Favourites from the Royal Pavilion Gardens – Ruscus aculeatus, Butcher’s Broom

Ruscus aculeatus: Butcher’s Broom

Had you considered for Christmas to look
at Ruscus aculeatus. Fit for a book.
The red berries so jolly
Outshine the more usual holly.

Growing well in the Royal Pavilion gardens,
In beds A, B, C and T
with its green flat sharp shoots
presented so proudly
for all people to see.
brought from Eurasia in the 18th century.

Now found in deep shaded woods,
hedgerows,
coastal cliffs
as a garden escapee.

In spring, this sturdy plant sports small green flowers,
turning later to red berries
which by distributing birds are devoured.
By its own rhizomes it can reproduce as well,
which makes this an interesting tale to tell.

Also known as Kneeholly or (holy), Keenholm and Sweet Bloom,
Jew’s myrtle, Pettigree and Butcher’s broom.

Ruscus aculeatus: Butcher’s Broom

And indeed, as implied by the last,
it was used by butchers to sweep, in the past.

Medically, if applied, it brings some gains
and is used to treat hemorrhoids and varicose veins
also works against water retention and constipation
thus being good for the whole circulation.

Thus endeth my Christmas tale of a member of the asparagus family.

Volunteer Gardener, Royal Pavilion Gardens

With season’s greetings from the Royal Pavilion Garden Volunteers
Merry Christmas to all and many happy New Years.

Hedgehogs

Hedgehogs in the Booth Museum loans collection are regularly borrowed by schools and artists, and are a native mammal popular with adults and children alike.

Hedgehogs from the Booth loan collection

Their unusual appearance and nocturnal habits have led to a number of odd beliefs such as the following from Edward Topsell’s History of Four Footed Beasts (1607):

‘The hedgehog’s meat is apple, worms and grapes: when he findeth them upon the earth, he rolleth on them until he hath fylled up all his prickles, and then carrieth them home to his den…’

Once a familiar sight shuffling across roads at night, or hunting slugs in gardens, Britain’s hedgehogs are becoming worryingly sparse. A recent report indicates that hedgehog numbers have dropped by 25% in just 10 years, and by up to 90% since 1950.

16th century woodcut of a hedgehog, published by Edward Topsell/Conrad Gesner

As winter approaches, animals are preparing themselves for the months of harsh weather and scarce food. Most hedgehogs begin their hibernation around October, with females active later than males, and some young hedgehogs put off hibernation until as late as December.

Hedgehogs typically have several hibernaculums (hibernation nests), usually moving at least once during hibernation. These nests are constructed from broad leaves, and are constructed under cover: abandoned rabbit holes, underneath garden sheds, or in piles of wood, such as bonfires.

The bonfires built for festivities around the 5 November are an extremely appealing shelter for hedgehogs and other species, such as grass snakes and slow worms. The earlier a bonfire is constructed, the more time animals have to find it and take shelter. Although ideally it would be best to leave the construction of a bonfire to the day of the gathering, this can be unpractical. So if a bonfire has been sitting undisturbed for a while, why not gather a group of friends to help move the bonfire several metres away before lighting it.

Alternatively get a group of people to lift the pile with broom handles or similar implements (nothing sharp!) while someone peers under the pile with a torch, and removes any dozing creatures resting underneath. If any hedgehogs are found, put them in a dark, dry, safe place away from the fire until after the festivities. If you are building a large, community bonfire, surround it with fine mesh to prevent animals gaining access.

Young European hedgehog, Lars Karlsson, Wikimedia Commons

These are all good ways to help prevent an increase in hedgehog fatalities around Guy Fawkes’ Night, but there are several other ways to help hedgehogs all year round. Stopping the use of slug pellets in gardens is very helpful, and avoids poisoning other animals (including neighbourhood pets). There has also been a recent campaign by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society to encourage people to dig a hole underneath garden fences to allow hedgehogs access to a continuous habitat without needing to venture out onto the roads.

Lee Ismail, Curator of Natural Sciences

Autumnwatch – The Dormouse

Dormouse in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

`You might just as well say,’ added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, `that “I breathe when I sleep” is the same thing as “I sleep when I breathe”!’ – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

The Hazel or Common Dormouse can spend up to three quarters of their life asleep, hibernating during times of scarce food in order to save energy. They will even go to sleep during cold, wet periods of summer. This has given rise to it also being known as the Sleeper. Along with bats, they are the only British mammals to truly hibernate during winter. Despite being named ‘common’ they are now rare.

Image courtesy of Björn Schulz

They are most often found in the Southern counties of England. The specimen pictured, for example, was discovered dead in its nest in Chiddingford, Surrey, in 1978. Although very rarely seen, the early autumn is when you are most likely to spot them, as they gorge on blackberries and other fruit and nuts in preparation for their six month hibernation in October.

Dormice depend on a wide variety of food in order to build up enough fat to last through their hibernation. Along with hedgerow berries and hazel nuts they also eat aphids and caterpillars, making them a useful natural pest controller. They use the interlocking branches of oaks and other traditional English woodland trees as aerial highways, using the leaves as cover from predators.

A Dormouse from the Booth collection

They leave the forest canopy to build their nests in the leaf litter on the forest floor (although they sometimes nest in hedgerows or in any vacant nest boxes they might chance upon). These nests are protected from the elements by a thick layer of moss and honeysuckle bark. The nests also help protect the dormouse from predation, and a nest has even been found dropped from a raven roost with the dormouse still happily sleeping inside.

The dormice were the dominant rodents throughout Europe during the Eocene-Oligocene period (56 – 23 million years ago), and evolved long before rats, mice and other Muridae appeared. They probably arrived in Britain around 9000 years ago, as the ice age glaciers were receding, but before the flooding of the English Channel. Historically widespread, their numbers have been dramatically reduced by human destruction of their habitats.

A Dormouse from the Booth collection

These include the felling of oak forests for building battleships during the Napoleonic Wars, destruction of hedgerows through changes in farming, and replacement of native woodlands with fast growing commercial spruce forests. They also face competition for their food from introduced species such as the grey squirrel.

Hazel dormice are now protected across Europe, and it is illegal to disturb, trap or kill them in Britain without a licence. They are widely regarded as one of Britain’s most adorable and popular mammals, and are often featured on the BBC’s Autumnwatch, which returns on 7 October.

Lee Ismail, Curator of Natural Sciences