mardi 24 avril 2007

A Purple Patch with... The rare Purple Gromwell... and Early Purple Orchids This morning I hit a purple patch... I was cycling back from town and decided to take a deviation from the normal route. I had a bit of spare time having only been away from Trish for about an hour... and I know she can go for twice as long before needing me to take her for a pee-pee. (Oddly, pee-pee - not "PP" for Purple Patch - comes up again later in an unconnected way!) Anyway, I was pushing the pedals, head down, breathing deeply through the nose and exhaling from the mouth because there were so many flies hovering above the road (tarmac must radiate more warmth than the surrounding fields) and hitting my face... when out of the corner of my eye I saw a blue blur. I slowed, managing a wobbling U-turn in the narrow lane (not easy on a fixed-wheel) and went back to the purple-blue haze of tiny, brilliant flowers clustered densely amidst the long grasses of the roadside verge. At first I thought they were one of the "Speedwell" Veronica or "Forget-Me-Not" Myosotis families... but the colour was deeper and more intense - not the cat's eye blue of of those other delicate flowers. However, in stopping I found a rare delight... I'm not going to give the exact location because although I know they are Purple Gromwell Lithospermum purpuro-caeruleum, from my well-thumbed guide book "The Wild Flowers of Britain and Northern Europe" (1974 Edition) by Fitter, Fitter and Blamey, I don't know their status in France although the book says they are rare in the UK. Unfortunately Purple Gromwell are not common enough to be listed in my favourite set of books on plants "Familiar Wild Flowers" by F. Edward Hulme, so I cannot delve into his writings of 100 years ago and reveal any literary gems for you. There is very little information in the Wikipedia stub - apart from an interesting use of the plant's root in Japan to make a purple dye; a practice restricted to the Empress and her ladies in waiting during the Heian Period - although there is another entry for Crook Peak in the south-west of England describing where it has been recorded in the past. Nevertheless, I do now have photographs and more information will come to light eventually. I took around 40 shots in case I don't come across the flower again... using both the 12-24mm and 70-200mm Nikkor zoom lenses I stuff into a backpack when I'm cycling around. My new 70-200mm "Vibration Reduction" zoom is proving a boon... any out-of-breath panting, muscle twanging or general pulse racing palpitation from this 63-year old is effectively cancelled out by the servo motors operating within the lens. Years ago I tried the Canon 28-135mm "Image Stabilised" offering and felt positively queasy trying to frame a subject with the viewfinder image swaying from side to side as the gyros kicked-in and struggled to maintain an equilibrium... but I guess technology has advanced ten years on. I feel very confident that with the Nikon VR zoom I'm getting the shot (many shots in fact) without having to discard more than the odd one after downloading from the camera because they were then discovered to be shaky or not sharp enough on the computer screen. In think that if I become more fascinated by flora photography I may buy the latest Nikon 105mm VR II Macro lens for the best close-up quality possible whilst out in the field, says Thom Hogan... although I will have to be careful because the ideal 3-lens kit is creeping towards a fourth member. Another April flower which I am seeing springing-up at the moment alongside many of the roads here is the Early Purple Orchid Orchis mascula which again is not listed in my favourite set of books... although I glean from a brief description in Fitter's "Wild Flowers..." that it smells of tomcats! And from the website linked below, "When the flowers are just opened the scent is usually sweet, like honey, but soon smells strongly of tomcat's urine, a device which may serve to inform visiting insects that pollination has already occurred." For more than anecdotes about tomcat's pee-pee visit Introduction to Orchids in the UK... with a page specifically describing the Early Purple Orchid... as well as excellent guidance on Photographing & Recording Britain's Orchids. And remember, never take these plants... only take photographs of them! 10:40:36 PM    comment []