Cotton Wood

Introduction

Cotton Wood is a narrow band of woodland along a north-facing slope above the Dane Meadow area. It can be accessed by a newly-improved footpath from the west side of Bramhall Drive. The wood itself can be accessed along little-used paths that traverse steep and uneven ground. A ditch forms its northern border with the Dane Meadow flood plain, and gardens back on to its southern edge. Cotton Wood is an example of a semi-natural woodland, one naturally regenerated from local trees and shrubs. This steep piece of land was probably too difficult to manage and was therefore left to be colonised by rough scrub and later by trees. The dominant tree species here is sycamore.

Flora of Cotton Wood

The flora of Cotton Wood is limited to a few species of plants because of the amount of shade cast by the trees for much of the year. An initial survey revealed the presence of the following plants:


Holly (Ilex aquifolium)	Saxifrage (Chrysosplenium oppositifolium) and Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria)
Holly is an evergreen small tree or shrub usually found growing on drier, sandy soil. Holly is dioecious, where male and female flowers occur on different trees. Flowers are white with four petals. Once pollinated by insects, female flowers develop into scarlet berries, which can remain on the tree throughout winter	Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage is a small slightly hairy creeping plant with greenish flowers surrounded by bright yellow leafy bracts. In the wood it can be seen growing in damp ditches throughout the year. Growing in close proximity here is Lesser Celandine, one of the first woodland flowers of the year. It bears bright yellow blooms above dark green glossy foliage.

Lords and Ladies (Arum maculatum)	Male Fern (Dryopteris filix-mas)
Lords and ladies or cuckoo pint is a common woodland plant. It is easily identified by its fresh green leaves that emerge in early spring and by the bright orange berries later in the year. It is pollinated by tiny flies attracted by a strong odour produced in the flower. Found in many parts of the wood, the plant, is best avoided as it contains poisons similar to those found in rhubarb leaves.	Male fern is a common plant of woods and other shady places. It is semi-deciduous in that some or all of the leaves or fronds die back in the autumn and re-emerge in the spring, unfurling from the middle to produce a rosette of leaves. Tiny spores are carried on the underside of the fronds. After dispersal, they produce new fern plants involving a complicated life cycle.

Pendulous Sedge (Carex pendula)	Ivy (Hedera helix)
Pendulous sedge is a large clump-forming plant with hanging flower heads resembling catkins. This species like other sedges has typically elongated leaves that are triangular in cross section. In Cotton Wood pendulous sedge is found in several places where the ground is especially damp.	Ivy is one of the more common species of plants in the wood. It is a dominant ground cover as well as a creeper on the trunks of mature trees. As an evergreen, ivy is a valuable plant for the berries it produces and the shelter it offers many bird species. Ivy is also unusual because the young and mature plants of the species differ. Mature plants have more rounded leaves borne on spreading branches. It is here that the fruit are produced.

Hazel by ditch	Bramble (Rubus fruticosus)

Hazel catkins (Corylus avellana)

Species List
Trees Sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus Pedunculate oak Quercus robur Alder Alnus glutinosa Ash Fraxinus excelsior Elder Sambucus nigra Holly Ilex aquifolium Mountain ash Sorbus aucuparia Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna Hazel Corylus avellana Sweet chestnut Castanea sativa	Other plants Ivy Hedera helix Wood avens Geum urbanum Bramble Rubus fruticosus Male fern Dryopteris filix-mas Rhododendron R.ponticum Red campion Silene dioica Dead-nettle sp Lamium sp Raspberry Rubus idaeus Dog rose Rosa canina Lords and ladies Arum maculatum Laurel Prunus laurocerasus Blue bell Hyacinthoides non-scripta Annual meadow grass Poa annua Pendulous sedge Carex pendula Ramsons Allium ursinum