A 2009 plant-hunter's diary

[leifus]

Originally Posted by davidbr

Ah, so you spotted the deliberate mistake...

Yep, I posted the same picture twice - here's the one that was meant to go in that space

(Spring Sowbread, Cyclamen repandum)

thaaaat's better haha

[davidbr]

17th April 2009 (Friday)

It's been a horrible day, weather-wise, with persistent rain ranging from annoying light drizzle to soaking torrential downpours - hence the best I managed was an hour or so wandering around the seafront at Weston-super-Mare. Nevertheless, that was long enough to come across a couple of fascinating finds

A couple of days ago I posted a picture of an early-flowering thrift (Armeria) I'd found at the base of a garden wall, thinking it could well be Estoril Thrift (Armeria pseudoarmeria). I now know better, because today I came across the real thing! The one I found the other day is clearly just a garden form of our native Armeria maritima, specially bred to flower early; the true A. pseudoarmeria is far more distinctive than it looks from online photos, with taller flowering stems & much broader leaves, rather resembling those of a sea-lavender rather than the linear ones of the native plant. Annoyingly I can't get the bloody upload thingy to work on the site so I'm not able, at the moment, to post a picture; there were about twenty or so plants naturalised on a sandy bank along Weston-super-Mare seafront, certainly not a species I was expecting to come across this spring

That wasn't the only unusual Mediterranean plant in the area, either; some rather distinctive tulips, pink with yellow centres, had me baffled at the time, but back home in the dry I soon identified them as Tulipa bakeri; it's a native of Crete, doesn't seem to have an English name (I guess Baker's Tulip would be as good as any??) and isn't listed on either the BSBI database nor in Clement & Foster's Alien Plants of the British Isles!! Of these, I did manage to upload a couple of pictures; as you can see, the flowers are a few days past their best. Altogether there were at least ten plants, maybe more (the rain was belting down by now, so I didn't hang about )

("Baker's Tulip", Tulipa bakeri; the hand in the second photo is mine, it was the only way I could hold the stem still... )

After admiring these, however, I made a quick dash back to the town's railway station to catch a train home; pausing only to add another unexpected Mediterranean plant to my list, where some planted Giant Bugloss (Echium pininana) had produced three or four healthy-looking seedlings, perhaps the basis of a naturalised population? Oh; Common Lilac (Syringa vulgaris) is well established along the railways of this part of the country and, just about coming into bloom, definitely brightens up your journey

(Common Lilac, Syringa vulgaris)

[davidbr]

19th April 2009 (Sunday)

On a beautiful, sunny spring day in Somerset, I finally made it third-time lucky in my search for the Tuberous Corydalis (Corydalis cava) at Ston Easton, 10 miles or so south of the city of Bath.

In Terrace Wood, next to the Ston Easton Park Hotel, C. cava forms the main ground-cover in places; unfortunately many of the plants had finished flowering, so the show wasn't as spectacular as it could have been, but there were still plenty of flowering spikes to be photographed!

(Tuberous Corydalis, C. cava; purple form & white form, the population's about an even split between the two types)

Leaving on a high from that success, I headed on a few miles to the nearby village of Stratton-on-the-Fosse. Here, the target was Fairy Foxglove, Erinus alpinus, naturalised on walls at St. Benedict's Church. First, the good news; I found the location & the plants very easily. The bad news; they weren't yet in flower, so I had to settle for a photo of the leaves Never mind, though; at least I know where to come back to in a few weeks' time

(Fairy Foxglove, Erinus alpinus; sadly, not a flower in site... )

That was two new species for the photo list, then; I soon made it three, chancing across Spotted Hawkweed (Hieracium maculatum) on a roadside wall at Ashwick, another small village in the Mells area. Of course these weren't in flower, but it's the foliage that's distinctive and you could see where they get their name from

(Spotted Hawkweed, Hieracium maculatum)

Finally, I ended an excellent few hours with a streamside walk near Mells. Ramsons (Allium ursinum), Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) & Wood Forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica) made for a contrasting carpet of path-side colour, but by far the most noticeable species here was a long way from flowering; Giant Hogweed (Hieracium mantegazzianum), though, is distinctive at any time

(Giant Hogweed, Hieracium mantegazzianum)

Nearby a patch of Sweet Spurge (Euphorbia dulcis) allowed me to take a close-up photo of its' tiny red flowers, and Great Forget-me-not (Brunnera macrophylla) was a change from the usual Green Alkanet. Oh; and a Yucca of some sort, which I'm still working on for ID, was presumably the result of some cast-out garden rubbish

(Sweet Spurge, Euphorbia dulcis)

(Great Forget-me-not, Brunnera macrophylla)

Yucca, as of yet unidentified

[Tiggrx]

Originally Posted by davidbr

[b]

(Fern No. 1)

This one is Rustyback (Ceterach officinarum)

[Tiggrx]

Originally Posted by davidbr

That wasn't the only unusual Mediterranean plant in the area, either; some rather distinctive tulips, pink with yellow centres, had me baffled at the time, but back home in the dry I soon identified them as Tulipa bakeri; it's a native of Crete, doesn't seem to have an English name (I guess Baker's Tulip would be as good as any??) and isn't listed on either the BSBI database nor in Clement & Foster's Alien Plants of the British Isles!! Of these, I did manage to upload a couple of pictures; as you can see, the flowers are a few days past their best. Altogether there were at least ten plants, maybe more (the rain was belting down by now, so I didn't hang about )

("Baker's Tulip", Tulipa bakeri; the hand in the second photo is mine, it was the only way I could hold the stem still... )

Tulipa bakeri is now included in T. saxatilis which is recorded in the UK (only Channel Isles though I think). Saw a huge patch with dozens of flowers in my mothers garden yesterday

[Tiggrx]

Originally Posted by davidbr

That was two new species for the photo list, then; I soon made it three, chancing across Spotted Hawkweed (Hieracium maculatum) on a roadside wall at Ashwick, another small village in the Mells area. Of course these weren't in flower, but it's the foliage that's distinctive and you could see where they get their name from

(Spotted Hawkweed, Hieracium maculatum)

I am not sure on your ID of this one - there are several spotted leaved hawkweeds about - Hieracium scotostictum is a common one. Best left to the experts.

[davidbr]

Originally Posted by Tiggrx

I am not sure on your ID of this one - there are several spotted leaved hawkweeds about - Hieracium scotostictum is a common one. Best left to the experts.

It's supposedly a garden escape (I believe the horticultural name is Leopard-plant?) that's been known in these North Somerset villages for fifty years or so - but of course that doesn't mean they've ID'd it correctly, especially with the Hieracium group

There are a few alien Hieraciums dotted about (H. speluncarum is another one that's meant to be in the same area) and I must admit I hadn't realised there were any native species that also had spotted leaves. I'll have to go back and have another look; maybe see if I can get some better photos when they flower to confirm it one way or another...

[Tiggrx]

Originally Posted by davidbr

It's supposedly a garden escape (I believe the horticultural name is Leopard-plant?) that's been known in these North Somerset villages for fifty years or so - but of course that doesn't mean they've ID'd it correctly, especially with the Hieracium group

There are a few alien Hieraciums dotted about (H. speluncarum is another one that's meant to be in the same area) and I must admit I hadn't realised there were any native species that also had spotted leaves. I'll have to go back and have another look; maybe see if I can get some better photos when they flower to confirm it one way or another...

I think most of the spotted species are aliens although some are native mountain plants.

I remember looking for H. speluncarum at Mells a number of years ago - I think I found it.

[davidbr]

Anyway, let's try to get this up to date...

21st April 2009 (Tuesday)

With the fine weather continuing, it was off to the North Somerset coast again - this time to Brean & Berrow Dunes, a popular holiday spot just along from Weston-super-Mare (there's a bloody great Pontins leisure park there, which they claim is the biggest in the country... ) The bars in it usually offer a needed, refreshing pint, because it's a long walk (seven miles or so between Brean Down & Berrow village...) especially in the heat of midsummer Today, though, the temperature was just about right and, although I unfortunately missed my main target (the Snake's-head Irises (Hermodactylis tuberosa) allegedly around here), there was enough about for me not to be too disappointed

I was quite surprised to find a Star-of-Bethlehem (Ornithogalum angustifolium) coming into flower at the side of a sandy track to the beach; it's been a while since I've seen one and I remembered a far "frailer" looking plant, but apparently there's a lot of variation and the taxonomic position is far from certain. Whatever, it's beyond my level of knowledge to delve any deeper, so O. angustifolium it'll be

(Star-of-Bethlehem, Ornithogalum angustifolium)

The dunes around here tend to pick up all sorts of odd alien species, either bird-sown or dumped from the caravan sites, and so it proved around a small pond on the dunes where (as well as the thick growth of Canadian Waterweed (Elodea canadensis) grew single specimens of Fly Honeysuckle (Lonicera xylosteum) & Thunberg's Barberry ([i]Berberis thunbergii[/b]) - in the summer there are also a couple of introduced willows here, and last July I found a lovely specimen of Thorn-apple (Datura stramonium)

(Fly Honeysuckle, Lonicera xylosteum)

As for smaller stuff, the sandy soil had plenty of Early Forget-me-not (Myosotis ramosissima) & Common Stork's-bill (Erodium cicutarium) in flower, whilst the roadside was regularly brightened by the pink of Pink-sorrel (Oxalis articulata) & yellow of Wallflower (Erysimum chieri); the latter is one of the two commonest crucifers here, along with Eastern Rocket (Sisymbrium orientale). And, at Berrow Church, where the non-existent Snake's-head Irises were meant to be, was a lovely clump of Three-cornered Leek (Allium triquetrum); at the start of April I'd been delighted to find just one plant of this right on my doorstep, I'd never noticed just how common it is in this area

(Three-cornered Leek, Allium triquetrum)

That wasn't quite it, because back in Weston-super-Mare I somehow managed to make an almighty F-up and get on the wrong train; instead of heading northwards to Bristol, mine started off south towards (eventually) the delights of Taunton & Exeter (I blame the tablets... )

In fact, though, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because getting off at the next station at Highbridge, I chanced across an overgrown area near the car park with several interesting species. Snake's-head Fritillaries (Fritillaria meleagris) were managing to hold their own against the carpet of Ramsons, Wintercreeper (Euonymus fortunei) covered a fair-sized area (the first time I'd ever seen the natural, green-leaved form...) and, best of all, a stunning tree of Purple Crab Apple (Malus x purpurea) was in full bloom next to one of the paths With trees you can never be sure, but I'd say it was far more likely to have been bird-sown than planted.

(Snake's-head Fritillary, Fritillaria meleagris)

(Purple Crab Apple, Malus x purpurea)

(Wintercreeper, Euonymus fortunei)

[davidbr]

22nd April 2009 (Wednesday)

A longish walk along the River Avon, from central Bristol into the famous Gorge, turned up quite a few interesting finds this morning, both riverside aliens and local limestone specialities

Whether it's from seeds washed downstream or just stuff chucked over the edge, the banks of the Avon as it passes through Bristol city centre is home to a fascinating range of introduced species. The only problem is getting close enough to photograph them; a cyclepath/towpath runs all the way along the riverside into the Gorge, but there's no access to the bank itself unless you fancy a steep scramble That's why my photo of the Flag Irises (Iris germanica) isn't great; from 50-plus feet away, through bushes and in poor light, it's the best I could do, but the display was well worth seeing, they've covered a good 10 - 12 feet of riverbank and are currently in full flower.

(Flag Iris, Iris germanica)

I also made a diversion to have a look at some flowering trees I'd spotted on the opposite riverbank; one, an ornamental crab apple, I later identified as Siebold's Crab Apple (Malus sieboldii) and presumably it originated from bird-sown fruit. The other, a Japanese Cherry (Prunus serrulata) of the pink double-flowered cultivar I believe is called "Kanzan" (or, at least, a form very similar) was rather more surprising, because the books say it's sterile

Along the riverside towpath I stopped to have a look at the Late Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster lacteus) bushes which are extensively naturalised around here, together with Hybrid Coralberry (Symphoricarpus x chenaultii) making up the majority of the bushes along the old railway line. Heading into the Avon Gorge itself, the Bristol Rock-cress (Arabis scabra) plants were by now in seed, but another local speciality Spring Cinquefoil (Potentilla tabernaemontani) was just coming into flower and I was pleased to find a few on the limestone banks & along the edge of the towpath.

(Spring Cinquefoil, Potentilla tabernaemontani)

From there I was faced with the steep climb up through the "Nightingale Valley" of Leigh Woods nature reserve (though it's been many years since any nightingales made their home here... ) and back across the Suspension Bridge towards home. Heading through the woods I again failed to find Green Hellebore, but Toothwort (Lathraea squamaria) was in flower and is always worth a photo

(Toothwort, Lathraea squamaria)

Finally, on the Clifton side of the Gorge around the area known as the "Observatory", Rosy Garlic (Allium roseum) was just coming into bloom; judging from the number of buds I could spot in the grass, it ought to make a fine sight in a few weeks' time