Cronking ravens and flower oracles – our natural barometers?
by Paul Evans from on (#JFGM)
Wenlock Edge, Shropshire As I peer into the yarrow and gentians, thinking about changes in this strange season, a raven flies low over the trees - then the raindrops fall
The curious and alluring autumn gentians are flowering. At the top of the bank where the rabbits have nibbled turf down to the quick and people have broadened the path along the fence, in the wood where the last fragments of wild meadow have been heavily grazed, little clumps of lilac coloured flowers are blooming. I have rarely seen autumn gentian in any of these places until now.
This plant is biennial, growing reddish stems less than a foot high. The plants I saw last year had pointy leaves and this year are producing upright tubular flowers that open into lilac stars at the top and reveal inner "ribbons". They are easy to miss but when they're spotted they have a strange allure.
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