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Alexanders, bluebells, Captain's Wood, Climbing Corydalis, coppice, foxglove, Suffolk, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, veteran Oaks, wild cherry, wood sorrel, woods
Captain’s Wood is owned by Suffolk Wildlife Trust and is found next to the village of Sudbourne which lies south of where we live, about 40 minutes drive away. The morning had been beautiful and bright but by early afternoon the skies were beginning to cloud over and by the time we got to the wood the sun wasn’t shining much at all.
This was the first time we had visited the wood. We had heard that the bluebells there were wonderful and hoped that we would see some. We parked the car in a small car-park a few hundred metres from the entrance to the wood and walked down the lane towards it.
Both sides of the lane were covered in Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum) which had been in full sun all the morning and as a consequence were giving off a perfume redolent of rotting spinach!
Alexanders is a very attractive umbellifer and until recently has only been found within a few miles of the coast. I am not sure why, but in the last couple of years it has spread very quickly further inland and I have seen it in Norwich this spring for the first time.
I remember including it in one of my posts last year but can’t remember which so I’ll repeat what I said then. The name Alexanders refers to its origins as a herb of Macedonia (Alexander the Great’s country of birth). Its black seeds were sold in the 17th century under the name of Macedonian Parsley and Nicholas Culpeper the herbalist noted that among other things, Alexanders could cure not only flatulence but snake bite! The whole of the plant is edible and the generic name Smyrnium refers to its myrrh-like taste.
We walked along a short entrance path between gardens towards the wood.
Bee hives in someone’s garden
The first part of the wood we walked through didn’t really look like a wood.
This is newly acquired land consisting of 17 acres of small fields, scrub and a little area of woodland in-between the village and Captain’s Wood proper. This land has not been farmed for many years and was largely left fallow. Part of the land stays wet for most of the year and apparently has Marsh Orchids and other wetland plants growing there.
On entering the wood I saw this beautiful moss.
Most of the wood looks like this.
Captain’s Wood consists of mainly open woodland with Oak and Birch. There is a large stand of Hazel, clumps of mature Scots Pine and lines of planted Sweet Chestnut. Herds of deer roam at large through the wood and seven different types of bat live here.
There were a few Violets on the woodland floor. I didn’t check to see which violet this was but I think it may be Sweet Violet (Viola odorata)
New bracken.
Climbing Corydalis (Ceratocapnos claviculata)
Bartholomew of Glanville was an English friar living in the 13th century. He wrote an encyclopaedia of natural history and in it he said that, despite its ‘horrible savour’, the roots of this plant could be made into a potion for dispelling melancholy. Later on Climbing Corydalis became known as a cure for intestinal diseases. This plant, along with fumitories, has flowers that resemble clovers and vetches though with fewer petals. The flower’s peculiar shape has been likened to the head of a crested lark; hence the name ‘corydalis’.
Wild Cherry (Prunus avium)
The Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) were growing well.
Woodland floor under the pine trees.
A ‘Witch’s Broom’ in a Birch tree.
These ‘Witch’s Brooms’ are caused by a type of parasitic fungus which induces galls in its host.
One of the veteran Oak trees in the wood.
A close-up of the lichen-covered trunk of the Oak tree. A lot of the bark has disappeared and it no longer looks like a tree trunk anymore.
These veteran trees support many different species of fungi and invertebrates that are dependent on the slowly rotting heartwood of the tree. Most notable is the Oak Polypore fungus which is known from only six other sites in Britain. The Oak Polypore fruits for only a very short time in the summer.
New Oak leaves and flowers
One of the several ponds in the wood
Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella). A flower which indicates ancient, undisturbed woodland and hedges. The petals are white or pink with lilac veins.
Wood Sorrel
A Beech tree (Fagus sylvatica) coming into leaf
This bright green, running like a river through the woods is Dog’s Mercury(Mercurialis perennis)
A coppice stool. The wood from the coppice is harvested every few years. New shoots are protected from deer and then left to grow until they are ready to be cut again.
At last we reached the part of the wood where the bluebells were, but found we were just a little too early to see them at their best.
Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)
There were a number of white bluebells.
Bluebell potential was good….
….but if we had visited a week later it would have looked heavenly. Unfortunately, a week later we were doing other things.
We got back to the car and discovered we had a puncture. Richard tried to change the tyre himself but we were unable to get the tyre off. We had to call a rescue company and after just under an hour’s wait the mechanic arrived. He managed to remove the tyre by sitting on the ground and kicking it with his left then right boot alternately.
Captain’s Wood is somewhere we would visit again. It has plenty of plants and a variety of trees. The walk through the wood would be pleasurable at any time of the year.
Thank-you for visiting!
A Suffolk Lane 
It’s too bad that car problems spoiled an otherwise very good day. The flowers, particularly the bluebells, were lovely!
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Thank-you Jerry, it was a very good day and fortunately we didn’t have to wait too long for the mechanic. Cars these days aren’t fitted with full-size spare tyres, only thin ones that are limited to 50 mph. Richard had to go out the next day to get a proper replacement as the damage had been irrepairable – a large thorn embedded in the tyre.
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Still delightful even though you were early. That wood sorrel is a treat too.
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Thank-you! I loved the little wood sorrel with its nodding flower on such a tiny thread-like stem.
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It seems as though there were enough bluebells to make the visit worthwhile. Pity about the rotting spinach smell and the puncture. 😦
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Thank-you, yes the visit was definitely worthwhile and fortunately the smelly lane wasn’t smelly anymore when we returned to the car as the temperature was in single figures (centigrade) by then. The flat tyre was fairly quickly replaced and we were soon home with a hot drink!
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So lovely! Thank you! Its such a peaceful thing to walk with you…
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Thank-you kindly!
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I think the bluebells were worth the trip even if they weren’t in full bloom. They’re a beautiful flower.
I think your moss is a Mnium moss, though I’m not certain which one. Possibly Mnium hornum.
I love that gnarly old oak tree. It what I’ve always thought all the trees in England would look like, but I see that they don’t.
The wood sorrel is very rare here. I’ve only seen it once.
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Thank-you Allen – especially for the moss ID. The shot wasn’t quite as clear as I would have liked. A lot of woodland was cleared after the 2nd WW and especially in the 70’s. So many of our old trees were got rid of and large areas of non-native evergreen trees were planted. Also, in the past if a tree was chopped down there were usually many younger trees growing nearby that would replace it. Only in the last decade or two have we started to get rid of the acres of fir trees and replant with a mixture of native mainly deciduous trees. I don’t see wood sorrel very often because ancient woodland is quite rare.
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I can see why you’d like to visit again, Clare. Such a beautiful place. Thank you for sharing your lovely photos.
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Thank-you Jill. It was very beautiful.
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I love gnarly old oak trees.
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I believe oaks are my favourite tree.
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I’ve heard lovely reports on Captain’s Wood, so really good to finally get an insight. Your recount of the mechanic made me laugh, we had a few waiting for a very nice man to help on day trips out with our last car. There is for the first time a large clump of Alexanders growing in a lane near us. interesting how plants spread inland, birds or wind I expect.
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It is strange that Alexanders should have grown quite happily near the coast for hundreds of years and now have decided it was time to spread! Perhaps it is also to do with the two fairly mild winters we have just had. Captain’s Wood is well worth a visit if you are ever in the area.
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When I lived at Thorpeness in 1993 I used to buy a rover ticket and explore Suffolk on a Saturday. Sometimes I went to Sudbury and decided to record how far inland I could spot Alexanders growing on the verges from the top of a double-decker bus.
It seemed to grow as far as the south verge just before the bus turned off the main Ipswich to Sudbury road for Boxford. I could not see it growing anymore when the bus rejoined the main road to Sudbury.
The seeds must be carried by fast moving traffic but they are quite big as seeds go.
Strange how people mistake Alexanders (aliens) for Angelica (native) Alexanders were introduced by the Romans from the Mediterranean as a food plant but climatised well in the UK and quickly spread inland becoming a serious pest in doing so – threatening the primroses in the castle ditch at Framlingham and rare fungi at Roadside Nature Reserves and are extremely difficult to eradicate taking up many man hours to cut back and keep under control.
Whilst writing can I remind readers DOGS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN ANY PART OF CAPTAINS WOOD. It is a long walk from the car park to the entrance gate where there is a sign saying no dogs.
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Thank-you for taking the time to comment. We didn’t see anyone with a dog while we were there, you’ll be pleased to hear! Alexanders does seem to be on the move after many years of being a coastal/near coastal plant. I thought it might be because of the milder winters we have had for the past couple of years. I hadn’t realised that some people mistake Alexanders and Angelica – they flower at different times of the year and the flower-heads are quite different.
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What a great walk..I would almost say it outweighs the puncture ;0) Have a lovely Sunday! xo Johanna
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Thank-you Johanna! It definitely did outweigh the puncture! I hope your Sunday is a happy one too Clare xx
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I love your photographs Clare and always appreciate visiting the places you go to…thank you. Hugs and much ❤ xX
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I am glad you enjoyed this visit Jane. Much love and hugs, Clare xx
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Readers may be interested to know there are 2 parts to Captain’s Wood – a privately owned section to the north and the SWT section to the south and west.
As with so much woodland these days, large swathes were felled in the past and never replanted, becoming instead grass pasture.
One of the first tasks the SWT took on board after purchasing the site was to involve the locals in replanting hundreds of oaks (hopefully all of local provenance !) to fill up these gaps so that the 2 halves can be joined up again.
The large field at the entrance was also planted with oaks but only sparsely as the intention was to return this to oak pasture rather than as oak woodland.
These oaks have to compete with the large fallow deer population which in the past have had their numbers controlled by various people, but are not controlled in the SWT section – this has resulted in the adjacent land owner having to put up expensive deer-proof fencing to protect his crops.
This in turn meant the SWT had to use expensive metal tree guards to protect the young oaks which have been planted, but I must say I am extremely disappointed at their rate of growth or even success as many have simply just died and others receive no light because of being out competed by the bracken.
Every time I visit Captain’s Wood, I find myself diverted from my aim of looking at the wildlife – instead I try to locate the new oak trees and desperately clear them of surrounding bracken. Manually watering these trees is an impossible task, therefor all surrounding vegetation should be removed to prevent these ‘weeds’ from taking the water needed to help the oaks to grow.
Sometimes the bracken has caused the leading oak shoot to start growing downwards – this would certainly make an interesting tree should it survive, but is extremely unlikely.
In almost every case, deer have eaten any growth which has grown through the protective ‘cage’ and in a way it is a vicious circle – clearing the bracken allows the deer in to find and graze the oaks whilst leaving the bracken deprives the young oak of water and light.
There is another school of thought which says the bracken creates a micro-climate around the young oak thus retaining damp moisture and that the bracken encourages the oak to reach for the sky – thus growing straighter and faster … … but this certainly isn’t the case at Captain’s Wood.
Patience is the word I guess.
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Thank-you so much for taking the time to comment on my blog. We haven’t been back to Captain’s Wood this year (yet!) so I am unable to let you know what I have seen there recently. How terribly frustrating you must find all this! Bracken is so thuggish and there doesn’t seem to be anything that lessens its vigour. I suppose there isn’t much more you can do than be patient and see what happens. I would want to do as you are doing and try to save each poor tree. I can’t imagine the amount of volunteer hours needed to keep the bracken clear for long enough to let the oaks really get going. If all or most of the oaks don’t survive I would think there would be two options open to you. Leave the bracken where it is and give up the fight or clear the bracken completely with diggers and start planting again. You’d only have the deer to contend with then!
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