Wildflowers from Swithland Woods, Leicestershire, June 2011.

[CRM]

Hello everybody, here are some pictures of some wildflowers I found during a walk in Swithland woods, Leicestershire in early June 2011. If there is anything you disagree on , don't hesitate to correct me!!



Digitalis purpurea. There were thousands, and I mean thousands of foxgloves flowering, but what I found particularly interesting was the white/very light pink colouration found in these two plants pictured. These were the only ones I saw out of all the thousands there that day. How unusual is it to find this lighter coloured form? Or any other information regarding it would be useful.





Geranium robertianum. Such a lovely plant, no matter how often I find it.




Lonicera periclymenum. Again, lovely plant, with an amazing scent to match!



Lysimachia nemorum. I'm fairlly confident of this ID, but to here some one else's thoughts would be apreciated. If it's correct then it's a new one for me I also discovered that this was an AWI species. Just out of curiosity what is usually considered to be a more conclusive indicator of AW, the number of AWI species or certain AWI species?



Ranunculus repens



Silene dioica Again fairly confident of this, but to here someone else's opinion would be apreciated. Sorry about the out of focus photo, but I'm fairly sure that the top left of it is in focus.

Have a great day,

CRM.

[aeshna5]

Spot on with all your IDs CRM!

[Dorts]

Originally Posted by CRM

Foxgloves.
How unusual is it to find this lighter coloured form? Or any other information regarding it would be useful.

It seems to be totally dependant on the 'local gene-pool'. It is not uncommon to find very large populations of Digitalis purpurea all of which are exactly the same colour; and that is probably the way it will stay unless seed from another source carrying a different colour gene is somehow introduced.
White Foxgloves are fairly frequent, pink less so in my experience.

Originally Posted by CRM

Yellow Pimpernel.
I'm fairlly confident of this ID, but to here some one else's thoughts would be apreciated. If it's correct then it's a new one for me I also discovered that this was an AWI species. Just out of curiosity what is usually considered to be a more conclusive indicator of AW, the number of AWI species or certain AWI species?

I think first I had better explain these terms:
Ancient Woodland Indicator species. (AWI's). Plants.
"Lists of plant species, both Vascular and Bryophytes, which favour ancient woodland sites in particular geographical areas of Britain. By assessing the number AWI species present in a particular wood, an educated guess can be made as to whether it is an ancient woodland site or not. List's of AWI species need to be used with caution and only species native to a given area should be used in that area. Generally, the more AWI species found, the more the likelyhood of the woodland being of age"
Ancient Woodland.
"Ancient woodland in England is defined as an area that has been wooded continuously since at least 1600 AD."
The idea that certain species of plants could indicate that an area of woodland could be 'Ancient' was first developed by my dear old friend Francis Rose, along with Peterken and Rackham back in the mid 70's.

As with many woodland species, Yellow Pimpernel - Lysimachia nemorum is not in itself an AWI, but when found along with other AWI's it will add weight to the idea of a particular woodland being of some age.

We have a damp-shady lawn completely covered in Yellow Pimpernel which is quite a sight in the summer!
Dorts.

[CRM]

Thanks aeshna5 for the confirmation - is always nice to know if you're on the right lines or not

Re: foxglove, thanks Dorts for the info. Sould I be correct in thinking then though that the foxgloves in this particular area will all (given time) be this lighter form, due to this genetic material being now in the area? Or is it more that this lighter form is 'the recessive one' and will only show up obeying to mendelevian laws? i.e. 1:3, or am I way off the mark here? Finally, is it just the picture, or even just me, but does the lighter form shown here seem to be taller and have larger flowers? Perhaps this could be due to 'hybrid vigor' thanks to the fresh input of different genetic material?

Re: AWI info, thank you Dorts for that. So, it's more to do with the number of AWI species than any particular ones giving weight to whether is believed to be so or not. I bet your lawn must look good, I hope to find this plant more this year as I did enjoy it Is there a list (or equivalent) of all the thought Ancient Woodlands in Britain?

Finally, is it possible thought someone could suggest what the thistle is in the foxglove picture? I know it's a bad photo, but after searching, I've realized that I never took an actual photo of it, so this is as good as I've got, but am now just curious to what it is exactly. I was thinking Cirsium vulgare??

Thanks folks,

CRM

[Dorts]

Originally Posted by CRM

Re: foxglove, thanks Dorts for the info. Sould I be correct in thinking then though that the foxgloves in this particular area will all (given time) be this lighter form, due to this genetic material being now in the area? Or is it more that this lighter form is 'the recessive one' and will only show up obeying to mendelevian laws? i.e. 1:3, or am I way off the mark here? Finally, is it just the picture, or even just me, but does the lighter form shown here seem to be taller and have larger flowers? Perhaps this could be due to 'hybrid vigor' thanks to the fresh input of different genetic material?

There may be many reasons why pink-flowered Foxgloves are less numerous in a mixed population. It could be that the seed of the pink plants for some reason, does not germinate as readily as other colours. For example; the seeds of blue Sweet Peas are much smaller and harder, with a thicker outer coating than in any of the other colours. It could also be as you suggest, theyy have a recessive gene.

I think if there was an even number of plants of each colour in this Foxglove colony, you may well find that there would also be plants of varying sizes for each colour.
As they are all Digitalis purpurea, the pink ones are not strictly hybrids, just 'colour forms'.

Originally Posted by CRM

Re: AWI info, thank you Dorts for that. So, it's more to do with the number of AWI species than any particular ones giving weight to whether is believed to be so or not. I bet your lawn must look good, I hope to find this plant more this year as I did enjoy it Is there a list (or equivalent) of all the thought Ancient Woodlands in Britain?

Yes, there are lists. Each applicable to a particular type of woodland habitat.
Here's a great little piece by Francis Rose which is definitely worth a read, and may help. http://www.britishwildlife.com/class...20woodland.pdf

Originally Posted by CRM

Finally, is it possible thought someone could suggest what the thistle is in the foxglove picture? I know it's a bad photo, but after searching, I've realized that I never took an actual photo of it, so this is as good as I've got, but am now just curious to what it is exactly. I was thinking Cirsium vulgare??

Yes, you're correct. It's Spear Thistle.
Dorts.

[King Edward]

There's also a wide range of foxglove colour forms grown in gardens, so the lighter ones could potentially be of cultivated origin (perhaps through pollen brought in by a bee from elsewhere). Either way, I don't see any reason to expect that the lighter form will displace the usual purple form over time.

You could of course spend time watching to see whether there was any difference in the frequency of bee visits to purple/light plants, which would be a major factor in determining how successful each form is in spreading its genes thorugh pollen. Since bees often stick to visiting one type of flower at a time, it might be that the minority form is visited less often, tending to produce a more uniform population over time.