Strange Plant

I first noticed this strange Arum-like plant a few years ago.  It was growing on the banks of the the top lake just below the pile of boulders that is known as the Grotto.  I had some difficulty in identifying it as it was obviously not a native to the UK.  I eventually found it mentioned in this post on the Whiteknights Biodiversity blog at Reading University as Lysichiton americanus, otherwise known as western or yellow skunk cabbage because of its smell (though I didn't notice an particularly strong smell while taking these photos).  It is a member of the Aracea, the Arum family.

This is a close-up of the tiny flowers:

Photos taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-04-06.

Horsetail

A fertile shoot of horsetail, Equisetum arvense.

I took a specimen home with me.  This is a close-up of the sporangiophores:

It yielded spherical spores of about 50x50um (magnification x600, field width 86um):

Some seemed to be entangled with some tubular structures:

First photo and specimen taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-04-06.

Lichen

A branched lichen, probably Evernia prunastri, on an oak branch.

I took a specimen home with me:

First photo and sample taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-04-06.

Leaf-Spot Fungus

Light-brown spots on leaves of Arum maculatum, probably caused by the fungus Spermosporina aricola.

I took the following leaf home with me to look at more closely:

This is a close-up of the spots on the upper surface:.

And this is the lower surface:

Unfortunately I was unable to get any spores from them.

First photo and specimen taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-04-05.

Moth

A small metallic moth, an Eriocrania sp, probably Eriocrania subpurpurella (Lepidoptera: Eriocraniidae).  This was one of several that were flying around some bushes in a clearing near an oak tree (oak being the host plant for the larvae of E. subpurpurella).

I took two specimens home with me.  One had lots of purple dots on its wings (this must be the fastuosella form mentioned and illustrated here):

And the other had only one or two purple spots (this is the common form):

First photo and specimens taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-04-06.