AS spring unfolds its wealth of new life, I always enjoy watching for new wild flowers to come into bloom across the reserves.

One plant family which is now starting to come into bloom, is the bedstraws.

Bedstraws have delicate stems and fine narrow leaves arranged in whorls around the stem.

The flowers are relatively small, with four petals, and vary in colour between white and yellow, depending on species.

Some species make up for the small stature of each individual flower by having large clusters of blooms and when the plants also occur in some density this can produce quite a splendid effect.

My favourite has to be the heath bedstraw which is common on the heathland nature reserves and on the acid grasslands of Habberley Valley. When this is in full bloom it can almost give the impression of a landscape covered by a light dappling of snow.

Bedstraws are not just confined to drier heath sites.

The marsh bedstraw grows quite prolifically out in the shallow pools and puddles in the wetlands. It twists and turns its way among the other marshland plants, putting up flashes of white bloom as it goes.

Probably the most famous of the bedstraws is the lady's bedstraw, which probably gave rise to these plants' family name.

In times gone by, mattresses were frequently made from stuffed straw and one can imagine this could easily develop the tendency to pong over time. To reduce this, lady's bedstraw was included in with the hay and, as it dried out, it would release a sweet scent.

Another bedstraw which was also used as an air freshener in past times was the woodruff.

This is not too common a plant in the Wyre Forest district but it can be found along some of the older hedgerows, where it can grow in abundance.

As well as an air freshener, this plant was also used to add a sweet scent to many olden day drinks and as a repellent to keep moths out of the closet.

The most common bedstraw has tiny and scant white flowers, and is easily the least attractive - that is, unless you are a small boy, when the cleaver has to be one of the most fun wild plants there is.

As cleaver, or goose grass as it is sometimes known, is covered in tiny Velcro-like hooks (the idea of Velcro came from the study of these plants). This means, small boys (and girls) can have a whale of a time sticking handfuls of this plant to each other.