, as including bigger plants in your space ironically gives rooms a larger feel. The Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa) and the rubber plant (Ficus elastica) have been very popular for many years but they need the space to grow and really look their best.

Ficus elastica In Public Domain

You will be spending most of your time in the living room so this is a good place to distribute them. Plants have been proven to have positive effect on mood and they can help your relax. In fact your grandparents were probably resting by an aspidistra or cast iron plant (Aspidistra elatior). This traditional plant is easy to grow in the living room or lounge.

Cilantro leaves  Photo by Steve Andrews

Herbs like cilantro (Coriandrum sativum), chives (Allium schoenoprasum) and basil (Ocimum basilicum) can be grown for convenience in the kitchen and provide an array of health benefits. They also add a touch of natural charm to your home and flavour to your cooking.
The symbiotic relationship plants provide extend even into the bathroom. Ferns will benefit from the humidity and release oxygen into the air to help you wake up in the morning. The maidenhair fern in particular (Adiantum aethiopicum) loves cool damp air and has delicate pale green fronds.

Christmas cactus In Public Domain

You can even add a seasonal touch to your home by growing bulbs like hyacinths indoors in spring, and the colourful Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera species) will flower in the festive season.

Christmas cactus flower In Public Domain




Thursday 7 March 2013

Red Admiral Butterflies



Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (in Public Domain)

The Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) is a very well known butterfly that is often seen in gardens and parks in the UK, especially in autumn when it is one of the last flying insects to be seen before the winter begins.
It has very conspicuous red and black wings and white spots on the wing-tips. The underside of the wings is mainly mottled and provides camouflage when the wings are folded.
The Red Admiral is a migrant butterfly that arrives in the UK and northern Europe each year and is believed to hibernate in small numbers in Britain too. In late summer and autumn it can often be found feeding on rotting fruit such as apples, pears and plums that have fallen to the ground in gardens and orchards. Red Admiral adults can often be seen feeding on Buddleia or the Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii) in late summer. With its spectacular colouration the Red Admiral is one of the most popular and commonly sighted British butterflies.
The caterpillar of the Red Admiral is mostly found on Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) but sometimes will also be discovered eating other plants in the Urticacae including Pellitory of the Wall (Parietaria officinalis) and the Small Nettle (U. urens), as well as Hops (Humulus lupulus) in the Cannabaceae. The Stinging Nettle is a familiar sight and often forms large patches alongside fields, on river and railway banks, and on waste ground and Pellitory of the Wall grows, as its name suggests, in the walls of old and ruined buildings.
The male Red Admiral butterflies tend to be smaller than the females but otherwise look identical. Females can be seen flying over food-plants and stopping to lay eggs but otherwise they are mainly encountered feeding on flowers or fruit or simply basking or flying in the sunshine.


Canary Red Admiral (Vanessa vulcania)

In Tenerife and the Canary Islands there is a very similar species of Red Admiral though it is smaller and has slightly different wing patterns. The red bands have black markings breaking them up. The Canary Red Admiral (V. vulcania) tends to be mainly seen in spring and lives in the cooler areas of the islands where there is more vegetation. 

Canary Red Admiral resting

This species is also found living in Madeira. It used to be referred to as Vulcania indica the Indian Red Admiral but has been declared as a separate species to this butterfly. Like the Red Admiral its caterpillars feed on nettles and plants in the Urticaceae.
Both species of Red Admiral butterfly are very pretty creatures from the Nymphalidae family and not easily mistaken for any other species. 

Copyright © 2013 Steve Andrews. All Rights Reserved.


Tuesday 26 February 2013

Wall Pennywort is a delicious edible plant


Wall Pennywort

Wall Pennywort (Umbilicus rupestris) is an interesting edible wild plant that you are not likely to mistake for anything else. It grows, as its name suggests in old stone walls, and also in crevices in rocks, and has round leaves hence its name.
The Wall Pennywort is also known as Navelwort because its leaves have a small indentation in the middle that could be likened to a navel in a human stomach. The leaves grow in rosettes. An alternative name for the plant is Penny-pies.
Wall Pennywort is found in the UK and parts of southern and western Europe as well as in the Canary Islands. It has spikes of greenish-pink flowers on stems that may be a reddish shade and it flowers in spring and as late as May and early summer depending on location. These flower-spikes can reach some 10in in height and the small flowers are bell-shaped.  It is a member of the Crassulaceae or Stonecrop family and is adapted for surviving in dry conditions. The leaves and plant are succulent and fleshy.


Wall Pennywort in flower

The leaves can be eaten as a salad and have been compared with a crisp lettuce in flavour. They are best when found growing in moist conditions or after rain when they are really juicy. Wall Pennywort tends to turn a reddish colour in very dry conditions and will lose it succulent fleshiness. Take care when gathering the leaves because Wall Pennywort is very shallow-rooted and the whole plant can easily be pulled out of the small amount of soil it is growing in.
Wall Pennywort has been used in homeopathic medicine and is known as Cotyledon umbilicus to practitioners. The plant is thought to be the “Kidneywort”, described by Nicholas Culpeper in the English Physician. The famous herbalist said of the Wall Pennywort: : "the juice or the distilled water being drank, is very effectual for all inflammations and unnatural heats, to cool a fainting hot stomach, a hot liver, or the bowels: the herb, juice, or distilled water thereof, outwardly applied, heals pimples, St. Anthony's fire, and other outward heats. The said juice or water helps to heal sore kidneys, torn or fretted by the stone, or exulcerated within; it also provokes urine, is available for the dropsy, and helps to break the stone. Being used as a bath, or made into an ointment, it cools the painful piles or hæmorrhoidal veins. It is no less effectual to give ease to the pains of the gout, the sciatica, and helps the kernels or knots in the neck or throat, called the king's evil: healing kibes and chilblains if they be bathed with the juice, or anointed with ointment made thereof, and some of the skin of the leaf upon them: it is also used in green wounds to stay the blood, and to heal them quickly."
Wall Pennywort is a plant that is easily recognised and is worth adding to the plants you are foraging for. It really is an enjoyable edible wild plant to be eaten as a salad vegetable or to add to sandwiches.

Thursday 21 February 2013

Rare Canary Islands Bencomia shrub grows to the size of trees in Cuevas Negras



Bencomia caudata Photo by David Parkes

Many years ago the Findhorn village in Scotland made the news because of the gigantic plants and vegetables that grew there, and this was believed to have happened due to the magical assistance of nature spirits. Findhorn was soon to become a thriving New Age community and still is to this day. Now a rare shrub known as Bencomia caudata has been found growing to the size of small trees here in Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
According to author and botanist David Bramwell in his book Wild Flowers of the CanaryIslands, this particular species of Bencomia only reaches 2 m in height and he describes it as a “small shrub.” However, whilst out walking with friends I discovered a number of specimens of this rare plant that had developed into small trees and reached 4 m or more. Some of these had proper branches and trunks as well. They are of the beaten track and hidden away in the garden of an abandoned house in the Cuevas Negras area above Los Silos.


Bencomia caudata tree. Photo by David Parkes

I contacted Bramwell and he has confirmed that the small trees are B. caudata but a lot bigger than usual. It is thought that the fertile soil where they are growing has caused their fantastic increase in size. The Cuevas Negras ravine they are in is sheltered and receives plenty of water. Most of the vegetation growing there is very tall, green and luxuriant. There are very high plants of some sort of Cabbage in the garden as well and my friend Holly van Heffernan was photographed by one of these to show just how tall they are.


Holly van Heffernan with a Cuevas Negras cabbage. Photo by Steve Andrews


The Bencomia genus of shrubs is actually in the Rosacae or Rose family but only an experienced botanist would be likely to realise this because the shrubs do not look anything like the popular flower we all know so well. They are evergreens and have attractive pinnate leaves. The flowers are carried in inflorescences that later on turn into tightly packed globular fruits. The flowers are either male or female and the plants are dioecious.


Palo de Sangre the Stick of Blood. Photo by Steve Andrews 

The leaf-form of the Bencomia species bears a resemblance to those of the Stick of Blood or “Palo de Sangre” (Marcetella moquiniana) that is another uncommon shrub found in Tenerife. It gets its name from having the upper parts of its stems covered in bright red hairs. This shrub is in the Rose family too. It grows on cliffs, slopes and in ravines in the wild but is frequently cultivated in parks and gardens for its ornamental value.
There are another three species of Bencomia that are endemics of the Canary Islands.  B.exstipulata grows in various locations in the highlands of Mt Teide, B. sphaerocarpa is surving in small populations on the forest cliffs of El Hierro, and B. brachystachya is a shrub that is only found in Gran Canaria. All of the Bencomias are very rare plants and protected species.

Copyright © 2013 Steve Andrews. All Rights Reserved.


Friday 16 November 2012

Summer Foraging in the countryside


Fennel flower


Gathering herbs in summer
Summer is the hottest time of the year and has plenty of sunlight, but when it comes to foraging for wild foods it is the season in between spring and autumn, which means that the spring greens are past their prime and the fruits and nuts harvested in autumn are still not ready.
However, summer is a great season for gathering in the herbs that grow wild and drying them to preserve them for future use and some like St John's Wort are traditionally harvested at this time.

St John's Wort

St John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) is commonly found growing in grassy places, woodland clearings and edges, roadsides, waste ground and railway banks and is in full bloom and full potency at midsummer when it can be collected on St John's Day, June 24. It is easily recognised by its golden yellow flowers starry 5-petaled flowers with conspicuous stamens and the flowering tops are the part of the plant that contains most of its active ingredient hypericin.

St John's Wort

St John's Wort has become widely known and used as Mother Nature's answer to Prozac and is on sale as a herbal tea or in other forms as a supplement from health stores and distributors of such products. It is also a remedy for anxiety and nervous tension, as well as having antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties.
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) is a plant that may well also be found in places where St John's Wort grows and especially in fields and meadows but also on railway banks and waste ground. The Native Americans recognised its medicinal properties after it had been introduced to the continent and used it against cancerous tumours and skin diseases, as well as taking it during pregnancy and childbirth and as a general tonic and herb of purification.
The flowers are the parts that get used as an infusion and these can be collected and dried. Red Clover was once used to treat bronchial complaints and is also thought to be good for balancing blood sugar levels.

Common name: Wild Marjoram - Scientific name: Origanum vulgare
Photo by Leo Michels. Usage: Public Domain

Two aromatic summer herbs that can be used in cooking as well as for medicinal purposes are Wild Thyme (Thymus drucei) and the Marjoram(Origanum vulgare), both of which favour grassy places on limestone or a chalky soil.
Wild Thyme is a tiny little plant that you will have to get down on your hands and knees to gather and it grows in clumps among short grassland and on downs and heaths. It produces reddish-purple flower heads and is easier to find and pick when in bloom, which occurs between June and August.
The flavour and fragrant aroma of Wild Thyme is much milder than the garden variety but it is just as useful for flavouring savoury dishes. Richard Mabey awards it with an A category in his classic book http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubpages-vig-20&l=am2&o=1&a=B003GUBIBQFood for Free.
Marjoram is a much bigger plant and when in flower it is easy to spot clumps of it, especially as it usually has bees and other insects in attendance eagerly gathering the nectar from its pinkish purple flowers. This is a very aromatic and spicy herb that is excellent for adding flavour to food.
In Mediterranean cookery Marjoram has been much valued and made use of, although in the UK it has often been neglected for some reason, even though one of its local names is Joy of the Mountain. It is also known as Oregano.
Marjoram is prepared by collecting some flowering sprigs of the herb, hanging them to dry and then stripping the leaves and flowers from the stalks. Crushed up in this dry form it can be stored in airtight jars for future use.
Marjoram taken as an infusion is good for anxiety, insomnia, colds and chest complaints, indigestion and tension headaches. It has antiseptic properties too.
Another common summer herb is Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) and although it grows inland on waste ground and cultivated in gardens it really thrives on cliffs and other places by the sea. It can reach as much as 5 ft in height and is easy to recognise with its graceful appearance, feathery leaves and umbels of mustard-yellow flowers, which appear from June to October.
If you crush any part of the Fennel plant you will notice a strong smell of aniseed and its flavour is similar too. The seeds are collected later on in the autumn and are wonderful for adding to curries, stir-fries and other dishes as well as making Fennel herb tea but the leaves and stalks are gathered in early summer and hung up to dry.
Finely chopped Fennel leaves are good in salads, with parsnips, and even in apple pie and the herb is good with oily fish as well. The whole plant is edible and it really is one of the most useful wild herbs that can easily be found.
In fact, Fennel is such a versatile plant that Pliny listed it as being a remedy for no less than 22 complaints and it was one of the Anglo-Saxon herbalists' nine most sacred herbs. Fennel tea is good for the digestion and it can be used as a gargle for a sore throat and a mouthwash.
Fennel Tea
250ml/ ½ pint/ 1 cup of boiling water 1 teaspoonful of http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hubpages-vig-20&l=am2&o=1&a=B001VNECT0Fennel seed ½ thin slice of fresh orange or some grated rind
Crush the Fennel seeds slightly and place in a teapot and pour the boiling water over them. Cover and leave to infuse for 5 minutes.
Add the orange slice or rind for extra flavour, and then strain before serving.
Olives with Wild Marjoram
1 lb of pricked olives in a jar 1 cup of olive oil 1 teaspoon of Thyme 1 teaspoon of crushed peppercorns 3 teaspoons of chopped Wild Marjoram
Add the herbs and spices and olive oil to the olives in the jar, close it, shake well and store in a refrigerator for at least 2 days.
Serve the olives with red wine and cheese.

Common Mallow

The Common Mallow (Malva sylvestris) is often found growing in the same locations as Fennel and is another very useful herb that flowers from June through until October. Typically encountered on roadsides, on banks and on waste ground the Common Mallow stands out with its showy pink five-petalled flowers that are produced on stems that can be as much as 3 ft in height.
The leaves, flowers and seeds are all edible as well as having medicinal properties. The plant contains a lot of mucilage, which taken internally as an infusion reduces inflammation and is a treatment for coughs sore throats and bronchitis.
Young leaves and shoots of the Common Mallow contain vitamins A, B1, B2 and C and can be eaten raw in salads or cooked as greens. Unripe fruits can also be added to salads and the seeds are known as "cheeses," due to their shape rather than the mildly nutty flavour.
The Romans cultivated the Common Mallow as a culinary and medicinal herb and by the 16th century it had gained a reputation as a cure-all. In sufficient quantity it has a laxative action and so can help purge the body of toxins and disease.

Meadowsweet

One more easily found and wonderful summer herb is the Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria), which grows in damp places such as river and streamsides and by ponds, and flowers from June until October with frothy creamy-white flower heads. Meadowsweet has inspired poets Ben Jonson and John Clare, and the latter included it in his poem To Summer.
The flowers and leaves when dried smell of newly mown hay and can be added to pot-pourri or used to make a herbal tea. It can be used to flavour soups and stews but has medicinal properties too and is traditionally taken as an infusion for heartburn and gastric ulcers.

Lime Tree

Besides all the herbs described above that can be looked for in the countryside, there is another, which grows much closer to home and is definitely worth knowing about and that is the Lime Tree (Tilia x europaea), which can be found in many parks, gardens and along city streets. In June and July the delightful honeyed fragrance of this common tree perfumes the air and when they are in bloom is the time to harvest its flowers.
Made into a herbal tea, known as "Tilleul" in France where it has proved a very popular beverage, Lime-blossom besides tasting good is good for anxiety and insomnia because it has mild tranquillising properties as well as for treating high blood pressure. Dry the entire flower head along with its winged bract and make the tea without milk.
In early summer, before the Lime leaves get too old and tough, they can be eaten in sandwiches but make sure to wash them first and collect them from out of the way of roads and traffic fumes.
Summer is an ideal time for enjoying the countryside and rambling due to the longer hours of daylight and the warm and sunny weather. The fragrance and the many uses of the herbs found growing at this time of year are surely another of the many pleasures of the season.
Footnote: This article was originally published in Permaculture Magazine, number 48, summer 2006.
Copyright © 2010 Steve Andrews. All Rights Reserved.