dandelion patch
The rushes... the pithy ones
Day 5. Another really damp day. Mild enough. There are over 400 species of rush. They and the yellow flag iris have their own place in my childhood when the combination of this herbage appeared much as we kids imagined snake and crocodile infested jungles to be... places Ms McGonagall shouldn't go. This is maybe the common one... Juncus effusus but then it's only a meter high (not 1.5).
The dried pith of plants of this family was mixed with grease and used to make a type of candle known as a rushlight*.
The soft rush is called igusa in Japanese and is used to weave the soft surface cover of tatami mats.
In medieval Europe, loose fresh rushes would be strewn on earthen floors in dwellings for cleanliness and insulation."
28:07.15: Tuesday. 20.39: Visit to Scarborough across the moors. Scarborough is a well turned out and welcoming town. Some bright spells but generally cool. The damp seaside sand was surprisingly warm to the touch. Later on return once again via Pickering. We have persistent rain and suspect new boots but decide to climb the hillside with M. Same route as early week but only to the rim of the valley. Really wet ground now. "Cat" boots saturated after first 200 yards. Caterpillar now markets a very different type of product to their core footwear range of earlier decades.
Further Wikipedia snippets on the rush... Juncaceae, the rush family, are a monocotyledonous family of flowering plants of eight genera and about 400 species. Members of the Juncaceae are slow-growing, rhizomatous, herbaceous plants, and they may superficially resemble grasses and sedges. They often grow on infertile soils in a wide range of moisture conditions. The most well-known and largest genus is Juncus. Most of the Juncus species grow exclusively in wetland habitats.
*Hence a pithy Chinese proverb - “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness". Sounds Confuscion but a search reports in one place that it was attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt! Amnesty International adopted it as their motto. The beautiful rush plays its part in maintaining hope.
The rushes... the pithy ones
Day 5. Another really damp day. Mild enough. There are over 400 species of rush. They and the yellow flag iris have their own place in my childhood when the combination of this herbage appeared much as we kids imagined snake and crocodile infested jungles to be... places Ms McGonagall shouldn't go. This is maybe the common one... Juncus effusus but then it's only a meter high (not 1.5).
The dried pith of plants of this family was mixed with grease and used to make a type of candle known as a rushlight*.
The soft rush is called igusa in Japanese and is used to weave the soft surface cover of tatami mats.
In medieval Europe, loose fresh rushes would be strewn on earthen floors in dwellings for cleanliness and insulation."
28:07.15: Tuesday. 20.39: Visit to Scarborough across the moors. Scarborough is a well turned out and welcoming town. Some bright spells but generally cool. The damp seaside sand was surprisingly warm to the touch. Later on return once again via Pickering. We have persistent rain and suspect new boots but decide to climb the hillside with M. Same route as early week but only to the rim of the valley. Really wet ground now. "Cat" boots saturated after first 200 yards. Caterpillar now markets a very different type of product to their core footwear range of earlier decades.
Further Wikipedia snippets on the rush... Juncaceae, the rush family, are a monocotyledonous family of flowering plants of eight genera and about 400 species. Members of the Juncaceae are slow-growing, rhizomatous, herbaceous plants, and they may superficially resemble grasses and sedges. They often grow on infertile soils in a wide range of moisture conditions. The most well-known and largest genus is Juncus. Most of the Juncus species grow exclusively in wetland habitats.
*Hence a pithy Chinese proverb - “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness". Sounds Confuscion but a search reports in one place that it was attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt! Amnesty International adopted it as their motto. The beautiful rush plays its part in maintaining hope.