The ancient woodland lining the banks of the River Allen in Northumberland provides one of the region’s richest habitats for woodland plants and ferns. From the National Trust’s Allen Banks estate south to Briarwood Banks, Planky Mill and Cupola Bridge, this stretch supports an impressive diversity of species, from conspicuous spring flowers to easily overlooked botanical specialities. It is a landscape I return to repeatedly throughout the year, as each visit seems to reveal something new.
Ferns & Horsetails
Hard Shield-fern
Polystichum aculeatum
Hard Shield-fern is a robust evergreen fern of woodland, rocky slopes and shaded hedge banks. Its dark green fronds are stiff and glossy, with sharply pointed pinnules that give the plant a distinctly rigid appearance. It can be found in most areas, from Allen Banks south to Cupola.
This species is somewhat similar to Soft Shield-fern, a rare plant in the area, but can be distinguished by its adnate pinnules and tapering frond base.
Beech Fern
Phegopteris connectilis
Beech Fern is a delicate species of damp woodland, ravines and upland slopes. The soft green fronds are broadly triangular, with the lowest pair of pinnae spreading noticeably outwards from the rest of the frond. A narrow wing of leafy tissue runs along the rachis between the pinnae.
Beech Fern is one of the rarer ferns found in the area and is best sought around Cupola Bridge.
Oak Fern
Gymnocarpium dryopteris
A delicate fern of damp woodland, shaded rocks and upland screes. Its pale green fronds are thin-textured and broadly triangular, dividing into three main branches from near the base. Spreading by slender creeping rhizomes, it often forms loose patches in cool, humid habitats.
The best populations of Oak Fern can be found at Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Briarwood Banks.
Polypody
Polypodium vulgare
A familiar fern of walls, rocks, tree trunks and shaded banks. The leathery fronds are deeply pinnatifid with rounded lobes arranged along a creeping rhizome. On the underside, the round yellow-orange sori are uncovered by an indusium, helping to distinguish the species from many other common ferns.
Polypody grows abundantly throughout the area, so be sure to look up!
Wood Horsetail Equisetum sylvaticum
A graceful species of damp woodland, stream sides and shaded ground. The pale green stems carry repeated whorls of fine, drooping branches that give the plant a soft, feathery appearance. The branches themselves are branched, helping separate it from other horsetails.
Great Horsetail
Equisetum telmateia
The largest British horsetail, favouring damp woodland, stream banks and flushes on base-rich soils. The sterile stems are tall and pale green with conspicuous black-tipped sheaths and whorls of long branches, giving the plant a striking, architectural appearance.
In spring, separate fertile shoots appear first, bearing a large terminal cone before the green sterile stems develop.
Wildflowers
Wood Stitchwort
Stellaria nemorum
Wood Stitchwort is a sprawling perennial of damp woodland, stream sides and shaded hedge banks. Its white flowers have deeply divided petals that can give the impression of ten petals rather than five. The lower leaves are stalked and broadly oval, while the upper leaves clasp the stem, helping to distinguish it from other stitchworts. Compared to the much more abundant Greater Stitchwort, it is a much more delicate plant.
Again, this one is best looked for at Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Briarwood Banks.
Bird’s-nest Orchid Neottia nidus-avis
A curious woodland orchid lacking green pigmentation and therefore unable to photosynthesise. The entire plant is pale brown to honey-coloured, with a thick stem bearing numerous small flowers and a mass of tangled roots said to resemble a bird’s nest. It grows in deep leaf litter in shaded woodland, obtaining nutrients through associations with soil fungi.
Early-purple Orchid
Orchis mascula
One of the first orchids to flower in spring, equally at home in open woodland as it is in grassland and dunes. The dense spike carries rich purple flowers with spotted lips, while the broad basal leaves are often marked with dark blotches. A hood formed by the upper petals and sepals gives each flower a compact, helmeted appearance.
Mountain Pansy
Viola lutea
A colourful perennial of upland grassland, heaths, rocky slopes and areas polluted with heavy metals. The flowers are highly variable, ranging from bright yellow to purple or bicoloured forms, often marked with dark guidelines toward the centre. It is a rather distinctive and lovely little plant.
Upland Enchanter’s-nightshade
Circaea x intermedia
A scarce hybrid found in damp, shaded woodland and along stream sides. In appearance, it sits somewhere between Circaea lutetiana and Circaea alpina, typically showing relatively broad leaves and small white two-petalled flowers. Compared with the common enchanter’s-nightshade, the leaves are usually more strongly toothed and the petioles bear hairs on one side only.
This one is hard to spot at the best of times, but small colonies can be found scattered across the whole area.
Wood Vetch
Ervilia sylvatica
A slender scrambling perennial of woodland margins, hedge banks and rocky slopes. Its leaves are divided into several narrow leaflets and end in tendrils that help support the weak stems among surrounding vegetation. The pale particoloured flowers are followed by narrow pods.
A local rarity, it is best looked for at Stawart Gorge
Goldilocks Buttercup
Ranunculus auricomus
A variable perennial of woodland edges, hedge banks and damp grassland. The basal leaves are rounded and shallowly lobed, while the upper stem leaves are finely divided into narrow segments, giving the plant a distinctive two-part appearance.
Fun fact: what we know as Goldilocks Buttercup is actually an aggregate of many closely related but distinct microspecies, many of which are extremely difficult to tell apart in the field.
Bitter Vetch
Lathyrus linifolius
Bitter-vetch is a slender perennial of woodland edges, heaths and upland grassland. The leaves consist of a single pair of narrow leaflets ending in a branched tendril, while the reddish-purple flowers are borne in loose clusters on delicate stems.
Downy Currant Ribes spicatum
A deciduous shrub of woodland, rocky slopes and riverbanks. Its leaves are three to five lobed and softly hairy beneath when young, while the greenish flowers hang in drooping racemes during spring.
Separating this one from Red Currant is a challenge, but good resources can be found online. While it does not appear too downy, the specimen here has been identified by far more accomplished botanists than I.
Fly Honeysuckle
Lonicera xylosteum
A deciduous shrub of woodland, limestone slopes and hedge banks. The leaves are oval and softly hairy, arranged in opposite pairs along the stems, while the small creamy-white flowers are produced in pairs from the leaf axils. These develop into glossy red berries, usually borne as twin fruits, which are a distinctive feature of the species.
Yellow Pimpernel
Lysimachia nemorum
A delicate creeping perennial of damp woodland, stream banks and shaded ground. Slender stems trail across the soil and root at the nodes, bearing opposite, rounded leaves on relatively long stalks. The small yellow flowers are produced singly in the leaf axils. A little beauty!
Water Avens
Geum rivale
Water Avens is a softly hairy perennial of damp meadows, flushes and stream sides. Its nodding flowers have reddish-brown sepals surrounding smaller cream to pinkish petals marked with darker veins. After flowering, the styles elongate into hooked structures that aid seed dispersal by attaching to passing animals.
Hybrid Avens
Geum x intermedium
Geum × intermedium is the hybrid between Geum rivale and Geum urbanum, typically occurring where the parent species grow together in damp woodland and streamside habitats.
In appearance, it is intermediate between the two, with partially nodding flowers, reddish sepals and broader yellowish petals that open more widely than those of Water Avens. The plant is often recognised by this combination of mixed characters.
Opposite-leaved Golden-saxifrage
Chrysosplenium oppositifolium
A low-growing perennial of shaded flushes, springs and stream margins. Its rounded leaves are arranged in opposite pairs along creeping stems, helping distinguish it from the similar alternate-leaved species. In spring, the small flowers are surrounded by bright yellow-green bracts that make patches of the plant conspicuous against damp woodland ground.
Wood Forget-me-not
Myosotis sylvatica
A softly hairy perennial of woodland edges, hedge banks and shaded grassland. Its bright blue flowers, each with a contrasting yellow eye, are borne in coiled sprays that gradually unfurl as flowering progresses. The broad hairy leaves and relatively large flowers help distinguish it from several smaller forget-me-not species.
Wood-sorrel Oxalis acetosella
A delicate woodland perennial of damp, shaded ground. Its clover-like leaves are divided into three heart-shaped leaflets that often fold down in low light or rain. The white flowers are finely veined with pinkish-purple and carried singly above the foliage on slender stalks.
Sanicle
Sanicula europaea
Sanicle is a perennial of shaded deciduous woodland and base-rich hedge banks. The glossy basal leaves are palmately lobed and long-stalked, while the small pinkish-white flowers are grouped into compact, rounded umbels on slender stems. Later in the season, the fruits develop hooked bristles that readily cling to animal fur, aiding dispersal through woodland habitats.
Wood Crane’s-bill
Geranium sylvaticum
A robust perennial of damp meadows, woodland edges and upland grassland. Its deeply divided leaves form loose clumps below tall stems carrying relatively large violet-purple flowers, often marked with darker veins. After flowering, the fruits develop into the long, tapering “crane’s-bill” seed head characteristic of the genus.
Common Cow-wheat
Melampyrum pratense
A slender annual of acidic woodland, heaths and moorland edges. The narrow opposite leaves line delicate green stems, while the pale yellow tubular flowers sit in the upper leaf axils, often subtended by reddish-tinged bracts. As a semi-parasitic species, it attaches to the roots of neighbouring plants to obtain additional nutrients.
Bugle
Ajuga reptans
A creeping perennial of damp grassland, woodland edges and hedge banks. Glossy leaves form low rosettes connected by runners, from which arise square stems bearing dense spikes of deep blue flowers. The hooded upper petals and spreading lower lip are characteristic of the mint family.
Intermediate Lady’s-mantle Alchemilla xanthochlora
A softly hairy perennial of grassland, road verges and woodland edges. Its rounded leaves are deeply pleated and divided into broad lobes with finely toothed margins, often holding conspicuous droplets of water in the centre. The frothy clusters of tiny yellow-green flowers are carried above the foliage on branching stems in summer.
Do not forget that Alchemilla are a tricky bunch to identify. Several others can be found in the area.
Lords-and-Ladies Arum maculatum
A distinctive woodland perennial of hedgebanks, shady lanes and damp woodland floors. The glossy, arrow-shaped leaves are sometimes marked with dark spots, while the unusual flower structure consists of a purple club-like spadix enclosed within a pale green hooded spathe. In autumn, the plant is especially conspicuous for its dense spike of bright red berries.
Grasses & Sedges
Wood Fescue
Drymochloa sylvatica
A robust woodland grass of shaded cliffs, ravines and steep deciduous woodland. Broad, flat leaves arise in loose tufts, while the flowering stems carry large, graceful, airy panicles. The combination of its habitat, purple-tinged stem bases and leaves that fold back towards their tips is usually enough to identify this species.
The best populations of this woodland grass are to be found near Cupola Bridge.
Wood Barley
Hordelymus europaeus
Wood Barley is a graceful perennial grass of ancient woodland and shaded hedge banks. Its broad leaves and arching stems are topped by slender spikes with long, fine awns, giving the inflorescence a soft, elegant appearance. The obviously “barley-like” flower heads help distinguish it from superficially similar woodland grasses.
Once again, the best populations of this woodland grass are to be found near Cupola Bridge.
Wood Melick
Melica uniflora
A delicate perennial grass of shaded deciduous woodland and hedge banks. Its slender stems carry a loose panicle of drooping spikelets, each usually containing a single fertile floret with a small cluster of sterile florets above.
Giant Fescue
Schedonorus giganteus
A tall, robust grass of damp woodland, riverbanks and shaded marshy ground. Its broad, dark green leaves and towering stems support a large, open panicle with drooping branches of spikelets. The combination of its size, coarse foliage and preference for wet, shaded habitats makes it one of the more distinctive woodland grasses, but if in doubt, look for purplish clasping auricles.
Wood-sedge
Carex sylvatica
A graceful woodland sedge of shady deciduous woods, hedge banks and stream sides. Loose tufts of broad green leaves give rise to arching stems bearing several long-stalked, drooping female spikes beneath a slender male spike. The elegantly hanging inflorescences are a useful feature for recognising the species in the field.
In the photograph, it can be seen growing alongside Remote Sedge.
Remote Sedge
Carex remota
A slender woodland sedge of damp pathsides, stream margins and shaded ground. Its narrow leaves form loose tufts, while the thin flowering stems carry numerous small spikelets spaced widely apart along the upper stem. This unusually elongated inflorescence is the key feature behind both the common and scientific names.
