Settle Wildflowers - Day 44 - Blue 10 - Violet: Haymeadow 5

Amongst the profusion of yellow and white hay meadow flowers coming out now these few blue gems stand out

1. Wood Crane's-bill - Geranium sylvaticum

Wood Crane's-bill is very showy. It is a woodland edge plant. 

This one was photographed near the Railway bridge opposite Fairhurst's Stone Factory, half way between Langcliffe and Stainforth. It used to grow in Dale's Hay Meadows - now   meadows close around Settle do not have it in the bulk of meadow. they are lucky if they have it at the edge of a field, and on slopes which cannot be mown. 
(The meadows in Upper Swaledale where is still grows within the fields must be at their best this week) 

Below - here is a Wood Crane's-bill being enjoyed by a greenfly.

Wood Crane's-bill comes out at the beginning of June, and grows in the Dales, (and North of England and Scotland.)  

2. Meadow Crane's-bill
In late July another Crane's-bill will come into flower on the roadsides: Here is one  beside Fairhurst's stone factory at Langcliffe that has not realised it is not yet July: 


It does not grow in upland meadows here. - because they will be being cut by July.

Wood Crane's-bill: Violet blue petals; leaves palmate and only slightly cut up; flowers in June

Geranium pratense

Meadow Crane's-bill: Sky blue petals; Very dissected leaves; flowers in July on road and tracksides.


3.  Self Heal  Prunella vulgaris
Prunella grows in lawns and meadows and is only just coming out. We delight in its blue colour - but have you looked really closely at it with a hand-lens?
Look at these pictures. If you were an insect flying by, woudn't you be attracted into the individual flowers?

 

4.  Changing Forget-me-not    Myosotis discolor

This has tiny flowers.

I covered this under "Forget-me-nots" earlier - but It is so tiny I need to put it again here to remind you to look for it in hay meadows.

Changing Forget-me-not

5. Eyebright - Euphrasia agg. 

This is here as a lead up to the white flowers that will be coming next (in my rainbow scheme of ordering these posts) - but it is the purple lines drawing you into the flower that make it so fascinating.

This one was photographed in Lord's Pasture. It occurs in many of the pastures and a few of the meadows and slopes by the river around Settle. It is semi-parasitic so it steals food from grass roots

Eyebright

List of Settle Wildflower Lockdown Walks so far

Next posts: white! What do you think we will have?