Scarlet Pimpernel

scarletp-zoom These ‘weeds’ are along Rowcliffe Avenue, Chester UK. Please don’t pull them out! In among the dandelions and clover are the wonderful Scarlet Pimpernel plant (Anagallis arvensis) otherwise known in Britain as the Poor Man’s Weather Glass. The thing is, I used to teach about the weather for many decades, the last 26 years at Queen’s Park High. As a teaching aid for biogeography as well as climate I looked for the Scarlet Pimpernel because it closes its petals to foretell rain – Okay, because the sunlight was fading. I was brought up in Gloucestershire where it is abundant but when I migrated north I couldn’t find it except rarely. So, this spot in Westminster Park is one such rare spot unless you know others! Please tell.

When you get off a plane at Malaga you’ll see millions of them but they are all blue! No one really knows why sunnier climates have blue Scarlet Pimpernel but it must be to do with the pigment, anthocyanin. If you’re thinking you’ve encountered that word on TV recently it’s because Angela Rippon raved about that pigment in blueberries, for example, to help reduce cerebral atrophy.

Incidentally, the Scarlet Pimpernel is one of Britain’s few native plants, so whoever lives on Rowcliffe Avenue where those flowers are flourishing please stay your hands if you’re tempted to use weedkillers!

Nelder News

I have my Prime Meridian SF short in an anthology. The anthology was commissioned by the Readers Club Avenue Park and is available free from their website here.

http://readersavenuepark.weebly.com/ or on Amazon at http://hyperurl.co/t7n22f

pic RCAP antho