High-cut sweet chestnut

Just to the north of the public footpath at TQ 8047 2022 there is a coppiced chestnut (Castanea sativa) with a high-cut stool whereas all the others in the area are low-cut almost to ground level. Both are shown in this picture:

George Peterken (1981) in his Woodland Conservation and Management cites many coppices in Britain where there is a haphazard and inexplicable mixture of low-cut and high-cut stools, though generally low-cut stools are reckoned to produce better poles.

He does say, however, that "some high-cut stools marked compartment boundaries in woods that were otherwise cut low." The example in the picture above is close enough to the footpath, which here follows the old track across the pond bay, for this to be a feasible explanation. It would be quite difficult, with a landmark like this, to lose the corner of the coupe (blocks of coppice are variously known as 'cants' or 'coupes' and by other local terms as well as 'compartments' and 'subcompartments'). The lower part of the high-cut stool (the trunk) is technically known as a 'bolling' (to rhyme with 'rolling').

Chestnut coppice wildlife

Chestnut coppice is often rather poor in terms of wildlife.  After all, the tree is not a native and has rather few creatures that feed on it and the regimented alternation between open ground and densely shaded cover in the coppiced areas may give a periodic boost to spring flowers on the ground, but is not necessarily of as much value to wildlife as other kinds of woodland management.

In Brede High Woods there is a suite of fungi that occurs sparingly in the sweet chestnut areas.  The oak mazegill bracket fungus (Daedalea quercina) below is growing on chestnut, but prefers oak.

The fungus causes heart rot in timber, is very tough and totally inedible.  Among its few redeeming feature is that it was once used in North America as tinder.  The ForestHarvest web site also claims it can be used for making paper (so, maybe, can any fibrous vegetable substance) and, more cryptically "used to provide craft materials for personal use."

Plant of the moment - broad buckler-fern

The broad buckler-fern (Dryopteris dilatata) is one of the commonest fern species in Brede High Woods. The stand below is particularly vigorous and grows on top of an old, mossy pile of logs just inside the Lone Barn Gate at OS map reference TQ 8069 1947.

The roots of this plant contain filicin, apparently a substance that helps to get rid of tapeworms, and both roots and fronds have been used in the treatment of dandruff.

However, the plant is mildly toxic so the remedy might be worse than the affliction - definitely not one to try at home.

This toxicity is, perhaps, reflected in the fact that deer seem to leave it alone as they do many ferns.

Talking of which the local deer are rutting at the moment and the air frequently reverberates with the growl of a lusty stag. One friend suggested they might being trying to compete with the buzz of chain saws where some alien rhododendron is being cleared.

Porcelain fungus (Oudemansiella mucida)

On a fallen beech tree in Greenden Wood towards the west of the Brede High Woods complex, while out walking with friends, we came across a fine display of the porcelain fungus growing from the dead sections of wood on a windthrown, but still living, beech tree.

Although very thin and delicate, the species is edible if the sticky slime that covers the cap is washed off.  A French book on fungi (Le grand livre des champignons) describes is as a very mediocre food item and it is almost certainly not worth the bother both on quality and quantity grounds.  Much better just to enjoy the sight of it.

Autumn moves on

Despite forecasts of wind and rain, autumn moves on in fairly calm weather.  The hornbeam leaves seem very fine this year and the picture shows them carpeting the ground in an overstood coppice in Coneyburrow Wood.

Not far away there is an extensive patch of hemp agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum) now with fluffy seed heads.  In summer the dusty pink flowers were alive with silver-washed fritillary and, sometimes, white admiral butterflies and they tend to look rather dull and dowdy at this end of the year.  However, they have their own autumnal beauty especially when caught by a slanting sunbeam.

Plant of the moment: great horsetail

In the far north eastern corner of Brede High Woods and along Goatham Lane on the clay soil there is an extensive colony of the great horsetail (Equisetum telmateia), one of two horsetail species so far recorded on the estate.

The closely packed whorls of green branches can grow to 2 metres in height and have been described as looking like miniature coal forests.  Along the hedges they make one feel ones eyes are going somewhat out of focus.  The branches are quite harsh in texture and have been used as pot scourers.

The stems too are impressive with their alternate zones of ivory and dark brown.

This and other horsetails have, like most British plants, been used medicinally for a variety of afflictions.  The herbalist Culpepper said that "it solders together the tops of green wounds"

Autumn comes to Brede High Woods

The leaves are now changing rapidly and it promises to be a fine autumn for colour.

The woods have a misty quality and are rich with the earthy smells of decaying vegetation and fungi.

The picture above shows a hornbeam colouring up behind a coup of sweet chestnut coppice with oak standards in Coneyburrow Wood on the eastern side of Brede High.

Above are some hornbeam leaves in closer view and below the smoky reds and purples of a wild cherry (Prunus avium) on the edge of Twist Wood near Goatham Green.