Brenda writes: “There’s never much chance of getting out for a walk in the garden on the last day of a Benslow course but, snatching five minutes in the sun after lunch, I spied some speedwell growing among the gravel in a sunny spot and went to get my field guide. By the way, I’m back with my ancient disintegrating field guide because the botanical drawings in the new one were just not good enough, with no detail in things like the leaves (see this blog about the flower field guides). Having checked, I was happy that the large speedwell was common field, and there was also some lilac ivy-leaved speedwell.
But among that was another speedwell with tiny bright blue flowers of a similar size to the lilac ivy-leaved. The field guide has a very useful row of flowers with a single leaf spread across the bottom of the page to provide comparisons of size and colour and, having also checked the description, I decided it was green field speedwell! In this photo it’s interesting to note the difference between the leaves of this, which are toothed and shiny, and the leaves of lilac ivy-leaved, which are very hairy.
After a very enjoyable course we had intended to stop off at Lynford Arboretum for a walk but since it was by then pouring with rain we decided to head straight home!”
New species for March 23rd:
Flowers: common field speedwell, green field speedwell
TOTALS TO DATE:
Birds = 147
Moths = 13
Wildflowers = 29