rich59 said:
The Natural History Museum web site looks a great resource. Thanks for that.
No problem.
Now to business. The following is my first plant. I must point out that it was growing on my private property so I have not uprooted a wild plant.
Whether a plant is on your land (or you have the landowners permission) or not it is still a 'wild plant' as defined by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Under this Act, you, as the owner of the land, are an 'authorised person' which entitles you to uproot wild plants on your property (or on other land with the owners permission or you have a lawful right to be).
But even as an authorised person you can
not lawfully intentionally pick, uproot or destroy any wild plant included in Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
The is available online here (Schedule 8 is reviewed every five years and has been amended since the Act was passed so check for additional plants added more recently)
JNCC - Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Part I, Section 13 covers wild plants.
I posted this elsewhere which may help further.
Just to clarify the laws relating to wild plant foraging. From English Nature;
Fungi and the Law
There are two main laws which may protect fungi (and wild plants):
The Theft Act 1968 which applies only in England and Wales
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and similar laws in Northern Ireland and Scotland
Under the Theft Act it is an offence
to dig up and take any plant, tree or shrub or any soil, peat, gravel etc which is part of the land, being the property of somebody. Digging up fungi could constitute theft unless you have permission.
to take the property of somebody and sell it for gain. the Act recognises the custom of taking wild fruit and flowers, including fungi, and permits such action so long as there is no personal financial gain. Collecting fungi for sale without the landowner's permission may be an offence.
Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981 it is an offence
to pick, uproot, destroy or sell, and/or collect and cut any plant listed on Schedule 8 of the Act (protected species) which includes some species of fungi
to uproot any wild plant, unless the person is authorised. As "plants" include fungi and lichens on Schedule 8, it is clear that fungi are treated as plants for the purpose of this Act. To pick fungi without uprooting them is probably legal, but see the Theft Act outline above.
Areas of land which are Sites of Special Scientific Interest and National Nature Reserves under the Act have special protection which will have been made known to the landowner or occupier. This may restrict the collection of fungi.
There may also be local Byelaws on Local Nature reserves, property belonging to the National Trust, Forestry Commission or Local Authorities, under which it is an offence to pick fungi and plants.
It is always worthwhile checking with landowners and managers whether these laws apply to their land and to ask their permission to enter their land, particularly if you want to collect fungi.
source:
http://www.english-nature.org.uk/science/botany/plant9.htm
There is also, under common law in England & Wales, an established right to pick (but not uproot which would be theft) wild plants even if you do not have explicit permission from the land owner, but are lawfully on land. Details;
Note that it is not normally an offence to pick the 'Four Fs'; Fruit, Foliage, Fungi or Flowers - assuming that none of them are protected specifically - which are growing wild if they are for personal use and not for sale. This is not part of the Act but a part of common law. It covers such customs as blackberry-picking, taking ivy and holly at Christmas, mushroom-hunting and gathering sloes.
To exercise this right you must be somewhere you have a legal right to be - such as on a public footpath or in a public park. You cannot just go anywhere and pick the Four Fs. Obviously if enough people exercise this right at the same time and in the same place it could cause a lot of damage to habitats and species. In some places such as parks or commons local byelaws prevent such activities.
source:
http://www.naturenet.net/law/wcagen.html#plants
Hope that clears up the legal side.
I have included the whole plant to remind me that as much is below ground as above.
Great to have a photo. Few comments (you may well have these covered! but I thought to note them here generally)
1. Scale. It is difficult to gauge size from the photo without something to give it scale. Ideally some form of measured scale in say centimetres would help a lot, or an item which is easily recognisable and gives scale.
2. Having a photo of the plant insitu as well as a detail helps a lot to give context and helps further ident. I tend to take one of the general location (i.e. trees around, land form, shade etc), one close up of the plant with surrounding plants and then close up shots.
3. Detail shots like you took of the plant (roots are useful but not always possible for reasons above), a leaf, a flower, fruit is available. Both sides of the leaf often helps. Also as the seasons change shots with and without leaves etc can be really helpful.
3. For close-ups a light coloured background can help to pick out details of the plant.
4. If you have good natural light then no flash is best to capture natural colours best but if no tripod or it's dark flash can provide a better photo exposure.
5. I would definitely consider investing in a tripod for photographing wild plants because it will provide sharper images. I have a light weight
Velbon model which was not too expensive and packs down fine for a rucksack. Make sure it is capable of being set up close to the ground.
My limited knowledge at outset is that this is a wild strawberry - growing in the private lane behind my house. A look on the Natural History Museum website - interestingly doesn't list it. The first latin name I find associated with UK wild strawberry is "Fragaria Vesca". I will come back to this when I have looked up where Fragaria sits in the breakdown of plants and how to tell the individual species.
From the photo I would agree that it is the genus Fragaria sp. Without a better idea of scale it's a bit tough to be definitive but probably it is as you suggest
Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca).
Bear in mind that, given it's proximity to dwellings and gardens, that often you find gardens varieties escaping into the wild and cross breeding. This info is useful to tell the difference;
In fruit can be told from escaped Garden Strawberry by the much smaller fruit which has seeds projecting from surface, not sunk in the flesh. Side leaflets mostly unstalked; distinctly stalked in Garden S. Sepals not conspicuous from above through gaps between petals, unlike Barren Strawberry, which also has totally different fruit. Leaves with appressed hairs beneath, Barren S has spreading hairs there.
Other features: End leaflet V-shaped at base (more rounded in Garden S). Spreads by long runners forming fresh plants where they touch the ground, as with Garden S.
source:
http://www.plant-identification.co.uk/skye/rosaceae/fragaria-vesca.htm
I know you can get nice edible red fruit, pretty little white flowers, and it works for me as an informal ground cover plant because it is evergeen, hardy, low growing and spreads about (by seed?). It may well be an ancestor of the cultivated strawberry. That is about the limit of my knowledge at this point.
Fragaria vesca is a native plant and was the origin of the cultivated fruit seen today. It spreads primarily by vegetative propagation whereby the plant produces runners that move away from the plant and root, thus spreading in the typical fashion. They can spread further afield via birds and animals eating their fruit. In shaded locations they may not fruit and prefer a sunny bank to ripen the fruit.
In a strict botanical sense, the strawberry fruit is not a true fruit, but is termed a pseudocarp.
More info and uses of the plant can be found here;
PFAF - Fragaria vesca - L. Wild Strawberry
