A carpet of flowers; Down to earth with Mr Moon.

Byline: by Steve Moon, Bridgend Biodiversity Partnership

IF YOU have recently wandered down to the woods, you cannot have failed to notice the wild flowers carpeting the ground, particularly in those woods that have benefited from a thinning or recent coppicing.

The wood anemone is white, speckling the dark earth of a woodland floor, like stars in a night sky.

It is often complemented by carpets of yellow florets of lesser celandines, resulting in a truly awesome display of spring colour.

Wood anemones do best where there is only a light shading from the trees above.

The best time to see them is when, after surviving the last few years of a coppice cycle, they burst out in force following a fresh cut of hazel sticks, providing nectar and pollen for the bees.

But nothing compares with the blue of the bluebell, and it is now, in April, that they are coming into their own. Bluebells prefer damp, alkaline soils and will swarm over the woodland floor, benefiting from the shady cover that suppresses the growth of grasses, which in more open conditions would compete for space.

The bluebell is also successful because it is thought to contain toxins that protect it from serious infection, or help it to fight off potential pests such as nematodes which would attempt to eat the plant's bulbs.

Plants and their names are fascinating, and there are lots of stories surrounding them.

I am particularly fond of one about the moonwort, a small, rare fern which occurs at Kenfig National Nature Reserve.

The 'wort' part of a plant's name indicates that is was once well-known for its medicinal qualities - plants such as woundwort, milkwort, and nipplewort, for example.

Now, the word 'moon' used as a surname is thought to be a corruption of 'moan' or 'monk', as people's names often reflected their occupation or character!

So, 'moonwort' was originally known as 'moanwort', which fits well with the description of this plant's medicinal use contained in Culpepper's Herbal - in that book it is said to be able to 'cure the moans', and is used as a treatment for depression.