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Lesser Celandine- (Ranunculus ficaria)-

On our recent walks we have seen lots of this low growing, hairless perennial plant with its distinctive, bright yellow flowers and fleshy dark green, heart, shaped leaves. A member of the buttercup family, it is found throughout Europe and west Asia. It prefers bare, damp ground and is known as an early harbinger of Spring, apparently making an appearance each year on the 21^st of February, more generally it flowers from early February through to May.

The word “Celandine” comes from Latin meaning “swallow” as it was said that the flowers bloomed when the swallows returned and faded when they left. The name “Ranunculus” is Latin for “little frog or tadpole, perhaps referring to its being found near water, or to the fact that the unopened flowers resemble tadpoles.

The plant used to be known as Pilewort because it was used to treat haemorrhoids, as the knobbly tubers of the plant were thought to resemble piles! In German it is known as “Skorbutkraut”- scurvyherb because of the use of its leaves which are high in Vitamin C to prevent scurvy, but beware the plant contains protoanemonin a mild toxin and medicines made from the plant should be extracted either from the dried plant or through the use of heat.

The flower is mentioned by a number of literary greats in their works: J. R. R. Tolkein, C. S. Lewis, D.H. Lawrence and most notably, William Wordsworth all make mention of it.  Wordsworth was so inspired by the little flower, that he wrote three poems about it. On his death it was proposed that a lesser celandine would be engraved on his tombstone, but unfortunately a mistake was made and the greater celandine, a member of the poppy family was used instead.

Check out the link for a copy of one of his poems: http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/william-wordsworth/to-the-small-celandine/

Last time out in the Cooley’s we saw evidence of frog life with sightings of both adults and frogspawn. Find below information about their life cycle,  taken from the Irish Peatlands Conservation Council website.

Frog Life Cycle

When the adults emerge from hibernation they migrate to congregate at various breeding sites. They may travel up to half a mile to find a site where they gather in large numbers. The males always arrive first and strike up a chorus of loud croaking to attract females. Frogs do not have any elegant courtship rituals; the eager male simply grabs the nearest female as she arrives at the spawning site. Jumping onto the female’s back, the male wraps his fore limbs around her body and grips using nuptial pads, on the fore limbs – a position called amplexus.

Spawning itself can take place any time during amplexus and lasts only a few seconds. The female lays over 2,000 black eggs while the male releases sperm. The eggs are fertilised immediately and before their gelatinous capsules absorb water, swell and rise to the surface. After spawning the female usually leaves the pond, while the male often goes on to search for another mate.

Both male and female frogs return to the same pond year after year, probably recognising it from the smell of the water and algae.

Eggs & Frog Spawn: Each frog egg is 2-3mm in diameter and is enclosed in an envelope of jelly. When the egg is deposited in the water the jelly swells to a diameter of 8-10mm insulating the eggs from the water. The egg develops into a tadpole in 10-21 days (the higher the temperature the shorter the development time).

Tadpole: The tadpole digests the spawn jelly using a special secretion and hatches. Specific adhesive organs fasten the newly hatched tadpole to other spawn or plants in the pool. At this early stage tadpoles have no mouth, and until its mouth organs form it feeds on an internal yolk sac attached to the stomach. At approximately 2 days old the external gills, mouth and eyes are formed. At this stage it moves like a fish and begins to eat algae. At 12 days spiracles and internal gills are formed. At 5 weeks the hind legs are showing and the lungs are forming. It then has to swim to the surface of the water to gulp air. The tadpole has fleshy lips with rows of teeth for rasping away at water plants and by seven weeks it also eats insects and even other tadpoles.

Froglet: At 10 weeks the forelegs are growing. The hind legs are fully grown and the tail is reducing. At 14 weeks the tail is nearly fully absorbed. At this stage the froglets are usually starting to spend time on rocks or in nearby damp grass. Young frogs usually double in size by the following autumn and they reach sexual maturity in their third year. They can live for 7-8 years. Scarcity of food or severe cold may delay metamorphosis and overwintering tadpoles are not uncommon in northern countries.