Beautiful, mysterious and deadly!

Summer has definitely arrived botanically even if the weather doesn't match. Many summer flowering plants have suddenly bloomed in the wet and humid conditions, including Deadly Nightshade, Atropa belladonna. It is found in a few spots at the nature reserve, but nearby where it is closer to villages it has traditionally been dug up and destroyed as people are so afraid that children might eat the glossy black berries (just two or three could be fatal to a child). At this time of the year we can just enjoy the subtle purple trumpet flowers,