Plates

Stewartia Monadelpha (May need to check the spelling!)

Japan/Korea

Height: 7 - 8 m

Crown: oval, half-open crown

Bark and branches: smooth and shiny, plates flaking in various colours (aka today’s Blip)

Leaf: oval, green, 3 - 8cms

Flowers: white with yellow pistil and violet stamen, in June

Fruits: woody rostrate capsule

Today I went to Tetbury briefly before my walk in Westonbirt which was about 5 miles. The magnolia trees look fabulous and all the pink ones have now flowered. Lots of people there today despite the grey and slightly damp weather.i think people are feeling the need to get moving and have fresh air in a less crowded environment, it’s not usually that busy when it’s on and off raining.

Called in at my local supermarket to find no loo roll, hardly any soap and quite a lot of other bits and bobs completely sold out. That felt rather deflating to see.I did hear of people sending praise and good wishes (online) to an Aldi somewhere where management had stepped in and told a couple that they couldn’t buy the 100 (or so) loo rolls they had in their trollies.

A bit of me wonders if some people are making their homes a huge fire hazard by having floor to ceiling loo roll towers.it would be great if supply of loo rolls to shops could be increased somehow so those stockpiling to sell on at a vastly inflated price suddenly find themselves with a load of ‘goods’ that will only ever sell at face value.

Bit of a stress today with some family related stuff that’s left me feeling a little bit flat

On a plus my new favourite word is rostrate- I think it means comprised of a bark like material ?