Bog Arum/ Kær-Mysse

Calla palustris

Bog Arum is native to Denmark and other European countries, northern Asia and northern North America. It often grows in large stocks. It is seen here and there in bogs and fens, it is a characteristic plant of  raised bogs. The Bog Arum has a characteristic inflorescence, where the flowers sit together in a yellow-green bulb, surrounded by a white spath. The plant is also known by the name vandkalla/ Water Calla, because it is similar to the Kalla-flower (which also belongs to the Arum-family). Other names are Arum lily / Calla lily / Water arum / Water dragon / Wild calla. The Latin name  ”Calla” was by the ancient Romans used about another, unknown water plant. The name palustris means "growing in swamps."

In the autum the inflorescense is changed into a bulb of crimson berries. The leaves are heartshaped and shining lightgreen; leaves and inflorescense sit upon fleshy, lightgreen stalks, which form the juicy rhizomes. The plant cannot be confused with any other Danish plant. The whole plant and the berries are poisonous, it has a high oxalic acid content, but the rhizome is edible after drying, grinding, leaching and boiling. In Viborg, Jutland, it was in 1795 recommended to use the dried, crushed roots for flour.

Large stocks of bog arum can both form a *hængesæk out into the water or be spread upon land. It is therefore necessary to take care and not walk among the plants, since there is often water down under.

 
*Hængesæk:  A socalled hængesæk is a society of plants, formed by entangled roots and stalks, which grow in the surface of a bog or across open water without connection to the bottom. The stock of plants might be so close that the water below the plants are not sensed. Old hængesække might carry the weight of a human, but not everywhere. It can be highly dangerous to walk out upon a hængesæk, a person can fall through and down under the plant cover.

The flower is polluted by insects, and the seeds are spread by birds, who eat the berries( the plant is hardly poisonous to the birds). It seems like the spread in Denmark is mostly vegetative, since pieces of the rhizome are introduced to other localities by water birds. The bog arum in Denmark is common in northeast Sjælland (Zealand) , but it is rare in other parts of Denmark. It is now and then seen plant in garden ponds etc.


The Danish name Kærmysse: 1793, the syllable mysse might origin from Norwegian myr = mose/moor. It was also called water-ginger in Denmark, since the root and seeds tasted like the spice ginger, and it had the name kalla in many connections, because it looked like the kalla-houseplant.



Some plants from tropical Africa, often termed "calla lilies", have now been transferred to the genus Zantedeschia and should not be confused with Calla palustris.


Source: 
V.J. Brøndegaard, Folk og Flora, Dansk etnobotanik, Rosenkilde og Bagger, 1980. Danmarks fugle og natur, Felthåndbogen, 2012; haveabc, Danmark; Liber herbarum.  

photo: Aqua Mose, Silkeborg 2009: grethe bachmann

Djursland - on the first Week-end of March

 

The fields are definitely more green now, this first week-end of March. It's lovely to see the snow has gone - until further notice. You'll never know when it comes back. You'll just have to enjoy this day with almost 10 degree Celsius. The horses are out in their grazing fields , but they are still wearing an overcoat, except the small ponies and the Icelandic horses with their thick woolen fur. They don't need an overcoat, they never freeze. Denmark is not a challenge to them, they are used to something colder. Well, most of them might be born in Denmark. Iceland will not have other horses "imported" than the purebred Icelandic pony; they want to keep the unique Icelandic horse "clean".

We came to a place after a  village Stabrand where we suddenly discovered a large dolmen out in the field. There are lots of dolmens and hills in this district, but this one was unique. The table told us it is  called the Ildbjerggård-dysse. It's 5.000 years old, from Stone Age,one of the finest in East Jutland. What is also interesting today is that the earth in the dolmen has mostly not been touched since Stone Age, which might result in interesting finds. Between the village Stabrand and Nødager is another dolmen close to the road,  called "Mejdkirken", from the old Danish word Meje, meaning midday time. It is told that the priest of Nødager and Feldballe parish, which belonged to the same priesthood, always passed the dolmen at midday , therefore the name Mejdkirke. This round dolmen is a fine representative of the Danish Megalithic tombs 

A very short summary from a very long report from Naturhistorisk Museum, Århus:  Among many other finds was a new insect species discovered in a Bronze Age grave hill at Skelhøj in 2003. The only place in the world it has been found is in Denmark in a couple of gravehills. This indicates that these insects are prehistoric relicts, which have survived since the hill was digged 5.000 years ago. The soil conditions in the gravehills are unique in the Danish landscape, and the gravehills are therefore  worthy of preservation of the highest degree.

More stones, this time used to build a stable. I like that pretty stone wall. Yellow is a good colour for a house. People in the town of Skagen are familiar with yellow houses. The halftimbered building in black and white is  a stable, it's a well-know building people pass on the country road. It belongs to Skærvad manor. The pretty main building lies close behind the stable. Skærvad origins from the 1300s, and the owner since 2007 is Lone Moldrup, who's a very nice and creative person, not a usual "Lord of the Manor". She lives at Skærvad Hovedgaard with her husband and 6 children. She's a very energetic woman, who has started various activities, also for children. I have included a photo from Skærvad  in 2009, when it was being renovated.

 

The farmers were busy, there were tractors out on each field, they had to use the good weather.  Two buzzards were on their wings, it was a good day for them too, they could rest and sway upon the windy air. And here was a very old house by the edge of the forest. Odd to imagine that someone lived there once, maybe it's a forester's house. It will soon be completely demolished, and no one will be able to see that here lived people, maybe a family for many years.  In a bush out in the next field was a light buzzard, or should I say a blonde buzzard?  Well, the birds' migration has begun little by little, but it's not the big day yet. It might be a migrating bird this one. The photo is blurred, sorry.

 

 

Some horses next to a church were dressed very warmly, overcoat and more than that, one horse had some strange clothing around the neck. I think it was embarrassed, the other horses were laughing, I'm sure! The red house was my grandparents' house once. It is now neglected and dilapidated, and I don't like to look at it. I don't know the people who live there, and the village in itself is not the wonderful village I remember, so there is no reason for a stop. The district has numerous gravehills and there are moors from Stone Age with finds indicating that sacrifice has taken place here.

A stop by a blue lake, Ramten sø. Here were some birds, goosander and great crested grebe, and further away a flock of  white seagulls in the blue water. It was very blue today. The lake is listed together with a joining lake, Dystrup sø. There are many breeding ducks and grebes in these lakes. In the moor district east of Ramten sø were valuable finds from Iron Age.

  

 

 

And a few photos of the landscape on the way home. The twilight is coming a little later than before, but sooner now than later on! ´)

See you soon!

photo Djursland, 3. March: grethe bachmann

Burr Marigold/ Brøndsel

Bidens tripartita
 
The family Bidens (DK: Brøndsel) is spread in Europe and in North and South America. They are herbs and bushes with opposite leaves and small composites of yellow flowers in august-September. The fruits are equipped with barbs.The Burr Marigold is common at ponds, village ponds, lakes, in pit bogs, ditches etc.  The Bidens cernuus grows in the same habitats but is not as common as the tripartita. The common names beggarticks, black jack, bur-marigolds, stickseeds, tickseeds and tickseed sunflowers refer to the burrs on the seeds, most of which are barbed. The generic name refers to the same fact; it means "two-tooth", from Latin bis "two" + dens "tooth". 

The old Danish name Bryndsel means ildebrand (fire), because the flowers dye fabrics in a strong yellow hue called brandgult ( fire yellow).

Painted Lady/Tidselsommerfugl

The plants are zoochorus; their seeds will stick to clothing, fur or feathers, and be carried to new habitat. This has enabled them to colonize a wide range, including many oceanic islands. Some of these species occur only in a very restricted range and several are now threatened with extinction, They were and are still used to make a refreshening tea. Some of the species are sometimes eaten as a vegetable, others are very bitter, others are fine honey plants - and several Bidens are used as food by caterpillars of certain Lepidoptera, like Painted Lady.


Dyeing:
The Burr Marigold  is mentioned in Denmark in 1670 among plants, which dye a strong yellow. The flowers with alum dye yellow, the flowers with potash dye a strong light yellow (1795) - the flowers were ab. 1800 used for yellow dye in general , fx at the island Bornholm. The plant itself dyes red-yellow and golden-brown.


Medicine:
In the autumn the sheep was given Burr Marigold as a protection against worm and disease. (1761).




Source: V. J. Brøndegaard, Folk og Flora, Dansk etnobotanik, Rosenkilde og Bagger, 1980;
Danmarks fugle og natur; Naturegate; Wikipedia; Gyldendal, den store danske; Danmarks flora.


photo September 2010/2011: grethe bachmann

Goodbye to King Winter .................

I've got a lovely email from a blogging friend , Jack Mathews of Sage to Meadow in Texas. Jack has given his 2011 Prairie Sagebrush Awards for blogging, and the award recognizes bloggers Jack follows for their excellence in writing, photography and art on the blog. He included Thyra, and I was very happy and honored of being in the company of these other bloggers. I'm a Dane - and therefore it was a special joy and honor to me to receive this award for "Goodbye to King Winter", a post about my dear country, Denmark.



This post was one of the recipients of the 2011 Prairie Sagebrush Awards, created by Jack Matthews, nature writer, historian, and creator of the truly fine blog Sage to Meadow.
 


  

Norsminde

On the 19th of February was still snow everywhere and spring seemd to be far, far away. The small harbour of Norsminde south of Århus was ice-free though, and the sky and water had a lovely strong blue shade. A clear cold winter's day brings fine colours!

Skovmøllen on a foggy day.

 The next week-end was foggy and raw and the sun seemed so far, far away. It was nice to see that the people at the restaurant of  Skovmøllen (the old Water Mill-restauurant) saw to that the little birds were fed with Danish bread and fat-bowls. There was also morning bread with cinnamon and the birds seemed to like it!  Notice the little blue tit. It is so ruffled. I hope it will cope.

Great tit and a ruffled Blue tit eating Danish morning bread with cinnamon.

Mossø Lake

Torup Lake

dike at the army road (in the old days used for cattle-fence)

icy paths

A clear day on the 5th of March in the lake district in the middle of Jutland. There was a thin layer of ice on the big lake, Mossø, and a thicker layer on the small lake Torup, where we usually take a rest in summer. But the path along the meadows was icy and not advisable to walk on this time. The army road along the heath was better, but still lots of ice on the side-walks. How different it looks from the summer season. The colours are dark and brown, umbra and sienna. Not a sound from the birds, not an insect in the air.

winter aconite

a forest path!

icy feet

fresh kid

On the 6th of March my usual little walk down to the park between the sea and Marselisborg Castle. At the Donbæk cottages were still ice on the ponds, where the duck stood freezing- or are they freezing? I hope they don't feel the cold as much as we do. The first winter aconites. Still ice in the forest paths - and on the goldfish-pond. Where are the goldfish in winter? Probably well looked after in another warmer place.....

After a long unwilling pause I have reached the 24th of March on my daily walk, and suddenly I saw a fine spotted woodpecker in the Forst Botanical Garden. It was very busy and did not notice the disturber. Snowdrops and winter aconites en masse. The duck pond was almost ice free - only a small layer in the farthest corner. King Winter, get lost........

Mols Bjerge

Mols Bjerge

Mols Bjerge

snowy showers far away

And the last camera trip was to Mols Bjerge in the National Park on Djursland on the 26 of March. It was easy to see that the snow had covered the hills for a long time. The grass was yellow and withered, but soon the hills will be green again. It was very, very cold and windy that day, and there was snow in the air. Everywhere in the horizon we could see the snow showers fall over the landscape from dark clouds - and on our way home we drove through snowy weather. The last time this year I'm sure!

The next trip is to-morrow, the first Saturday of April, and the weather forecast says 20 degrees Celsius - a giant difference from the beginning of the week with 3 degrees Celsius. Welcome spring, oh! you don't know how welcome you are! The birds are singing - and I saw the first butterfly yesterday! Goodbye king Winter.     

photo in February and March 2011: grethe bachmann