PUXTON Marsh nature reserve is a lovely place to visit in the spring when the wild flowers are coming into bloom.

In winter, things are a lot drabber, with only the tussocks of the soft and hard rushes and distinctive brown sausage-shaped flowering heads of the bulrushes giving the reserve any character.

In prehistoric times this would have appeared a most welcoming sight to any primitive hunter who would have passed through Puxton.

These days, though, the plants have no commercial value other than in the flower-arranging industry.

I would be quite wary of taking a bulrush stem into my house nowadays as I still have a childhood memory of doing just that.

I had found a bulrush flowering head which I took home and pretended was a mouse. All was fine for while until the seeds dried out and began to come loose.

It was not long before these began floating throughout the house and covering the carpets. Needless to say, my mother was not pleased.

To our hunters, these bulrushes would have been a much valued resource.

Most importantly, they are one of the few easy-to-obtain sources of carbohydrates which can be found in the natural world, especially during the winter.

These days, carbohydrates are something we find far too easy to get hold of, as they are found in sweets, chocolates, bread, potatoes and rice.

Most of these originate in plants which are either far from being native, or require a lifestyle and technology beyond the early hunter communities.

Carbohydrates give us energy and the hunters needed plenty of energy to keep warm and hunt prey, so finding a good supply of carbohydrate was vital.

In autumn, wild fruit was a great source but fruit perishes and it was difficult to preserve.

Wild bees were highly sought after as they provided one of the few sources of carbohydrate produced by animals, in the form of their honey.

In the winter, wild bees are also not available although their honey does store reasonably well.

However, the bullrushes have a store of starch-like carbohydrate at the bottom of the stem and, unlike other sources, this was available throughout the year and was a vital part of the early hunter's diet.

In addition to their food value, bullrushes could also be used as viable building material, to construct simple shelters.

There is even evidence of the Paiute Indians of Nevada, USA, using bullrushes to construct boats.