All Discussions Tagged 'cow parsley' - Harringay online2024-03-29T09:19:23Zhttps://harringayonline.com/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=cow+parsley&feed=yes&xn_auth=noA riot of white at Railway Fieldstag:harringayonline.com,2021-05-20:844301:Topic:14293612021-05-20T15:30:42.988ZLizhttps://harringayonline.com/profile/Liz
<p>It is said that Queen Anne, upon seeing cow parsley growing in profusion by a roadside as she passed, thought that the waysides had been specially decorated for her visit and that is the reason the alternative name for cow parsley is Queen Anne's lace.</p>
<p>Perhaps Anne was just having a little joke that no one saw the funny side of or maybe she didn't get out of her carriage much but one can certainly recreate that feeling that Nature is putting on a bit of a show for you when you walk up…</p>
<p>It is said that Queen Anne, upon seeing cow parsley growing in profusion by a roadside as she passed, thought that the waysides had been specially decorated for her visit and that is the reason the alternative name for cow parsley is Queen Anne's lace.</p>
<p>Perhaps Anne was just having a little joke that no one saw the funny side of or maybe she didn't get out of her carriage much but one can certainly recreate that feeling that Nature is putting on a bit of a show for you when you walk up the main path at Railway Fields amidst froths of cow parsley. Now that the hawthorn is out and the white dead nettle is flowering it is almost white wherever you look, except for the bright blue fringes of green alkanet and the occasional flash of yellow dandelion.</p>
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<p>This really is a wonderful time to visit as the birdsong is loud, flowers are now beginning to show in the meadow, bees and butterflies are on the wing and you may even catch a glimpse of the sparrow hawk that has hunted over the meadow a couple of times this week. </p>
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<p>Finally if you notice what looks like small red or green fruit hanging from oak saplings, you're looking at the first generation of spangle wasp galls called currant galls, which are especially abundant this year. This is the same wasp that makes the distinctive spangles on oak leaves later in the summer when the second generation hatch.</p>
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<p>Railway Fields is open Monday to Friday 9-5 and some weekends (check <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/123396084380813/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">facebook</a> for details of when it is open as it depends on the availability of volunteers). </p>
<p>On Saturday 29th May in the morning, the Friends are holding pond dipping sessions. Booking is essential. Each ten minute slot is available for up to 6 people in a social bubble and all equipment will be provided.</p>
<p><a href="https://harringayonline.com/events/pond-dipping-at-railway-fields" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Book a time slot</a></p>
<p></p> Come see the cow parsley at Railway Fields...tag:harringayonline.com,2019-04-25:844301:Topic:11628442019-04-25T16:01:24.037ZLizhttps://harringayonline.com/profile/Liz
<p>...or Queen Anne's Lace, as it's also known, which is growing profusely at Railway Fields at the moment. It is <span>is attractive to a huge number of creatures, including orange-tip butterflies and marmalade hover flies. It can be eaten by humans too, who add the young leaves to salad as "wild chervil"</span></p>
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<p><span>Rather more…</span></p>
<p>...or Queen Anne's Lace, as it's also known, which is growing profusely at Railway Fields at the moment. It is <span>is attractive to a huge number of creatures, including orange-tip butterflies and marmalade hover flies. It can be eaten by humans too, who add the young leaves to salad as "wild chervil"</span></p>
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<p><span>Rather more sinisterly, another folk name for the plant is 'Mother-Die" because in many parts of Britain it was believed that to bring it into the house would cause your mother to die. There are a couple of theories as to why this would be, one possibility is because it resembles hemlock so you could easily poison yourself, </span></p>
<p><em>"Cow parsley – called mother’s dead in Yorkshire/Lancashire, 1930-45ish. Might be because it resembles hemlock [Conium maculatum</em><span><em>] and might be picked by mistake. ‘Never bring it into the house.’ Also known as Queen Anne’s lace</em> " [South London Botanical Institute, June 2015].</span></p>
<p><span>or because of its association with graveyards where it often grows in abundance,</span></p>
<p><span><em>"As a child in the Ipswich district I always called cow parsley dead-man’s flesh – I assume because so much of it grows in grave yards. I didn’t know of any other name for the plant until much later"</em> [Museum of East Anglian Life, Stowmarket, Suffolk, September 1985].</span></p>
<p><span>Although it has been a prominent verge plant for centuries <em>Anthriscus sylvestris</em> has become much more prolific in parks and green spaces in recent years, a <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/wild-flowers-are-overpowered-by-exhaust-fumes-7866766.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">phenomenon</a> that may be due to the way air-borne pollution from traffic fumes and fertilisers add too much nitrogen to the soil forcing out smaller more delicate plants and favouring robust plants like cow parsley. For this reason, TCV work on the site includes keeping the cow parsley at bay.</span></p>
<p><span>Even with this knowledge, it is hard, however, not to entranced by the sight of the waving stalks of cow parsley and the overhanging hawthorn blossom, once described by Dante Gabriel Rossetti thus:</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><em>"Where the cow-parsley skirts the hawthorn-hedge.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><em>'Tis visible silence, still as the hour-glass."</em></p>
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<p><a href="https://www.harringayonline.com/events/railway-fields-open-saturday-27th-april" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Come experience</a> some "visible silence" at Railway Fields this weekend.</p>