meadow and wood

An outbreak of Woolly Thistle (Cirsium eriophorum), a common plant in the bit of England I live in and one of the highlights of every August. [But - 31st May 2011 - just seen two small plants in bloom on the Chippenham by-pass - I suppose an effect of plant damage due to mowing.]

Fairly common in central southern England, absent from most of the rest of the British Isles. This species doesn't occur in Sweden.

Homing in. The flowers were as usual attended by numerous besotted insects who were very patient subjects.



Fairy flax (Linum catharticum, Sw: Vildlin), now in a diminutively dessicated phase of its existence, buried among taller growth. Blurry ultra-closeup below.

Common throughout the British Isles, and in the southern half of Sweden.   




Broad-leaved dock (Rumex obtusifolius, Sw: Tomtskräppa), an unfairly neglected contributor to August colour.

Very common throughout the British Isles. Fairly common in the south of Sweden. 

Then I walked into the wood and tried to photograph the grasses, but I was mainly defeated by the chequered backgrounds, so I haven't troubled you e.g with any of my worthless studies of Poa nemoralis, a plant that disappears when photographed. I begin to understand why there are not many good photos of grasses on the internet...


Giant Fescue (Schedonorus giganteus, formerly Festuca gigantea; Sw: Långsvingel) with close-up showing blade, auricles and node.

Common throughout the British Isles, except for the Scottish Highlands. Rare in southern Sweden.   

False Brome (Brachypodium sylvaticum, Sw: Lundskafting) with closeups of blade/ligule and node. 

Common throughout the British Isles. Rare in southern Sweden, but fairly common on Öland and Gotland.

After taking these I went back into the meadow and got on with studying XenApp 5.0.