h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A578559


I would very much appreciate your comments

Best regards,
Wilfrid

Seemed pretty good to me

Couldn't really faul it

Hmmm... I hope if my Taxonomy entry gets edited, you would have a link to it.

Hi, Wilfred!

I think you have a really good entry here, but there are a few points where a little re-arrangement and clarification might help.

First, it's very clear reading this that you are looking at the plant from a purely gardening view point. I'm a very keen gardener myself, but I think a little more from the ecological viewpoint would help to balance the entry.

You wait until fairly late in the entry to mention that Calluna is often confused with Erica and Daboeica. I think it would be better to mention this at the start, perhaps even to call the entry 'Calluna: the true Heather' so as to make this clear. Most people, if they saw them growing on a mountainside, would call both Calluna vulgaris and Erica cinerea (bell heather) just plain heather - Calluna is often called 'Ling Heather' to distinguish it from bell heather. Clearing this up at the very beginning would help.

I think its natural habitat deserves a short paragraph before you get into the main gardening section of the entry, rather than just saying 'native to the open uplands', since the heathland and moorland ecosystems are important in many parts of Europe, and under a lot of pressure in many areas.

On the other hand, I don't think the list of related plants really makes a big contribution - I would be inclined to prune this section down to perhaps just two points - that related native British species are mostly found in similar habitats (e.g. Erica, Andromeda/Bog-rosemary, Vaccinium/Bilberry); and that most introduced plants of the same family such as Rhododendrons like the same acid conditions.

I think your entry is very promising - any article that mentions County Wicklow already has a head start as far as I am concerned! I'm glad to have come across your gardening page and will fit in a proper visit soon.

Azara (microphylla variegata)

Weren't matresses once stuffed with heather? If they were you could mention the non-aesthetic uses of this plant. Or it could be that my memory is getting all confused.

IV, whose matresses have always been synthetic

Weren't matresses once stuffed with heather? If they were you could mention the non-aesthetic uses of this plant. Or it could be that my memory is getting all confused.

IV, whose matresses have always been synthetic

Thank-you for your kind words, Orcus.

I read your entry on Taxonomy last week, Will. In fact it prompted me to post mine. I had made a mental note to 'keep a copy' in the reference library at the Blasted Heath once it had gone through editting.

Many fine points, Azara, most of which were on my own list when I reread it. You are right, it is intended pretty much as a gardener's reference and I did intend to keep extraneous details to a minimum. However, I think your suggestions will improve interest for general readership.

IV, bedstraws (Galium spp) were the standard mediaeval mattress fills - woodruff and ladies' bedstraw are very fragrant when dry and readily available in my garden, amongst other places !

Editorial Note: This conversation has been moved from 'Peer Review' to 'Calluna : the Ling or true Heather'.

This thread has been moved out of the Peer Review Forum because your entry has now been recommended for the Edited Guide.

You can find out what will happen to your entry here: http://www.h2g2.com/SubEditors-Process

Congratulations!

Congratulations, Wilfrid!
I'd just been wondering what happened to this entry the other day. I'm glad to see that some scout had an eye on it!

Azara

Although they usually don't recommend that heather be applied to the eyes...

Congrats! Your entry has been approved for inclusion in the Edited Guide. When the entry is ready to appear on the front page, you'll receive an e-mail notifying you. Thanks for writing this excellent article - keep up the good work!

- Lentilla

Many thanks to all