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Roughdown Common
Roughdown Common is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. The planning authority is Dacorum Borough Council. The site is Common land, and it is owned by the Box Moor Trust having been officially bought by the trust in April 1886 from the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's. It is part of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Common is a steeply sloping chalk hill in south Hemel Hempstead. History It was formerly the site of a large chalk quarry featuring a pillar and stall mine, an entrance to which still exists, however, it is sealed off for human entry. During the construction of the Grand Union Canal where it flows through Boxmoor, the navvies who carried out the work lived on an encampment at Roughdown Common. The navvies where not the only group that made use of the Common; in 1809 a Good Friday funfair was held in the chalk pit, while 1939 saw the first recorded football match on the site, played by young evacuees ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For government statistical purposes, it forms part of the East of England region. Hertfordshire covers . It derives its name – via the name of the county town of Hertford – from a hart (stag) and a ford, as represented on the county's coat of arms and on the flag. Hertfordshire County Council is based in Hertford, once the main market town and the current county town. The largest settlement is Watford. Since 1903 Letchworth has served as the prototype garden city; Stevenage became the first town to expand under post-war Britain's New Towns Act of 1946. In 2013 Hertfordshire had a population of about 1,140,700, with Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, Watford and St Albans (the county's only ''city'') each having between 50,000 and 100,000 r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Festuca Pratensis
''Festuca pratensis'', the meadow fescue, is a perennial species of grass, which is often used as an ornamental grass in gardens, and is also an important forage crop. It grows in meadows, roadsides, old pastures, and riversides on moist, rich soils, especially on loamy and heavy soils. It is a tall, tufted grass similar to the tall fescue, ''Festuca arundinacea''. Tall fescue differs by having minute hairs on the auricles. It can hybridise with ''Lolium perenne'' and ''Lolium multiflorum''. Description It is a perennial bunchgrass, (i.e. grows in tufts), which grows , flowering from June until August. The panicles are green to purplish. The spikelets have 5 to 14 flowers. It has a short, blunt ligule A ligule (from "strap", variant of ''lingula'', from ''lingua'' "tongue") is a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf and leafstalk of many grasses (Poaceae) and sedges. A ligule is also a strap-shaped extension of the corolla, such as that of a ... compared to other gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Sites Of Special Scientific Interest In Hertfordshire
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union club Other uses * Angle of list, the leaning to either port or starboard of a ship * List (information), an ordered collection of pieces of information ** List (abstract data type), a method to organize data in computer science * List on Sylt, previously called List, the northernmost village in Germany, on the island of Sylt * ''List'', an alternative term for ''roll'' in flight dynamics * To ''list'' a building, etc., in the UK it means to designate it a listed building that may not be altered without permission * Lists (jousting), the barriers used to designate the tournament area where medieval knights jousted * ''The Book of Lists'', an American series of books with unusual lists See also * The List (other) * Listing (di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puddingstone Distillery
{{disambig, geo ...
Puddingstone may refer to: *Puddingstone (rock), a type of sedimentary rock *Puddingstone Park, a park in Boston, Massachusetts * Lake Puddingstone, a lake in Los Angeles County, California *Puddingstone Rock, a small islet in New Zealand's Otago Harbour Otago Harbour is the natural harbour of Dunedin, New Zealand, consisting of a long, much-indented stretch of generally navigable water separating the Otago Peninsula from the mainland. They join at its southwest end, from the harbour mouth. It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natural England
Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, freshwater and marine environments, geology and soils, are protected and improved. It also has a responsibility to help people enjoy, understand and access the natural environment. Natural England focuses its activities and resources on four strategic outcomes: * a healthy natural environment * enjoyment of the natural environment * sustainable use of the natural environment * a secure environmental future Roles and responsibilities As a non-departmental public body (NDPB), Natural England is independent of government. However, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has the legal power to issue guidance to Natural England on various matters, a constraint that was not placed on its predecessor NDPBs. Its powers inc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brown Long-eared Bat
The brown long-eared bat or common long-eared bat (''Plecotus auritus'') is a small Eurasian insectivorous bat. It has distinctive ears, long and with a distinctive fold. It is extremely similar to the much rarer grey long-eared bat which was only validated as a distinct species in the 1960s. An adult brown long-eared bat has a body length of 4.5–4.8 cm, a tail of 4.1–4.6 cm, and a forearm length of 4–4.2 cm. The ears are 3.3–3.9 cm in length, and readily distinguish the long-eared bats from most other bat species. They are relatively slow flyers compared to other bat species. Habitat The brown long-eared bat is found throughout Europe, with the exception of Greece, southern Italy and southern Spain. It is found to the east up to the Urals and Caucasus. The UK distribution can be found on the National Biodiversity Network website and can be seehere Brown long-eared bats regularly utilise buildings roosting in undisturbed roof spaces either singly, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hibernaculum (zoology)
A hibernaculum ''plural form: hibernacula'' (Latin, "tent for winter quarters") is a place in which a creature seeks refuge, such as a bear using a cave to overwinter. The word can be used to describe a variety of shelters used by many kinds of animals, including insects, toads, lizards, snakes, bats, rodents, and primates of various species. Insects Insects range in their size, structure, and general appearance but most use hibernacula. All insects are primarily exothermic. For this reason, extremely cold temperatures, such as those experienced in the winter, outside of tropical locations, cause their metabolic systems to shut down; long exposure may lead to death. Insects survive colder winters through the process of overwintering, which occurs at all stages of development and may include migration or hibernation for different insects, the latter of which must be done in hibernacula. Insects that do not migrate must halt their growth to avoid freezing to death, in a process ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyclophora Ruficiliaria
''Cyclophora ruficiliaria'', the Jersey mocha, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer in 1855. It can be found in Europe, in particular the Channel Islands as well as other parts of the mainland United Kingdom. The first ever recorded sighting of the Jersey mocha on the British mainland was in July 2003 at Isle of Portland, Dorset. Subsequently, the butterfly has been found again in Dorset, and has set up a small breeding colony in south-west Cornwall. The first recorded sighting of the moth in Hertfordshire occurred in September 2016, on Roughdown Common. Description The wingspan is 25–30 mm. It is a plain pale brown moth with faint crosslines and unringed white discal spots (sometimes obsolete) on the fore and hindwings. Certain identification requires examination of preparations of the genitalia. See similar species (below). Biology The moths fly from April to September depending on the locatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Juniper
''Juniperus communis'', the common juniper, is a species of small tree or shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae. An evergreen conifer, it has the largest geographical range of any woody plant, with a circumpolar distribution throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere. Description ''Juniperus communis'' is very variable in form, ranging from —rarely —tall to a low, often prostrate spreading shrub in exposed locations. It has needle-like leaves in whorls of three; the leaves are green, with a single white stomatal band on the inner surface. It never attains the scale-like adult foliage of other members of the genus. It is dioecious, with male and female cones (both of which are wind pollinated) on separate plants. The male cones are yellow, long, and fall soon after shedding their pollen in March–April. The fruit are berry-like cones known as juniper berries. They are initially green, ripening in 18 months to purple-black with a blue waxy coating; they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anacamptis Pyramidalis
''Anacamptis pyramidalis'', the pyramidal orchid, is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the genus ''Anacamptis'' of the family Orchidaceae. The scientific name ''Anacamptis'' derives from Greek ανακάμτειν 'anakamptein' meaning 'bend forward', while the Latin name ''pyramidalis'' refers to the pyramidal form of the inflorescence. Description This hardy plant reaches on average of height, with a maximum of . The stem is erect and unbranched. The basal leaves are linear-lanceolate with parallel venation, up to long, the cauline ones are shorter and barely visible on the stem. The arrangement of hermaphroditic flowers in a compact pyramidal shape is very distinctive and gives the orchid its common name. The colour of the flower varies from pink to purple, or rarely white, and the scent is described as "foxy". The flowers have six tepals, being three small sepals and three petals. Two small petals are on the sides, while the third and lower ( labellum) is large ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ophrys Insectifera
''Ophrys insectifera'', the fly orchid, is a species of orchid and the type species of the genus ''Ophrys''. It is remarkable as an example of the use of sexually deceptive pollination and floral mimicry, as well as a highly selective and highly evolved plant–pollinator relationship. Description ''Ophrys insectifera'' is a tuberous perennial, reaching in height, which flowers across its range from May to July. It is a slender plant, with narrow upright leaves. A flower spike may carry 1-10 flowers, which have yellow-green sepals, very reduced, dark brown/black petals resembling the antennae of an insect and a long, narrow, lobed labellum, which is dark in color, varying from maroon to black and on which there are two glossy depressions known as 'pseudo-eyes' as well as an iridescent blue/grey patch evolved to resemble an insect's glistening wings. There is a rare yellow-flowered form of ''O. insectifera''. Chromosomes 2n=36 Taxonomy The genus name "''Ophrys''" derives from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
