opened up for inspection. Those producing hay with a lot of Ragwort in it should only
be able to fool the unwary! Again, a lot of Ragwort in a hay meadow often shows lack
of care and bare patches forming where the Ragwort can take root.
The last point is that both Common Ragwort and Hoary Ragwort are native plants, and
thus have been in Britain a lot longer than either humans or horses. It also provides food
for Cinnabar Moth caterpillars, and others, and the pollen supports many adult insects,
so we really need it.
At Belhus Woods Country Park there is a small pond near the car park. All sorts of
things get dumped into this pond, including several invasive water 'nasties'. There was
Fringed Water-lily, Parrot's-feather and New Zealand Pigmyweed all together for several
years; we were just awaiting the arrival of Floating Pennywort to make this the worst
pond ever! People had tried raking masses in from a boat and the shore, to no effect,
and the frost did not kill them, but suddenly we noticed that Water-soldier had arrived.
In spite of Water-soldier being a native plant, it is not native round here and I understand
that it, too, can become a plague. Now, just over a year down the line, the Water-soldier
remains, but all traces of the other three have gone. Now we wonder, does the Water-
soldier exude some extraordinary substance that kills off the water nasties? It is well
known that many plants do exude substances that limit the growth of the surrounding
competition. If so, it could be the answer to many people's problems with their invaded
ponds. Who would like to come and take a bit, to put into their favourite nasty-ridden
pond, and see what happens? Water-soldier does not seem to kill off everything, as the
plants growing on the edge, such as Cyperus Sedge and Water Plantain, are still happy,
and so is the Rigid Hornwort in the water. Does anyone out know how this happens?
I was delighted to note in the September Newsletter that someone not only reads my
ramblings, but had responded in print with a delightful item, illustrated, about an amazing
display of the Magpie fungus growing on wood chips taken from a local wood where the
Magpie is known to grow. Mycologists nationally are well aware of the unusual harvests
of fungi growing on imported wood/bark chips, but it is not often reported that home-
grown stuff works just as well.
Recently spiders have entered my mind-frame. It seems that this is the time of year (late
September) when people notice them, because some species arc big and active having
been growing all summer. We have a number of different kinds in our house, partly
because nobody has ever been especially enthusiastic about housework, and even more
in the garden because nobody here is very keen on gardening either. We prefer to conserve
the wildlife outdoors rather than in, though I must confess that spiders indoors have
usually been given swimming lessons in the toilet bowl; they never learn! Actually,
sometimes they used to learn, or so it seemed, as they refused to be flushed away. The
surface tension of the cold water on their hairy covering traps air, so they float. The
surface tension must be reduced, either by peeing on them (my husband's task) or by
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 46, January 2005 9