Some for ID / confirmation

[deb13b]

Is the 2nd one black medick ? And is the 4th Herb Robert ?
And the others, I have no idea lol ! I hope you all don't mind the newbie asking a million questions !
I apologize for the picture quality, they're taken on an iphone. Only 3mp !

[PeterJL]

The second one is Black Medick (Medicago lupulina) (look for the tiny spike at the apex of the leaf).

The fourth is Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum).

The fifth is Red Campion (Silene dioica)

The sixth is possibly a Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris)

Can't make out the others.

So here's my puzzler which a lady from Germany sent me to ID photographed in the Norfolk Dunes last year:



Are the lumps on the stems galls? What on earth is it - the leaves don't seem to fit anything I regularly see.

[Tiggrx]

To add to Peter's correct ID's are:

1. looks like Sweet Cicely (Myrrhis odorata)
3. Hedge Mustard (Sisymbrium officinale)

[AlanS]

Originally Posted by PeterJL

So here's my puzzler which a lady from Germany sent me to ID photographed in the Norfolk Dunes last year:

Are the lumps on the stems galls? What on earth is it - the leaves don't seem to fit anything I regularly see.

I saw a lot of this with the same gall last week, also on the Norfolk coast. The composite is Hieracium umbellatum, a variant almost without leaf toothing, but I agree looking very weird.

The gall should be nameable, but my books on these are at home and currently I am still at work. I'll see if I can get a name tonight, if nobody else provides it in the meantime.

I was at Holme next the Sea, looking for a lichen (that I later found is not recorded from there anyway - homework is always better before the field trip), and almost all the H. umbellatum I saw was affected by the gall.

Alan

[PeterJL]

Thanks very much Alan - I was wondering if it was a Hawkweed. Possible var dunense if Sell and Murell are anything to go by.

By the way have you seen Tim Rich and David Tennant's book on British Alpine Hawkweeds? It's really excellent - I was able to correctly (referee Tim Rich) identify H. alpinum from a trip to Cul Mor on an Artemisia norvegica expedition using the descriptions, photos and drawings in their book.

It almost makes me want to go on a Hawkweed hunt in Snowdonia!

[AlanS]

The gall is caused by a small gall-wasp, Aulacidea hieracii. The wasp apparently galls various Hieracium species but I see Sell & Murrell specifically mention it as characteristic of H. umbellatum (though they mis-spell the name).

An excellent Swedish book on plant galls (Galler: en fälthandbok .., by C.-C. Coulianos & I. Holmåsen) has a colour photograph of the A. hieracii gall on Hieracium umbellatum stems.

Yes! I have the Rick/Tennant Hieracium book. Very nice!
One of my prized possessions is Hanbury's Illustrated Monograph of the British Hieracia, folio size colour plates, published in parts during the final decade of the 19th Century - again stunning and including some of the alpine taxa.
Maybe when crawling over the turf in Snowdonia on eyebright duty I should look up at the cliffs sometime! Hawkweeds can indeed be very attractive plants.

Alan

[PeterJL]

Thanks for that information Alan. I have relayed to the lady in Germany who sent me the ID request. I've also located a copy of the Illustrated Monograph of the British Hieracia - a snip at £550 from Arden the booksellers.

I've occasionally looked for Euphrasia cambrica where it is supposed to grow amongst the rocks near Clogwyn D'ur Arddu on Snowdon (close to where I show people the Lloydia) - but I've never found it.

I reckon you find the most interesting plants like my Hieracium alpinum when you're looking for something else!

Peter L