Rangers View
The month of June
Bee Orchid
June has the longest day with the most amount of sunlight on the 21st of June. However, Mid-Summer’s Day falls on the 24th of June. On this date elves and goblins supposedly hold their dance and revel. These tales probably arose from memories of pagan customs in Celtic times where great bonfires were lit to honour the Sun God. There was also a custom of walking in the embers the day after so that diseases and ill luck would be warded off for another year.
Fly Orchid
Many farmers will be cutting their silage this month and the crops will grow well with the warmer and longer days in the fields. Some of the ground-nesting birds suffer when the silage is cut but hopefully they will have a chance to have another brood. Field margins that are left uncut will benefit the birds, small mammals, insects and the flowers. One good reason to leave uncut margins or strips is that it attracts hover-flies and ladybirds which act as useful predators to crop pests like aphids. The farmers must avoid spray drift when spraying crops. If they do, they run the risk of not only killing species of plant and insect in the hedgerows, ditches ponds and unimproved grasslands but also end up not killing off the pests they set out to control.
Quaking Grass
The Downland has come alive with numerous plants coming into flower and industrious insects pollinating them. This really is the month to come to the Downs to see the variety of plants especially the orchids. There are many to see but the ones I like the best are the ones that mimic insects like the Fly Orchid (Ophrys insectifera) and the Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera). They have evolved to attract similar looking insects to themselves to lure the insect into mating with it but at the same time help pollinate it.. A very distinctive grass found here is the Quaking grass (Briza media). It is a fine delicate grass that appears to shiver with the slightest breeze. It also goes by the other names of “Shivering Grass”, “Lady’s Hair grass” and “Doddering Didder”. One of the first plants to fruit is the Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca), which bears beautiful red fruit towards the end of this month. These fruit are fed on by snails, slugs, birds, insects and mammals, including us.
Birds Nest Orchid
Our woodlands have become darker as the canopies have filled in with leaves. The woodland floor has lost a lot of the colour it had in the spring and only the shade-tolerant plants continue to flower. One such flower that has adapted to growing under beech trees is the Bird’s-nest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis). This can easily be overlooked with its light brown almost camouflage appearance but it is well worth spotting. It derives its name because the roots of this plant look similar to a bird’s nest. Talking of bird’s nests, the woods are a constant buzz of activity from the sounds of birds still trying to attract mates and the screaming of young birds wanting more food. These sounds attract many predators like foxes and stoats who are looking out to feed their young too.
Around the ponds and ditches dragonflies can be seen and heard buzzing around defending their territories. The Beautiful Demoiselle (Agrion virgo), aptly named due to the male having an iridescent blue-green colour, can being seen fluttering around running water. The male of its close relative, the Banded Demoiselle (Agrion splendens), has a brilliant kingfisher-blue body and can be seen around any wet areas.
Heath Spotted Orchid
The heathland starts to have a few flowers appearing like the purple flowers of the Lousewort (Pedicularis sylvatica). This plant used to be used as a medicinal herb to rid yourself of lice. Another orchid, that can be found on heathland edges in acid grassland, is the Heath Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza maculata). The colour of the flower varies from white to pink and the leaves have small dot-like purple spots. They can initially look similar to the Common Spotted Orchid, which have larger and more blotched spots and tend not to grow commonly on heath.
Dog Rose
Our hedgerows come alive with the bright fragrant flowers of the pink Dog Rose (Rosa canina) or white Field Rose (Rosa arvensis). These are the ancestors of our modern day garden roses and June is their month to shine above all other flowers. The rose was the Tudor royal emblem of Henry the VIII. The rose has had a variety of uses over the years and it boasts to have the best nectar for giving the finest tasting honey. Rose petals are a well-known source of scent for the cosmetic and perfume industries. Rose water has long been used as a flavouring in food and rose petal jelly is very pleasant with bread and butter. Another use for this plant is as the flower goes over it produces a seedpod known as a hip. The outer orange/red peel has been used for centuries to make Rose-hip syrup by boiling it in water. The pith around the seeds has been used by mischievous children as itching powder and the hips have been found to be a useful source of vitamin-C. Another shrub flower to be found out nearly every where is the strong sweet scented Elder flower (Sambucus nigra). The flowers not only are a great source of nectar for insects but have been collected for years to make Elder flower wine and cordial.
Elderflowers
June is the best month to explore our meadows because the grasses are at their best. Probably the most impressive grass in the landscape has to be the Yorkshire Fog (Holcus lanatus). By mid-June many wet meadows change to a wonderful purple hue from a shade of green. The name Fog derives from the Norse word “Fogg” meaning long, lax damp grass. The other part of the name comes from the image of purple, misty fields around Sheffield resembling the smoke that used to billow from the factory chimneys.
Yorkshie Fog
Among the grasses you should look out for Frog Hoppers (Aphrophororide Family), these are small and difficult to see in their adult stage but there is plenty of evidence of them in their larvae stage. Whilst they are in their larvae stage they are surrounded in a white spittle like secretion. They are more commonly known as “Cuckoo’s spit”. The name derives from the coincidence of the spittle like secretion appearing everywhere and the cuckoo calling at this time of year. The white froth helps allow the larvae to grow and hide from predators at the same time. When the Frog Hopper reaches adulthood it has large protruding eyes like a frog and it hops like one too.
I’ll talk again next month - in the meantime enjoy June!
