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Gentleshaw Common
Gentleshaw Common is an area of common land situated in Gentleshaw on the northern side of Burntwood in Staffordshire, England. The area is a Site of Special Scientific Interest as it is an area of globally rare lowland heathland. The common plays host to a series of fun public events throughout the year, including scrub bashing and countryside walks. Geography The site occupies the west flanks of a low hill on the southern slope of the Cannock Chase upland plateau. It lies south west of the village of Gentleshaw and overlooks the town of Burntwood to the south. It is located in the parish of Longdon in the district of Lichfield in the south of the county of Staffordshire. The land slopes down from 206m AOD in the northeast to 150mAOD on the southern border. The common is underlain with superficial deposits of gravelly boulder clay, which in turn is underlain by Triassic Keuper Sandstone. The geology of the area has provided the site with weathered and impoverished acidic s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gentleshaw Common
Gentleshaw Common is an area of common land situated in Gentleshaw on the northern side of Burntwood in Staffordshire, England. The area is a Site of Special Scientific Interest as it is an area of globally rare lowland heathland. The common plays host to a series of fun public events throughout the year, including scrub bashing and countryside walks. Geography The site occupies the west flanks of a low hill on the southern slope of the Cannock Chase upland plateau. It lies south west of the village of Gentleshaw and overlooks the town of Burntwood to the south. It is located in the parish of Longdon in the district of Lichfield in the south of the county of Staffordshire. The land slopes down from 206m AOD in the northeast to 150mAOD on the southern border. The common is underlain with superficial deposits of gravelly boulder clay, which in turn is underlain by Triassic Keuper Sandstone. The geology of the area has provided the site with weathered and impoverished acidic s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bracken
Bracken (''Pteridium'') is a genus of large, coarse ferns in the family Dennstaedtiaceae. Ferns (Pteridophyta) are vascular plants that have alternating generations, large plants that produce spores and small plants that produce sex cells (eggs and sperm). Brackens are noted for their large, highly divided leaves. They are found on all continents except Antarctica and in all environments except deserts, though their typical habitat is moorland. The genus probably has the widest distribution of any fern in the world. The word ''bracken'' is of Old Norse origin, related to Swedish ''bräken'' and Danish ''bregne'', both meaning fern. In the past, the genus was commonly treated as having only one species, ''Pteridium aquilinum'', but the recent trend is to subdivide it into about ten species. Like other ferns, brackens do not have seeds or fruits, but the immature fronds, known as ''fiddleheads'', are sometimes eaten, although some are thought to be carcinogenic. Description an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Empetrum Nigrum
''Empetrum nigrum'', crowberry, black crowberry, or, in western Alaska, blackberry, is a flowering plant species in the heather family Ericaceae with a near circumboreal distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. It is usually dioecious, but there is a bisexual tetraploid subspecies, ''Empetrum nigrum'' subsp. ''hermaphroditum'', which occurs in more northerly locations and at higher altitude. Description ''Empetrum nigrum'' is a low growing, evergreen shrub with a creeping habit. The leaves are long, arranged alternately along the stem. The stems are red when young and then fade to brown. It blooms between May and June. The flowers are small and not very noticeable, with greenish-pink sepals that turn reddish purple. The round fruits are drupes, wide, usually black or purplish-black but occasionally red. The metabolism and photosynthetic parameters of ''Empetrum'' can be altered in winter-warming experiments. Subspecies * ''Empetrum nigrum'' subsp. ''asiaticum'' (Nakai ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carex Binervis
''Carex binervis'', the green-ribbed sedge, is a European species of sedge with an Atlantic distribution. It is found from Fennoscandia to the Iberian Peninsula, and occurs in heaths, moorland and other damp, acidic environments. It typically grows to a height of , and has inflorescences comprising one male and several female spikes, each up to long. The utricles have two conspicuous green veins, which give rise to both the scientific name and the common name of the species. In the vegetative state, it closely resembles '' C. bigelowii'', a species that usually grows at higher altitude. ''C. binervis'' was first described by James Edward Smith in 1800, and is classified in ''Carex'' sect. ''Spirostachyae''; several hybrids with other ''Carex'' species are known. Description Vegetative parts The culms of ''Carex binervis'' are tall, although typically less than . They are triangular in section with rounded corners and often a single furrow. The leaves are long an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erica Tetralix
''Erica tetralix'', the cross-leaved heath, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae, native to western Europe, from southern Portugal to central Norway, as well as a number of boggy regions further from the coast in Central Europe such as Austria and Switzerland. In bogs, wet heaths and damp coniferous woodland, ''E. tetralix'' can become a dominant part of the flora. It has also been introduced to parts of North America. Description It is a perennial subshrub with small pink bell-shaped drooping flowers borne in compact clusters at the ends of its shoots, and leaves in whorls of four (whence the name). The flowers appear in summer and autumn. The distinction between ''E. tetralix'' and the related species ''Erica cinerea'' is that the linear leaves are usually glandular and in whorls of four, while those of ''Erica cinerea'' are glabrous and borne in whorls of three. The leaves of ''Calluna vulgaris'' are much smaller and scale-like and borne in opposite and dec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Molinia Caerulea
''Molinia caerulea'', known by the common name purple moor-grass, is a species of grass that is native to Europe, west Asia, and north Africa. It grows in locations from the lowlands up to in the Alps. Like most grasses, it grows best in acid soils, ideally pH values of between 3.5 and 5, however, it can continue to live under more extreme conditions, sometimes to as low as 2. It is common on moist heathland, bogs and moorland throughout Britain and Ireland. Introduced populations exist in northeastern and northwestern North America. The specific epithet ''caerulea'' means "deep blue" and refers to the purple spikelets. Description ''Molinia caerulea'' is a herbaceous perennial bunchgrass (tussock-forming), growing up to tall (taller when sheltered by gorse and heather), with many closely packed stems. The leaves are coarse, green, taper to a point, long, flat and sometimes slightly hairy on top. Due to the dense tussock it is very resistant to heath fires. Its ligule is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ulex Gallii
''Ulex gallii'', the western gorse or dwarf furzeA R Clapham, T G Tutin, E F Warburg, ''Flora of the British Isles'', Cambridge, 1962, p. 332 is an evergreen shrub in the pea family (Fabaceae), native to the Atlantic coasts of western Europe: southern Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, the Isle of Man, western France and the northern coast of Spain. It favours acidic heathy soils and is frequently found in exposed maritime and montane environments. It is more common in the west of its distribution; in eastern England it is replaced in similar habitats by the closely related Dwarf Furze (''Ulex minor''), with very little overlap in the distribution of the two species. ''Ulex gallii'' is usually tall although it may grow up to . The stems are modified into spines, mostly about long, but with some regularly spaced recurved spines of about . Like other members of the genus ''Ulex'' it has trifoliate leaves as a seedling, but later the leaves are reduced to small scales or spines. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erica Cinerea
''Erica cinerea'', the bell heather, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, native to western and central Europe. The plant provides a great deal of nectar for pollinators. It was rated in the top 5 for most nectar production (nectar per unit cover per year) in a UK plants survey conducted by the AgriLand project which is supported by the UK Insect Pollinators Initiative. Description It is a low, spreading shrub growing to tall, with fine needle-like leaves long arranged in whorls of three. The flowers are bell-shaped, purple (rarely white), long, produced in mid- to late summer. The flowers are dry, similar in texture to the strawflower. The Latin specific epithet ''cinerea'' means "ash coloured". Distribution ''Erica cinerea'' is native to the west of Europe, where it is most abundant in Britain and Ireland, France, northern Spain and southern Norway. It also occurs in the Faroe Islands, Belgium, Germany, north-western Italy, and the Netherlands. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is dominated by a maritime climate with narrow temperature differences between seasons. The 60% smaller island of Ireland is to the west—these islands, along with over 1,000 smaller surrounding islands and named substantial rocks, form the British Isles archipelago. Connected to mainland Europe until 9,000 years ago by a landbridge now known as Doggerland, Great Britain has been inhabited by modern humans for around 30,000 years. In 2011, it had a population of about , making it the world's third-most-populous island after Java in Indonesia and Honshu in Japan. The term "Great Britain" is often used to refer to England, Scotland and Wales, including their component adjoining islands. Great Britain and Northern Ireland now constitute the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Midlands
The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. They are split into the West Midlands and East Midlands. The region's biggest city, Birmingham often considered the social, cultural, financial and commercial centre of the Midlands, is the second-largest city and metropolitan area in the United Kingdom. Symbolism A saltire (diagonal cross) may have been used as a symbol of Mercia as early as the reign of Offa. By the 13th century, the saltire had become the attributed arms of the Kingdom of Mercia. The arms are blazoned ''Azure, a saltire Or'', meaning a gold (or yellow) saltire on a blue field. The saltire is used as both a flag and a coat of arms. As a flag, it is flown from Tamworth Castle, the ancient seat of the Mercian Kings, to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaccinium Vitis-idaea
''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'', the lingonberry, partridgeberry, mountain cranberry or cowberry, is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family Ericaceae, that bears edible fruit. It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from Europe and Asia to North America. Lingonberries are picked in the wild and used to accompany a variety of dishes in Northern Baltoscandia, Russia, Canada and Alaska. Commercial cultivation is undertaken in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and in many other regions of the world. Names ''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'' is most commonly known in English as 'lingonberry' or 'cowberry'.Gray's Manual of Botany: Asa GrayInteractive Flora of Northwest Europe''Vaccinium vitis-idaea''/ref> The name 'lingonberry' originates from the Swedish name for the species, and is derived from the Norse , or heather. The genus name ''Vaccinium'' is a classical Latin name for a plant, possibly the bilberry or hyacinth, and may be derived from the Latin , ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nardus Stricta
''Nardus'' is a genus of plants belonging to the grass family, containing the single species ''Nardus stricta'', known as matgrass. It is placed in its own tribe Nardeae within the subfamily Pooideae. The name derives from ancient Greek ' () from the earlier Akkadian ''lardu''. It is not to be confused with spikenard, ''Nardostachys jatamansi''. Distribution and ecology ''Nardus stricta'' is native to Eurasia (from Iceland and the Azores to Mongolia), North Africa (Algeria, Morocco), and northeastern North America (Greenland, eastern Canada, and the northeastern United States). ''Nardus stricta'' occurs on heath, moorland, hills, and mountains on nutrient poor acidic sandy to peaty soils and is strongly calcifuge, avoiding calcareous soils. It can occur from low elevations to over , becoming a community-dominant in late snow patches on mountains. ''Nardus stricta'' may also become a dominant species in habitats grazed by cattle or sheep because it is tough and unpalatable. It fl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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