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| Lesser Celandine |
The North wind doth blow and we shall have snow,and what will poor robin do then, poor thing? So goes the nursery rhyme.Well, we have had the snow (not very much at Dol y Moch) but a little further east at Llangollen they received huge amounts. Roads were blocked by fallen trees and branches brought down by the sheer weight of snow.The wind that brought the snow came from the north-east which is the direction from which the wind has been blowing for the past few weeks, bringing very cold and dry conditions to the UK (and at Dol y Moch plenty of sunshine).The low temperatures have put spring 'on hold' - plant growth has slowed dramatically. Grass in the farmers' fields has virtually stopped growing with the result that ewes with their suckling lambs have little on which to graze. Fortunately for the lambs, the weather is dry - a cold, wet spring puts the lambs at risk from hypothermia as their thin coat of wool gets sodden.
The appearance of our spring flowers is always a welcome sight after a lingering winter. None more so than the pretty Lesser Celandine braving the current wintry weather. It first appeared on the 14th February (St. Valentine's Day). My records show that in previous years first sightings were as follows:- 3rd Feb. 2008; 16th Feb. 2009; 2nd March 2010; 23rd Feb.2011; 31st Jan 2012.
In the sixteenth century it was referred to as 'swallow herb.'.......bycause that it beginneth to springe and to flowre at the comming of the swallows' (Lyte 1578)
Wild flowers are often called by different names in different areas of the UK. Lesser Celandine, for example, is also referred to as Butter and Cheese, Star Flower and Spring Messenger to name but a few.
It's actual scientific name is Ranunculus ficaria. All classified living things have a universal scientific name of usually two Latin words, a noun followed by an adjective. In the case of Lesser Celandine, Ranunculus comes from the Latin for frog (Rana) as the plants tends to grow in damp places where frogs abound! Ficaria comes from Ficus (Fig) because the root tubers of Lesser Celandine are fig-like in appearance.
Returning to our nursery rhyme, what about poor robin? Well she might sit in a barn and keep herself warm, and hide her head under her wing, poor thing. Better still, she could join other hard-pressed, hungry birds during this wintry weather at your bird feeding station, tucking into life-sustaining fat-balls, peanuts, mealy worms and seeds............and don't forget to provide water for drinking. Which reminds me, our tadpoles now have tails and are actively feeding on algae which coat stones and water plants.
Next blog will include weather data for Jan, Feb and March.......I feel cold already!
