{"id":21791,"date":"2022-11-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-09T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=21791"},"modified":"2022-11-21T10:20:22","modified_gmt":"2022-11-21T09:20:22","slug":"natures-tinsel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/2022\/11\/10\/natures-tinsel\/","title":{"rendered":"Nature\u2019s tinsel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Look out for wispy clematis seedheads decorating bare hedges <\/p>\n\n

\"\"
Clematis seedheads look beautiful in the winter sunshine <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

WILD CLEMATIS, TRAVELLER\u2019S JOY, old man\u2019s beard, grandfather\u2019s whiskers, bedwine\u2026 Clematis <\/em>vitalba <\/em>has a multitude of colourful English names. It is a climbing plant, with long, twining stems that ramble through hedges and bushes, often on motorway verges, beside railways or along the edges of woods. <\/p>\n\n

For much of the year, it is unobtrusive, hidden among all the other foliage, though you might catch the sweet scent of its flowers on summer evenings. But in winter, it really comes into its own. The plant\u2019s abundant seedheads, which are greyishwhite and wispy like cobwebs or feathers, frequently cover its supporting hedge or bush, hence the old names that often reference facial hair. <\/p>\n\n

The nature writer Nicola Chester, in her memoir On <\/em>Gallows <\/em>Down, <\/em>writes of wild clematis garlanding hedges like necklaces and wreathing through branches like smoke. Until a generation or two ago, wild clematis was still commonly gathered by people in the countryside to decorate their homes at Christmas. This natural tinsel can easily be wound around banisters and picture frames or added to wreaths, or even used as a fake beard by children dressing up.<\/p>\n\n

Ben Hoare<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

PHOTOS: JESSE: CINDY VARGAS; TURTLE: JAMES R.D. SCOTT\/GETTY; CLEMATIS: BOB GIBBONS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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