Picture 1

Spider’s web on the seed head of an umbel, possibly Hogweed

Picture 2

Ragwort: poisonous to horses but an important plant for wildlife with over 40 species of insect feeding on it

Picture 3

Apple: the tree probably grew from a pip in a discarded apple core; genuine wild crab apple is uncommon

Picture 4

Buttercup: one of the three species growing on the Common

Picture 5

Blackberries from the brambles that grow all over the Common – they provide a great habitat for wildlife and an important food source for humans in blackberry-and-apple pies!

Picture 6

Garden Snail: okay out in the wild on the Common but not popular with gardeners!

Picture 7

Acorns on a Pedunculate Oak tree, the native type of oak found on the Common

Picture 8

Creeping Thistle: a persistent weed on cultivated land but here a valuable source of nectar for butterflies and of seed for Goldfinches

Picture 9

Hawthorn berries: food for birds in early winter

Picture 10

Dead tree: dead wood is food for many different kinds of insects which in turn are food for birds, especially woodpeckers

Picture 11

Sloes: the fruits of the Blackthorn. Sloes are not good to eat raw, but are excellent in sloe gin!

Picture 12

Beech mast: a good food source for birds and small mammals. According to the dictionaries, the word ‘mast’ comes from the early English ‘maest’ related to the old German ‘mast’ meaning ‘food’

Picture 13

Another spider’s web growing on ivy, visible in the morning dew

Picture 14

Seat: on East Common – for sitting on !!

Picture 15

Ash ‘keys’:  the winged seeds, the seed-bearing pods that often stay on the tree long after the leaves have fallen

Picture 16

Seed head:  one of the yellow dandelion-type flowers, possibly a hawksbeard