Month: January 2010
Fritillaries (2)
The name fritillary is also used to describe a group of butterflies, which are readily recognised by the beautiful chequered orange and black patterns on their wings. Eight species are native to the British Isles and others have been recorded as rare visitors. The best place to see fritillaries in the North of England is at nature reserves on the limestone of southern Cumbria such as Arnside Knott and Gait Barrows.
The small pearl bordered fritillary (top) and the dark green fritillary, both photographed in south Cumbria at the Gait Barrow and Arnside Knott reserves.
David Green
Spring’s on the way…
Spring’s on the way…
…maybe, and it might not be too early to pocket a few relatively unusual things to look out for over the next few months. I’ve picked out fritillaries for starters, mainly because we’ll have some Snake’s-head fritillaries coming up in the university’s Old Quadrangle when things warm up. Later, when it gets to be out-and-about time, there are some fairly unusual trees dotted around south Manchester to watch out for on future Herbology blogs. Our Grindon Herbarium specimens, illustrations and reference material yield a number of species in addition to the Snake’s-head Fritillary and illustrations of many more.
Fritillaria sp., 178/139
The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) yields 558 taxonomic records for fritillaria, although this is an exhaustive list of names and no doubt includes many duplications. The RHS says,
“This is a genus of approximately 100 species of bulbous perennials. They are distributed throughout the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, particularly the Mediterranean, Asia and North America. They occupy a range of habitats from woodland to open meadows and high screes.
“The majority bloom in spring, with flowers that are generally bell-shaped and pendant. The leaves are usually linear or lance-shaped. The name comes from the Latin word fritillus, a dicebox, from the spotted markings on the flowers of F. meleagris, which are suggestive of a dice-board.
“Fritillaria meleagris
“The name meleagris means ‘spotted like a guinea fowl’. It is found growing naturally from southern England to western Russia. This species is suitable for rock gardens, raised beds or woodland gardens. F. meleagris var. unicolor subvar. alba has white flowers. F. meleagris var. unicolour subvar. alba ’Aphrodite’ has white petals with green veining.”
The snake’s-head fritillary “…is native to Europe, but in many places, including France, Slovenia and Romania it is an endangered species that is
rarely found in the wild, but is common in horticulturists’ gardens. In Croatia the flower is known as Kockavica and is part of the country’s national symbol. It is the only species of Fritillary native to Britain, growing in traditional grass meadows. Due to changing land usage, it is now quite rare in the wild. The Meadow of Magdalen College, Oxford, the village of Ducklington,
Oxfordshire (which holds a Fritillary Sunday festival), and the North Meadow National Nature Reserve, Wiltshire are some of the best locations to view this flower.” – Wikipedia
Fritillaria meleagris, W. Curtis, Flora Londinensis (1777), t.20 (above left)
There is a colony of them under the trees in the NE part of the Old Quadrangle of the University of Manchester. We planted some bulbs at home last autumn, and hope to see some sprouting in our own garden.
Fritillaria verticillata, C. F. von Ledebour, Icones Plantarum Rossicam (1829), t.2
Fritillaria meleagris specimen, and illustration from O. W. Thome, Flora von Deutschland (1886), t.119
Fritillaria pudica, The Garden xiii 598, 1878
– Daniel King
2010: International Year of Biodiversity
Happy New Year! This year I have pledged to do one small thing in support of the International Year of Biodiversity. I am not going to make any other new years resolutions so this is it.
I, Lindsey, am supporting biodiversity by enjoying the seasons and the changes each month by going for a walk.
#iyb
Specimen of the Day: 7/1/10 – Ley’s Whitebeam
Christine, one of the Herbarium’s many volunteers, sent me a link to a very interesting Radio 4 programme about Britain’s Rarest Trees –
If you thought that all the world’s rarest trees were only in virgin rainforest or on remote tropical islands, then prepare to be surprised. Brett Westwood joins botanist Tim Rich from the National Museum of Wales to look for the whitebeam trees, which are found nowhere else in the world. Ley’s whitebeam near Merthyr Tydfil has only 17 specimens growing in the wild, and new species are still being described from the Avon Gorge in Bristol. Thanks to analysis of their DNA we know more than ever about these trees and their conservation presents some fascinating challenges.
You can listen to the full programme again here.
A quick search of our collection revealed that we had a specimen of Ley’s Whitebeam (Sorbus leyana) collected by Rev. Augustin Ley (1842 – 1911) in Wales in 1899. See here for more information on Rev. Ley.
- Ley’s Whitebeam
- Close up of labels
Gold…
Suzanne invited a contribution on gold to add to the seasonal herbological musings on frankincense and myrrh. And who could resist the chance to write about gold? It is probably fair to say that of the Christmas triumvirate, gold is the most valuable. The heavy yellow metal has an affinity for bank vaults that is not shared by its biblical companions. Gold is easy to work, does not tarnish and is relatively rare. This combination of rarity, permanence and beauty accounts for its value.
Gold is heavy and resistant to weathering so it is concentrated in the beds of streams and rivers. It is in these deposits, that gold nuggets are found.

Nugget gold precipitated the gold rushes that were a feature of European expansion in the nineteenth century. Unlike mines, which require skilled labour and significant investment, anyone could try their hand at digging gold from river gravels! The best known gold rushes were in California, Alaska and Australia, but there were smaller gold rushes closer to home. The most famous of these was on the Gold Mines River in Ireland where it is estimated that 400kg of nugget gold was recovered.

Britain’s only working gold mine is in Co. Tyrone in northern Ireland. Recent research at The Manchester Museum has described barite with a very unusual morphology from this deposit.

The same gold-rich rocks that are common in Ireland stretch in a belt across Scotland. A mine was developed on a deposit at Cononish near Tyndrum in the 1990s. It was mothballed when gold prices slumped but will soon come back into production. With gold now trading at more than a thousand dollars an ounce, it is likely to be profitable.

Mines in Wales have supplied gold to the Royal family for many years and because of this, Welsh gold commands a patriotically high price (much higher than normal bullion). As a result, Welsh gold specimens are very hard to get.
Britain’s most unusual gold deposit is to be found in the unlikely setting of the English Riviera at Hope’s Nose near Torquay. Here, the gold occurs in limestone. It forms beautiful dendritic fronds which are highly prized by collectors. A fine example can be seen in the Rashleigh Gallery at Truro Museum.

Gold panning is a popular hobby today. There are competitions every year and one of the museum volunteers, Dr Oneta Wilson, is a gold panning champion.