I've always known bracken. As a child it was common on the hills on which I played. As an adult I have enjoyed watching the plant's life cycle - its slow uncoiling from the ground, through its expansive, arching greenness, to a slow subsidence through a palette of orange, gold, brown and black. One of the houses where we lived had bracken in the garden, under a willow by a stream. There are those who see bracken as an invasive pest that forces out more interesting plants. I can forgive its trespasses because of the year-round beauty it offers to the sharp-eyed observer. The plant above was growing under oaks in the Forest of Dean, the onset of autumn driving the green from its fronds and replacing them with brown.
photo © T. Boughen Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2
