Over the past month or so you may have noticed an abundance of fruit and nuts on trees and hedgerows.
On a recent camping trip to the Shotley Peninsula in Suffolk our dessert was provided each evening by nearby brambles exceptionally heavy with blackberries; walking under oak trees last week I almost lost my footing on the copious number of acorns – like natural marbles – littering the understorey; a friend has promised a big night on the sloe gin at Christmas, such has been the harvest reaped from hedgerows this year.
Conservation groups say this year might be what is known as a ‘mast year’ – the term given to a late summer/early autumn when there is a profusion of fruits and nuts. Mast years are said to occur every five to 10 years, allowing the trees to conserve energy in intervening years and regenerate before producing far too many seeds for the animals that feed on them to eat them all. This ensures some seeds survive to grow into new plants.
Environmental factors, such as a warm, dry spring, which is ideal for pollinators, can trigger a mast year, and incredibly researchers also think trees may communicate through undergrown fungal networks that connect them, to ensure they synchronise their plentiful crop.
And if you are wondering where the term ‘mast’ comes from to describe a large crop of nuts, fruits, and seeds. It is said to originate from the Old English word mæst, meaning the nuts of forest trees that were historically used to feed animals, especially pigs.
To name is to know
The term ‘mast year’ is a new one on me; another wonderful term to describe the natural world that I can add to my collection. As someone who writes about nature and wildlife, I often find myself wondering how to describe a natural phenomenon or activity I have observed – and to discover that there are already words out there adds an extra layer of learning and enjoyment to the process.
My favourite Chinese philosopher Confucius (in fact, the only Chinese philosopher I know) is credited with saying: ‘The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper name,’ so here are a few more useful words I have picked up recently.
In a film I watched a few weeks back, reference was made to the word ‘petrichor’ – which refers to a pleasant, earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil. The aroma is created by oils from plants and chemicals from soil bacteria that become trapped in the ground and are released into the air by the impact of raindrops. The term comes from the Greek words petros, (which means stone) and ichor (the mythical fluid in the veins of gods), and was coined by Australian researchers in the 1960s.
Sunny
After getting soaked to the skin on a recent day out in Durham, we stopped over with family in the Peak District on the way home. The next day, while still chilly, saw the sun slowly warm everyone up as we sat out on the deck reading the Sunday papers, nibbling on cheese, crackers and pork pie. At one point I looked around, and everyone was facing up to the sun, eyes closed, taking in the life-giving warmth it offered.
I later found out that we were enjoying ‘apricity’ – an old word first documented in English in the early 17th century that means the warmth of the sun, particularly the pleasant heat experienced on a cold winter’s day. The root of the word lies in the Latin apricus meaning ‘sunny’ or ‘exposed to the sun.’
As we enter the dark half of the year, remember the word the next time a brief spell of sunshine warms your back.
Left hanging
With autumn in full swing and the leaves changing colour and falling to the ground, my last offering is the word ‘marcescence’ which refers to the ‘holding on’ of leaves on branches through the winter months although they may have become brown and withered (from the Latin, marcescere which means ‘to fade’).
Oak and beech are two trees known to retain some of their shrivelled leaves in this manner, even all the way until the Spring when they are then dislodged by new growth.
The reasons for marcescence are not fully understood, but potential benefits include offering shelter and a food source for small animals and birds during the winter, and providing moisture and protection for tree buds.
Nature never ceases to amaze and to be able to describe some of this wonder with novel words only adds to the appreciation.
Suffolkwilds 