The period since WW2 has seen urban areas and, indeed farms, expand across the UK. The number of places where wildlife can thrive has been eroded.  Gardens and lawns have been changed to provide parking for cars, lawns are mowed and ‘weed-killered’, or worst still replaced with artificial grass so there is not a weed in sight.  Fortunately there are now initiatives like No Mow May that promote the growing of wild flowers in lawns and public spaces, like roadsides and verges.  Many common weeds are simply wildflowers by another name. Wild flowers / weeds (like dandelions, ragworts, clovers) are a lifeline for bees and bumblebees - who are facing so many threats [pesticides, habitat loss, invasive species] so adequate food is important. The flowers of these wild flowers / weeds offer food for a wide range of endangered bees, and at times when other resources are limited.  Dandelions, for example, offer an abundant source of nectar and pollen for bees & bumblebees when other options are limited - especially in urban settings. They produce their flowers (and therefore nectar and pollen) from early Spring right through to the onset of Winter. Recent studies have shown that the diet of bees has changed over the years.   In the past, the bees were able to forage and collect pollen and nectar from a wide variety of plants but with the loss of ‘natural’ wild areas their diet is now often dominated by brambles, clover and dandelions.  In the case of dandelions, their simple, open flowers makes for ease of collection.  They are visited by honey bees, bumblebees and carder bees.   Some studies have indicated that dandelion pollen, whilst it is rich in the amino acid proline,  has low levels or lacks certain amino acids (such as valine and isoleucine).  Bees need the same ten essential amino acids as us.  Without a supply of these particular amino acids, the development and growth of bees is impaired, as is their disease resistance and ability to raise the brood.  So, it is important to find ways to offer our pollinators a range of plants / pollen to provide all their essential nutrients. interesting related papers Food for Pollinators: Quantifying the Nectar and Pollen Resources of Urban Flower Meadows: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0158117 Shifts in honeybee foraging reveal historical changes in floral resources: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-020-01562-4

The diet of bees has changed over the years.   In the past, bees were able to forage and collect pollen and nectar from a variety of plants.  With the spread of highly mechanised agriculture, increasing urbanisation and road network - now their options are somewhat limited.  Large fields of monocultures, for example, of oil seed rape are now common. Whilst oil seed rape is a good source for foraging bees and bumblebees, they need to collect nectar and pollen from a variety of sources so that they get a range of nutrients, such as the essential amino acids.  Without these particular amino acids, the growth and development of bees is affected, as is their resistance to disease and their ability to raise the brood.  It is important that our pollinators are able to find a range of plants / pollen to provide all their nutrients. Whilst wild flowers [aka weeds], like dandelions, ragworts, and clovers are a lifeline for bees and bumblebees, recent research at the University of East Anglia has shown that woodlands can offer important habitats for bees, isuch as the leaf canopy.  The research team studied 15 woodland sites in agricultural areas across Norfolk (in Spring).  Within the woodlands, they looked at the bee activity in  the understorey  the woodland edge  and at different levels in the tree canopy.   They found that bees were active high up in the sunlit tree canopy, and their activity was particularly high near flowering sycamore trees.  Red tailed bumblebees (Bombus lapidarius) were busier in the canopies than elsewhere.  The understorey and woodland edges were also significant contributors to bee activity.  This study emphasises the importance of woodland habitats for the wild bee community.  

As stated in the previous post, bark is a mixture of living and dead cells.  Cork cells abound, especially in trees like the cork oak, where the cork may be regularly harvested.  This may be used for flooring, insulation and yes - corks for wine bottles. However, bark is a source of many things.  From early times, bark from trees like alder, buckthorn, oak, birch etc were used to make dyes for clothing.  Material from the inner bark of some trees (e.g. lime, willow, mulberry) was a source of fibres for clothing and cordage (string / yarn). Herbalists also found a use for the bark of certain trees.  Infusions of willow were used to treat fevers, the ‘ague’, rheumatic aches and pain.  It contains salicin, which the body converts to salicylic acid, an early 'form' of 'aspirin'. Interestingly, Nicholas Culpeper, in The Complete Herbal (of 1653) gives a number of uses for willow, including to staunch wounds, but does not mention pain control. The bark of the Cinchona [Jesuit’s bark] gave quinine - a treatment for malaria [caption id="attachment_39935" align="alignleft" width="300"] Amber[/caption] When a tree, like a pine, is injured (through storm damage or insect attack), the bark can produce resin - a sticky and viscous liquid.   The resin is produced in resin ducts present within the bark tissue, though the ducts may be present in deeper tissues. Research has shown that ponderosa pine trees that had more (and wider) resin ducts survived drought and bark beetle attack better.  The resin can harden and help seal wounds . Many resins contain terpenes, such as alpha-pinene and limoneme.  The resin from pine and other conifers can under special circumstances be converted into amber.  Sometimes, the resins produced can be fragrant. Trees of the genus Boswellia and Commiphora produce a aromatic resin that gives frankincense and myrrh respectively.  Both are produced by the wounding of a tree so that its resin seeps out.  Both may be used in the making of incense. Another bark exudate comes from certain species of Acacia - Gum arabic, which forms from the hardened sap (adjacent image).  Acacia species belong to the ‘Bean’ family (Fabaceae).  The gum is collected from trees, mostly in Sudan and the Sahel.  Gum arabic is a mixture of glycoproteins and polysaccharides.  The polysaccharides are constructed from the sugars arabinose and galactose. It is soluble in water and edible, and has a number of uses in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Tapping or wounding the bark of different trees can result in various fluids being released, for example, latex.    White or yellow latex is produced by the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis).  The latex is found in special vessels within the bark - laticifers. The process of tapping rubber trees is outlined in some detail here.   Latex production is not confined to woody trees, small herbaceous plants like dandelion and spurge can produce a white, milky latex (as can the opium poppy). [caption id="attachment_39984" align="alignleft" width="300"] Euphorbia latex[/caption] The latex produced by some members of the Spurge family can cause burning pain, inflammation or even blistering - for example that of the Pencil tree.  Such toxic saps most likely evolved to deter animals from grazing. Sometimes, a watery sap may be collected from the bark.  This is the case with Birch.  Sap may be collected (tapped) in early Spring, when sugars and other materials are being mobilised for growth, leaf production etc.  Sap may be collected later but is said to then have a bitter taste.  The sap is an interesting ‘cocktail’ of amino acids, protein, sugars (glucose & fructose), betulinic acid, proteins, vitamins C & B, and minerals.  It is used to make a much favoured drink in Northern Europe and should be consumed within days of collection.  Birch trees are quite sensitive to tapping. Not watery, but very sugary is Maple Syrup. Maple trees are tapped by drilling holes through their bark and into their trunks. Starch is stored in the trunks and roots before winter, it is then converted and mobilised in late winter / early Spring. The collected  sap (through tapping) is then heated to produce a concentrated syrup. Thanks to Montemari at Pixabay for image of gum arabic

Nature is the biggest public clock, but it operates in ways that contrast with our rather industrialised way of measuring time.  Nature's time is seasonal and much less uniform than the digital clock but it is also more forgiving.  Things happen in a woodland when the time is right, rather than as a result of man-made regulation, and this very "natural" sense of time is what many people like about being in woodlands.  Owners often tell us about how their woodland is an escape from modern life but it is particularly the escape from being a slave to clock-time which comes across most strongly.  This enjoyment is of course linked to taking "time out" - it is a good thing to take time off work but it is a further escape to get away from being organised according to the clock. Read more...

The bramble is a common native species. It is found in many different types of plant communities from woodlands, to heaths and dunes though it is not found in native pine woodland, and is generally more common in lowland than upland woods. Read more...