Skeletal bellflower

Nettle-leaved bellflower grows profusely in our local woodland, and I think that the skeletal seed-pods are almost as beautiful as the elegant pale bluish-purple flowers, which are at their best in July and August, when most other woodland plants are over. Gerard, the Elizabethan herbalist, describes it in wonderfully rich prose.

'The whole floure is of a blew purple colour: which being past, there succeed great square or cornered seed-vessels, divided on the inside into divers cells or chambers, wherein do lie scatteringly many small browne flat seeds.'

It's been a slightluy stressful day. Pete had a new computer, which involved adjusting the network, so at the moment I have no access to my files (though at least I know they're all there) and my biological mapping programme can't access it's data. Hopefully it should all be resolved tomorrow, and fortunately I don't have to work out how to sort it!!