6 6 1 1 4 4 0 0 2 2 2 2 r r e e 1 1 m m m m u u s s e e u u s s s s i i ) ) a a s s m m y y n n r r ( ( n n o o i i o o t t a a i i c c o o o o s s s s a a s s r r m m o o o o m m e e e e r r i i h h h h s s k k r t r t o o y y h h f f t t r r o o n n o o e e ◆ h h botany – plantains t t ◆ f f egton bridge old gooseberry show e e o o ◆ harwood dale forest e e ◆ n n the starling c c i i z z i ◆ i charter for trees, woods and people a a g ◆ g on not living in the national park... a a ◆ cd review – purple acres o m o m e e ◆ crossword h h v t v t ◆ hawkmoth – nature notes nyma – to PROTECT AND ENHANCE THE CHARACTERISTIC BEAUTY OF THE NORTH YORKSHIRE MOORS FOR PRESENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS botany plantains plantains are not one of our most showy groups of native plants, to grow on damper coastal areas, salt marshes, tidal flats and wet but you are rarely far from them as you walk in the countryside, which meadows. is lucky as they can be very useful. They belong to the family Plantaginaceae and this, and the generic name Plantago, derive from sheep fodder the Latin ‘planta’ meaning the sole of the foot. The Romans realised The leaves of the sea plantain are greatly sought out by sheep and have that the two most common species followed man on his travels, been pickled for winter use and the buck’s horn plantain leaves are a colonisations and farming from early times, the seeds sticking to the salad crop in Italy. Ribwort plantain leaves were tried as animal fodder feet or shoes or being a contaminant of grain. The Saxons called it and will be readily eaten by sheep and pigs but not relished by cows ‘weybroed’ or way-bread and in our more recent colonies it was called and horses. None are poisonous and the very young leaves of all ‘English man’s foot’ or ‘white man’s foot’ species can be eaten raw or cooked, ribwort ones are interesting dipped Plantains grow from a short, thick, usually perennial rootstock that into tempura batter and deep-fried! The seeds are high in protein and supports a basal rosette of tough, ribbed leaves. From the centre of this minerals and can be ground and used in baking. The seeds are also sprout tall, leafless stems bearing loved by cage birds. dense spikes of small, rather insignificant flowers, often only medicinal uses noticed when the prominent But P. major and P, lanceolata have stamens with coloured anthers are been well known since early times seen, maturing gradually up the as healing plants. They were stem; perfect for wind pollination. magical plants in the pre Christian era, known to the Greeks and five species Romans, were one of the nine In our moors area there are five sacred herbs of the Anglo Saxons, a plantain species, two very common ‘mother of all worts’ and St. John and three local to more specific included plantain as one of his habitats. Plantago major, the healing herbs. Both Chaucer and greater, common or rats- tail Shakespeare mention them as plantain has broad, oval, light green, healing and the Scottish and Irish smooth leaves with long spikes of ‘Slanlon’ means health herb. greenish flowers with purple They are antihistamine, anthers. It is widespread in waste antiallergenic, anti-inflammatory, places, track edges, open verges and astringent, soothing and antibiotic, in lawns. It can withstand being being particularly useful externally trodden on, cut and trampled and for healing wounds, drawing out grows on disturbed or compacted splinters, pus, venom and dirt, for soil in all but the most acid areas bites, stings, rashes, boils, ulcers, and is the one most commonly shingles, swellings, inflammations, referred to as way-bread, being nettle stings, eczema, ringworm almost everywhere we tread. and verrucas, even to dog and snake bites; that is any new or chronic Plantago lanceolata or ribwort plantain has longer, dark green, skin condition. A poultice can be made from the fresh leaves or they slightly hairy, lance shaped leaves with five prominent ribs. Its flowers can be made into an infusion or cream. As they are so abundant by are in a small dense, dark head at the top of a long, ribbed stem and roadsides they can be a perfect emergency first aid kit for wounds, have pale yellow anthers, the abundant pollen being a common cause bites and stings, applied immediately to the latter will prevent any of hay fever. It is widespread in pastures, meadows, verges, and on further swelling or pain. Laid on the forehead they will soothe a waste ground. Several of the country names for this species, soldiers, headache. kemps, fighting cocks, fetchers etc. come from the old childhood These same properties make them useful internally as well. They game of using the heads and stems as in a ‘conker’ game or looping the make a good eye wash for conjunctivitis, a gargle for teeth and gum stem round the flowering top and pulling to ‘shoot’ the flowering top infections and for inner ear troubles. They soothe a sore throat and off. These games seem to be very old, at least as far back as the loosen catarrh so helping coughs and bronchial problems. Similarly Romans. Another game relies on the leaf ‘ribs’, two children pull at a they soothe and heal urinary track infections and gastric leaf until it rips in half and the one with the most strings (veins) inflammations. They are rich in minerals and trace elements making hanging wins! them a support and tonic for the immune, lymphatic and blood Of the other three, less widespread species, Plantago media or hoary systems while, their anti-allergenic properties help with hay fever and plantain prefers more calcareous soils, clay grasslands, or coastal cliffs, other allergies. The seeds are mucilaginous and swell and with the quarries and verges, sometimes becoming locally common. The leaves bran constitute a very good cure for constipation. The leaves of P. are similar to P. major though more pointed and slightly hairy and the media are said to cure blight on apple trees when the affected parts are dense flower spikes have very showy pink anthers on smooth stems. It treated with them. is faintly fragrant. The other two species are found mainly on the Plantains, plants we readily tread on or dig up from our lawns as coast. P. coronopus or buck’s horn plantain has downy, dissected leaves they mar its perfection, but luckily are always somewhere nearby when resembling deer’s antlers and prefers bare gravelly, sandy coastal cliffs we need them, so do try the emergency first aid treatments for bites, and meadows, but also grows on winter salted verges, as it is tolerant stings and cuts when you are out walking, they really do work. ◆ to salt. P. maritima or sea plantain has linear, fleshy leaves and tends Anne Press 2 voice of the moors – summer 2016 contents botany page 2 plantains chairman’s foreword page 4 chairman’s annual report 2016 NYMA president’s piece page 5 Founded 1985 of swifts: a chance to do something Registered Charity No. 517639 page 7 egton bridge old gooseberry show Officers of the Association President Ian Carstairs OBE page 8 Vice Presidents harwood dale forest Professor Allan Patmore Ron Foster MBE ornithology Chairman page 10 Tom Chadwick the starling Vice Chairman David Moore page 11 Council Members charter for trees, woods and people Sue Chadwick Janet Cochrane people & places Albert Elliot page 12 Ann Glass on not living in the national park... Adrian Leaman Colin Speakman cd review Malcolm Watt page 13 George Winn-Darley purple acres Elaine Wisdom amanuensis Association Treasurer page 14 Brian Pearce cryptic crossword n o 73 140 Newton Road Great Ayton Middlesbrough TS9 6DL page 14 spotlight: guest photographer alan clark [email protected] Hon. Secretary Janet Cochrane hawkmoth The Forge, Fangdale Beck, page 15 North Yorkshire, TS9 7LE nature notes [email protected] Membership Secretary Gerald King 5 Cleveland View, Faceby Middlesbrough, TS9 7DE “Quotable Quotes” Tel. 01642 701051 about swifts Walks Coordinator “Swifts can’t feed in the rain and so will travel astonishing distances to avoid bad weather and find Heather Mather Ainthorpe food. They are fantastic meteorologists, capable of detecting the finest fluctuations in air pressure and Tel. 01287 669104 moisture. Despite only weighing the same as a bar of Dairy Milk, they will fly into a headwind to reach ‘Voice of the Moors’ articles to: more clement climes on the fringes of weather patterns . Albert Elliot . Ornithological surveys have tracked swifts leaving gathering points above London to conduct Piper House, 54 Church Street, foraging trips over the Norfolk and Lincolnshire coasts, way out across the North Sea, even as far as Castleton, Whitby, YO21 2EL Germany, to plunder the abundant clouds of insects that swarm at the rear end of an occluded front. Tel. 01287 660137 To grounded minds, feeding excursions that might clock up 600 or miles in a day seem email: [email protected] incomprehensible, inefficient even, but the more you learn from this bird, you realise that considering any part of its existence by our limits and measures is a mistake.