For The Love Of Ferns

As a Botanist, I never thought all that much about specialising in a particular group of plants (e.g. mosses - Bryology). Maybe this is something people do later. Besides, my area is more the edible and medicinal plants, so by choosing a group, I'd limit my area. In any case, I believe that it's handy to have a broad spectrum of interests, as they are kind of something you can tend to all year round. For many amateurs of wild flowers - Summer is the best season. Vernals and Seaweeds - Spring. Trees - Autumn. I guess my centre of passion follows like this with the seasons, lately it has been evergreens - since the deciduous have all now lost their leaves.

So anyway, last January I was 'obsessed' (as I was told) with ferns. And now I feel like I am coming full circle to that, as I took up an interest in them again in the last few days. I guess many of them don't really have a time of year (Bracken dies down in the winter, however). Anyway, as a spontaneous idea came to me, I collected a few very common ferns growing in the wild not far away and made a fern bed at the back of my garden:

Fern bed against wall with Ivy

So far I have 3 fern species in it, the Rusty-Back being the most frequent, I have 2 Hart's-Tongue ferns (left and centre-back), and a Maidenhair Spleenwort (centre front). I also stuck in a few heathers (Ling) and a few herbs to make it more mixed. Everything I got in nature. I really enjoyed doing it.

There are some ferns which are rare and protected, such as the Killarney fern. These should not be collected! Even though the ferns I collected are very common, I try to follow the rule of thirds - whereby I divide the rootstock, taking about 2 thirds. Since the third that is left behind is in it's natural habitat, so it won't suffer transplant shock - thus it will very likely recover.

Whilst I was studying ferns last January I made a mind-map of what is to be found in Ireland to get a clear picture. More than I expected, it turns out. Anyway, I'll put the mind-map on the download page, for anyone who wants to take a look (however, I you it uses primarily Latin names).

Eating Dandelions

'False Dandelion'

Can you tell a true Dandelion from the hundreds of 'pretenders'/look-alikes? If you are going to eat a wild plant, you need to be certain of what it is! Luckily in the case of Dandelions, all the close look-alikes are supposed to be edible. But what defines close? It depends on people actually - some similar plants can seem totally different to the trained eye. Anyway, a few years back, when I learned about the great health and nutritional value of dandelions, I wanted to eat some, so I tried to find out what what is not a dandelion. I was quite surprised to find that half of what I thought to be dandelions were actually just 'pretenders'. I will later post a guide to identifying true dandelions. For now though, lets look at why they are interesting...

"But they flower in summer - what use are they this time of year?"
Actually some species flower in winter (if it is mild) - but mostly, yes they flower in summer. However there are still the leaves and roots to be found at this time, which can be identified with a little care.
Recently, I came across an article on the Livestrong website talking about Dandelion as  a source of Vitamin D! I can't find the exact article again, but here's another talking about Vitamin D in Dandelions. Since we already have a lot of cloudy weather in Ireland and in the winter especially, a lack of vitamin D is more likely - which may be linked with Seasonal Affective Disorder among other things. If you are vegetarian/vegan, then sunlight and supplements may be your only source of Vitamin D. Since there is debate about the accuracy of vitamin D tests as well as the effectiveness of vitamin D supplementation - all the more reason to be sure you get enough from natural sources. It is possible too (depending who you ask) that the vitamin D found in Dandelions may not be that usable by our body - but I think it is worth a try because there are hundreds of other good nutrients you'll get besides. Furthermore - by going to get some Dandelion, you are exposing yourself to sunlight (even if it is a cloudy day!).

There seems to be a lot of information on the internet about Dandelion. This page has many articles about the use of its root.

I hope that's convinced you of the value of this everyday garden weed. But do be careful, be sure you know what it is and that the surroundings are clean (free from chemicals etc.).

All parts of the Dandelion usually taste bitter - though this is less so in spring. Anyway, there are many things you can do with dandelion. Here's something I tried a few months ago - it seems the salt reduces the bitter taste a bit: Dandelion Root with Soya Sauce. Celtnet is a great website for wild food recipes. Next summer, when they are in flower, I intend to make Dandelion Jam/Jelly. I know, it sounds weird - but I'll let you know how it turns out. Meanwhile, you can find many other recipe ideas for Dandelions on the net.

And by the way - the photo is not a true dandelion, but probably either Cat's ear or Hawk bit - difficult to tell with only the top view (no leaves visible).

Trip to France

Two weeks ago, I went on a brief trip to the French Alps.
Unexpectedly, yet delightedly, I came across this:

Atlas Cedar (my photo)

An Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica). A shame I didn't take more photos - as I was unsure if it was really a cedar when I seen it.
I am currently working on a guide for distinguishing many of the Conifers found in Ireland. While Cedars are very rare in Ireland, this event has made up my mind to include them for completeness.



Superficially, the leaves (needles) of Cedars look like those of larch - because they both are attached in bunches to the twigs (I describe this as though the needles are exploding out of holes in the branches). However, the leaves of Larch are more green (compared to the Cedar's bluish green needles) and are lost in the winter, thus they tend to be less firm than those of the Cedar. However, there are many other differences, such as the cones - those of the Cedar being bigger than eggs, while the Larch's are little bigger than a cherry. Also, the bark is rather different.

Larch Twig (image by Rosser1954)

Blog Created