A 2009 plant-hunter's diary

[davidbr]

A few finds from the end of August:

At Brean Down, Somerset, the large population of Autumn Gentian (Gentianella amarella) were in flower, although not fully open in the wet weather. Nearby in Brean village I also found Thorn-apple (Datura stramonium), lots of Fragrant Evening-primrose (Oenothera stricta) and one Large-flowered Gladiolus (Gladiolus x hortulanus), presumably a relic of an old garden.


Autumn Gentian, Gentianella amarella


Large-flowered Gladiolus, Gladiolus x hortulanus

A few miles along the coast at Uphill, quite a few Autumn Lady's-tresses (Spiranthes spiralis) were blooming on the grassy slopes, with casuals in the village streets including one I've been after for some time - Petunia (Petunia x hybrida), a pavement-crack weed in pink & purple!


Autumn Lady's-tresses, Spiranthes spiralis

Near Compton Dando, just north of Bristol, a friend had told me about a "pretty blue flower" in a field of "weeds" - her description intrigued me, so I decided to check it out. The blue flower proved to be Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia), but there were several other interesting casuals growing nearby. Lots of Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), some White Melilot (Melilotus albus) (rare in this region) and both new for me, Garden Radish (Raphanus sativus) & Gold-of-pleasure (Camelina sativa). The last two were only in fruit at this time of year, unfortunately; I'll have to go back next summer and see if they persist.


Gold-of-pleasure, Camelina sativa


Garden Radish, Raphanus sativus

Nearby, weeds I'd initially dismissed as fat hen turned out to be Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa), another new species, and yet another addition was a couple of blooms of Meadow Saffron (Colchicum autumnale) on a roadside bank.


Quinoa, Chenopodium quinoa


Meadow Saffron, Colchicum autumnale

Then there's this. When I first found it last season it'd finished flowering and I'd identified it as Elecampane (Inula helenium), but now I'm wondering if it could be Yellow Ox-eye (Telekia speciosa) and the differences between them seem rather confusing. Any opinions?

[Tiggrx]

Originally Posted by davidbr

Then there's this. When I first found it last season it'd finished flowering and I'd identified it as Elecampane (Inula helenium), but now I'm wondering if it could be Yellow Ox-eye (Telekia speciosa) and the differences between them seem rather confusing. Any opinions?

It is easiest to look at the bases of the basal leaves - in Telekia they are heart-shaped and in Inula the leaves gradually narrows into the stem. Not so easy from your picture but I think it is Inula helenium as the leaves look too thick and felted for Telekia

Here is a picture of Telekia speciosa to compare

[Tiggrx]

Originally Posted by davidbr

Near Compton Dando, just north of Bristol, a friend had told me about a "pretty blue flower" in a field of "weeds" - her description intrigued me, so I decided to check it out. The blue flower proved to be Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia), but there were several other interesting casuals growing nearby. Lots of Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), some White Melilot (Melilotus albus) (rare in this region) and both new for me, Garden Radish (Raphanus sativus) & Gold-of-pleasure (Camelina sativa). The last two were only in fruit at this time of year, unfortunately; I'll have to go back next summer and see if they persist.


Gold-of-pleasure, Camelina sativa


Garden Radish, Raphanus sativus

Nearby, weeds I'd initially dismissed as fat hen turned out to be Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa), another new species, and yet another addition was a couple of blooms of Meadow Saffron (Colchicum autumnale) on a roadside bank.


Quinoa, Chenopodium quinoa

These species are all sown for game cover and it can be very interesting looking through fields like this. I have never managed to find the Gold-of-pleasure though.

[wildherbalian85]

Originally Posted by KeenTeen17

I'm now fairly confident the leaves you posted were indeed Henbane after seeing the photos on the Tesco Henbane thread

NO its not Henbane

[davidbr]

Originally Posted by Tiggrx

It is easiest to look at the bases of the basal leaves - in Telekia they are heart-shaped and in Inula the leaves gradually narrows into the stem. Not so easy from your picture but I think it is Inula helenium as the leaves look too thick and felted for Telekia

Here is a picture of Telekia speciosa to compare

Thanks, Tiggrx. I've seen Telekia speciosa before in Norfolk earlier this summer, but only in leaf as a young plant which wasn't much help here

[davidbr]

Originally Posted by Tiggrx

These species are all sown for game cover and it can be very interesting looking through fields like this. I have never managed to find the Gold-of-pleasure though.

I remember reading in an old wild flower book that Gold-of-pleasure used to be grown as a crop and was a common casual, but according to The Flora of the Bristol Region there's only been one record in the area, of a single plant, in the past fifty or so years.

I suppose like a lot of these species, as cleaning processes in corn & in waste have improved, so the aliens have died out. A real shame - I'd love to be able to go back in time to the days vast arrays of casuals from all over the world turned up by woollen mills and on rubbish dumps

[davidbr]

Does anyone have any idea what this mallow could be? More a herb than a shrub, about 18 inches high, it was growing at the edge of the car park and seemed to have sprung up as a casual from soil used on the flowerbeds. I've not been able to find a match, so it's time to ask for help. Help

[Jonners]

The flower looks like some kind of Lavatera, but I'm no expert.

[davidbr]

Originally Posted by Jonners

The flower looks like some kind of Lavatera, but I'm no expert.

It's certainly a Lavatera - the question is, which one?

I'm pretty sure it's Lavatera thuringiaca, a European species and one of the parents of the common Garden Tree-mallow L. x clementii. Presumably it was a soil impurity.

[davidbr]

A few interesting finds from yesterday;

This "pretty red buttercup" turned out to be an escaped clematis, growing on a roadside soil-heap just below Brean Down, Somerset. They're a confusing bunch, but so far I've ID'd it as Purple Clematis (Clematis viticella), probably of the cultivar "Rubra".

(Purple Clematis, C. viticella - I think...)

Just along the coast at Uphill, this colony of Fern-leaf Yarrow (Achillea filipendulina) seemed established and thriving on an old stone wall in the village. I couldn't find it growing in any of the neighbouring gardens, so exactly where it came from is a mystery.

(Fern-leaf Yarrow, Achillea filipendulina)

Back on my usual Bristol patch, our lone self-sown bush of Mrs Wilson's Barberry (Berberis wilsonae) is flowering well, pleasing after some council idiot gave it a severe hammering with hedge-clippers last year

(Mrs Wilson's Barberry, Berberis wilsoniae)

And, though it's a plant we don't get a lot of in this area, I think this is Hawkweed Oxtongue (Picris hieracioides)...



Input from anyone who's more familiar with the species would be very welcome