
July 16th – This curious flower was found in the reed bed at the edge of the canal at Newtown, near the Castings factory. I’ve never seen anything like it before, and it seemed to exist in isolation.
It turns out it’s a common reed: branched bur-reed, and the flowers – little spiky gloves about the diameter of your fingernail – are remarkable. It’s an apparently common canal plant, so I must have seen loads of it and never realised.
I really should open my eyes more!