Sundry Plants for ID etc. North Wales July 2010

[poschiavanus]

I've been meaning to get ids/confirmations for a few plants I photographed last year in July on the Snowdon range of hills. Dorts kindly identified Heath Spotted Orchid when I was asking about unidentified insects from the same trip.



Photo quality is not good as most were snatched whilst walking and the camera's macro focus was on its last legs.

For some of these I have a decent idea what they might be, but there are 3 things which seem mysterious to me, in that I think I should be able to ID them but have failed.

1. A small fern. feathery 1-pinnate channelled leaves.



2. Large white flowers with long stalked cordate leaves. I can't place these at all, although flower size and leaves suggest Grass of Parnassus, the long anthers and rest of the flower don't seem to fit.



3. A speedwell in Cwm Glas Mor.



4. An eyebright in Cwm Glas Mor. Really just in case there are some unusual ones in this area.




5. A yellow-flowered composite, perhaps a Senecio or Solidago sp.



6. Dense patches of broad 'grassy' leaves growing high on Moel Eilio. Presumably a well-known monocot, but completely escapes me! Base of leaves have purple veins, and the leaf blades have scattered longish hairs.



7. Deergrass. Hope I've got this right!


8. Small sedge, just a few centimetres high. Growing high in Cwm Glas Mawr (600 m perhaps).



9. Another sedge. Tall (perhaps 75-90 cm) growing in damp grassland at 300 m above Llanberis. Roughly the same area as the orchid.



Thanks,

Posch

[Dorts]

1. Parsley Fern - Cryptogramma crispa. I first saw this lovely fern on a trip to Snowdon in 1961!
2. Knotted Pearlwort - Sagina nodosa. Decreasing and not common in Snowdonia. Good find!
3. Heath Speedwell - Veronica officinalis.
4. Eyebright - Euphrasia sp. Need a lot more detail to make a reasonable guess. But going soley on the flower I'd say E. nemorosa or possibly the rarer E. rostkoviana.
5. Goldenrod - Solidago virgaurea. Very common in this part of N Wales.
6. ??
7. Heath Rush - Juncus squarrosus. (Deer Grass looks more like a Spike Rush).
8. Yellow Sedge - Carex viridula. (Although widespread, recent records are very wanting).
9. Probably Common Sedge - Carex nigra.
Dorts.

[Johnny81]

The final sedge maybe Green-ribbed Sedge Carex binervis? I have a similar picture of one taken on Heathland (It could be wrong though) - a massive stab in the dark and I guess we would need to see more of the plant.

[Dorts]

Originally Posted by Johnny81

The final sedge maybe Green-ribbed Sedge Carex binervis? I have a similar picture of one taken on Heathland (It could be wrong though) - a massive stab in the dark and I guess we would need to see more of the plant.

Good suggestion John. It's quite possible that it's C. binervis , they can be quite similar and both are common in this area.
Unfortunately the detail is none to clear to be certain.
Dorts.

[poschiavanus]

Originally Posted by Dorts

1. Parsley Fern - Cryptogramma crispa. I first saw this lovely fern on a trip to Snowdon in 1961!
2. Knotted Pearlwort - Sagina nodosa. Decreasing and not common in Snowdonia. Good find!
3. Heath Speedwell - Veronica officinalis.
4. Eyebright - Euphrasia sp. Need a lot more detail to make a reasonable guess. But going soley on the flower I'd say E. nemorosa or possibly the rarer E. rostkoviana.
5. Goldenrod - Solidago virgaurea. Very common in this part of N Wales.
6. ??
7. Heath Rush - Juncus squarrosus. (Deer Grass looks more like a Spike Rush).
8. Yellow Sedge - Carex viridula. (Although widespread, recent records are very wanting).
9. Probably Common Sedge - Carex nigra.
Dorts.

Thanks very much.

Two of the three mysteries resolved. I'll have to nag away at number 6. I didn't expect to get anywhere with the last sedge or the eyebright but thought I'd throw them in the mix anyway: particularly as Cwm Glas has some unusual plants.

I think I must have misjudged the size of the flower for the Sagina as I thought I'd trawled through candidate members of the Pink Family.

I found the area W of Llanberis including Coed Doctor and the access land above the old quarries called Glyn Rhonwy very attractive and probably worthy of more in-depth naturalising.

[Dorts]

Originally Posted by poschiavanus

Thanks very much.
I found the area W of Llanberis including Coed Doctor and the access land above the old quarries called Glyn Rhonwy very attractive and probably worthy of more in-depth naturalising.

There are so many superb areas here in Snowdonia needing close botanising, but not enough feet on the ground to do it.
I haven't been to Coed Doctor and the old quarries at Glyn Rhonwy, though I've looked from afar and like so many other areas, thought they would be worth a good look.
One day!
Dorts.

[King Edward]

6 is Luzula sylvatica, Great Woodrush.

[poschiavanus]

Originally Posted by King Edward

6 is Luzula sylvatica, Great Woodrush.

Excellent, and explains why I'd missed it.

I was pretty sure it was a monocot and not a sedge or a grass: and I'd probably dismissed Luzula sp. from an ignorance of the habitats they can be found in.

I'd not noticed the hairs on the leaves until I wrote the original post and its a character which makes the plant much easier to key in Poland and Clement.

Thanks once again.