Hello all! This is Ali the fungi and flower apprentice!
Well so much has happened since I last wrote, I’ve been so busy finishing up reports
from last season and launching myself into the spring and summer Identification of wildflowers and grasses. This has been a lot of reminding and relearning of plants
which seem to have trickled out of my memory as fungi took over in the winter!
At the start of June I taught my first ever wildflower course to BTCV staff, woo hoo! Felt great because this time last year I knew a handfull of wildflowers and now I found myself teaching others. Yay! We focused a lot on what makes a family a family, because this is what I’ve found to be most helpful for me. Getting to know the characters that group species together is great, cause then you can get to the right part of the book and bypass the nasty key at the beginning!
My personal favourite is the dead nettle family with distinctive square stem, often aromatic (think mint or wound wort Yuk!! ) and a four lobed ovary which turns into a four seeded nutlet (requires a closer inspection…who says you need to travel to explore new worlds!! ).
In my spare time I’ve been learning lots of folk lore about plants and their medicinal uses and its all coming together really nicely. Cause now I can find the plant I want to make the medicine with!! I’ve also started up a “herb study group” in Edinburgh where we’re all sharing knowledge and learning together, so this apprenticeship is definitely enhancing other parts of my life.
Just got back from a National Trust for Scotland wildflower course. This is where all the rangers get together to practice plant ID. This season I’m really focusing on the grasses which I didn’t get round to last summer.
beautiful quaking grass
And of course the fungi are coming out again!!!
This is the Orange Grisette, Amanita crocea
Until next time