Oxenber Woods Archives - Upper Wharfedale Field Society https://uwfs.org.uk/tag/oxenber-woods/ The fells and valleys of Upper Wharfedale are overflowing with delights from which, once under their spell, very few can escape. Fri, 17 May 2024 15:57:11 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.1 Botany visit to Oxenber Woods 7 May 2024 https://uwfs.org.uk/botany-visit-to-oxenber-woods-7-may-2024/ Wed, 15 May 2024 01:44:00 +0000 https://uwfs.org.uk/?p=10055 Report of a recent visit to Oxenber Woods

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The pictures show Herb Paris ( Paris Quadrifolia), Three Veined Sandwort ( Moehringia Trinervia),False Oxlip and Procumbent Pearlwort ( Sagina procumbens).

12 members of the Botany group met at Feizor on a warm, sunny Spring morning and had a wonderful day.  We spent the first hour or so walking along the lane towards Austwick discovering some favourites like Herb Paris, Goldilocks Buttercup and a small patch of Three-veined Sandwort before having lunch in the sun on the slopes below the OxenberWoods nature reserve.

We then spent the next couple of hours enjoying the wonderful limestone slopes of the reserve which, at this time of year, are covered in Bluebells, Cowslips and Early-Purple Orchids.  With 12 pairs of eyes, we found a number of interesting flowers and grasses including False Oxlip, Procumbent Pearlwort, Parsley-piert and Thyme-leaved Speedwell.  We were also serenaded by a Redstart high in the tree canopy above us.  The Columbines in the woods at the top of the reserve were emerging but not yet in flower.

After a brief refreshment stop, we walked back down the lane into Feizor for a well-deserved cup of tea at Elaine’s Tea Shop.  In total, we spotted over 130 species and enjoyed a lovely day in a beautiful part of the world.

Jane Welsh

Our next trip, led by Rosemary Jackson, is to Leyburn Old Glebe and Ballow Field, Carperby on 21 May. Please come and join us.

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]]> Oxenber Woods https://uwfs.org.uk/oxenber-woods/ Tue, 03 May 2016 15:01:28 +0000 https://uwfs.org.uk/?p=1159 The woodland habitat in this area appears in three forms: the lane, the open hazel and ash woodland which this leads to, and limestone grykes, though the latter are few here. The flora in the lane show that the trees lining it are remnants of past woodland. They include patches of Herb Paris Paris quadrifolia, Goldilocks Buttercup Ranunculus auricomus,

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]]> The woodland habitat in this area appears in three forms: the lane, the open hazel and ash woodland which this leads to, and limestone grykes, though the latter are few here.

The flora in the lane show that the trees lining it are remnants of past woodland. They include patches of Herb Paris Paris quadrifolia, Goldilocks Buttercup Ranunculus auricomus, Wood Sorrel Oxalis acetosella, and the diminutive Town Hall Clock Adoxa moschatellina. These are plants that appear early in the season before the leaves of the trees block out the light. The dry-stone walls offer some shelter and partial shade.

False Oxlip

False Oxlip,
Oxenber Woods. Photo Christine Bell.

On entering Oxenber wood the colour is breathtaking, with Bluebells, Primroses Primula vulgaris, Wood Anemone Anemone nemorosa, and interspersed, a few Early Purple Orchids Orchis mascula. Primroses are shade loving and Cowslips P. veris are meadow flowers, so the hybrid flowers, False Oxlip P. x polyantha are found where the woods merge into more open spaces. It is here where the Bluebells, English species in the woodland, are becoming more robust with thicker leaves suggesting they are hybrids with the Spanish variety. Grykes in the limestone pavement offer shady, sheltered areas for ferns, where today we saw Maidenhair Spleenwort Asplenium trichomanes, Wall rue A. ruta-muraria, and Hart’s Tongue A. scolopendrium. The last patch of woodland is more  dense, though recent coppicing will alter the light levels, and it is here we found Columbine Aquilegia vulgaris.
Josephine Drake

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