Wild flower Specification Manual By Grahame Dixie and Matthew Swift
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9 Cats Ear (Hypochaeris radicata) Description and Habitat: Cats Ear is a very common plant found throughout the United Kingdom. Cats Ear grows to 20-60cm tall and produces leaves on the bottom third of its stem with several yellow flowers at the top of the stem.. The flowering period extends from June to September. It lives in acidic to calcareous short grasslands although it can be found in some woodlands and heaths (MG1,3,4,5,6,7,11,12, CG1,2,3,4,8,10,13, U1,3, H6,7,8,,11, W23,24). Cats Ear prefers a dry, sandy, slightly acidic soil with moderately open vegetation.
Role: Cats Ear is easy to successfully introduce new sites and into banks and dry meadows. The plant can feature in flowering lawns. The plant benefits from two or three cuts a year and thrives under heavy grazing. The plant is an important nectar source for butterflies. 10 Chicory (Cichorium intybus) Description and Habitat: Chicory is a tall (45 to 100 cm) beautiful plant and although probably not native to the UK has naturalised. The stems are woody and have large broken leaves at the bottom of the stem, which get smaller the nearer they are to the flower heads. The flowers themselves are sky blue and have 15-20 petals and bloom in the morning and are held close to the stem. The flowering period extends from July to October. Chicory likes well drained soils (sand and chalk) and is often on roadsides, rough grasslands and wastelands, particularly in South and Central Britain..
Role: Chicory is an excellent plant to grow on infertile south facing slopes and wastelands where it quickly adds colour and foliage. It also grows well on grasslands and sheltered dune systems. In the garden Chicory is best positioned behind other flowers against a south facing wall or fence. The plant can be grown in un-managed grasslands but is tolerant of cutting and grazing. 11 Clustered Bellflower ( Companula glomerata ) Description and Habitat: This plant has an exceptionally beautiful deep blue-purple flowers and stands about 20-40cm height. The Clustered Bellflower only grows well on certain calcareous soils and is restricted to southern central Britain (CG2,3,4,5, U1). Typically its habitat are chalk and limestone grasslands but it is occasionally found on sea-cliffs. The plant requires soils of over pH 6.5 and with low fertility’s .
Role: The Clustered Bellflower is a must for calcareous gardens. Once established the plant should easily survive and will spread to open soil around it. During September the plant can be trimmed back. In grassland situations it requires grazing or regular mowing, free draining conditions, calcareous soils and is often found in association with Devils Bit Scabious and Oxeye Daisy in species rich sites. 12 Common Vetch (Vicia sativa) Description and Habitat: Common Vetch is a quick growing annual plant that produces paired pink to purple flowers along the expanse of its 20-50cm length and flowers from May to September. It is a climbing/sprawling plant that tends to find any gaps that exist in the surrounding vegetation. It favours neutral or alkali unmanaged grasslands and also very open woodland (MG1,3,7, U1, W24). The Common Vetch does well in any pH above 4.5 and likes dry to soils.
Role : The Common Vetch is a plant of unmanaged grassland and meadows, or situations where the grass is cut in the autumn. It is beneficial as a food source for insects. 13 Common Spotted Orchid ( Dactylorhiza fuchsii) Description and Habitat: Orchids are often considered to be delicate, fragile and very rare flowers that need constant attention and an exact environment. This is not true of the Common Spotted Orchid which in practice is more robust and adaptable than normally credited. It grows to around 35cm and creates a pyramidal shape cluster of pink/purple flowers from June to August. Its leaves are dark green and speckled with dark purple spots. The Common Spotted Orchid is the most frequent British orchard and is found in a wide range of habitats through out England and Ireland. This orchid is most common on open chalk grassland but it also occurs on neutral and moderately acidic soils and can even be found in mires and woodland borders ( MG3,9, CG 2,3, W3, M9, 10, 13, 22, 24). It is also found on former quarries, clay pits, railway embankments and roadside verges. As with all native orchids soil fertility levels need to be low.
Role: This orchid will grow well in most garden environments as long as it gets plenty of light and the soil is not below pH 5. The plant can be successful on raised beds or mounds, or planted into medium length grass. The Common Spotted Orchid is probably the least fussy of the native orchids available commercially and can be planted in grassland, woodlands and on bare soil sites. Fertility levels need to be low and the site reasonably well supplied with moisture. Planting needs to take place during the late autumn and watered during the first few weeks if conditions are very dry. Maintenance should involve cutting the grass after seed set in September. A further cut can be taken before March. Winter grazing is particularly effective management technique. 14 Common Tormentil (Potentilla erecta) Description and Habitat: Tormentil is a creeping perennial plant with 3 clubbed leaves that grows to between 10-40cm. Each plant will produce 3-7 stems, each with one or two 4 petaled yellow flowers which appear from June to September. This is a plant that propagates quickly and easily through the use of runners and is best adapted to mires, heaths and acidic grasslands and to a lesser extent woods and moist calcareous grasslands (MG2,3,5,9,CG2,9,10,11,12,13,14,U1,2,3,4,5,6 ,7,10,13,14,15,16,17,19,20,2, M4,6,8,9,10,11,12,13, 14,15,16,1719,21,22,23,24,25,26,29,28, H2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11, 12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,W2,4,9,11,16,17,18,19,23,25). It is most common in short acid grasslands, on heaths, moors and roadsides. Tormentil is associated with low to intermediate fertility. Its shallow root system renders the plant susceptible to drought and is more commonly found in the more humid conditions of the North and the West
Role: The Tormentil is an important element in acidic grasslands, heaths and mires. The plant is unpalatable to stock and can sustain itself in grassland with little management, provided the soil is not too fertile. This is a very important plant for several butterflies, especially the Grizzled skipper whose larvae feed on it. 15 Common Dog Violet (Viola riviniana) Description and Habitat: This is the commonest Violet found in Britain. The plant is small only growing to 20-25cm but produces dark green ovaite, and occasionally hairy, leaves that persist through out the winter. The flowers are violet in colour measuring 2cm wide, with one plant producing many flowers each year. The flowering period is usually from April to September. The Common Dog Violet is usually found in grasslands, wastelands or woodlands and typically in deciduous woods, hedge banks and old pastures. ( MG2,3, CG2,8,9,10,11,12,13,14, U4,5,10,13,15, 16,17,19,20, M11,38, H6,7,8,10,11,12,15,16,18,20,21, W7,8,9,10,11,14,17,19,20,21,22,23,24,25) The Common Dog Violet will grow in any pH above 4, the soils are normally moist soils and with low fertility.
Role: The Common Dog Violet is most often found on short, grazed calcareous turf and limestone scree. In lowland Britain it is more commonly a woodland species. It is also found on wasteland, river banks, waysides, mire and rock outcrops. In the garden it can be used in shaded areas, damp rock gardens and in the front of herbaceous border. The plant has a role as an early nectar source for butterflies and it is the larval host plant for a range of Fritillary Butterflies including the Small Pearl-bordered, the Pearl Bordered and the Silver Washed Fritillary 16 Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) Description and Habitat: Cow Parsley is a very common plant through out the UK. and some claim is the most important spring flower in the British landscape. Its a perennial that grows from 100-150cm with thick green stems and very luxuriant green leaves. In spring till early summer (April to June) it produces a cluster of creamy white flowers. Cow Parsley is common in hedgerows and woodlands, where it likes the semi-shade, and can also thrive in some mesotrophic grasslands and in alkaline soils, and particularly in moist conditions (W8,9,10,12,24,MG1,2,3). Cow Parsley is abundant on road verges, in hedgerows, in meadows and on river banks. It is also found with a range of tall herbaceous vegetation on waste ground and in woods. The plant is intolerant of drought, waterlogging , trampling and regular cutting.
Role: Its height means that it easily co-exists with tall grasses such as Arrehenatherum elatius and so needs virtually no management and can sustain itself in uncut meadows and grasslands. Cow Parsley can become a feature of shaded drives and open woodland. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||