Plant Photos

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Chicory flower, Cichorium intybus, with Tachinid fly, Wraysbury Lakes, 2 September 2010

Round-leaved Sundew, Drosera rotundifolia, catching insects with the sticky hairs on its leaves. Thursley Common, July 2010
In the background are Sphagnum bog mosses.

Lords and Ladies (Wild Arum) Arum maculatum in fruit, Dordogne, July 2008

Lady Orchid, Orchis purpurea, Charente, May 2008

Military Orchid, Orchis militaris, Charente, May 2008

Fly Orchid, Ophrys insectifera, Charente, May 2008

Tassel Hyacinth, Muscari comosum, Dordogne, May 2008

Ragged Robin (Catchfly), Lychnis flos-cuculi, Dordogne, May 2008

Ramsons (Wild Garlic), Allium ursinum, Wales, May 2009

Fallen Maple Leaves, Acer sp, London, October 2006

Snakeshead Fritillary, Fritillaria meleagris, Kew Gardens, Easter 2009

Peeling Birch Bark, Chobham Common, Easter 2010

"Champion trees include two ‘Great Trees Of London’, one being ... a stumpy London plane Platanus acerifolia (Tree 247 on the attached map) with a trunk of over two metres diameter. [It] may date from Repton’s landscaping of the park in 1812 when it belonged to George Scott the builder of the nearby St Peter’s Square."

Ravenscourt Park Draft Management Plan 2008-2013, page 16.

Detail of trunk, showing burr-forming green shoots

Full-circle inward-looking 'panorama' of the trunk (click for full image 1800 x 650 pixels, 556kBytes)

The Ravenscourt Park Plane (London Plane, Platanus x hispanica), its mighty trunk knobbled and burred almost to Baobab shape.
It is unclear why the tree has this curious shape. Oaks of this shape were often formerly pollarded at 12' or so, the branches being used for timber.
Perhaps this Plane was originally clipped at this height as part of Repton's landscaping scheme. May 2010

All photographs (c) Ian Alexander

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