Spring wildflowers at Swithland Woods

One of my favorite things about spring is all the wildflowers that burst into bloom before the canopy of leaves shades the forest floor.

I was intrigued by the description of Swithland Wood in a guide to the National Forest. Swithland Wood is designated an “Ancient Woodland”, meaning that it has been continuously wooded since at least 1600AD. Ancient woodlands are not “old growth” and may have changed composition significantly over the years, but are frequently very diverse and will often also contain rare or unusual species.

Bluebells are one of the most common and spectacular of the spring flowers, carpeting the ground in swathes of color reminiscent of the snowdrops that emerged earlier in the spring. They were abundant at Swithland Wood.

Bluebells, known to botanists as Hyacinthoides non-scripta, also have a rarer white phenotype:

The forest covered with a blanket of bluebells is stunning, though my photos don’t do it justice.

Another common herb is wood anemone, or Anemone nemorosa, which often creates a white carpet nicely setting off the bluebells.

I also found a few plants I believe were Valeriana dioica growing in a marshy area next to a stream.

This flower, Ajuga reptans or bugle, was close by as well.

And finally, greater stitchwort, Stellaria holostea, that was growing by the side of the trail.

I haven’t yet discovered a wildflower field guide that I like (it’s hard to replace Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide), but I found the key at the Botanical Society of the British Isles to be quite useful.