Autumn is here, whether you follow the definition of meteorological autumn, which starts on the first of September or the astronomical autumn which starts at the autumn equinox.  The equinox is when day and night length are equal, after that time the days get shorter. Or it might be that you are noting the signs of the seasons changing.  The BBC, the Woodland Trust and Nature’s Calendar chart the advance of autumn by recording events in the life of key species, for example blackberry, hawthorn, swifts, conkers, ivy and oak.  The information collected helps build a picture of how climate change is affecting the time of flowering, fruiting  etc. of many species. The blog has already commented on the early flowering of the blackberries but now woodlands are starting to transform into a mosaic of reds, yellows, and oranges as the leaves prepare to be shed and the woodland floor becomes a fungal jungle, (as Jasper has described). Hawthorn, Blackthorn and other bushes are laden with berries, conkers and acorns will be strewn across woodland floors. Squirrels eat hazelnuts (and hide some of them as a winter food store).  This banquet of fruits and seeds may be a response to the long, hot and very dry summer we have just experienced.  Trees and shrubs have been stressed by the heat and drought. Some have responded by mobilising their reserves / efforts into producing more fruits and seeds, to ensure that they pass on their genes to the next generation.   [caption id="attachment_24651" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Sloes on Blackthorn[/caption] If it seems like you have been noticing more acorns on the trees than normal that could be down to a "mast year”. Mast years occur roughly every five to ten years and refer to years when certain species of trees Like oak & beech) and shrubs produce a larger than normal crop of berries, nuts and fruit.  This boost in production means far more is produced than can be eaten  by the usual herbivores, squirrels, dormice etc, thus ensuring at least some of the mast goes on to grow new plants.  However, this ‘over-production’ can come at a cost to the tree, using vital resources so that growth in the subsequent year may be reduced.  Quite what causes trees and shrubs to ‘go mad’ and overproduce is not known but some theories are explored in a previous blog, though the weather in Spring is an important factor. [caption id="attachment_42689" align="aligncenter" width="675"] Collecting acorns.[/caption]

Occasionally, there is a blog about Mistletoe, it tends to be around December and Christmas. It is a plant associated with that time of year.However, mistletoe* is botanically  interesting as it is a hemi-parasite.  It grows on other plants - notably apple, blackthorn, lime, willow and poplar.  It has evergreen, smooth-edged, oval leaves so it can photosynthesise, making sugars and other complex organic compounds.  However, it relies on its host plant for water and mineral salts.  It ‘hijacks’ water and minerals by forming ‘clamp-like’ connections (known as haustoria) with the xylem (water conducting tissue) of the host. Mistletoe produces its characteristic white berries (known as drupes) during the winter months. Within the flesh of the  berries are the seeds.  The berries are often taken by birds and as the tissue around the seeds is sticky, the bird will often try to scrape off a seed sticking to its beak by ‘wiping’ the beak against the bark of a tree. The stickiness of this material probably helps stick the seed to a host.  The sticky material is fibrous and is known as viscin (the scientific name for mistletoe is Viscum album).  [caption id="attachment_38403" align="aligncenter" width="600"] slightly dehydrated Christmas mistletoe berries[/caption] Now viscin is being investigated in depth for its adhesive properties.  Each berry can produce some two metres of the sticky viscin fibres, and when wet these can be processed to form thin films.  It may be that it can be used as a wound sealant or skin covering.  Seemingly viscin can stick to almost anything, not only natural materials from wood, skin and feathers but also plastic, glass and metal alloys.   [caption id="attachment_38404" align="aligncenter" width="560"] 'Balls' of mistletoe[/caption] Research into viscin has been initiated at McGill University and the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces.  It may be that it will offer a new type of adhesive that is biodegradable and biorenewable. Mistletoe is a member of the Santalaceae, which includes the sandalwoods,

When you look around this week, you might see suspended from the ceiling or a light fitment - a rather sad and shrivelled piece of mistletoe.  Mistletoe is well known for its connection to Christmas, in particular for the custom of “kissing underneath the mistletoe”.  The mistletoe has separate male and female plants; it is DIOECIOUS.  It follows that the male plants will not produce berries and they have no commercial value - as they do not yield berry-laden sprigs for Christmas decorations.  This use of mistletoe may be rooted in festive legends of 'fertility and life giving powers'. Read more...

At this time of year, berries and other fruits form a valuable part of the diet of many wild animals, but particularly birds (such as blackbirds, thrushes,  fieldfares and redwings) and small mammals.  They will feast on berries and fruits through the autumnal and winter months. Many fruits of hedgerow and garden plants are berries.  Botanically speaking, a berry is a fruit formed from the ovary of a single flower and the outer layer of the ovary wall develops into an edible, fleshy portion (the pericarp). Berries are generally juicy, rounded, brightly coloured, they may be sweet or sour, and inside there may be many pips or seeds - they do not have a ‘stone’.  The tissues of the berry will be rich in sugars, starches, some protein and various minerals.  Read more...

Juniper ‘berries’ are fragrant and provide the oils / chemicals that give gin a distinctive flavour.  The ‘berries’ used in gin production are rarely from the U.K. Many come from Italy or Macedonia, where the hot summers allow the full development of these oils (contained within the seeds).  A ‘berry’ takes some two years to come to maturity and ripen fully.  The ‘berries’ are often harvested by beating the Juniper shrub with a stick so that the ripe ‘berries’ fall to the ground for collection. The ‘berries’ are not, in fact, berries but cones.  Juniper is a conifer (the other two native coniferous trees are Scots Pine and Yew).  Whereas the cone of Scots Pine hardens and become a woody structure as it ages, the cone of Juniper has fleshy, ‘soft’ scales that merge together to give a berry like structure, which encloses the seeds.  The ‘berries’ or cones are green when young but turn a purple black colour as they mature. Read more...

Four woodlands in the South West have won recognition at this year’s RFS Awards in the Small Woodlands category, sponsored by Woodlands.co.uk. The first prize went to William Sowerby, owner of Coombeshead, Launceston, Cornwall. Mr Sowerby planted a three and a half acre wood on a hill crest, restoring mature trees, saving old trees from neglect, coppicing, and even planting 300 yards of mixed hedge – which now provides berries and nests to birds, while sheets of corrugated iron on the ground encourage worms and other species. Read more...

The importance of hedgerows in the maintenance of biodiversity cannot be over-emphasised.   Hedgerows provide vital food, in the form of a variety of berries - sloes, haws, blackberries etc,  for small mammals and birds (redwings, blackbirds) and hedgerow flowers support pollinating insects - a  variety of bees and butterflies. However, the 'management' of hedgerows or trimming / flailing of a hedgerow can make a significant difference to its productivity - that is, the number of flowers and fruits produced. Read more...

We have experienced an extended and warm autumn, and now true to Pliny's words - "A fair and dry autumn brings in always a windy winter" - winter weather has now firmly settled upon us.  The temperature is down to "more representative" seasonal values for December, and cold, high winds have recently lashed Scotland and other parts of the U.K. The warmest Autumn (for some 300 + years) was in 2006, when the temperature was some 2.4 / 3 oC above the seasonal average ; places like Kinlochewe recording a daytime temperature of 22.5 oC.   The recent mild weather * was due to an unusual pattern of high altitude winds over the Continent.  The course of the jet stream meant that there were southerly winds and relatively settled conditions over the United Kingdom. Read more...