Dwarf Gorse Hothfield
Ian Rickards

November on Hothfield Heathlands

Summer colour lingered into mid-October, bright yellow tormentil Potentilla erecta in close cropped turf or bogside tussocks, nodding heads of blue-mauve devil’s bit scabious, Sucisa praetensis, the odd second flowering of red campion, Silene dioica, the soft pink of cross-leaved heath, Erica tetralix, in damp areas. 

In the main bog round-leaved sundew, Drosera rotundifolia, had all but disappeared already, curled up in the insulation of the bright green sphagnum moss in a hibernaculum, the odd red little leaf with ragged tentacles still protruding. European gorse, Ulex europaeus, had come into flower and will continue throughout the winter. The flowers of dwarf gorse, Ulex minor, were nearly over. At the bottom of the narrow path along the north fence of the bird sanctuary leading to the concrete causeway, the two species grow side by side, perfect for contrast and compare. On the slopes above the main bog, the sub-shrubling, Calluna vulgaris, all colour drained from the papery flowers, is maturing well after several clearances of the birch but a new fluttering of birch seedlings is a reminder of the constant work to control this pioneer plant. The birch catkins collapsed several weeks ago, tiny winged seeds flying high and wide. Taking a stack of baking trays out of my oven recently I swept up a dusting of the seeds that must have blown in and settled when the pans were out on a counter. 

Gorse. Tim Horton

Red berries are very noticeable now on an unusual plant, not listed in Alex Lockton’s 2022 Flora of the reserve and possibly a garden escape, but certainly native on the Downs near Wilmington. In the Hothfield end of the Triangle is a low evergreen sub-shrub with diamond shaped thick ‘leaves’ ending in very sharp spines and stemless berries seemingly stuck to the reverse of each ‘leaf’. This is butchers broom or knee holly, Ruscus aculeatus (aculeatus is Latin for prickly). It is in the lily family so has parallel veins in the leaves. The ‘leaves’ are adapted stems, cladodes, with a tiny real leaf at their base. Small greenish stemless flowers appear in the middle of each cladode, male and female on different plants (dioecious), the females producing berries almost larger than the cladode. Bunches were used to scrub clean butcher’s blocks, and recent research has discovered antibacterial oil in the plant. It is an ancient woodland indicator, adapted to well-drained, poor soils and shady conditions. A cousin of non-native Alexandrian Laurel, Danae racemosa, with softer sprays of shiny evergreen cladodes used in floristry, it is another example of how plants adapt to survive difficult environments, just like the bog and heathland plants this reserve protects.

Butcher's Broom (Ruscus Asculeatus)

Come walking in November to soak up the full autumn display of colour and flying leaves while spotting fungus becoming more visible through the winter. Enjoy too the crunch of the thick layer of mast below the trees on the tolls. (I know one dachshund who will need carrying over the carpet of sweet chestnut prickles, so tender are her paws.) For it has been a mast year, right across the country, when all oaks, beeches, sweet chestnut and other trees and shrubs produce a bumper crop of seeds and fruit in amazing synchronicity. The last mast year was 2020 or 2022 in this country, experts differ. Phenology experts are exploring the links to weather patterns as trees usually produce the same quantity of flowers each year, but substantial precious energy is spent on developing a huge seed crop only every so often. Why? How? A bumper crop is thought to satiate the predators and leave seeds to germinate, while the intervening thin years help reduce the predator population, allowing seedlings to mature and replace ageing trees.

And talking of trees in the wrong place, the volunteers have spent several days coppicing and clearing brash in the former pig area and opening up a nearby pond. Allowing sun back onto these light-starved areas will encourage the return of oxygenating plants, followed swifty by dragonflies, frogs, and hopefully the return of great crested newts.

Pond at Hothfield

Sunset at Hothfield

Hothfield Heathlands Nature Reserve

Rich in flora and fauna, this important reserve contains Kent's last four valley bogs and one of its few remaining fragments of open heath.

Find out more here