9th May 2009 (Saturday)
A Saturday morning isn't the ideal time to explore the centre of Bristol, but thankfully things were pretty quiet during the six to seven mile circuit along the River Avon from the city centre through the famous Gorge. To start with, in the city centre itself, I called in to check on the
Veined Yellow-eyed-grass (
Sisyrinchium laxum) colony at Bathurst Parade, by the Waterfront - to my surprise they were all in flower, but in poor weather views weren't the best. A bonus here was several clumps of
Garden Thyme (
Thymus vulgaris); like the
S. laxum plants, well established in paving-stone cracks by the Docks.
(Veined Yellow-eyed-grass, Sisyrinchium laxum) 
(
Garden Thyme, Thymus vulgaris)
Along the River Avon towpath several summer species were coming into flower;
Hemlock Water-dropwort (
Oenanthe crocata),
Perennial Wall-rocket (
Diplotaxis tenuifolia) &
Japanese Rose (
Rosa rugosa), plus a
Fuschia (
Fuschia magellanica) by the old Industrial Museum that I'd first found last July. Crossing the river into the Gorge itself, I came across a few new ticks for the list;
Tree Privet (
Ligustrum lucidum) self-seeding from probably planted, untended roadside bushes, a
Silver Maple (
Acer saccharinum) meeting my requirements of being in a "natural environment" and a couple of bushes of
American Elder (
Sambucus canadensis), of the yellow-leaved cultivar, self-sown in a hedge.
(
Tree Privet, Ligustrum lucidum)
(
American Elder, Sambucus canadensis)
Heading up into one of my favourite local areas, the roadside verges of Leigh Woods village, I came up trumps again with a large clump of
Fringecups (
Tellima grandiflora); it's rare that an exploration of this area fails to turn up something unusual! Along those lines,
Spotted Hawkweed (
Hieracium maculatum) was a surprise in full-flower, as was a Leopard's-bane (
Doronicum sp.) I've yet to specifically identify
(
Fringecups, Tellima grandiflora)
(
Spotted Hawkweed, Hieracium maculatum)
And lastly, across to the Clifton side of the Suspension Bridge, I managed to find & photograph the Gorge's two well-known introduced "garlics";
Rosy Garlic (
Allium roseum) was everywhere, making a most attractive show, whilst
Honey Garlic (
Nectaroscordum siculum) was only just coming into bloom; it'll need another week or two before it's at its best
(
Rosy Garlic, Allium roseum)
In total I'd added six new species and managed improved photographs of quite a few others; all in all, not a bad morning's work
