It turns out that grass is actually rather difficult to eat. One reason is that the blades contain a gritty compound called silica, the same stuff that is found in sand, and used to make glass. It is a very hard, abrasive substance, and functions as a line of defence against being eaten, as it [...]
Today’s blog post is a little bit different. On Saturday afternoon, myself and my friend Cass made a little documentary about Amazingness. We filmed it for ‘Britain in a Day‘, which is a BBC2 initiative to create an archive of one day in the life of Britain. On Saturday – 12th November 2011 – anyone [...]
Do you know who we’re waiting for??
For a while I was simply enjoying this line of green; mosses and grasses and a variety of other little plants, neatly nestling all in a row at the top of the stairs. I walked away briefly to check out some lichen growing on a wall, and when I came back I noticed the shadows [...]
Like an angler fish, dangling a brightly-lit lure into the darkness, is there a monster hiding behind these two friendly little leaves, waiting to pounce on an unsuspecting and curious visitor? Would I have got my fingers chomped if I’d given these leaves a little feel? I can only imagine!
The radially symmetrical growth of this plant really grabbed my attention – all those bright red stems growing straight outwards to form a perfect circle of green leaves. However, despite being amazing, radial symmetry isn’t actually an unusual characteristic for growing things to demonstrate, especially plants. Animals, on the other hand, are more often bilaterally [...]
A: A few weeks later, a beautiful and blossoming plant climbs out.
I emerged from under the bridge and continued along the canal towpath, taking in the joys of sunshine, water and the many growing things. I spied these yellow flowers pointing out over the canal, and, leaning over the edge somewhat to investigate, I encountered this deep and dreamy, starry sky. A Duckweed Galaxy.
A couple of days ago, in the beautiful sunshine, I took a little wander along the canal towpath, from underneath East Cross Route on the Hertford Union Canal, to Old Ford Lock on Regent’s Canal. I particularly love all the sections which are underneath bridges. The structures are always really interesting, be it stripy and metal [...]
Yet such a diversity of plants!
