March Herb Walk

Our March herb walk took place on the first day of Meteorological Spring. Though the day started frosty, the sun soon made its presence known, so by the time we were sat having a post-walk coffee in the Chantry Centre garden it was pleasantly too warm for coats. Our welcome transition into Spring had begun.

We’ve been doing these monthly herb walks since September. All through the winter we’ve never failed to be surprised and delighted by the number of plants we have met, inspiring much herby talk along the way. By the end of this walk I had a list of over thirty different plants we’d noted, including the truly special seasonal highlights of willow and coltsfoot.

River Cam

Starting at the corner of Everlands and Church Road in Upper Cam, where the bridge crosses the River Cam, just at the edge of the Littlecombe estate, we wandered alongside the river heading towards Dursley.

Having spent years encased below the Lister Peter works with the Dursley Donkey running alongside – a clatter of daily to-ings and fro-ings in our busy industrial heritage – our present-day River Cam is now exposed as a welcome rapid burble, a bluey-green artery connecting Dursley and Cam. Our local nature watchers and ecologists are reporting new sitings – such as the Dipper doing its characteristic dipping near the bridge – suggesting we’re not the only creatures to benefit from a splash of nature amid all our new building.

Catkins

Catkins are one of the joys of spring, appearing on bare branches and, sometimes, sending their pollen out in showers of white dust with each puff of wind. Hazel is probably the species most associated with catkins but there are many more trees that use this method of reproduction including alder, birch, aspen, poplar, hornbeam, walnut, oak and willow.

Some of these are clustered together along the Cam in Littlecombe providing a display of different shapes and colours. We particularly liked the fluffy goat willow catkins alongside the red stems of the weeping willow and its catkins.

As we stood admiring the different trees we noticed a humming high above us, the first big, bumbling, fuzzy buzzing bee of the season, out gathering the early pollen. A sure sign of spring.

Coltsfoot

In a casual wander it would be easy to dismiss a low, many-petaled, yellow flower as a dandelion, but closer inspection revealed the unusual stem and fluffier flowers of coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara). It’s really worth getting out to see this plant in the next week or so as the flowers are only around for a short while, after that big, soft hoof-shaped leaves (hence the common name) develop, and the flowers disappear. A common name for the plant is ‘Son-before-father’ referencing this habit of producing the flowers before the leaves.

Coltsfoot is a traditional remedy for coughs and bronchial conditions, often treated using a coltsfoot syrup, made by layering the plant between sugar in a jar to draw the syrup out. Alternatively, the leaves, once they emerge, can be dried and smoked as tobacco to help lung conditions.

Other uses for coltsfoot include creating an infusion from the leaves to help cool a fever (sometimes combined with elderflower for this purpose) or gathering and drying leaves for use as tinder.

Coltsfoot is associated with damp or disturbed ground, making sense of it cropping up along the Cam following all the development work. Go and have a look to familiarise yourself with the plant, but we’re not recommending picking it as many of the areas that it is growing have been treated with chemicals as they are also populated by horsetail.

Horsetail is a Jurassic-looking plant, quite statuesque, but incredibly invasive and very difficult to eradicate as it has massively long tap roots. This does mean it’s a good medicinal plant, containing hard to access minerals that it draws up from the depths of the soil, particularly silica, making it good to include in treatments for nails and hair. Areas of dead top growth of horsetail indicate it has been treated, but the new protrusions suggest this will have had little effect. It does mean, however, that we would not gather this horsetail, or the coltsfoot that’s nestled among it.

Speedwell

A cheerful sight popping up along the walk are the tiny blue flowers of speedwell (Veronica spp). It’s always lovely to be able to see plants that will flower in the coldest months of the year. Speedwell is a member of the same family as plantain and has a similar habit of spreading quite freely around wasteland, and in lawns.

There is a folk tradition suggesting that picking speedwell will bring on a storm, for this reason Grigson refers to it as a ‘sinister little plant’. We prefer to see her virtues, listening to those who recognise her as a vulnerary herb (i.e., wound healing, and particularly for the blood). Infused in a balm, she will help soothe itching. She’s also considered to be a nervine (i.e., calming) and can be made into a tincture or a tea for this purpose.

Daffodils

As our walk took place on St David’s Day, we were looking out for daffodils. Happily they were in various places. Big, bright, cheerful daffs were in gardens, while one example of the much more diminutive wild daffodil tucked itself into the sloping banks of the Cam, opposite the steep bank of creamy-yellow wild primroses.

Another clump of daffs in varying sizes greeted us as we reached Dursley Green at the end of Long Street, and more accompanied us as we sat in the garden of the Chantry Centre.

We should also give special mention to the stunning witch hazel in the Chantry Centre garden – I apologise for not having taken a picture to share with you – it’s well worth popping in to see for yourself!

Thirty in Thirty – our challenge to you

If you missed the opportunity to join our walk, it’s still worth taking your own stroll along the Cam to see what you can find. It’s an easy and pleasant walk along the path, especially if you chance upon a sunny day. Our experience suggests there’s potential to spot at least thirty different plants in just half an hour.

Can you spot thirty plants in thirty minutes?

Here’s our list as your ‘spotter’s guide’, there may be more that you notice, the scene is changing every day.

If you want to improve your plant spotting, know more about the plants you find, or share your knowledge about the plants you love, join one of our herb walks. We’d love to see you, first Saturday of the month, 10am.