#pyrocanthus

#365daysofbiking Berry colourful:

Friday, September 18th 2020 - One of the joys of late summer/autumn fruiting is pyrocanthus, colloquially known as firethorn.

This colourful member of the apple family - it’s fruit are not really berries but pomes, i.e. apples - is insipid to humans with mildly poisonous seeds within, but very valuable for wild birds as a long lasting food source into the cold months. 

For bystanders, though, if means beautifully vivid boughs laden with glistening fruit in shades from nearly white to deep, deep read, a real autumn treat. 

These bushes near Darlaston entertain me every year.

#365daysofbiking Making the best of things:

September 22nd - Dejected and wistful, we pottered up the old line into Birmingham, through Oldbury. The rain held off. The flowers and berries that were out welcomed us and glistened in their coating of raindrops. The towpaths were wet, but made for good riding. There were few people around, and the verdant, still mostly green canals were a real tonic.

Past the old engine house, Tollhouse Loop, M5 Viaduct and engine arm, and into central Birmingham. The mood improved.

An interesting graffiti writer had been at work, leaving neat-script, cryptic phrases at intervals from the Soho Loop to the ICC. That was engaging and something to spot and ponder over.

At the city centre, food, drink, then up the A34 cycleway to the canal at Perry Barr, and home via Ray Hall and Rushall Junction.

A bad day had been pulled around. The rain held off. Deep down, it didn’t feel so bad. But I’m getting far too old to work weekends - I was exhausted.

But there was one inescapable thought - if those folk at Tipton had held on, they’d have had a decent afternoon.

#365daysofbiking A spreading fire...

September 4th - The firethorn berries seem late this year.

Curiously bright and profuse, fpyriocanthus is a relative of the crab apple, and is a favourite in urban borders for the shrinking colours of the berries - from yellow to bright, vivid red.

Beloved by songbirds, they bring a welcome splash of colour to town centre planters, industrial estates, edge lands and gardens all through late summer and early autumn.