Little gem of a plant is back in my affections

10:47am Monday 27th August 2007

EXPLORING the natural world has been a passion of mine for many years now but it still completely holds my fascination.

It would be a most disappointing trip out into the wilds if there was not something wonderful grabbing my attention.

Sometimes it is a new species of flower or insect I have not encountered before, at other times it is something unexpected, flower or fungi appearing early in the year or in unexpected places; and on occasion it is the mundane encountered in unusual circumstances or lit in a wonderful atmospheric way.

It was the latter that struck me this week. We have had a few good days of sunshine and on one such day I ventured out into the sweet chestnut woodland in Habberley Valley. This part of the nature reserve is much less popular than the acid grassland and oak birch woodlands to the north.

It is also a little less picturesque, but it still has wonderful hidden corners you can loose yourself in and enjoy the tranquillity of the natural world.

I had found just such a spot and as it was a rather warm day I sat down in a grassy glade and relaxed for a moment. With the sun on my face I shut my eyes and let the sounds of nature fill my senses but the surprise was the scent, thick, heavy and very sweet.

After a few moments, I opened my eyes to seek it out and I should not have been surprised to discover the source was a wonderful display of flowering honeysuckle.

Honeysuckle is one of those flowers which you can encounter almost everywhere in the district and it would seem I had become over-familiar and had started to take this little gem of a plant for granted. Naturally occurring honeysuckle's scent can not compete with those of the cultivated varieties but given a little help from warm humid airs it can still, as I had just discovered, create a wonderfully fragrant atmosphere.

In addition to its wonderful scent, the honeysuckle was in past times viewed by children as a particular favourite. The plant itself is poisonous but a crafty child could get a small taste of the plant's sweet nectar by picking the plant's tube- like flowers and sucking out the nectar the plant produces to reward and attract visiting bees. It is from this little trick the plant gets its name.

Honeysuckle growing in hazel coppice would also attract the old countryman's eye. This plant is a prolific climber, using other plants to support its weight by twisting its way round them. In a hazel coppice, the hazel rods grow tall and straight as they compete for light. The pressure put on these rods as the honeysuckle twists it way up them is enough to cause the hazel to grow in a corkscrew pattern which would produce interesting and valuable walking sticks.

Further back in time there is a suggestion that the pliable fibres of the honeysuckle were used for cordage. No doubt, it was used to some extent but it was probably more out of convenience than deliberate choice, as there is far better natural cordage out there.

These days I am glad to see honeysuckle is still doing well in the natural world and perhaps now after this little encounter I will pay more attention to this beautiful and most welcome element.

EDITOR'S CHOICE