Umbel Mumbles...

Over the past, well, what seems like an eternity of weeks, I have been gradually cobbling together - amid much muttering and mumbling - the pages for the Flora of East Anglia website that cover the Apiaceae. That might sound like an unfamiliar name to some, as it was only within the past few years that the Carrot Family had its scientific name changed from the Umbelliferae to the Apiaceae. The Umbelliferae was certainly a more useful name, since it aludes to the distinctive flower structures of this family - a many-branched cluster that rather resembles the shape of an umbrella that has been turned inside out by the wind.

The carrot family is quite a large family of plants that is well represented in East Anglia and many who have tried will know that identification of the many species can sometimes be tricky. Thus, it has taken a while to try and come up with pages that will help people get to the correct identification and I may well tinker some more to make improvements over time. But for now, I think the pages seem to work quite well.

East Anglia would certainly be a different place without its carrots, parsnips, parsleys, hogweeds and associated species. The family contains a wealth of species that seem to span every habitat - often dominating the scene during their respective flowering periods. And though these species may often all seem to look the same, it is also a family of great diversity, from herbs and root vegetables to some of our most poisonous plants and most pernicious weeds! So here's a series of photographs that celebrates the exuberance of our wonderful umbellifers...

From the rarest of plants to the commonest, the open, spreading heads of massed, tiny flowers are readily recognisable and provide nectar and pollen for a huge variety of insects. Though this may seem like a familiar sight, this flowerhead belongs to perhaps our rarest umbellifer - Cambridge Milk-parsley, a species that survives in just two or three wetland sites in Cambridgeshire and which live under constant threat of their special habitats drying out and being lost for ever (Cambridge Milk-parsley, Chippenham Fen, Cambridgeshire).

Spring wouldn't be spring in East Anglia without the exuberance of Cow Parsley along a thousand miles of byways and highways. April and May belong to Cow Parsley, but other species flower later and the timing of flowering can be a useful part of the identification process (Cow Parsley, Burnham Marshes, Norfolk).

While the riotous mass of Cow Parsley flowers smothers our lane sides, a subtler sheet of knee-high whiteness appears in traditional grassland meadows and thoughtfully maintained churchyards. Spring is also the time for Common Pignut, a plant once collected for its edible root tubers. There are few places where a true carpet of this species can still be seen but it still remains widespread in the region (Common Pignut, Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk).

Can you get more 'Norfolk' than a shiny wall of Alexanders leaves in front of a flint-walled church? Despite its association with and abundance in East Anglia's coastal areas, Alexanders was originally introduced to the UK by monks for use as a salad crop. Changes in annual temperature seem to be benefiting this species and over the past 20 years or more it has been progressing inland and is already proving problematic in the preservation of some roadside nature reserves (Alexanders, Walcott Church, Norfolk).

Some plants have a less affectionate place in our hearts than the mass flowering of Cow Parsley. There can be few - if any - gardeners who have not cursed the day that Ground-elder found its way into the garden or allotment. Most umbellifers form a discreet root that sends up an individual crown of basal leaves and upright, flower-bearing stems. But Ground-elder has a mass of yellowish rhizomes that creep freely below the surface and produce a smothering mat of leaves (Ground-elder, Northrepps, Norfolk).

This family has contributed greatly to the kitchen, as well as to the medicine cabinet. Many species are still popular, such as Fennel, Coriander, Dill, Carrot, Parsnip and more, but others have somehow fallen by the wayside and survive now as curiosities of the past. Northern Angelica in one such species and is still occasionally grown in larger flower borders or historical plant collections, from where they might occasionally sneak out into the wider countryside for a time (Northern or Garden Angelica, Apothecary Garden, Norwich Cathedral).

The mass flowering of 'carroty things' seems to take place everywhere, and yet often involves some very habitat-specific species. While this might seem like a familiar scene, Fine-leaved Water-dropwort is rather fussy in its requirements and only really does well in ponds and depressions that are seasonally wet in winter and spring and dry out in summer. It does particularly well in the fascinating, glacial depressions of Breckland known as pingos (Fine-leaved Water-dropwort, Thompson Common, Norfolk).

Rock Samphire is an unusual umbellifer in that it has developed fleshy, succulent leaves that enable it to survive in salt-laden habitats without being desiccated. It favours rocky coastlines so is more common along Britain's western shores, but it finds a niche on some of the more stable sections of shingle beach in East Anglia (Rock Samphire, Felixstowe Ferry, Suffolk).

Wetlands provide a home for quite a number of our native umbellifers. Perhaps the most obvious in such places is Common Angelica, a stately plant that may reach over two metres in height in wet meadows along river valleys and in wet woodland (Common Angelica, River Bure, Aylesham, Norfolk).

In contrast to the widespread Common Angelica, Cowbane is very much a special plant of the East Anglian Broads, where its saw-toothed leaves are a feature of wet dykes and channels in well-managed, species-rich fens (Cowbane, Catfield Fen, Norfolk).

Getting photos for the website certainly tested my commitment at times! River Water-dropwort was proving a difficult species to photograph for a long time as it likes to grow fully submerged in permanent water courses and can take a little finding. Once found, there's the issue of getting the photographs without ruining the camera! The summer of 2018 saw a prolonged dry spell and water levels dropped well below the norm, allowing a not too soggy wade out into the River Yare for some atmospheric shots (River Water-dropwort, Marlingford, Norfolk).

At the opposite end of the wetland spectrum to the deep water habitats of River Water-dropwort, it seems that the sprawling, leafy stems of Fool's Water-cress are happy pretty much anywhere there's some damp mud to collapse onto! This is a plant that copes well with a wide range of wetland situations and can be found even in muddy ditches beside main roads, complete with old tyres and oily run-off! (Fool's Water-cress, Kelling Quag Lane, Norfolk).

High summer sees a whole new suite of umbellifers appearing and a second flush of colour in grassland habitats. At this time of year, it's Wild Carrot that dominates the scene, a smaller plant than Cow Parsley and a widespread species in many types of dry grassland habitats along roadsides, churchyards, clifftops and similar places (Wild Carrot, East Ruston, Norfolk).

High summer sees our region's coastlines hosting the feathery, aniseed-scented foliage and yellow flowers of Common Fennel. This plant is popular for flavouring fish dishes and does well in grassy places near the coast and on tidal river walls (Common Fennel, Felixstowe Ferry, Suffolk).

As well as an abundance of Common Fennel, East Anglia's coastal river walls provide a home for one of our rarest umbellifers with one of the best names - Corky-fruited Water-dropwort! This unassuming plant has persisted, despite much change and development in the area, for many years on an unremarkable stretch of grassy bank while the citizens of Ipswich pass to and fro within easy reach on a daily basis (Corky-fruited Water-dropwort, Belstead Brook, Ipswich).

The umbellifer family has its darker side, with a number of poisonous or potentially injurious species lurking in its midst. Most infamous, perhaps, is Giant Hogweed, a species originally introduced to this country as a garden curiosity. Especially in hot weather, the caustic sap of this species can leave rupturing blisters and chemical burns on bare skin and much time and effort has gone into controlling its spread. It still persists along overgrown sections of the major rivers and on waste ground, but hopefully efforts to contain it are paying off. Despite its reputation, it is nevertheless a wonderfully architectural plant and the initial interest in it is easy to understand (Giant Hogweed, Overstrand, Norfolk).

Hopefully this post gives you an insight into this fascinating family and you will be out next year, exploring East Anglia's wildlife riches and dipping into the Flora of East Anglia to check up on your identification skills!

The joys of spring - Cow Parsley in abundance in a North Norfolk village.