30 Days Wild Day 15 - Bracken

Half way through the 30 Days Wild Challenge and it is making me do what the Wildlife Trust wanted, look closely at nature.

Today my main activity outside the house was doing the recycling.  We do have kerbside collections but we only put out plastic, preferring to put the rest in the village recycling as the primary school gets a little money from it.  Plastic is collected fortnightly and somebody forgot to put it out!  So after dropping the paper, cardboard, glass, tins and tin foil I headed for the local recycling point as the village doesn't take plastic.

My route was through Greystoke Gill a quiet road with plenty of stopping places, so the wild things there were my target for the day.  Among the many things which were asking to be photographed I noticed these Bracken tips.

Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) is poisonous and carcinogenic to both stock and humans.  It is thought that people who have lived and worked among Bracken all their lives may be at higher risk of certain cancers.  The young fronds are considered a delicacy in some countries, but it is not advised.