a go next year! Prickly Lettuce, Great Lettuce, Wall Lettuce and others taste very bitter,
and some have spines on the backs of the leaves. Both these features are some protection
against herbivorous predators. But our bred-up lettuces have had the prickles bred out,
and the bitter taste much reduced. Clearly, this makes them much more attractive to the
slugs and snails, as well as to us.
Did you notice that about 3 years ago Fodder Vetch starting taking over the countryside
in the south-east of England? It came up in the spring with silvery-hairy leafy shoots,
but the hairiness faded as it came into bloom, and what wonderful blooms they were!
Big purple flowers opened, looking like Tufted Vetch but twice the size, and with white
tips to the flowers (see Plate 5). It was a non-native plant, of course, but quite attractive
on the banks of the M25 and any waste places where the sward was not fully closed.
This year I have seen none of it. What has happened to it?
Similarly, I have seen hardly any Common Ragwort this year, only the Hoary Ragwort.
The difference is usually obvious from a distance, as the Common Ragwort typically
has one strong stem and a large, rather dense, flat or dome-shaped head of flowers.
When I say 'head of flowers', I mean a group of heads of flowers, as each yellow daisy
'flower' is actually a head of tiny ones, being a Composite, but you knew that already,
didn't you? The Hoary Ragwort has usually several, more slender, stems, arising in a
close group or clump, and the heads of flowers are much more lax and open, not making
such a clear shape (see Plates 6 and 7). Both are considered to be very common plants,
and both are pulled up by people trying to make Ragwort-free hay or pastures. So this is
not the answer as to why one is flourishing while another dies out. Another puzzle with
no immediate answer.
While thinking of Ragworts, I have learned much from my sister who lives in Newmarket
and teaches and examines riding and general horsemanship over the whole of East Anglia.
I know the plants, but she knows the horse management aspects. She has explained that
Common Ragwort gets an unjustifiably bad press. If a pasture has a lot of Common
Ragwort, it implies that the meadow is overgrazed as the plant can only get a real hold
in gaps in the sward. The animals will avoid eating the nasty-tasting plants, so they may
continue to grow while the grass gets still more sparse. Actually, if a horse eats a bit of
it, when really desperate, it does not usually get very ill. But the remedy is clearly to
reduce the density of grazing. If the Ragwort is pulled, that leaves a bigger bit of open
ground where more will soon grow!
The real problem can arise with hay, where the horse cannot select the stems of Common
Ragwort to discard them. If there is more than about 15% of Common Ragwort in the
hay, the horse does indeed get very sick or may die. But 15% is rather a lot, and anyone
can tell by looking at the hay if there is a lot of Ragwort in it. So you must inspect the
hay before you buy it. If hay is only offered baled up in opaque plastic sacks, then it
should not be bought for animal feed until some sacks, chosen by the buyer, have been
8 Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 46, January 2005