Elder

The elder bushes are full of berries this time of the year for birds to gorge on and people to pick for elderberry wine.

The bark of the tree is corky,  fissured and internally has a soft white pith.  The large dark green leaves are opposite and pinnate. In the spring and early summer the flowers are small, umbel-like, creamy-white cluster and are fragrant. But it is the fruit this time of the year that stands out: a juicy purple and black berry.

The name elder is probably derived from the Anglo-Saxon "aeld" or "ellarn" meaning fire or kindle. The hollow stems were used for blowing fires to re-kindle them or get the fire started.  Hence its former names were pipe tree and bore tree.

The generic name "Sambucus" is probably derived from "sambuca", a kind of harp made from elder. Of course, the specific name "nigra"is Latin for black referring to its black berries.

In the past, the wood of elder was used for butchers skewers, needles for weaving and shoemakers pegs. Today, the berries and flowers are used for making wine and cordials.

Eardington Halt railway station

Sunday 28 September, 2014

Whilst driving to Chelmarsh today I noticed Eardington Halt railway station was open so I stopped and took some photos.  It seems volunteers open it occasionally for the public but the train doesn't stop there.

Severn Valley Steam Train

Ticket Office

late summer wildlife

Buddleia 

Lords & Ladies

Red Admiral

Clouded Yellow

Himalayan Balsam

Wormwood (Artemsia absinthium) & Mugwort (Artemsia vulgaris)

Both wormwood and mugwort grow in similar habitat: roadside verges, waste ground and old railway lines.  They are easily identified: wormwood having a grey tinge to its green foliage, branched spikes and a soft feel to it.  When in flower, there are small yellow button like flower-heads and the plant stands up to 60cm tall.

Mugwort is similar but with purple stems, leaves pinnate lobed, dull green above, grey underneath and much taller being up to 120cm.  Both plants, though, are strongly aromatic, with wormwood being by far the most pungent.

The genus artemsia is named after the Greek virgin goddess Artemis.  She was the goddess of hunting and chastity, it is also identified with the Roman goddess Diana.  She is not to be confused with the Artemis of Ephesus who was a fertility goddess with multiple breasts, a turreted crown and a kind of nimbus behind her head. - see Acts 19:27.

Wormwood has the scientific name "absinthium" and was used to flavour the drink Absinthe. This was first produced commercially in 1797 by Henry-Louis Pernod.  Wormwood came to be considered dangerous to health and was thought to cause hallucinations and sterility.

Wormwood is mentioned to be used in medicine 4-5 hundred years before Christ. Highly esteemed by Hippocrates and the Greeks who claimed it helped with disorders of the brain.  Wormwood is also mentioned in the Bible where it is compared to the after effects of living an immoral life - Proverbs 5:4.  Also the bitter experience that came upon Judah and Jerusalem by the hands of the Babylonians - Jeremiah 9:15; 23:15; Lamentations 3:15, 19.  It is also mentioned in the book of Revelation - 8;11.

In herbal remedies of old, these two plants were used for a variety of reasons ranging from women's problems and was recorded as the herb of Venus.  The Romans used put them in their sandals when on the march.