The overlooked Lousewort

This week I am featuring some photos that I took a few weeks ago of a Lousewort - Pedicularis sylvatica. This is a small plant growing in the meadows that is often overlooked as it often keeps low to the ground and easily gets covered by taller plants as the season progresses.

However, when you look closer at it, it has quite an attractive pink flower - as you can see from these photographs. The first photograph is an extreme close up of the pink flower that appears to have 4 petals - 3 of which seem (to me at least!) to form a landing pad for pollinating insects.

The second picture below shows the front and rear of the flowers. You can also see the pods that they grow from - these go on to form the seed pods.





The third image below shows a group of flowers on one stem. It shows a side view of the flower - almost like a hood - and a few of the leaves. Before the plant flowers, with the small curly leaves, it looks quite like a small clump of moss.



You can see more photographs of the Lousewort in the flora section of the Environment gallery.


Technical details:
Camera: Canon EOS350D
Lens: older Canon 100mm macro lens
Sensitivity: ISO200
Exposure: Studio -1/200 F16 with ETTL flashgun
Indoor Lighting: Off camera flashgun diffused through a Lastolite diffuser.
Other: Those taken indoors are in a 'studio' made from a cardboard box

Cat’s ear - Hypochaeris radicata

The Cat’s ear (Hypochaeris radicata) is a plant of our meadows that looks like a dandelion but is a different species. It has the same yellow-orange flower and produces its seed in the same manner – in fluffy balls comprising of the tiny parachutes that carry the seed. We have several different species of these ‘dandelions’ – some of which I am still trying to identify.

The first picture above was taken in one of our meadows and shows a flower bud and a flower on one stem of a plant. You can see there are many more plants in the background. This was taken on a fine day although there was a bit of a breeze – I had to wait for the breeze to drop so the flowers would sop waving about. Being on long stems the slightest puff of wind set them moving.

The second picture was of another specimen on an adjacent field. This stood out as it was markedly larger than the others. This photo was taken in the studio. I have chosen this close-up as it shows the intricate detail of the flower. I see much detail and beauty in many of these wild flowers when you get close up.




The final picture below is of a flower bud. This is similar to one that I discussed a few weeks ago. Again, there is a wealth of detail close-in. Due to the limitations of showing photos on the web, not all the fine detail shows, but in the original and in prints I think the detail is stunning.



More photographs can be seen in the flora section of the Environment photo gallery.

Technical details:
Camera: Canon EOS350D
Lens: older Canon 100mm macro lens
Sensitivity: ISO200
Exposure: Studio -1/200 F16 with ETTL flashgun
Indoor Lighting: Off camera flashgun diffused through a Lastolite diffuser.
Outdoor: Naturural light on a bright slightly overcast day.
Other: Those taken indoors are in a 'studio' made from a cardboard box

The tiny flowers of common hemp nettle (Galeopsis tetrahit)

I am slowly building up my gallery of photographs of wild flowers. In doing this I find that I am looking closer at the plants than I would do normally. This shows that there is beauty even in common weeds that would usually be pulled up and discarded.

The picture above shows the flower of the common hemp nettle (Galeopsis tetrahit). The flower is only about 1/4" across (5-6mm) and is one of a cluster growing at the tip of a stem. It looks quite inconspicuous at normal viewing distances, but is quite an attractive flower close-up. This picture is an enlargement from another photo taken close up - even my macro lens doesn't quite get close enough at times.




This second photograph shows the flower from the side. You can see it is quite a long, trumpet shaped flower. I have not discovered which insects pollinate it but, judging by the length of it, it must be one with a long tongue - possibly a butterfly or moth?

In this third photograph, you can see the tip of the plant with the cluster of small flowers, one of which is in bud. The black background is from a sheet of black card - these photographs were taken indoors.



More of these pictures can bee seen in the Flora section of the Environment Gallery.


Technical details:
Camera: Canon EOS350D
Lens: older Canon 100mm macro lens
Sensitivity: ISO200
Exposure: 1/200 F16 with ETTL flashgun
Indoor Lighting: Off camera flashgun diffused through a Lastolite diffuser.
Other: Those taken indoors are in a 'studio' made from a cardboard box

Walking over Cors Caron (Tregaron bog)

The weather has been a bit better this past week or so, but we are still waiting for summer to arrive. In the past week I have been able to twice visit the Cors Caron nature reserve. The first visit was a week ago on the Sunday when it was bright with blue sky and clouds. The second visit was on Thursday when it was overcast but still bright - not as dull and heavy as it has been.

There is a fine circular boardwalk over the bog which leads to a modern bird hide (the less said about that the better - 8ft high windows on a hide!). You can see much from this boardwalk, from the grandeur of the views, to flowers, butterflies and lizards.

The view above is looking roughly east from the boardwalk. The footpath and road is at the base of the hills in the distance. This place is about half way round. The bog used to be drained and cut for peat - I think that this is old peat cuttings.

The second picture shown below is a boggy pond area about 1/3rd of the way round (or 2/3rds if you are walking in the opposite direction!)




On this particular day we twice saw a lizard sunning itself on the edge of the boardwalk - this third picture was taken as close as I could get before it run away.



Also on this visit, we saw a large group of bog asphodel flowers - I shall be showing these in the environment gallery as soon as I can prepare them (hopefully within a couple of weeks).

More pictures of Cors Caron can be seen in the Wales Gallery - with more pictures due to be added.

Technical details:
Camera: Canon EOS350D
Lens: Canon 17-85 IS lens
Sensitivity: ISO200