The Stickiness of Water
Water rises up and forms individual droplets on leaves because it is ‘sticky’, it is literally attracted to itself. The hydrogen atoms in each molecule…
Tag: leaves
The Golden Leyland Cypress
My thanks to regular correspondent, Alban Cambe, for these excellent images. Which direction are we looking in the top picture above? Regular readers will spot…
What is a Frost Hollow?
A frost hollow is a local low point in a landscape where cold dense air collects overnight. It is also known as a ‘frost pocket’.…
The Wood Anemone – Anemone nermorosa
The Wood Anemone (Anemone nemorosa) is a pretty perennial wildflower of damp deciduous woodland, scrub, hedgerows and ditches. It has earned the nickname ‘windflower’, possibly…
Water-pepper, Persicaria hydropiper
Water-pepper, Persicaria hydropiper, is a bitter tasting map-maker. It is an inconspicuous annual plant, but it is useful to natural navigators. It grows up to…
Alder Trees – A Sign of Water Nearby
The common alder – Alnus glutinosa – is a small tree that grows up to about 25 metres. It is native in the UK and…
How to Find Your Way with Tree Leaves
Earlier I showed how it is possible to find your way using the colour of tree leaves. Now I’d like to show you how to…
Anthocyanins, Sunlight and Navigation
It is that time of year. As the other pigments are drawn back into the plant, the red, orange and yellows of the anthocyanin compounds…
Equinoctial Gales
There is a widely held and strong belief that gales are more frequent at the equinoxes, but the observations don’t really support this. According to…