Wood Sorrel, Oxalis acetosella

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Wood Sorrel

In flower at the moment in Norfolk, the Wood Sorrel, Oxalis acetosella, is a delightful, delicate spring flower. A member of the Oxalidaceae, it has pretty light green trefoli-shaped leaves, composed of three equal and heart-shaped leaflets, which droop at night and in bright sunlight. White flowers with five petals and purple veins are held above the leaves.(There are also deep pink and purple-flowered variants.)

The plant can be found in shady, moist areas throughout the British Isles. It will even grow in conifer plantations, where it can be the only ground flora apart from mosses.

Wood Sorrel has various other names, including Wood-sorrel (note the hyphen), Alleluia (because if appears at Easter), Cuckoo’s bread and cheese and Gowke-Meat (it flowers when cuckoos return here in spring), Wood Sour and Granny’s sour grass.

The last two names refer to the acidity of the leaves, which are delightfully sharp and can be eaten in small quantities. The sourness comes from oxalic acid and it’s best to only eat small quantities, since this is toxic in large amounts – and also because it would be a shame to pick too much of this lovely plant. The Plants For A Future website tells us that the flowers can be added to salads for decoration and that the plant has various medicinal uses. A Modern Herbal tells us that Wood Sorrel was once used as a pot herb, before French Sorrel (Rumex scutatus) was introduced. The specific name acetosella also refers to the sharpness of the leaves – it is shared with equally sharp-flavoured Sheep’s Sorrel, Rumex acetosella.

The Nature Gate website has some more information on Wood Sorrel, plus lovely pictures of the plant (far better than mine), as does the Woodlands.co.uk Blog.

Gorse, Ulex europaeus

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“When gorse is out of blossom, kissing’s out of fashion” – a well-known folk saying.

Gorse

Gorse on Kelling heath, Norfolk

I bring good news: kissing is very much in fashion at the moment, judging by the gorse in flower on the heaths of North Norfolk.

A mass of bright yellow gorse flowers, wafting their delicious coconut scent across the heathland, is one of the treats of spring. According to Richard Mabey in ‘Flora Britannica’ (Sinclair-Stevenson 1996), the Swedish naturalist Linnaeus reputedly fell to his knees and thanked God when he first saw Gorse on an English common.

Common Gorse, Ulex europaeus, is common in disturbed areas, such as heaths, grasslands and forest margins. It is a shrubby member of the Pea family, the Fabaceae (formerly Leguminosae) which grows to about two metres tall and is covered in dense spines (unlike its relative Common Broom, Cytisus scoparius, which is found in similar places). It generally flowers between January and June.

Gorse is excellent for wildlife and provides dense cover for nesting birds such as Yellowhammers, Linnets, Stonechats and Dartford Warblers, as well as a nectar source for insects early in the year when little else is in flower. One of Gorse’s alternative names is ‘furze’ and this has led to the Dartford Warbler’s other name of ‘furze wren’.

Gorse has also been very useful for humans, providing fuel, cattle and horse food (in spite of the spines) and brooms. Gorse ashes make a good fertiliser. The flowers have been used to dye Easter eggs. The Plants For A Future website says that the buds can be pickled in vinegar and then used like capers in salads, and the shoot tips can be used to make a tea. The flowers are used in Bach flower remedies to treat ‘Hopelessness’ and ‘Despair’. (I find just looking at the flowers cures me of this.) Many of our surviving heathlands, such as at East Ruston and Buxton Heath in Norfolk  survive because they were set aside as ‘Poor Allotments’ at the time of enclosure.

Bacteria in the roots fix nitrogen and enable the plant to grow in places with low soil fertility. Gorse is a great colonist and after it has improved the soil trees will be able to colonise the heathland and will eventually shade out the Gorse. Cutting back gorse from time to time will reinvigorate it and make it a better wildlife habitat.

Gorse has been introduced to many parts of the world. Where it has been introduced, it can be very invasive and it is a serious pest in Australia. 

Common Gorse, Ulex europaeus, has two close relatives in Britain, both of which flower later in the summer (usually July – November). Western Gorse, Ulex gallii, is frequent in the western half of Britain and occurs along the East Anglian coast. (This article by Gill Smith gives a useful summary of the differences between Westen and Common Gorse.)  Dwarf Gorse Ulex minor, is a low growing, sprawling sub-shrub, covered in short spines. It is found on heaths in central southern and eastern Britain. The extended flowering time of our three native species of gorse is probably the reason why kissing never goes completely out of fashion.

Common Gorse

Common Gorse

Wild Tulip, Tulipa sylvestris

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The first tulips I grew as a child were red Parrot Tulips, which had enormous, brightly coloured flowers with twisted, wavy petals. A kind description of these showy tulips is ‘extremely flamboyant‘, though to the less charitable they could be considered ‘a bit vulgar‘.

I still grow tulips but my favourite at the moment  *, which I only discovered this spring, is the Wild Tulip or Woodland Tulip, Tulipa sylvestris. This grows from six to 15 inches (15 – 38 millimetres) tall and has bold, clear yellow flowers.

* I reserve the right to find another favourite tulip at some time in the future.

It is lovely and elegant in bud:

Wild Tulip

Tulipa sylvestris – in bud

Then it explodes into colour:

Wild Tulip

Tulipa sylvestris – in full flower

Tulipa sylvestris can be found growing wild in various locations in the lowlands of Britain, where its habitats include open woodlands, orchards, hedgerows, riversides, chalk pits, grassy banks and waste ground. I have never seen it growing in the wild, but have a single plant in the raised bed in our back garden, which I bought from Natural Surroundings in North Norfolk earlier this year. Tulipa sylvestris enjoys growing in a sunny spot and can be naturalised in grass. It is a perennial and has a bulb beneath the ground, to which it will die back after flowering. It is very drought tolerant once established.

Tulipa sylvestris is thought to be originally from Mediterranean Europe but it can now be found in parts of Asia and North Africa as well as Europe. It is hardy in our climate and it was being cultivated in Britain by 1596 and was recorded from the wild by 1790. It was widely naturalised by the late 18th and 19th centuries but has since declined, though populations can persist even if the plants don’t flower [reference].

The Plants For A Future website warns that the bulb and the flowers have been known to cause dermatitis in sensitive people – florists in particular can develop a rash known as “tulip fingers” or “tulip finger disease“. 

Tulips are edible – with caution. Plants For A Future says up to five Tulipa sylvestris bulbs a day can be eaten without ill-effect. I have not tried eating tulips, though they have been eaten in times of famine, in particular in The Netherlands in 1944 – 1945. The excellent Eat The Weeds website provides more details of tulips’ edibility. In particular, the skin and the centre of the bulbs should be avoided and most types should be cooked. The petals are edible, though the flavour varies and the ends of the petals can be bitter.

The name ‘tulip’ comes from tulband, Turkish for a Persian turban, which the flowers were thought to resemble. Alternative names that never caught on included ‘lillynarcissus’ and ‘Dalmatian cap’.