A 2009 plant-hunter's diary

[davidbr]

29th April 2009 (Wednesday)

Back on (relatively) home turf today, I was headed for Cheddar Gorge, in Somerset, hoping to track down a few local rarities & specialities.

It'd been quite a while since I'd been to Cheddar and my record here wasn't great (my last trip was a failure to find the famous Pinks last summer... ). I'd also forgotten quite what an arduous climb it was from Cheddar village up to the top of the Gorge, and the entrance to Black Rock nature reserve Still, the first target was found easily enough - Pyrenean Scurvygrass (Cochlearia pyrenaica), all over a cliff-face in one of its' few UK sites.


Pyrenean Scurvygrass, Cochlearia pyrenaica; about half-way up the Gorge and (if you're coming from the village) on rocks on left-hand side of the road)

Hairy Rock-cress (Arabis hirsuta) also grew nearby and was another new find for the photo list, but that was where my luck for the day ended - I couldn't find a sign of either Purple Gromwell (Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum) nor Herb-paris (Paris quadrifolia). The Spring Cinquefoil (Potentilla tabernaemontani) added a splash of colour to the limestone banks and Early Purple Orchids (Orchis mascula) & Thin-stemmed Lady's-mantle (Alchemilla filicaulis ssp. vestita) were both in flower, too; plus the sunshine had drawn out quite a few butterflies, including a very photogenic Grizzled Skipper

(Spring Cinquefoil, Potentilla tabernaemontani)

(Grizzled Skipper)

And, one final "tick" before heading back to Cheddar village (thankfully, downhill... ) - Common Twayblade (Listera ovata). I'd seen them here before in high summer, but hadn't expected any signs to be visible this early.

(Common Twayblade, Listera ovata)

(Poet's Narcissus, N. poeticus; Weston-super-Mare seafront)

[davidbr]

And one more for ID from my New Forest trip, that I've finally managed to upload onto the site



This buttercup was growing along Keyhaven sea wall on the South Hampshire coast; any ideas?

[KeenTeen17]

I'm not entirely sure. It can either be Rough Fruited Buttercup or a weird Creeping Buttercup.

[Tiggrx]

Looks like a weird Bulbous Buttercup to me

Originally Posted by davidbr

And one more for ID from my New Forest trip, that I've finally managed to upload onto the site



This buttercup was growing along Keyhaven sea wall on the South Hampshire coast; any ideas?

[davidbr]

I've been sorting out a lot of photos I ended up with of pondweeds (Potamogeton sp/) from the New Forest, and almost all have turned out to be Bog Pondweed, P. polygonifolius). These ones, though, don't seem to fit either P. polygonifolius or the common Broad-leaved Pondweed, P. natans

Any ideas?

[davidbr]

2nd May 2009

A pretty successful day today; seven new species added, with quite a few more still waiting for a definite ID

To start with, I needed to right an embarrassing mistake; en route to the New Forest on April 24th I'd photographed what I thought was a Green-winged Orchid (Orchis morio) at Martin Down, Wiltshire... but reviewing the photos yesterday, looking back at me was an un-stringable Early Purple Orchid In my defence it's a plant I'd never seen in the flesh before, but even so - they aren't that hard to identify...

Thankfully North Somerset's quite a good area for "genuine" Green-wingeds; there's a large colony at the edge of Chew Valley Lake (the area known as "Parkland", just before Heron's Green Bay) and quite a few were out in flower - for some annoying reason, despite trying three times, the site doesn't seem to be letting me upload a photo, but I know I've got it right this time

Anyway... my next stop was Priddy Mineries, on the Mendips, where Spring Sandwort (Minuartia verna) gave itself up easily but I failed to find any sign of the Alpine Penny-cress that also supposedly grows nearby. Plus, I was also able to add Western Gorse (Ulex galli) & Bell Heather (Erica cinerea) to the list; neither were in flower, of course, but they all count

(Spring Sandwort, Minuartia verna)

From there it was on to Great Elm, near Mells, where at the third time of asking I finally managed to track down Bladdernut (Staphylea pinnata) - right by the path, I must have walked past it every time previously! Water Dock (Rumex hydrolapathum) was also by the Mells Stream and also new, a Wild Service Tree (Sorbus torminalis) was probably planted, and there were several others that still need a name; a couple of cotoneasters, a currant bush and a mystery tree on which I've absolutely no idea...

(Bladdernut, Staphylea pinnata)

(Water Dock, Rumex hydrolapathum)

[davidbr]

Right; I'm hoping people might be able to help me put a name to these

These small white crucifers, either a whitlow-grass or rock-cress, were quite plentiful at Priddy Mineries, an old lead-mine in the Mendip Hills.



This stonecrop was on a wall in the village of Great Elm, Somerset;



Probably planted, this ornamental crab-apple was along the Mells Stream near Great Elm; any idea which one it is?



I think this is one of the water-milfoils; sorry it's a terrible picture, the plant was growing in the middle of a pond and I had to use maximum zoom




Any idea what this tree is? Probably originally planted, it was also along the Mells Stream at Great Elm; the literature says Japanese Angelica-tree (Aralia elata) is meant to grow here, but I'm pretty sure this isn't it



And lastly, this Spiraea was one I found on April 22nd, at Leigh Woods in the Avon Gorge, Bristol. I know they're not easy to identify even in flower, but I've got a couple of ideas and maybe with a bit of help might be able to get somewhere

[Tiggrx]

The Stonecrop is a Saxifrage of some sort and the water-mifoil is Parrot's-feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum).

I shall have a think about the others.

[KeenTeen17]

the crucifer could be hairy rock cress because its leaves are really hairy

[davidbr]

Originally Posted by KeenTeen17

the crucifer could be hairy rock cress because its leaves are really hairy

I think it's actually Hoary Whitlowgrass (Draba incana) - I've also managed to ID the mystery tree as Ashleaf Maple (Acer negundo), the others I'm still working on