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Waldridge Fell
Waldridge Fell is a Site of Special Scientific Interest located immediately south-west of Chester-le-Street in the northern part of County Durham, England. It is one of the largest areas of lowland heath in County Durham and contains the only lowland valley-mire in the county. The fell is home to a number of plants and insects that are scarce to rare elsewhere in the county. SSSI status Waldridge Fell was first notified as an SSSI in 1965. The designated area was revised in 1985, the boundary being extended in some places, while portions around Waldridge village were deleted from the SSSI. The area is important as one of the largest expanses of lowland heath in County Durham, which is close to northern limit for this type of habitat, and is one of the few such areas in North East England. Lowland heath is a threatened habitat in the United Kingdom, which holds around 20 per cent of the world's stock of the habitat: over the last 200 years some 80 percent of the lowland heath ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calluna Vulgaris
''Calluna vulgaris'', common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus ''Calluna'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found widely in Europe and Asia Minor on acidic soils in open sunny situations and in moderate shade. It is the dominant plant in most heathland and moorland in Europe, and in some bog vegetation and acidic pine and oak woodland. It is tolerant of grazing and regenerates following occasional burning, and is often managed in nature reserves and grouse moors by sheep or cattle grazing, and also by light burning. ''Calluna'' was separated from the closely related genus ''Erica'' by Richard Anthony Salisbury, who devised the generic name ''Calluna'' probably from the Ancient Greek (), "beautify, sweep clean", in reference to its traditional use in besoms. The specific epithet ''vulgaris'' is Latin for 'common'. ''Calluna'' is differentiated from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coal Measures
In lithostratigraphy, the coal measures are the coal-bearing part of the Upper Carboniferous System. In the United Kingdom, the Coal Measures Group consists of the Upper Coal Measures Formation, the Middle Coal Measures Formation and the Lower Coal Measures Formation. The group records the deposition of fluvio-deltaic sediments which consists mainly of clastic rocks (claystones, shales, siltstones, sandstones, conglomerates) interstratified with the beds of coal. In most places, the coal measures are underlain by coarser clastic sequences known as Millstone Grit, of Namurian age. The top of the coal measures may be marked by an unconformity, the overlying rocks being Permian or later in age. In some parts of Britain, however, the coal measures grade up into mainly coal-barren red beds of late Westphalian and possibly Stephanian age. Within the Pennine Basin these barren measures are now referred to as the Warwickshire Group, from the district where they achieve their thickest d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pteridium Aquilinum
''Pteridium aquilinum'' (bracken, brake or common bracken), also known as eagle fern, is a species of fern occurring in temperate and subtropical regions in both hemispheres. Originally native to Eurasia and North America, the extreme lightness of its spores has led to it achieving a cosmopolitan distribution. Etymology Common bracken was first described as ''Pteris aquilina'' by Carl Linnaeus, in Volume 2 of his ''Species Plantarum'' in 1753. The origin of the specific epithet derived from the Latin ''aquila'' "eagle". In the reprint of the ''Flora Suecica'' in 1755, Linnaeus explains that the name refers to the image of an eagle seen in the transverse section of the root. In spite of this, the opinion has been forwarded that the name pertains to the shape of the mature fronds appearing akin to an eagle's wing. However, medieval scholars, including Erasmus, thought the pattern of the fibres seen in a transverse section of the stipe resembled a double-headed eagle or oak tree. Ta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deschampsia Flexuosa
''Deschampsia flexuosa'', commonly known as wavy hair-grass, is a species of bunchgrass in the grass family widely distributed in Eurasia, Africa, South America, and North America. Description Wavy hair-grass, ''Deschampsia flexuosa'', has wiry leaves and delicate, shaking panicles formed of silvery or purplish-brown flower heads on wavy, hair-like stalks. The leaves are bunched in tight tufts with plants forming a very tussocky, low sward 5 to 20 cm tall before flowering, to 30 cm high. File:Deschampsia flexuosa.jpg, Illustration of ''D. flexuosa'' (including '' D. caespitosa'') File:Avenella flexuosa.jpg, Mature inflorescence Distribution and habitat ''Deschampsia flexuosa'' is found naturally in dry grasslands and on moors and heaths. It is also an important component of the ground flora of birch and oak woodland. The plant has a preference for acidic, free-draining soil, and avoids chalk and limestone areas. It can exist over above sea level. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Understorey
In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but above the forest floor. Only a small percentage of light penetrates the canopy so understory vegetation is generally shade-tolerant. The understory typically consists of trees stunted through lack of light, other small trees with low light requirements, saplings, shrubs, vines and undergrowth. Small trees such as holly and dogwood are understory specialists. In temperate deciduous forests, many understory plants start into growth earlier in the year than the canopy trees, to make use of the greater availability of light at that particular time of year. A gap in the canopy caused by the death of a tree stimulates the potential emergent trees into competitive growth as they grow upwards to fill the gap. These trees tend to have straight trunks ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alnus Glutinosa
''Alnus glutinosa'', the common alder, black alder, European alder, European black alder, or just alder, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to most of Europe, southwest Asia and northern Africa. It thrives in wet locations where its association with the bacterium ''Frankia alni'' enables it to grow in poor quality soils. It is a medium-sized, short-lived tree growing to a height of up to 30 metres (98 feet). It has short-stalked rounded leaves and separate male and female flowers in the form of catkins. The small, rounded fruits are cone-like and the seeds are dispersed by wind and water. The common alder provides food and shelter for wildlife, with a number of insects, lichens and fungi being completely dependent on the tree. It is a pioneer species, colonising vacant land and forming mixed forests as other trees appear in its wake. Eventually common alder dies out of woodlands because the seedlings need more light than is available on the forest floor. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corylus Avellana
''Corylus avellana'', the common hazel, is a species of flowering plant in the birch family Betulaceae. It is native to Europe and western Asia. It is an important component of the hedgerows that were the traditional field boundaries in lowland England. The wood was traditionally grown as coppice, the poles cut being used for wattle-and-daub building and agricultural fencing. Common hazel is cultivated for its nuts. The name hazelnut applies to the nuts of any species in the genus ''Corylus'', but in commercial settings a hazelnut is usually that of ''C. avellana''. This hazelnut or cob nut, the kernel of the seed, is edible and used raw or roasted, or ground into a paste. The cob is round, compared with the longer filbert nut. Description Common hazel is typically a shrub reaching tall, but can reach . The leaves are deciduous, rounded, long and across, softly hairy on both surfaces, and with a double-serrate margin. The flowers are produced very early in spring, before ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Betula Pubescens
''Betula pubescens'' (syn. ''Betula alba''), commonly known as downy birch and also as moor birch, white birch, European white birch or hairy birch, is a species of deciduous tree, native and abundant throughout northern Europe and northern Asia, growing farther north than any other broadleaf tree. It is closely related to, and often confused with, the silver birch (''B. pendula''), but grows in wetter places with heavier soils and poorer drainage; smaller trees can also be confused with the dwarf birch (''B. nana''). Six varieties are recognised and it hybridises with the silver and dwarf birches. A number of cultivars have been developed but many are no longer in cultivation. The larva of the autumnal moth (''Epirrita autumnata'') feeds on the foliage and in some years, large areas of birch forest can be defoliated by this insect. Many fungi are associated with the tree and certain pathogenic fungi are the causal agents of birch dieback disease. The tree is a pioneer species ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quercus Petraea
''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Cornish oak, Irish Oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an unofficial emblem in Wales and Cornwall. Description The sessile oak is a large deciduous tree up to tall, in the white oak section of the genus (''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus'') and similar to the pedunculate oak (''Q. robur''), with which it overlaps extensively in range. The leaves are long and broad, evenly lobed with five to six lobes on each side and a petiole. The male flowers are grouped into catkins, produced in the spring. The fruit is an acorn long and broad, which matures in about six months. Comparison with pedunculate oak Significant botanical differences from pedunculate oak (''Q. robur'') include the stalked leaves, and the stalkless (sessile) acorns from which one of its common names is derived. It occurs in upl ... [...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] |
Vaccinium Myrtillus
''Vaccinium myrtillus'' or European blueberry is a holarctic species of shrub with edible fruit of blue color, known by the common names bilberry, blaeberry, wimberry, and whortleberry. It is more precisely called common bilberry or blue whortleberry to distinguish it from other ''Vaccinium'' relatives. Description ''Vaccinium myrtillus'' is a small deciduous shrub that grows tall. It has light green leaves that turn red in autumn and are simple and alternate in arrangement. Leaves are long and ovate to lanceolate or broadly elliptic in shape. Common names Regional names include blaeberry (Scotland), urts or hurts (Cornwall and Devon), hurtleberry, citing Wiersema, J. H. & B. León (1999), ''World economic plants: a standard reference'', and Huxley, A., ed. (1992), ''The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening'' myrtleberry, wimberry, whinberry, winberry,Henley, JonBilberries: the true taste of northern England The Guardian, Monday 9 June 2008 and fraughan. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Burn, Waldridge Fell
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz'' ("south"), possibly related to the same Proto-Indo-European root that the word ''sun'' derived from. Some languages describe south in the same way, from the fact that it is the direction of the sun at noon (in the Northern Hemisphere), like Latin meridies 'noon, south' (from medius 'middle' + dies 'day', cf English meridional), while others describe south as the right-hand side of the rising sun, like Biblical Hebrew תֵּימָן teiman 'south' from יָמִין yamin 'right', Aramaic תַּימנַא taymna from יָמִין yamin 'right' and Syriac ܬܰܝܡܢܳܐ taymna from ܝܰܡܝܺܢܳܐ yamina (hence the name of Yemen, the land to the south/right of the Levant). Navigation By convention, the ''bottom or down-facing side'' of a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
