WOODLAND WILDFLOWERS

Deciduous woodlands are ever-changing. Step beneath the canopy and it feels like time is standing still, but a hive of unseen activity is always reaching forward to the season ahead, with subtle changes happening every day. In the winter, they are places of brittle stillness, a haze of muted greens, greys, silver and browns. Fungi and lichens provide the only colour, with the occasional vivid splash of orange, yellow, purple and red.

As the days lengthen and the sun’s warmth returns, the woodland begins to transform. First, the unfurling of hazel catkins, playfully catching the breeze, then the small, green spikes of awakening bulbs pierce the woodland floor. It’s not long before the spring flowers emerge with their intoxicating mix of colours and perfumes, and the quietness of winter becomes a memory.

Reawakening and regrowth

Most of our ancient woodland nature reserves have seen many hundreds of

Woodland Wildflowers

Our woodland reserves are often best explored in the late spring. Suffolk’s woodland flora varies widely across the county according to soil type, groundwater, age of the woodland, diversity and ages of tree species and the previous and present woodland management. Each wood is unique and tells its own story through the species present. Here are some wonderful woodland nature reserves to visit this spring.

years of coppice management – that is, the rotational cutting of trees in blocks (called coupes) to regrow fresh, new shoots. Traditionally, coppicing was a sustainable way to produce woodland products for use in housing and construction, for stakes, for tool handles and all manner of household items, as well as a source of fuel and charcoal. Tall, ‘standard’ trees were left for later harvesting for large beams and posts and for timber for boats and ships.

It is this continual cycle of cutting and regrowth that has sustained the astoundingly beautiful displays of woodland flora, and the incredible diversity of life that accompanies them. Butterflies such as white admiral and silver-washed fritillaries are woodland specialists and rely on the cycle of coppicing for their food plants and larval stages.

You can buy sustainable coppicing products from Bradfield Woods nature reserve suffolkwildlifetrust.org/ coppicingproductslawns

Bonny Wood

The diversity of flora found at Bonny Wood is sustained by its long history of coppicing. The shade-loving herb-paris flourishes in the northern part of the wood alongside the fragrant, delicate-flowered sweet woodruff. Violets cover the woodland rides, providing food for silver-washed fritillaries, and there are several orchid species, including early purple orchids that flower a touch earlier in the year. The wood anemone has star-shaped flowers.

Bradfield Woods

Bradfield Woods is an historic ancient woodland that has been managed by coppicing for a thousand years. Its long history and variety of soil types makes this one of the most botanically diverse woods in the country. Oxlip thrives here and is a vital food source for early emerging bees and butterflies. Primroses, early purple orchid, wood anemone, bugle and stitchwort can all be found, as well as a profusion of bluebells and wild garlic.

Reydon Wood

Reydon Wood was clear-felled in the 1950s and replanted with conifers. Thankfully the coppice stools had been left in situ and had regrown by the time the Trust bought the wood. Now, the conifers have been removed and it is being managed again by coppicing on a 20-year cycle. Every spring, it’s bathed with bluebells, greater stitchwort and, less numerously, yellow archangel. You can also see common spotted-orchid and wood anemone.

Up Close With Oxlip

Suffolk’s county flower, the oxlip Primula elatior can be found mainly to the west of the county where soils are heavier. It’s now nationally scarce; look for it at Bradfield Woods, Groton Wood and Bull's Wood. It flowers in April, has five petals per flower and is a paler yellow in colour than a cowslip, with multiple flower heads on each stalk.

CAPTAIN’S WOOD

The last remaining fragment of Sudbourne Great Wood, Captain’s Wood is one of the best places to see veteran oak trees. The atmosphere feels airy and open, giving rise to vast carpets of bluebells in the spring. There’s always a chance of spotting fallow deer if you tread very quietly, and barn owls patrol the clearings in the gloaming. Spot a variety of trees, including oak and birch, hazel, clumps of mature Scots pine and lines of planted sweet chestnut.

Groton Wood

Home to small-leaved lime, Groton Wood has an interesting array of woodland flowers. The rides are bursting with bluebell, pignut and early purple orchid with shadier areas being characterised by violet helleborine, sweet woodruff and herb-paris. Look for stinking iris as well as celandines and stitchwort. 15 species of butterfly have been recorded at Groton Wood including brimstone, speckled wood and purple hairstreak.