BSBI News No. 69

BSBINEWS
April1995
Editedby R. GwynnEllis
Dept.of Botany,NationalMuseumof Wales
CardiffCFl 3NP
LI)CILIAE
X FoRBESII
(?)
LUcILIAE
cfY'|
t---{
('hionodoxoin SprinsfieldPark,del BrianWurzellO 1995(seepaf$ 47)
No.69
Administration
ADN{INISTRATTON
llON GENERALSECRETARY(General
Enquiries)
N{rsMarvBriggs,M.B.E.,
9 Arun Prospect,PL'I-BOROUGH.WestSussexRH20 IAL
Tel 0l798-873234
(PavmentofSubscriptions
HON TREASLTRER
Mr ll{ichaelWalpole,
andchangeofaddress)
68 OutwoodsRoad,LOUGHBOROUGH,Leics.LEI I ILY
Tel 01509-215598
(Pleasequotemembership
numberon correspondence
concerning
membership
or subscriptions
numberis on the addresslabelof vour mailingsandin the List of Membersin B.lB1
vour membership
l'ear lkxtk 1995)
HON FIELD SECRETARY(Enquirieson FieldMeetings)
Mrs MargaretLindop
36 WoodlandHill- Whitkirk-LeedsLS15 ?DG
Tel 0l l3-2646513
Officersand Memben of Council - 1995Nominations
The followinghavebeennominatedfor electionat the AnnualGeneralMeetingon May l3 1995.
President.1995-I 997
Mr D.A. Pearman
Vice-Presidents.
I 995-1999 Mr R.G.Ellis.Mr C.D Preston
Council.1995-1q99
Mr M E Braithwaite.Mr R.M Burton.Mr D.E. Green
To fill a one-yearvacancy
1995-1996.
Dr F.J.Rumsey
RetiringOfficers:
Dr F.H Perring(President)
N{r P S Green.Dr G Halliday.Mr A.C Jermy(Vice-Presidents)
RetiringCouncill\'lembers
Dr J.R Akerovd.Mr J.M. MontgomenA completelist of OfticersandCouncilason March2lst 1995is published
on page2 of the Annual
Reportfor 1994
MARY BRIGGS.Hon GeneralSecretarv
CONTRIBUTIONSINTENDEDFOR
BSBI NEWS 70
shouldreachthe Editor before
JULY 28 I995
Comment
CON{N{ENT
PRESENTATIONTO OUR PATRON
lvferlensiu
PlanlsinBrilc.inappearedwithafinephotographoftheOysterplanl,
WhenJ'carce
the Queen
how our Patron.H.M. QueenElizabeth,
marilima,on the coverit wasremembered
growingon the shorebelowher Caithness
Motherhadtakenmembersof the BSBI to seethis species
home,the Castleof Mey
a copyof ScorcePltutt.s
andwith the blessingof the Treasurer.
So, at ChrisPreston'ssuggestion
in Britain was sentto Her Majesty,from whoseoffice we receivedthe reply which follows.
FRANKLYN PERRING. President
CLARENCE
HOL-SE
S\tlr
;oth
Jed'
lJvan
t'w1
Janrrary
lg95
.
by gueen
Elizabeth
The Queen Mother
f M
comanded
you for
your
12th
Ietter
of
January
aDd fo!
to thank
Her UajestY
is
Plants
in Britain".
senCling
"Scarce
to the
to hdve it
did
-s very grateful
delighted
Isles
for
such
a
Botanical
society
of
the Blitish
present.
valuabfe
and
The book
is a nost
useful
pl,ace
in
and 9i11
take
ils
erudite
work
of
leference
library,
Her Majesty's
cffective
on the
cover
is very
and
The picturc
is siill
to be
sill
tha planr
be 91ad to know thar
j.nterestitrg
is
to
see that
found
on tlte
slrore.
It
PrimuLa
Sco!ica,
have been found
for
many Locations
Caithness
rarity.
tbat
othei
cee
The oueen uother
Cdstle
of
Lo fre
Queen
Perrlng,
Dr,
Frankllm
President,
society
of
Botanical
is
so gl,ad that
the he$ers
visit.
theil
Mey entoYed
Trcasurer
Ttle
Elizabeth
to
9ueen
OBE,
lhe
British
rsles.
ffother
you
so
who
Comment
ETIROPEAN CONFERENCE
in
Thejoint BSBI and LinneanSociet-v
on'PresentProsressandFutureProspects
Conf-erence
studyingthe Taxonom-v
andDistributionof the Floraof NW Europe'took placeat BurlingtonHouse
on Thursday9 February1995andat(ractedan audience
ofover 80 includingrepresentatives
ofall the
countriesofNW Europefrom Finlandto France.
The aim ofthe Conference
wasto brinetogetherbotanistsfrom countrieswith muchoftheir
tlora in commonandlook at waysin whichclosercollaboration
mighthavebeneficial
effectsin a
numberofareas.the currentsituationin eachofthe countrieswas admirablydemonstrated
by the
speakers
duringthe da1,.
guestswerejoinedby a similarnumberfrom Britain.representing
On the Fridayour l0 overseas
the maininterestsofthe meeting,andthe dayrvasspentassessing
the situationandlookingat three
- conservation.
publications
mainareaswherewe mightco-operatewith advantage
anddatabases.
Conservation
With so muchof our florasin commonit wasagreedthat we shouldwork morecloselvtogetherto
prepareregionallistsofthreatenedtaxaandidenti$ thosecountrieswhichhold the major
populations.
Countrylistsalonedirectattentionandresources
to species
whichwhilstapparently
threatened
withinthat country.mightwell be flourishingacrossthe border.
would enableus to preparemoreobjectivelistsfor the BerneConventionwith less
Co-operation
risk that thoseproposedby biologistswould be alteredat the lastminutefor politicalreasonsashas
happened
in rhe past.It wasfurthersuggested
that theremightbe threeregionalRedDataBooksor
listsin NW Europe:Fennoscandia.
WesternEurope(includinsIreland,Wales,SW England.
W Franceandthe IberianPeninsula).
andthe reslincludin_e
Dennrark.Holland,Germany,Belsium,
Luxembourg,FranceS to the Loire andthe restofBritain.
The commonthemewasto havethis informalionreadvin advanceof the callsof the
'conservation
In manycountries.it seemed.
bureaucrats'.
inputinto the
botanistshadan inadequate
rigorously
decisionmakingprocess.Preparation
ofdatabases
ofthreatened
taxa,incorporating
(magnitude
derivedcategories
appropriate
to NW Europeandgood dataon populations
and
distributionincludingmaps)wasagreedto be a worthwhileendeavour.
Agreement
to usea common
unit ofrecordincfor threatened
species.
suchasthe lkm square,wasregardedasa usefulstepwhich
mightbe taken.
An earlyapproachfor fundingfor regionalprojectsmight be madeto the new Environment
Agencvbeingsetup in Paris.afterconsultation
with the World Conservation
MonitoringCentre
whichconcentrates
eitheron globalanalysis
or on countryRedDataBooks.MargaretPalmer
undertookto carry this forw:ard.
The valueofpooling research
informationon the autecologv
wasalso
ofthreatenedspecies
recognised:
the EcoloeicalFloraDatabase
for
at York Universitycouldperhapsadoptresponsibiiity
this
Publications
In additionto the possiblepreparation
ofregionalRedDataBooksthreeotherareasofcollaboration
in botanicalpublicationexaminedseemed
to havepossibilities.
I A Floraof NW Europe
had
CliveStacereportedthat he andDr Ruudvander Meijden,oneof the trio of Dutchdelegates,
carriedout a feasibilitystudyfor a simpleExcursionFlorafor NW Europe- it wouldincludec.4.500
taxa.Theyhadconcludedthat it wasa feasibleprojectfor a smallgroupofnot morethansix people
to carryout in aboutfour yearsbut theythemselves
werenot proposingto do this.Howeverit was
generallyagreedthat an up-to-date.authoritative
level,with
checklistoftaxa down to subspecies
authorities
wouldbe invaluable.
andbasionvms.
A draftlist couldbe preparedfiom the already
Commcnl
listsfor the tsritishlsles,Denmark,France,Germany,Netherlands
computerised
and Norway.A
LinneanSocietymeetingin Leidenin May mightbe an opportuniti/to inaugurate
sucha project A
working group of Prof. Stace,Dr Bisby and Dr Pankhurstlrom LrK. Dr Haeuplerfiom Germanyand
Dr van der Meijdenfrom Netherlands
wasdesignated
to carrythe ideaforward.
2. Handbooks,Monographs
No othercountryrepresented
had.or wasproposine.a seriesofHandbooksto matchthoseofthe
BSBL The questionwasthereforeaskedasto whether.by includingmoretaxa(onlya few in some
cases),the Handbookscouldbe morewidelvsoldandused.The generalview wasthat for Sedges
anda new oneon rushes,ifit wasprepared.therecouldbe appreciable
interestin NW Europe.
Englishversionswould be adequate
throushoutScandinavia.
but the Dutchwould needa translation
andto includecommonnames.Not all Handbookscouldbecomedirectlvacceptable
in the widerarea
just by addinga few species the PondweedHandbookbeingpreparedby ChrisPreston.whichhasa
strongBritishhistoricalelement.wasan example.Max Walterswelcomedthe ideaof Handbooks
coveringa wider area- additionaltaxacouldalertBritishbotaniststo thosewhichmiehtoccurhere
he was still dreamingof writing a Handbookon ,4lchemillaandthis would onlv requirea
undetected:
few non-Britishtaxa to makeit relevantto NW Europe.
It was generallyagreedthat advanceinformationon what was in preparationso that
collaboration
couldbe effectedat an earlvstagewasdesirable
andthat the possibleuseofthe
artworkin otherpublications
shouldbe considered.
3. Glossaries
interestby PhilipOswaldfor the BSBI andDr JaapMennemain Hollandin preparing
Simultaneous
informationon the sourcesofgenericand specificnamesin theirflorashasalreadyled to an
agreement
to exchange
informationto their mutualbenefitand.ultimatelv.to ours.
Databases
It wasnot easyto discusspublications
independentlv
ofdatabases
andthe checklistofNW European
VascularPlantsalreadyreferredto is an exampleAnotherarosein a discussion
whichbeganasan
enquiryinto the productionofinteractiveidentification
keys.particularlythoseaimedat helping
youngor inexperienced
photographer
botanists.It emergedthat in Finlanda professional
hasbeen
usedto preparea diskcovering100commonspecies.
It is plannedto increase
the numberto 700 and
to producetext in otherlanguages.
BSBI will be lookingat theseto seehow relevanttheymaybe for
teachingpurposesin this country.
Other areasdiscussedincluded:
1. Atlas Florae Europaea
Prof Uotilastatedthat with two moreparts.ll & 12-the Atlaswill havecoveredvol. 1 of F.lora
Europaea.This magnificent
achievement
hadnevertheless
takenover 30 yearsto complete.There
wasnow an urgentneedfor productionof the remainingmaps.Manualmap-making
up to now and
difficultiesof gettingCatafrom somepartsof S andE EuropeheldbackpublicationOneway of
production,at leastasfar asNW Europeis concerned,
speeding
Prof. Uotila
doesseempossible.
reportedthat a computerprogramhadbeenwrittenwhichdrawsdot mapson the screen.It is
proposedto combinemoderndistributionmapswhichareavailable
from mostNW European
countrieswith country presence/absence
data(shadedareas)for the rest. from the Flora Europaea
quickll'.It was suggested
database,
so that draft mapscouldbe available
that a'two-speed'Europe
mightbe considered
with an Atlasfor NW Europeassoonaspossible.
Comment/ Dian
2 lJSIllAbstract.s
It rvasproposedthat ourlr.strrcls, or something
like it, be extendedto coverN Europewhereno
equivalentpublications
exist.It wasclearthat at the momentthe BSBI doesnot havethe manpower
to do this indeedwe areincrediblyluckyto havehadthe dedicatedserviceofDougie Kent over so
manyyears The importanceofcontinuingandpossiblyexpanding
Ab.stracts
needsto be addressed.
Dr van der Meijdenwill look into possiblesourcesof fundingfor this in Holland
The future
All presentfelt that the meetinghad beenextremelyworthwhile and productiveandthat the initiative
shouldnot be allowedto die. Dr van der l\,leijden
agreedto reconvene
the groupin Leidennextyear
and is proposingthe secondhalf of May. Anv further developments
will be reportedin the autumn
I996 issueof B.\RI Neus
N4ythanksto Vicky Morsan.PhilipOswald.fuchardPankhurstandRobinWallsfor keepingsplendid
notesof the meetingwhichmadepreparation
of this summarvsimpleanduncomplicated.
FRANKLYN PERRING.President
THE PRESIDENTS'AWARI)
As announced
in the lastissueofBSB/ News(68. 6) an anonwnous
donorhascreateda fund from
rvhichan awardmaybe madeeachyearfor the mostusefulcontributionto the understanding
of
floweringplantsandfernsofthe BritishIsles.
The decisionis madeby the Presidents
of the BSBI andthe Wild FlowerSocietyFranklyn
Perringand David Bellamyhad no difficulty in agreeingthat the first recipientsshouldbe Eric
Clementand SallvFosterfor their superbbook Alicn Plants oJ the British lsles publishedby the
BSBI at the endoflast year
Unfortunatel)'neitherEric nor Sallycanbe at the BSBI AGM in Dublin whereit was planned
'in
that winnersshouldreceivetheirawardsso theseandtheir certificates
will haveto be presented
place'
another
but we all sendthem our warmestcongratulationson beingthe first and most worthy
winnersof the Presidents'
Award.
MARY BRICTCS,Hon GeneralSecretarv
DIAR}'
N,B. Thesedatesaresupplementary
to thosein the 1995Calendar
APRIL 3O
Deadlinefor applicants
for PatBrenanMemorialFundawards(seepage57)
('onrpanulaOpen Dav (seepage57)
MAY 2'7
('otuneasterOpenDay (seeB.\81 Nelu'68 page44)
JT]NE 4
('ampanula OpenDay (seepage57)
t7
JI.ILY I
Deadlinefor Monitoring SchemeReport'half-priceoffer(seepage57)
SEPTEN{BER
2-8'PlantEuropa'conference,
Hydres,France(seepage45)
NO\T,MBER 23 OrchidConference.
LinneanSociety.London(seepage8)
See also paqes 59-o0 for dates of I 995 Botany Courses
EDITOR
Editorial
EDI'I'ORIAI,
This is now the 27th issueof R.\8/ -Vr,y.s
of editin.eandproducrngandI
that I havehadthe prir.'ilege
would like to takethis opportunityofthankingall thosehundredsofcontributorswho havehelped
ensureits continued
successThiswouldalsoseeman opporlune
limeto printa rerisedeurdeto
contributors.
Guidanceto contributors to RSRI News
The success
of a journallike B.\81Nev.rdependson the editorreceir"ing
manvrelatirely short
of topicalinterest.Theremustbe manvmembersqho har.'e
contributions
interesting.
something
informativeor just plainamusingthat thevwould like to sharewith othersandthis journalis meantto
'ordinary'
memberto express
heror hisopinionsSo please
betheplacefor the
do continue
to send
in your notesor lettersandI will do mv bestto publishthem.I am preparedto acceptcopv in anv
form but it is so mucheasierfor me if this canbe senttypedor pnnted The lollowing
recommendations
will, if followed,easethe burdenof an overworkededitor(cuethe violins)
'l.
Keepit short!Preferably
to lessthantwo pagesoffinishedprint Longerarticlescanbe accepted
but it maybe moredifficultto fit themin quickly As you will seeby lookingthroughanvissue.
manycontributions
arehalfa pageor less.
just writeit
2. lt is niceto hale typedcopybut ifyou don't hareaccess
to a typeunteror computer.
out makingsurethat your handwritingis legible,especially
for namesofpersons.placesand
otherwordswhichcannoteasilybe checked.
3. Contraryto what I wrote in -IJ.\8.1
,Ve'r's
58, I would now preferto havecomputerproducedcopv
as a printedpageratherthanon disc.This obviatesthe needfor virus-checking
andthe scannerI
useto scanin text is very accurate.
4. Whentypingor printing.pleaseusedouble(or lrr ) line spacingandusea new ribbonwhichgives
a dark image,especially
if usinga dot-matrixprinter.
5. To makeit easierto scanaccurately,
anycorrections
to a typedor printedpagearebestconfined
to the marginsusinga pale-bluepencil,but do ensurethatthe instructions
areclear.lf
necessary,
sendtwo copies,onervith.the otherwithout,corrections
6. Whereemphasis
is required,markthe wordsto bein italic, bold or underlined
fontsin the normal
way or print themusingthe correctfonts.Thereis no needto put Latin namesin italicsbut it
would be a help.
( l99l ), Kent's List of
7. Latin namesmust conformto Stace'sNev,I lora of the British Ls1e.r
L'ascularPlants of the British Isle.s(1992) or Clement& Foster'slllen l)lonts ol the Rritish
,/s/es(1994).No authoritiesareneededfor namesin thesebooksbut ifthe taxonis not included
thenan authorityshouldbe given
S.EnglishnamesmustalsoconformtoDonvetal
[,rrg/t:;hName.sofllildl-'louer.s,stace(1991)or
Clement& Foster(1994),andif availablemust be givenwhena species
is first mentionedin the
text. The only exceptions
arelong listsof tara whichmavconsistof Latinnamesonly.
PLIASE NOTI . to savepostage,contributions
will not now be acknowledged
whenfirst received.
All contributorsrvill receive,if time allows,a proof for checking,so that'y-ou
rvill be ableto seewhat
your notelookslike beforeit is printedandwill havethe opportunitvto alteranyhingar that stage.
Any contributions
received,whichappearto be more suitablelor inclusionin lliat.sonia
asa 'Short
Note' will be passedon to the editorofthatjournal
Suitableillustrations
accompanying
notes,in the form ofline drawings,blackandwhiteor colour
printsor slidesarealsowelcomed
negatives,
EDITOR
Hon. General Secrctan"s Notcs
HON. GENER{L SECRETAR}''SNOTES
Congratulationsto. Prof. StephenBlackmoreandto Prof.ChrisHumphriesappointedasVisiting
InstituteStatushasbeen
Professors
to the BotanyDept , Universit-v
of Reading.Associated
for the Depl. ofBotanv The NaturalHistorvNJuseum,
andthe Dept.ofBotany University
announced
of Reading
announced
on St
Also to Dr SueRobinsonandDr CharlesNelsonon theireneagement,
Patrick'sDa1",lTth ll{arch-1995 Charles.who w'asalsoon that dayon Radio4 speakingon
Shamrock,is oneof the BSBI Editors.Wqtsonio.To Suefrom WisbechandCharlesfrom Dublinwe
sendour very bestwishes
Exhibition Meeting 1995
This will be heldat the Universitvof Leicesteron Saturday,November25th,by kind invitationof
Prof C.A. Stace.andour thanks1ohim lor his qoodofferto organisethis meeting.Full detailswill
be sentin the Exhibitionprogrammenoticewith applicationformsanda map,in the September
mailine.Meanwhiletheseadvancecomments
on the plansfor the day maybe helpful.With travel
to
dislances
in mind.the Exhibitionwill openat I1.30 am (exhibitorsfrom 1000 am if convenient.
setup their erhibits).As lateeveningtravelbecomesincreasingly
difficultfor us all, front all centres,
it hasbeendecidedthis yearto replacethe eveningConversazione
buffet with a lunchbuffet (which
mustbe bookedin advancewhenthe bookinglormsaresentin September).
As a trial newventure,
this lunchwill be from 12.30-200 p m Teawill be availableandthe meetingwill endwith a talk
illustratedby slidesseefollowing note fiom 4.45-545 p.m..
AilsaBums is intendingto give a shorttalk on BSBI Meetingsat the AEM andwouldbe most
gratefulfor the loanof slides Sheis lookingfor fairll-recentphotographs
of membersof the Society,
asmuchas,if not morethan,plants.Shewill takegreatcareof anyslides- andwouldlike.if
possible,to receivethembv mid-August.
(hands-on
possibly
if desired)of the BSBI Database;
The Exhibitswill includea demonstration
for fieldrecords,andHugh McAllisterhas
alsoa database
suitablefor membersto usethemselves
offeredsomebulk seedof British nativeplantsas a self-serviceopportunityfor membersat the
meeting.We hopethat this new centrallocationfor our AnnualExhibitionMeetingwill be a
venuefor a largenumberof members.
We know that it is not possibleto pleaseall, but
convenient
hopethat the Universityat Leicesterwill be within reachfor manvmembers,and possiblyfor some
who havenot beenableto attendan ExhibitionMeetingbefore?Thosememberswho find London
moreaccessible
will be relievedto know that in 1996the Exhibitionl\{eetingwill againbe in London
Thosecomingto Leicestercanbe assuredofan interestingandvariedday. with the opportunity
Membersarealsoreminded
to meetvery manymembers- so plentyof botanicaltalk anddiscussion.
that exhibitsarewelcome.andanyonewith a themein mindcouldplanaheadto preparean exhibit;
workingon aspectsof the flora of Britainand
thesewill be particularlywelcomefrom members
Ireland.
in the Diary
ConferenceMeeting additionalto the Calendarin RSBI Yearhook1995,is announced
ofEvents,page6. A conference
at the LinneanSociety.BurlingtonHouse.Piccadilly.Londonon
jointly by the BSBI andthe LinneanSociety,
Thursday,November23rd 1995 Thiswill be organised
the subjectis : Populationbiologvin someterrestrialorchids(mainlyBritishspecies).
A full
programmeandbookingform will be sentin the September
if you areinterested,
mailing,meanwhile,
nolethedatein vourdiaries
MembershipSurvey lI - offersof help
Becauseofthe long delayin computerising
the offersfrom the Survey.I haveonlyjust seenall the
offersof helpwith variedSocietvactivitieswhichwasofferedbv a largenumberof members
on the
Hon. Gcneral Sccretan"s Notcs / Profilcs
wrthinthe
fbrmsin 1993.We will be in contactwith all the members
w-hovolunteered
Questionnaire
nextfew months.The namesof all thosewho offeredto helpwith adultfieldmeetingsarebeinggiven
for lreland.ScotlandandWales.andsimilarly
to MargaretLindopin England,andto the Committees
With so manyoflersit may
otherofferswill be passedto the appropriateSecretaries
or Committees.
still takea whilebeforeall areinto the programmes.
or accepted
andannounced.
Thankstoo. to BrianRushtonwho haslisted
Meanwhileour thanksasainto all thosemembers.
andtabulatedthe offers.
Tailpiece
BSBI HistorianDr DavidAllen sendsa notethat the croundfloor of 20 BedfordStreetin Covent
Garden,wherethe BSBI's ancestor.
the BotanicalSocietyofLondon. hadits roomsfor manyyears
in the middleof the lastcentury.is now a fast-foodoutletcalled'TheHunsrvCowboy'l
MARY BRICTGS,Hon. GeneralSecretarv
PROFILES
DAP _ THE PPP
WhenI began
RarePlantSurvey
in 1988,I hadasusuala fewnames
ofpeopleto
theSWEngland
is activein Dorset'.Ifl hadlooked
contactaboutthe work, andhadbeentold that 'David Pearman
up the dictionaryinsteadofpicking up the telephone.
I mighthavebeenbetterpreparedfor an
encounterwhichchangedmy life. The ShorterOxlord Dictionarysays'Active...Originatrng
or
in action,
communicating
action...Working.
effective;opp.to quiescenlor extinct...Abounding
'
energetic'diligent;brisk..On the creditsideofthe balancesheet All thesequalitiescanbe tickedby
everyonewho hasworkedwith David,but beforeour first meetinsI wasshyanddoubtfulof this
personwho hadn'tappeared
throughthe usualBSBI networks.What won me instantlywerethe
other great Pearmanqualities kindnessand hospitality,enthusiasm,style.The effectofthe first dav
at Frome St Quintin was entirelymemorable.from consultinga treasuryof file cardswhile a large
black cat slepton an enormousstuffedsheepbesideme, to the deliciousness
ofmy first Anita-cooked
meal,to the first look at the hilltop gardenwherepeculiarsedgesand medickslurk amongthe most
plantspersonly
I would havewantedto comebackjustto gazeandenjoy,luckilylor me
ofperennials.
frequentvisits were clearlycompulsoryifI wantedto do the Dorset surveyjustice.becauseI found
herean encyclopaedic
collectionofDorset records,currentandhistorical;a guideto all essential
county referencesand institutions(and one who meantI was welcomedever_vwhere
I went). an
imaginativeand enlightenedapproachto conservationand the problemsofrare species.and
enthusiasmwhich could evensustainnot findingPof.carpon on blazingshingleunderdeafeningnav-v
helicopters.
At the time I didn't realisethe almostmiraculousnatureof this expert,impressivebotanical
status.but a startlinglyshorttime beforeDavid hadbeena starbusinessman,mainlyin accountancv.
in Kenya and England.He is the only personI know who hasbeentalentedand successfulenoughto
be ableto takeearlyretirementin order to do botany! (TheBSBI crowd shoulddefinitelyhererise
to theirfeet!).He hasthusbeenableto bringinvaluable
business
skillsandwisdominto the rapidly
expandingminefieldof conservationpolicies.The diagnosticglabrousdomeis detestedby the owner.
but I alwaysfeelthat its dehiscent
stateis a sienof the blazingbrainpowerwithin.whichhasliterallv
(Seephotopagel0)
burnt offthe indumentum!
A Pre-presidential
Profileshouldprobablybe moreserious.with properlistsofqualifications
and
achievements,
but Davidis unusualin comingfrom a world quiteoutsideBritishand lrishbotany,
wherehe washighlysuccessful
but evenso choseto transferhis talentsto our discipline.
Ratherthan
tryingto describehis previouswork, I would like to emphasise
the goodfortunewhichhasbrought
him to us in the BSBI - in termsof chanceandlit'e'snch pattern,this is a definiteplus.His
achievements
within the botanicalcommunityarewell known, notablythe production(with Andrew
Mahon)of the first countvRedDataBook for Dorsetin 1993.publishing
his own localatlasof a
favouritegroup ^Sedges
& their Allies in Dorsetin 1994,and ofcourse his partnershipwith Chris
Prestonand Alison Stewartin the wonderfulScarcePlants in Britain. But as well as thesevery
public achievements,
he hasgiven,and continuesto give. immenseamountsof time and energyto a
multitudeof projectsin conservation,
publications,
to committees,
fund-raising,
fieldmeetings,
even
to recordingmicroJepidoptera.Dorset EnvironmentalRecordsCentre,DorsetNatural History and
ArchaeologicalSociety-the KingcombeCentre,Dorset Trust for NatureConservation,Plantlife,and
of coursethe BSBI there's an intimidatinglist of organisationswho get Pearman-time.
He has
given particularlyimportant suppon to the principleofpotentially valuableconservationsites
(PSSSI's,SNCI's etc.)havingrecognised
statusandaccuratecountyaudits.
I rely on David's clearthinking to illuminateconservationproblems,and valueh.isadvice
immensely,but my professionaladmirationcannotbe separatedfrom the rich mix ofother interests
which everyonewho meetshim comesacross,all of which get sharedwith passionateenjoymentand
interest.Food,wine,travel,birdsand shells,I wasalreadyaddictedto, but formerminorinterests
suchas postcardcollecting.and looking at British andIrish postimpressionist
paintingsand l9C genre
paintings,havedevelopedwith Pearmanencouragement
into reallyendlesslyrewardingpartsofmy
life I am still resistingrugby football. great railway disasters,and cricket (evenwith the lure of a
picniccold-bagin MCC colours).but others(includingthe editor?)sharesomeoftheseenthusiasms,
and I am learningto appreciatebotanicalillustrationproperly,not only throughDavid's knowledge
ofrare botanicalbooks.but becauseAnita is a talentedplant painter(as well as beingthe (-arex
slrigosa spotterpdr excellence).And its reassuring.when I feel overawedby the burgeoningtalents
in Frome St Quintin. to reflect that evenif David is going to leadthe BSBI inspiringlytowardsthe
2lC. he will stillbe wearinghis schooldressinggown from 1953![Not to mentionhis 5th Form
raincoatwhich so elegantlyprotectedhim from the elementsat last year's AGM at Oxford. Ed.]
Best'air restorerin the world Guv. Honest!!
All of us mustthink of and missDick David againandagain,and I treasurememoriesof his
(-orex humilis huntswith David in Dorset,of sharedmeals,of successfulgrovelsfor the little sedge
in both sleetand sun,ofthe teachingand encouragement
they gaveme in this genusso dearto them
ll
Profilcs
presrdential
addresstitle
to Dick's classrc
by ref'erring
both. So I would like to endthis appreciation
'GentlemenandPlayers',because
David Pearmanseemsto me to be the ultimateresultof that subtle
in this Society.He hascomefrom
almost.betweenamateurandprofessional
balance,symbiosis
of'real
humblein the presence
not academiclife. andhasalwaysbeenendearingly
business
he is givinghistime
botanists',but now that he hasbecomeoneofthem himselfwitha vengeance,
andabilitiesto the BSBI with a dedicationwhichI canonly seeastruly professional.
Profile.Tryingto balancebetweenbeing
I hopeI neverhaveto write anotherPre-presidential
matey.hasmade
too seriousand too frivolous. offhandand gushing.impersonaland embarrassingl_v
me long to be tappingout somelight little numberfor llatxtnta instead!But this is offeredwith both
part ofthe equation).I look forward
respectandaffectionto David.(andto Anita,who is an essential
whichwill havea very specialkind ofvision andenergy
with the happiestanticipation
to a presidency
(andmay evenproduceTHE BSBI POSTCARD!)
TA5 I SU
RO FITZGERALD,BeggarsRoost.Lilstock.Nr BRIDGWATER,Somerset
EDGAR MILNE-REDHEAD
Editorialcomment.
The formationin 1993ofa nationalblackpoplarworkinggroupasa resultofthe tirelessefforts
ofthis tree.
through40 vearsto draw attentionto the importance
ofEdgar Milne-Redhead
makesthe publicationofthis Profilevery opportune.
It is difficult to find words adequatelyto describeEdgar Milne-Redhead.Over his lifetimehe has
beensucha force in conseryation,yet so unassumingabouthis achievements.
I write as someoneover 60 yearshisjunior. yet. throughoutmy life I havebeenstruckbv his
ongoingsuccesses
andvictories,combinedwith a modestyandgracewhichis an exampleto us all.
My involvementwith Edgar hasbeenprimarilythroughblack poplarsand what betterway to
Without Edgar the black poplar (Popuhtsnigru var betulifttliu) would
celebratehis achievements.
still be a speciesgraduallydecliningto extinctionin Britain, forgottenby botanistsso often contentto
look towardstheir feet, ratherthan abovetheir heads.
Black poplarshavelong beenofinterestto Edgar,sincehe wasan undergraduate
at Cambridge
in the 1920s.However, it was not until he retiredthat he beganto devotehis time and effort to this
recordingalmosteveryspecimen
ofthe blackpoplar
species.
Since1974Edgarhasworkedtirelessly,
in Britain andbuilding up a teamof assistants
throughoutEnelandandWalesto record andveri$
recorded.photographed
andits detailssentto the
records.Eachindividualtreehasbeenmeticulously
is ceaseless
BiologicalRecordsCentre.His tenacityandenthusiasm
andhe hasmanaged
to obtain
fundingfrom the World Wide Fund for Natureand the Welch BequestFund to recordthe species.
first in mainlandBritain,thenIrelandandnow continental
Europe.
by Edgarwho processed
the returned
The initialblackpoplarhuntwas a BSBI survey,organised
recordingcards.The resultsofthe surveywerepublishedin llatsonia3.295-6,togetherwith
Edgar's 1990paperinlValsonia18 andat leastfour articlesin BSBI Nevs.
by Edgarandhaveestablished
theirown localblackpoplar
Othershavebeenequallyenthused
studies,suchasthe one setup by his sadlymissedfriendSoniaHollandin Gloucestershire.
Now. entirelyas a resultof Edgar's determination.the fruits of his efforts havebecomeapparent.
in nationalnewspapers
A workingpartyhasbeenestablished,
seriesofarticleshaveappeared
spawninga torrent ofrecords, all ofwhich mustbe verifiedand checkedagainstexistingrecords.and
the plightofthe blackpoplarhasbeenbroughtto the attentionofnationalbodiessuchasEnglish
Authority andthe Tree Council.Edgar's eyesand
Nature,the NationalRiversAuthority. the Forestr_v
earsnow operatethroughoutBritainprotectingexistingtreesandplantingthe nextgenerationDue
andis destinedto
to him the blackpoplarhasbeenbroughtto the forefrontofspecies'conservation
t2
Profiles
survivein Bntainfbr manymorecentunesAs hetold me recently'A1 lastpeoplerealisethat tbr the
lasttwentyyearsI havebeenbarkingup the right !ree'.
However.it is notjust the blackpoplarthat sun'ivesthankslo Edgar'sefforts.The'Badgeworth
thanksto
Buttercup' (Ranunculusophioglos.si.folitr.s)
was savedin its last site in Gloucestershire
alsoowesmuchto
Edgar'seffortsin the 1930s.The Ladv's-slipper
orchid(('1'pripetliunc:alceohts)
'Committeefor the
Edgar'stenacitvfor its survivalin its lastlocationin Britain.He convened
the
('ypripedium'
968
in
remained
1990.
of
I
and
on
the
committee
until
Overthe last25
Conservation
yearsthe one remainingplanthasbeensafeguarded
Orchid
andhasbeenpropasated
by the Sainsburv
Foundationat Kew whereit hasbecomea flaeshipspecies
for Britishconservation.
Edgaris a life memberof sevencountywildlifetrusts:Suffolk,Norfolk,Essex.Gloucestershire,
reflectingthe areaswith whichhe is
BBONT (Berks, Bucks. Oxon).Surrevand Somerset,
He hasalsobeena tirelesssupporterof Wr*'F.the WorldwideFundfor Nature.
associated.
Ile hasbeena memberofthe BSBI sinceI 929 andwaselectedPresident
between1969and
1971 He alsoservedasVice-President
between1958and 1962andhasbeena memberofcountless
suchasthe N{apsCommittee.FieldworkCommittee.Conservation
committees.
Committee,
Development
Sub-Committee
andhasrepresented
the BSBI on the Councilfor Natureandat the
StainesMoor Inquiryin 1972.
EdgarMilne-Redhead
on the benchpresented
by his colleagues
on his 80thbirthday
Photo@ EastAnglianDaill TimesandAssociated
Papers
After readingBotanyat GonvilleandCaiusCollege.Cambridge.
Edgar'sprofessional
careerat the
RoyalBotanicGardensKew n'asno lessglittering He wasbasedat Kervfrom 1928untilhis
retirementin I 971 androseto becomeDeputvKeeperof the Herbariumandheadof the Africa
Section,a just rewardfor hisbotanicalexpenise.combinedwith a meticulous
approachandcharm.
Edgar'smanagement
styleat Kew i!as to choosenot necessarilv
the mostqualifiedapplicant,
but the
mostableapplicant,regardless
oftheir professional
backqround.
andhe neverchosewrongly.
Countless
botanists(myselfincluded)
owe their careersto Edgar'sencouragement
andinfectious
enthusiasm.
The consen'ation
movementofthe 20th Centuryhasbeengreatlyenrichedby the contributionof
EdgarMilne-Redhead.
And that contributioncontinues- evenin his 89thyearhe continuesto devote
manvhoursdailvto conservation,
workingmeticulouslv
in his studysiftingthroughthe latestsackof
blackpoplarrecords.
DESMOND HOBSON,Little Cansiron,HazelburvBrvan.STtTRMI|{STERNEWTON,Dorset
D T I O2 E B
l3
Profiles/ Recordcrsand Rccordrnq
DAVID ELLISTON ALLEN
D r D a v i d E l l i s t o n A l l e n n e e d sn o c o m m e n d a t i o nt o t h i s S o c i e t vo l w h i c h h e i s s o w e l l k n o w n a n d
distinguisheda member, one indeed ofabout 45 years standing.moreover a past Presidentand the
historian ofthe Societv's ups and don'ns. Quite unnecessarilvI Have been asked to say a few words
on this happv occasion of his bein-emade an Honorary Nlember in appreciationof his nranv sen'ices
to the Society as well as ofhis notable achievements.
ln 1968 I read a fascinating and highl"v original work entitled llritish Iaste.s. ttrt l..trtyirt'itrto the
Like.sand I)i:;likes of the Regionol (-onsunrer This made clear that, despite all influencesand all
efforts towards general conformity. so convenient for government central planners.'each ofthe
regions ofBritain has at bottom a detectableset ofintenvoven attitudes. a distinctive trend in its
underlying psychology'. Naturally. as a bom East Anqlian. I noted with interest Havelock Ellis's
'one
conclusion thal East Anglia rvas
ofthe three ereat loci in England ofintellectual abilitv' and that
(I quote) 'the careful. patient. judicious. cool-tempered people bred by this region . solid and
down-to-earth. shone in the accumulation offacts. as classifiersand collators'. The author ofthe
book with this pleasing stuffwas one D. Elliston Allen. an anthropoloeist and market researcher His
very readablewell-written book inrpressednre not only bv its sound foundation in extensiveand
detailed enquiry but also bv its emphasison the characteristicsof communities. basicallva mater of
human ecology.
I knew nolhing then ofDavid's botanical and historical inlerests.These becameinrmediatelv
evident in his entertainins The I'ictorian Fenr ('roze. q Histon'of Pteridomania. published in 1969
There followed \n 1976'[he Nalurali,st in Britoin: a Social Hi.ston', then. ten vears iater. 7he
Botanisl: a Hi.slon, of the Botanical Sociery,of the Rritish Lsle.srhrough I50 .t'ears Nl these have a
distinctive quality, almost unique in botanical literature. which qoes bevond assemblingand critically
analysinginformation: they put naturalists-especiall-vbotanists,in the social setting oftheir times,
with particular regard to trends important but not necessarilyobvious. Moreover. like his
contributions to periodicals.the!'are well-uritten and readable Of David's floristic and taxonomic
work, on such matters as Rubu.t and the flora of the Isle of Man. vou probablv know sufficient
already to make any remarks ofmine superfluous.
Such achievementhas its background in David's studv of archaeolog.vand anthropoloqv at
Cambridge and an interest fiom boyhood in natural history, permeatedb1'literary appreciationand
scholarship.Add to that his activitv for this Societ-vas Secretan and Chairman of two Committees,
Council Member, Honorary General Secretaryand Presidentand vou will aeree that his honorary
membership has been very well desened indeed.
WILLIAM
T. STEARN- l7 High Park Road. Kew Gardens. RICHMOND. Surrey. TW9 4BL
[This profile is published to conmemorate David berng made an Honoran- N'lemberof the BSBI at
the AGM in Oxford. N{ay 1994 1
RECORDERSAI{ D RECORDING
Amendment no. I to List of BSBI Vice-county Recorders in IISBI Ycar Rook 1995
New appointments
*'e welcome.
v.c. I West Cornwall.
Dr Colin French. Chvlowen. I-abour-ny-Vain, OffBridge Road,
Illoean. Redruth. Cornwall TR I 6 4QR
v c . 2 5 , 2 6 E & W S u f f o l k M r M a r t i n N S a n f o r dB S c F L S . 7 8 M u r r a v R o a d ,I p s w i c h ,
v.c.65 NW Yorks
SuffolkIP3 9AO
Mrs DeborahJ Millward.N{anorHouse.ThortonRust.Levbum.
N Yorks DL8 3AN
and send sincerethanks to those retlrins
v.c. I
KeithSpuruin(since1983)
l-1
Recordcrs and Recording
v c 25 & 26 Mrs EnidHyde(sinceI98ti)
v.c. 65
l om Medd. I om will continueasRecorderlbr v.c. 62 Nt Yorks
Amendmentsto addressespublishedin List of Recordersin BSBI Yearknk
1995
v.c 33 & 34 E & W Glos
Clare& Mark Kitchen,The Cottage,Bevinglon,Berkeley,
Gloucestershire
GL I3 gRB
v c. 89 E Penh
Dr Ros Smith.Holburn.DalcrueRoad.PitcairnereenPerthshire
F K 1 5g L F
A m e n d m e n t n o . I to PanelofRefereesand Specialists
in BSB/ YearBook 1995
We welcomethe followine new Referees:
ROSACEAE
Rrl.ra Mr RogerMaskew.CoppiceHouse.BanallsLane.StokeBliss,TenburyWells,Worcs
WRl5 8RZ.joins the 'Ro.rateam'- Rev.GordonG. GrahamandRer'.Tonv L.
Primavesi.
Thevsendthe followingnoteson specimen
requirements.
Rev G.G Graham.Freshlruitingmaterialonly.Senderretainsduplicale.
Rev A.L PrimavesiFreshmaterialprefenedHerbariummatenalwill be dealtwith if
reouired
Mr R. Maskew Freshfiuitins materialonlv.Senderretainsduolicate.
(not necessarily
A portionof sremwith fullv developed
ripe)hips:approx..20cm.ol
prickles;somenoteson sizeand
matureleadingstemwith leavesandcharacteristic
tvpeofbush. ifsepalsarefallinga representative
simpleshouldbe included
separately.
Seealso/?o.sa
Handbook.pp. 40-43.Meterial in flower is impossibleto
determine.
Pleasenote that GordonGrahamis happyto continueto referee.Ro.rzr
but
specimens,
will only namefresh materialwhichneednot be returned(i.e.senderkeeps
duplicate).He would alsolike to emphasise
that without geneticresearchcertain
hvbridspecimens
of wild rosesshouldremainunnamed.
TILIACEAE
f iliu Dr C.D Pigottcontinuesas lrlla Referee,and,lor generalspecimens,
Dr Pigottrequests:
Shootswith flowers or fruits from the exposedpart ofcrown: shootsfromdeep
(ail not he identifiedreliahl_v.
.shodeor.from .V)rout.s
Hopingsoonto be ableto devotemoreof histime to monographT-iliu,Donaldsends
a specialnote to travellersashe would be happyto refereeTilia from anywhere
(particularlyeasternAsia). Chinais the real problemfor filia. but can we help with
ripefruitsfrom nativepopulations
of Tilia in GreeceandTurkey?Fromthesetwo
countriesin particular.he wouldbe 'gratefulfor ripefruits(collectedafter
mid-September)
of Tilia (including(7. tomenlosa)
from nativesites.About20-50
fiuits are requiredfrom a tree. dried for a few days.then packetedin smallpolvthene
ba_ss
or tubesandsenlto him as soonaspossibleafterreturningto Englandl!'.[N.B.
Checkin BSRI Nev's70. September
1995.for Dr Pigott'snew addressfrom
mid-Septemberl
VALERIANACEAE
I'alerianelloMr PhilJ Wilson.4 ProspectPlace,GroveLane.Redlynch.Salisbury,
Wilts.
SP52NT Fruit.ripeor unripe.is requrred
(N.B In our List of Memberswe haveanotherMr P J. Wilson- of Reppahm.
Lincoln- Hello.
but not to be confusedwith our new I'alerionelluReferee!).
ALIENS
Mr BrianS. Wurzell.47 Rostrevor
Avenue.LondonNl5 6LA
joins the 'Aliensteam' asa GeneralAliensRelereewith Mike Mullin.
publishedin List of Refereesin R.lBl YearBmk 1995
Amendmentsto addresses
GRAMINEAE
(ieneral:Dr T.A. Cope Pleaseensurethat all specimens
aresentto Dr Copeat The Herbarium.
RovalBotanicGardens.
Keu,.Richmond.Surrel-TWg 3AI and not to his home
address.
Aqain.we sendsincerethanksto all our vice-countvRecorders.
Referees
andSpecialists.
Recorders and Recordrng
Updates,Amendments& Correctionsto RSRI YearBook 1995
p 9
EDITORS,COMPILERS,INDE)G,RS
Add
BSBI HANDBOOKS
Hott.Mitor Mr P.H. Oswald.33 PantonStreet.C.AMBRIDGECB2 IHL
n
ll
BRITISH LICHEN SOCIETY
Hon. Secretary.DeleteMr T.H. Maxham
Add: Dr O W Punis, The BritishLichenSocietv.c/o Dept of Botany,The
NaturalHistoryMuseum.CromwellRoad,LondonSW7 5BD
p 48 Change Wing Comd C.P.J. Coulcher
p 70
Dr & Mrs Macpherson
Correctionsto List of Members fiom p 38 - aresenton to MichaelWalpolefor the membership
computer,will be usedon mailinglabels,andupdatedin the B5B1 l'ear Book 1996
MARY BRIGGS. Hon GeneralSecretarv
NEW ATLAS
We hopethat everythingis in placeto beginrecordingfor the new atlasthis surnmer.Vice-county
recordersand areaco-ordinatorshavebeenbriefed,and all eitherhavethe new recordingcard or
krow whereto get hold of them. The bestplan for this summerwould be to approachyour local
recorderto seehow you canbest help.
Therehas(today) beenan unexpecteddelayin the confirmationof fundingfor the Atlas
organiserand the inputtingofdata but we hopeto havemore to sayon that this autumn.In the
meantimelet's get out into the field, andwe look forward to hearingofresults at the Recorders
Conferencethis September.
DAVID PEARMAN & DAVID McCOSH Q3l3/9s\
RECORDERS CONFERENCE
UNIVf,RSITY COLLEGE OF St MARTIN. LANCASTER
8th - IOth SEPTEMBER 1995
Everytwo yearsthe BSBI holdsa 2 daymeetingfor vice-countvRecorders.
Thisyear'sConference
is at St Martin's College,Lancaster,wherewe havebeenseveraltimesbefore.I think the eventis one
ofthe Society'sunknown strenglhs,for it is a chanceto meetfellow membersin a very relaxed
atmosphere,
andto actuallyhavetime to talk. Many of the Society'sofficerswill be there.with
MargaretPerringand her books.
We give v.c. Recordersthe first choice,but at eachmeetingwe alwayshavequitea few ordinary
membersaswell. In view of the fact that we will be concentrating
on the new Atlasat Lancaster
this
year,membersare invited to applyfor a booking form to me.
l6
Recordcrs
and Recordrns/ ScarccPlantsin Brirain
The provisionalprogrammefor the Conferenceis as follows:
FRIDAY 8th
5 00
ARRIVAL andREGISTRATION
7 30
TALK by GEOFFREYHALLIDAY
l|lriting a Flora of ('umbria
SATT]RDA}'gth
9 OO
THE NEW ATLAS
to include
Structureandi\'lethodologv.
squaresUnder-recorded
andwell-covered
FieldMeetingsin under-recorded
areas.
ComputerSoftw'are,
Yearlytargetsl
2 00
FIELD TRIPS a choiceof
Rrbl in the LuneValley G Halliday
Rosesin the LuneVallel' G.G. Graham(to be confirmed)
- E.F. Greenwood
Limestoneplantsof Silverdale
Recordingfor the New Atlas
Evening Freelor anydiscussion.
STJNDAYIOth
I 00
A seriesofshort talks,including
a\ Oenothera J.C.Bowra
b\ Lortxgroup- C.S.Crook
c) Overlookedtaxain the Kent/Atlaslist C.A. Stace
d) ScottishRDB work - K Watson
Coffee
Recorders
whichmavinclude.
ooensession
Conferences/workshops
duringthe Atlas
Relationswith consultants
Any otherpoints- prior noticenot essential
but wouldbe appreciated
2.O0
Arother fieldmeetingfor anvbodvstayingon.
DAVID PEARMAN. The Old Rectorv,FromeSt Quinton-DORCFIESTER,
DorsetDT2 OHF
SCARCEPLA}ITS I\I BRIT.{TN
SCARCEPLANTS ATLAS
I was pleasedto see Dave Green's letter in the last Nev,.ralthough I'm certainly intrigued by the'hard
sell' part of his letter. If only we were on a rovalty...!
At least halfofthe countv recorderswere involved in a good deal ofwork lor this scheme,and
of course, some did much more than others. With hindsight I would have liked to have come to an
arrangementwilh fl\CC at the start ofthe contract. so that recorderswould have had a substantial
discount as a quid pro quo for rheir hard work. But we did not- and instead the f5 reduction for
recorders came out ofour own funds.
We are finalising the costings for the contract with the DoE for the new Atlas, and I am
endeavouringto build in a good discount for countv recorders,and hope to have more to report to
them in the next few weeks.
DAVID PEARMAN. The Old Rectorv. Frome St Quinton. DORCFIESTER. Dorsel DT2 OHF
ScarcePlanls in Britain / Notes and Articlcs
t7
SCARCE PLANTS IN BRITAIN
In response
to a requestfrom MichaelBraithwaite.LissieWright of JNCCprovidedthe following
from&urce PlattsinRrituinwhichmavofinteresttoother
detailsregardingtheuseofmaterial
members.
'We haveno objectionto the useof individualpases illustrate
to
talksor lecturesWe arealso
happyto seethe useofsuch materialto supportvoluntaryadviceon localconsenationissues.
In the
We would howeverrequestthat the sourceof all suchmaterialis alwaysacknowledged.
caseofspeciesaccountsthe authorofthe individualaccountshouldalsobe acknowledged.
We would requestthat you seekcopvrightpemrission
for the reproduction
of pages"
accounts,tablesor mapsin publishedbooksor leaflets.We uould alsoask_v-ou
to seek
permission
ifyou intendto usesubstantial
sectionsofthe book fbr the provisionofpaid
conservation
advice'.
EDITOR
NOTESAND ARTICLES
COASTAL GRAVEL AS A SOURCEOF COCHLE,ARIA
D.4NICAON INLAND
ROADSIDES
We havecarriedout botanicalsurvevsofthe vergesofa numberofnrotorwavsover thelastfew
yearsandfrequentlynotediniandcoloniesof (-ochleariadanlca(DanishScunvgrass).As a result.
we havebeenparticularlyinterested
in correspondence
on the spreadofthis species
andpossible
contributingfactors(e.g.BSBI Nevs65). Therehasbeenmuchspeculation
abouthorv(-. danit-u
arrivesat inlandsitesandthe reasonsfor variationin its distributionon the highway.but it is
generallyassumed
to colonisenew sitesthroughtransportof seedson vehicles.I would like to
suggestanothermoredirectmethodwhichcouldalsoexplainwhy coloniesaresenerall),
more
frequenton the centralreservation.
Frenchdrainsarea commonmethodfor collectionandtransportof stormwaternrn-offfrom
(see,for example.Figure2l in Ellis& Revitt(1991)wheretheyarereferredto as
carriageways
'l)utch' drains).Theyareusedalongeither
sideofthe centralresenvation
exceptwheredrainageis
exclusivelv
to the hardshoulder.Theyaregenerallyonly installedalonsthe shoulders
whenthe
highwayis in a cutting.Frenchdrainsarecomprisedofa perloratedpiperunningalonethe baseofa
trenchwhichis toppedup with gravel.The originsofthis eravelvary.but at leasta proportioncomes
from coastalsites.Coloniesof ('. tlanicacanoftenbe seento follow thegravelon thesedrainswhere
theyoccur(for exampleon the northernendof the ,4404at High WvcombeNGR SU/8430.9017)
Many of the siteswhere(-. donicaoccurson hiehwaysarewell inlandandthereis no connection
with coloniesextendinginlandfrom the coast.Oneofthe naturalhabitatsofthe plantis pebblyshores
(Stace1991)and('. danic'ct
may arriveon highwaysthrouehtransportofseedsor shootswith gravel
usedin construction
of Dutchdrains.Thiswouldenable('. danicato establish
alonqthe central
reservation
givingit an advantage
duringhighwayconstruction,
over otherplantspecies
whichwould
havetocolonisefromthehardshoulder
Thesurr,ival
ofcoloniesisthenlikelvtodependupon
factorssuchas depositionofsalt andcompetitionwith otherplantspecies.
Until recentlycontractsfor highwavconstruction
havebeenlet to coverstretches
between
junctions.The originofthe gravelusedin Dutchdrainsshouldbe unilormwithinthese
specified
The degreeto whichthe originofthe gravelcontributes
stretches.
to colonisation
ofinlandsitesbv
('. dtnticacouldbe verifiedby pollingthe contractors
the orieinofthe gravelusedand
to establish
comparingthis with the distributionof recordsof C. danicu.
Frenchdrainsneedto be replacedeveryten vearsandareno lonserconsidered
bestpracticefor
highwavdrainage.
Thevmaytherelorebe expecledto declineasthevarereplacedbv otherdrainage
Itt
Notes and Articles
s v s t e n r sl f t h e h a l o p h \ 1 i cp l a n t sr e c o r d e do n h r g h w a v sa r e a s s o c r a t e w
d i t h t h e g r a v e l su s e di n F r e n c h
drains. thev mal shou, a correspondine decline over the ne\t ten years
The authors rvould like to thank John Swill fbr advice on current trends in the use ofFrench
d r a i n si n h i g h w a l s
References
Ellis. J.B & Revitt. D Nl. ( l99l ) l)ruitruge,fion rootls: ('ontrutl and treotmeill o-f hign*4a"vrun-of;t'.
U r b a n P o l l u t i o n C o n t r o l C e n t r e .M i d d l e s e r U n i r e r s i t v -L o n d o n .
Stace. C (1991).,\'eu l:loro of the Brrtish Isle.s Cambridge. LrK.
RICHARD LANSDO\IN. 4 Glentwonh Cottages. Coombe. WOTTON-LINDER-EDGE, Glos
GLI2 7ND
T I M P A N K H I I R S T . 4 4 T h e A v e n u e .L E I G H T O N B R O M S W O L D . H u n t s P E t S O S H
THE ORIGIN OF OENOTHEM BIENNISL. sensustricto:A NEW HYPOTHESIS
Therearedivergent
hienni.s
L. sensu
opinions
abouttheoriginof ()enotherq
stricto(Common
(EuropeanO. hiennis) This paperexamines
Evening-primrose)
the two principlehypotheses
andsets
out a casefor a new hvpothesis
basedon obsen'ations
at EmscoteWarwick.andSouthWales
(Bowra 1992)
lnLlolstl.rtn(1982pp 5 & 1l), K Rostanski
describesEuropean
O. hienrisasa speciesof
Temperate
EuropeandEastAsia(PrimorskiKraj in easternU.S.S.R..southernSachalin.
northern
Japan)but whichdoesnot occurin Nonh America.Previously.
in 1968.he claimedthatthe species
wasindigenous
to the Eurasiancontinentandpresented
asevidence.
'(l
) the wide distributionof O. biennisin Europeasearlyasthe beginningofthe seventeenth
century;(2) the uniformityandwidespread
occurrence
of O. hiennisin Eurasiaat the present
time:and(3) the absence
of the European0. bienntsin North America'(Cleland1972.p.314).
The lateR.E. Cleland,however.considered
Rostanski's
evidencefor the presence
of O. biemtisin
Europein the early I 7th centurv'verv scantyor non-existent',
that therecouldbe little doubtthatthe
Europeanplantwasa typicalmemberofthe American(). htennisII race,andthat its ancestor
probablystill existedsomewhere
amongthe hundredsof strainsin easternNorth America.'One
cannotbe sure'he added.'that the Europeanhiennisis absentin North America.'He agreedthat no
plantshadbeenfoundwith the Europeanarrangement
ofchromosomes
in circlesofsix andeight;but
he considered
the changeiiom the usual,American
arrangement
ofcirclesof l4 to be a minorone
that probablyarosein North America(pp.3l4-3l6). In his opinion,Oenothentwasa westem
genusand 'EuropeanDlerlrl.s
hemisphere
probablvderiveddirectlyfrom North America'(p 305) It
wasmostlikelvintroducedin soil carriedin ballastin earlvcargoshipsanddeposited
nearEuropean
ports(p.303)
(1968).describes0.hiennrsasa'plant of-American
P.H. Ravenrn I;loro [:uroTxtea
origin
cultivatedfor ornamentin Europeandwidelynaturalized'.
C.A. Stace(1991)saysit originatedin
Europe.
In I 980, a young colonv of Oenollera subgenusOenotheraat Emscote,Warwick. was surveyed
aboutfive yearsafterthe sitehadbeenallowedto go wild It wasfoundto consistmostlyof a central
group of 16650. bienniswith compactgroupsof 205 O. glaziot'iona(Large-flowered
Evening-primrose)
and 134O. comhricct(Small-flowered
Evening-primrose)
on oppositesides,and
221 scattered
hybrids.Eightyearslaterthe colonyhadbecomea hybridswarm:out of4,297 plants,
only three'pure'0. biemtis.four 'pure' O. glaziot'imraandno 'pure' O. cambricawerefound.
'wastreatedasa hybrid(Bowra 1992)
O.fallax (lntermediate
Evening-primrose)
Thisbehaviourconformedwith the footnoteon page1064of Gray'sManual of Botany.Sth
()enotheraas'a hopelessly
edition(1950),whichdescribes
subgenus
confusedandfreelyhybridizing
group' But in 1972-Cleland.who in 192718hadspenttwo summers
anda winterin Europe,
specifically
refutedthis description.
In a chapteron the Evolutionof the North AmericanOenotheras
(Subgenus
Oenothera)he saysthat 'it is not truethat the eveningprimroses
asa groupare"freely
Notes and Arliclcs
l(,
hybridizing";.. .theyaretbr the mostpart self:pollinators
andrarelyhybndize(p 228) He descnbes
how 'in mostoenotheras,
the pollenburstsoverthe stigma24 hoursor longerbeforethe flower
opens,the stigmasoonbecomesreceptive.andthe eggsareoftenlertilizedbeforethe flower opens'
(p297) InaChapteronrheOe,wtheraFloraof
Europe.(). hiermi:;
L isshownasself-pollinating
(p 30a),andin an earlierpublication(1964p 94) he pointsout that insectsprobablveffectmore selfthancross-pollination
astheytravelfrom flowerto flower on the sameplant.
Accordingto theirflower structure,the EmscoteO. hienni.s
shouldhaveself-pollinated.
but the
virtualdisappearance
ofso manywithineightyearssurelvsuggests
that thevdid not
In 1989,nearMargamin SouthWales(whencethe EmscoteO. camhrtcttoriginated),
c.800,'o
of
plantspreviouslvconsideredto be 'pure' O. c'qmbricawere found to be hybridswith O. hrennis
(Bowra I 992).Yet therehadbeenno recordsof'pure' (). bienni.s
sincethe lgth Century(Rostanski
& Ellis 1979) This hvbridizing-out
alsosuggests
that the original(). hiennisdid not self-pollinate
Many othercoloniesin Britainarehvbridswarmsof two or threespecies.
and.Rostanskiinformsnre.
alsoin Europewhere'Americannewcomers'havecomeinto contactwith EuropeanO. hienni.s.
in
(pers.comm September
onecolonvnearKatowicein Poland.the species
hascompletelvdisappeared
tee2\
O. camhricais considered
bv AmericanandsomeEuropeanbotaniststo be a phenotvpe
ofthe
A m e r i c a n O . h i e n n i s ( D i e t r i c h l 9I9nlB
) ritainithasbeenshowntodifferfromEuropeanO.hienni.s
'pure'
in that
speciesdo survivein hybridswarms(Bow'ra1992) It seemsthereforeprobablethat
O. cqmhricaisin lact a strainof AmeicanO. hiennrs.that its chromosomes
arein circlesof l4: and
that it hasat leasta measureof self-pollination
The species
hasnot beencltogenetically
analysed.
Behaviourat Emscoteandin SouthWalesstronglysuggests
that EuropeanO. hienni.sis
self-incompatible,
a conditioninvolvingsterilityfactorswhichpreventpollengrainsgerminating
on
any stigmawith the samesterilityfactor.In a chapteron Self-Incompatibilitl,.
Cleland( I 972)
concludes
that 'it is evidentthat sterilityfactorswereat onetime widespread
amonsthe ancestors
of
the present-day
formsofsubgenusOenothera'(p.167) Thoseancestors
would haveincludedthe
populationknownasO. biennis/. whichis thoughtto haveevolvedandspreadacrossNorth
Americaduringthe third interglacial
period(p.301)
A self-incompatible
European0. bienni.s
mustlessenthe chances
of its beinga strainof modern
self-polfinating
AmericanO. hiemis 11.but the overallsimilaritymustsurelyindicatea common
perhapslinkedwith the isolatedpopulationof probabledescendants
ancestry.
of O. hienni.s
I called
thehookeris.This populationgrowswestofthe RockyMountainsand.probablvbecause
ofisolation,
'still retainsthe openpollination'(but
(p 231)) 'and mostlvpaired
not the self-incompatibilily
chromosomes'
have
populations
that must
characterised
(Cleland(1972)p.256).
the early'
A time-span.say.of fiftv thousandvearswouldhaveprovidedsuitableclimateandampletime
for a strainto spreadfiom the westcoastofNorth Americato neighbouring
Asia.andexceptfor
mutations('conspicuous
by their rarity' (p 326)).an isolatedtrue-breeding
populationwould have
remaineduniformasit slowlyspreadto Europe
References
Bowra.J.C (1992).HybridizationofOenot&erurL.
subsenus()enothera
inBritain.R.\RI Neu's6l
l9-33
Cleland,R.E. (1964).The EvolutionarvHistoryof the North AmericanEvenincPrimroses
of the
"BiennisGroup". Proceedingsof rheAmericanPhtkt.sophical,\oclery.108(2):88-97
Cleland,R.E. (1972) Oenothera.cfiogeileticsand evtlution.Londonand New York.
Dietrich, W (1991) The Statusof OenolheracambricaRostanskiandO. mt'ue-scotiueGates
(Onagraceae)l+atsonial8 407-408
Raven,P.H. (1968'1.
OenotheraL. in Tutin-T G.etal . eds..I:ltrq Lurcptteu2 306 Cambridge
Rostanski,K. ( 1982) The speciesof OenotheroL in Britain llat.sonio14 I -14
Rostanski,K. & Ellis,R.G. (1979).EveningPrimroses
(Oenotherol- ) in Wales.Noturern Lltttles16.
238-249
Stace,C.A. (1991)Neu'Fkra of theBrirtshIsles,pp 531-534Cambridge
JOHN C BOWRA. 29 GeoreeRoad.WARWICK CV3.15LX
2t)
Notes and Articlcs
DUEL ON THE A38
I r r r i t e i n r e s p o n s e t o R a _ " - G o u l d ' s n o t e i n B . \ R / , \ ' € , uT.hr e
6 r8e. 2
w7a s n o i n t e n t i o n t o i m p u g n t h e
61. 15-1'7.Itwashowevernecessary
reputationof the Rev. Rogers,in mv articlein R,\B/Nev'.s
to put
fonrard ideasasto the absence
of Sorbustlevoniez.sls
andpresence
ol.\. ntrminalis,at the sitein
q u e s l i o nI n a d d i t i o n . [ . J . M a r g e t t s - i n t h e f o r e * ' o r d t o t h e l 9 T S r e p r i n t o f D a v e y ' s e x c e l l e n t f ; l o r a o f
('orrruoll(1q09)(rlith supplenrent
by F. ThurstonandC.C.\rigurs.1922).makesthefollowing
obsenation.
'No less
rathera pitl', sincethis sectionis
thantwentv-fourpagesaredevoted10the brambles.
The lateFrancisRilstone.who spenta life-timestudyingthe
absolutelvriddledwith mistakes.
Comishspecies.
estimated
that about40?i'of thoselistedby Daveyarewrong.The reasonfor
hadonlvjust been
this is quiteclear W. Moyle Rogers'handbookon the Britishbrambles
published.
so u'hatcouldbe morenaturalthanthat Davevshouldsendhisgatherings
to this
Neitherofthem at this time
specialist,
andthat he shouldacceptRogers'determinations?
understood
that the Cornishbrambleswerelarqelydistinctfrom thoseof the restof Britain.'
Reassessments
arecommonplace,andRa.v"
Gouldshouldacceptthatall peoplein history.will have
beenfoundto havemadeerrors.
I don't shoot.but I couldusea bow andarrowor a blowpipe!
DAVID C CANN, Halbury.MorchardRoad,COPPLESTONE.
Devon
RARE PLANTS GROT]P
of the AshmoleanNatural Historv Societyof Oxfordshire
In lateautumn1993.a eroupof peopleconcerned
with the statusof scarcewild flowersin
Oxfordshiregot togetherto form a RarePlantsGroup.Thiswaspartlva response
to Plantlife's
'Back from the Brinl<'
campaignandaimedto follow its principlesandeffectivelyact asa
county-based
branchofthe society.The RarePlantsGroupwasformedasan offshootofthe
Ashmolean
providessomefinancialassistance
NaturalHistorySocietywhichsenerously
andlogistic
support.
The preliminarvaimsofthe groupareto monitorthe rarervascularplantspecies
occurringin
Oxfordshirein orderto record.
a the presence/absence
ofeachat all historicalsitesandthe exactstatusofeachspecies
whereit
still occurs.
b. anyexternalthreatsat individualsitesto the species
ofinterest.
c. the currentstateof the habitatat eachsite-includinsvecetationsurveys,mappingandtaking
fixed-pointphotographs
We aimto collectdataon all historicalsitesto assess
boththe long-termtrendsin distributionandthe
ecologicalrequirements
for eachspecies.
mayalsobe
Studiesofpollinatorsandautecology
necessary.
In the light of this information.the next stepwill be to suggestsuitablemanagement
prescriptions
for thosespecies
requiringaction,andto undertake
work asappropriate
in consultation
with the landowners.
Whereappropriale
it is alsoplannedto collectsmallquantities
to
of seedfrom localpopulations
maintainlocalgenowpesin cultivationat OxfordBotanicGardens.
Thiswill providea largerseed
sourcefrom whichreintroductions
or introductions
couldbe carriedout.
The RarePlantsGroupwill enlistthe helpof localvolunteers
to helpwith fieldwork (at all
levels),hopefullyculminating
in the provisionof a localcontactwho will be ableto monitoreachof
the specieson a year-by-year
basisandsuggestand/orcarn out management
work asnecessary.
Notes and Articles
'I
o begin with, we are concentrating on the most nationallv th_reatened
and locally important
species,which do not currentl-vhave specific monitorins or managementwork in the Oxfordshire
area.The 1994'hitlist' was asfollows
CreepingMarshwort
Apittnt repensa
(' 1'rtog
GreenHound's-tongue
I ossum germun i c um*
Mudwort
Limosella atluotic0
Pasqueflorver
l)u Lsttlt I la vt lgori s*
MeadowClary
S0h'ia prateil.\is*
PerfoliatePenny-cress
Thluspi perfolianm*
BrecklandSpeedwell
I erottico praec<tx
We surveyedat leastone siteeachfor all ofthe abovespecies.
andundertookcountsat all sites
wherethe species
werepresent.For eramplethis includeda new,site.currentlysupporting97o ofthe
BritishpopuiationofPerfoliatePennycress.
i!{anagenrent
andmonitoringwork at siteslor the last
threeofthesehasalreadybeenorganisedfor winter '941'95andnext spring.but we wouldalsolike
to increase
the numberofspeciesinvolved.andinclude.
DenseSilky-bent
Apera tnlerruplo
MaidenPink
Diortthu.s deltoides
EarlyGentian
Gentiunella unglica
SandCatchfly
Silene conico
In future.we arealsoconsiderins
the followingspecies
Pheasant's-eye
Adont.s annua
(-arex vulpina
True Fox Sedge
GhostOrchid
[,p ipog i un ap h;,'I I uma
aBroad-leaved
Cudweed
Filago pvramida/u*
()e nt i ane I Ia germani ctt
ChilternGentian
Grass-poly
Lv/hnrm hy,s:ttpifilia
Narrow-leavedWater-dropwort Oenanthesrlatfolio
tEarly Spider-orchid
Ophn's sphegodes
Burnt Orchid
Orc'hi.su.stulata
Small-leaved
Sweet-briar
R<tsct
<tgrestis
aDolvny Woundwort
germanica
Slachv.s
Broad-fruitedCornsalad
tr'alerionellarimosa
'
A't' marksthosespecies
for whichwork is alreadybeingundertaken,
anda'f marksthosethatwe
believeare now extinct Asterisksmark thosefor which all previousrecordswould be particularly
appreciated.
aswe would like to look at lrendsat the betterknownsitesandto resurve.yold,
neglectedsiteswherethe species
may still occur.or viableseedsmayremainin the seed-bank.
Also
importantin this respect(thoughunder-represented
in the list abovedueto logisticreasons)
are
arable-field
annualswhichappearto be makinesomething
ofa comebackin manyareasandabout
which relativelylittle is still known, as they occupya seeminglyunder-recordedhabitat.We hopeto
be provedwrong on this! (e.g.I now know of a farm in BerkshirewhereRamtncnlus
an'enys
appeared
in moderatequantityduring 1994.)
The list containsspeciesfor whichdatahaverecentlvbeengathered(e.g ScarceSpecies
Project)
andwhichwe will accessvia EnglishNatureor the appropriate
co-ordinating
body,and.for example.
anynon-confidential
recordsalreadypassedon to the BSBI countvrecorderwilt be providedfbr use
by the group.Thankvou in advanceif you havesuppliedinformationin thiswav. As a memberof
both the Wild Flower Societyandthe BSBI, I know lhat localknowledseof a species
numbersand
sitescanbe far betterthanthat obtainedthroughofficialchannels!
Ifvou cansupplyaccurateinformationon sitesandor numbers(with gooddates)ofany ofthe
abovespecies,
thegroupwould be mostappreciative.
This mavbe particularlvimportantfor small
persistingin hedgebanlsor on the edgesofwoods, etc.,for whichno svstenratic
outlierpopulations
recordinghaseverbeencarriedout.
22
Notes and Articles
AII the work is beingcarriedout underthe watchlirleyesof EnglishNlarureand tstsONI and
with the supportofPlantlife.Ifyou think that you canhelp.pleaseget in contact.
JOHN MLIDDEMAN on behalfof RPG.
All correspondence
to.
Dr C HUXLEY-LAMBRICK, RarePlantsGroup.PickettsHeath.The Ridgeway'.
BoarsHill,
OxfordOXI 5EZ
THE NEW LIST OF'NATIONALLY SCARCE'PLANTS
Having beeninvolvedto someextent.behindthe scenes.with.\'c'arcePlants in Rritain, it is good to
seethe book in print at last.The editorsareto be congratulated
on an excellentproduction.It will
surelybe ofenormousvalueto all thoseengaeedin the business
oftrying to conservethe less
commonmenrbers
flora.
of our indigenous
My one criticismof the book is that it failsto questionthe continuingwisdomof labellingas
'nationally
The editorsacknowledge,
of
scarce'any plantfoundasa nativein l6-100 l0-km squares.
course.that knowinga species
is presentin a particularl0-km squareprovidesno indicationofits
populationsize.The useoftetrad frequencies
for somespecies
is helpful,andwouldcertainlybe
worth extendingto other speciesas sufficientfield databecomeavailable.One thing highlightedby
the tetrad data is that two speciesfound in a similarnumberof I O-kmsquaresmay havevery different
tetradtotals. For example.Pilularia globulfera (Pillworl) (90 lO-km squares)is known to occur in
I 55 tetrads.whereasMinuarti.t verna(Spring Sandwort)(92 lO-km quares) is known from 276
tetrads.Thus.while I 0-km squarerecordsfor thesespecies
suggesta similarlevelof'scarcity',tetrad
data indicatethat Pilu laria is markedly'scarcer' thanMinuartia. One is forcedto conclude(surprise,
surprise!)thattherecordingofpresence/absenceona
lO-kmsquaregridfailstogiveusaparticularly
goodmeasureof 'scarcity'
The tetrad data indicatethat a speciesoccurringin, say-120 squares(labelled'not scarce')might
in fact be'scarcer'thananotherspecies
occurringin 90 (labelled'scarce').
Ofcoursethe'old list'
(NatureConservancy
Council1989)sufferedfrom the sameproblemasthe new onein this respect,
but it hasbeenhighlightedagainbecauseso manyspeciesincludedon the old list havenow been
foundin morethan 100 l0-km squares
(from 1970onwards)- andhavethereforebeenlabelled'not
scarce'anddroppedfrom the new list.
The ironyhereis that manvofthese'relegated'species
arenow considered
not scarcebecause
we haveput so much eftbrt into findingthem- which, put anotherway, simplymeansthat the harder
we searchfor a speciesthe lessscarceit appearsto be (although,needlessto say,finding a plant in a
'new' localitydoesn'tchangeits
onejot - it only changes
abundance
ourperceptionofits
positionofhavingto say,on
abundance).
And so it is that we now find ourselves
in the unenviable
the onehand,that a particularspecies
is now'not scarce',yet on
whichwe usedto consider'scarce'
the otherhandknowingthal this very samespecies
hasdeclined.
minimus(Mousetail).It was
I don't wishto labourthis pointbut take,asan example.
M_vo.rurus
includedon the old list.havingbeenrecordedin theAtlas in 58 I 0-km squaresfrom I 930 onwards.
However,from 1970onwardsit wasrecordedfrom I I I squares.
andso canno longerbe regardedas
nationallyscarce.Yet thereis no evidence
indeed,the accountby Clive
that this species
is increasing;
'declined
Chatterssuggests
that it is in markeddecline.it has
throughoutits range...[the
map
suggests]
declineis dueto intensive
a largerandmorestablepopulationthanactuallyexists...the
arableand grasslandmanagementandthe abandonment
ofextensivegrazingofagriculturally
'
marginallow4andgrasslands
23
Notes and Aniclcs
'f
he caseof Rumexpalusr,l.r(MarshDock)is evenmoreuntbrtunate in 69 squaresin the
Atlas, andfrom 1970 onwardsfoundin I 0 I squares.
it hasdulybeendroppedoff the list despitethe
(GoldenDock)
fact that,accordingto OwenMountford.it is 'decliningin Britain'.Rumexmdritintu.s
too hasgone.eventhoughit has'declinedsharply...due
to elimination
offarm pondsandsurplus
regulationofwater levels'
ditches,the drainageofwet grassland
andthe increased
In mv morecynicalmomentsI find myselfwonderinqwhether.if we hadtried a bit harderwe
couldhaveremovedevenmore species
from the list! The species
on the {iont cover.Mertensio
(foundin 100squares)
marilimo(Oysterplant)is onlvthereby the skinofits teeth:andbv addinga
few new recordsseenby me last year I could renderOrobunt'hehetleroe(Irv Broomrape)(97
squares)'nolongerscarce'!
Ofcourse,onecouldarguethat the practicalconsequences
ofthe changes
to the list areunlikelv
Yet, asthe book makesclear.nationallyscarcespecies'areusedin
to be ofmuch significance.
importanceofsites:their presence
is oneofthe criteriausedto select
evaluating
the conservation
SitesofSpecialScientificInterest'.Changingthe list meansthat theremavbe currentlyunprotected
siteswhichnow qualifofor notificationas SSSIs.This is fine.but (moreworryingly)therearelikely
whichareno longer
to be manySSSIswhichwereoriginallynotified.in part,on the basisof species
regardedas 'nationallyscarce'.For example.theremustbe quitea few grassland
SSSIsin southern
and south-westEnglandwhich were originallynotified in part becauseof Oenonthepimpinelloides
(Corky-fruitedWater-dropwort).
norvregardedas'not scarce'It wouldof coursebe
a species
wrongto claimthat suchsitesaresomehow'lessimportant'now thatthe planthasbeendroppedoff
the list - SSSInotificationis, afterall. recoqnitionofthe valueofan entireecosystem.
notjust ofone
speciesin isolation- but nevertheless
onewondersto what misusethe new list mightbe put where,
for example,an SSSIcontaining'no longerscarce'species
wasin the way ofa proposed
developmentscheme.
PerhapsScarcePlanls in Britain hasmissedan opportunityhere.In my view it shouldhave
examined,
in the light of the increased
intensityof survev.whetheror not the I 00 I 0-km square
upperlimit is still appropriate.
Shouldthis limit perhapshavebeenraised?Surely,if we werehappy
to have 100 squaresas the upperlimit usingas our information-base
theAtles (and knowine that for
so many speciesthe surveycoveragefor theAllas was incomplete),then the relativecompleteness
of
the morerecentsurveyshouldleadus to 'reset'this upperlimit A quick look at the book suggests
that for most species
the numberof'recent' recordshasroughlydoubled(despitethe fact that many
ofthem havecontinuedto decline):perhaps,
then,a casecouldbe madefor raisingthe upperlimit to,
say,200 lO-km squares.
Whenall's saidanddone,it doesseemmorethana little perverse
that our list of 'nationallv
got
perception
has
scarce'plants
shorter.while our
is that habitatdestruction
andthe lossofscarce
species'populationsshouldhavemadethe list a good deallonger!
SIMON J. LEACH, EnglishNature.Roughmoor.Bishop'sHull. TAthiTON, Somerset
TAI 5AA
FIFTY PENCE WELL SPENT
Yesterday I've wastedno time in settinshandto keyboard- I pickedup a well-usedcopyof
Illustralions tf the British lTora by Fitch and Smith. l93l forjust 50p It would havebeena bargain
just asthat but, as soonasI openedit, I couldtell that this wasno ordinarywild flowerbook.for it
containeda numberofinterleavedadditionsandwascoveredin annotations
I oncefounda dictionaryin this state.The previousownerhadcheckedjustabouteveryword
andcross-referenced
the wholethingl Perhapsa crosswordfanatic.I thought.but I wasnot terribly
impressed
by that ridiculouswasteof effort.Yesterday's
find is a differentmatter.The ownerhad
writtenaroundeachillustrationnotestakenfiom localplantcatalogues
andlistsandthenhe had
systematically
setdown his own records,eachof whichhe markedwith his own tick and 'B' svmbol
to showthat he'd seenit himself. p
Notes and Articles
Now, thisbook couldnot havetbunda moreappropnatenew owner.onewrth a botanicalbent
who hasalreadybroushtbackto life the ancientcivic musicians
of York. thecity waites
(Mem.weather.l9lt8). andpublished
the biographyof a forgottenVictorianvillagefiddler.Lawrence
(l\,lenl.weather
Leadler'( I 827-97)afterthe discoveryof his musicmanuscripts
& Seanle.I 9s4) I
hal'ea lascination
with thosewho aregone.perhapsforgotten,but haveleft something
ofthemselves
behind Nert I haveto find out moreaboutPercvBurnett.Ilon. SecretanandTreasurerofthe
'Longmi'nd'.
WhitbvNaturalists'Club in 1948.residentat
lg RuswarpLane,Whitby,North Yorks
who boughthisFilch& Smithin 1933
Percysignedanddatedthe insidefront coverandenclosed
the 1948sumnerprogramme
ofthe
tenn stuckon it. maps,a
Whitbv Nats He alsokept papercuttinqs.a cardwith twelve(ientianct
photographof Trolliusat Goathlandin 19.17andbitsofsquashedorchids.etc. Almosteveryplant
illustrationis surrounded
Manv of the notesaregiveninitials,e.g.E.R.-R.B.,T.N.,
by annotations.
l hisrecordsthat.onpagel.hehasprovidedakevtohis
K M C T h i s m a n w a s s o c a r ewfiut h
'Notes
sources.R.B. wasRobertBraithwaitewhoseplantcatalogueof 1848is in Whitbymuseum.
from F Snowdenlakenfiom hisbook of recordsloanedto me July. 1939 R.B.' T.N. appears
to
havebeenT Newbittwhoseold recordsin nrssarealsoin Whitb_v
museum.Thereis moreto be
bv carefulworkingthrough.Remember,
discovered
I haveonly hadthisbook for 24 hoursandI
alreadyknow an awful lot aboutPercl'Burnett.
Betweenthe pagesthereis alsoa photographofsix men.five womenanda dog in someone's
garden.It's prettyobviouswhat wasgoingon. thev'vejusthada gooddayout in the field,andnow
they'rehavinga summerout-doortea.Frustratingl-v
out olcharacterfor our man,he hasn'tlabelled
the picture,so it will take sometime to find out who theywere.whereandwhen.but it shouldbe
possibleand I bet PercyBurnettturnsout to be oneofthem.
BSBI Neu.sis just aboutthe bestplaceto tell this story.l'm surethat therearememberswho
knew Percl'Bumettin personor by reputation.He musthavebeena significant
figureamongWhitby
- he wasbotanicalrecorderfor WhitbyNats.If I get myselfto the
andNorth Yorkshirenaturalists
UniversityLibrarvandcheckthroughthe excursionschedules
of the YNLr or TheNantralist,he'll
turn up, andwhenI stan to talk to people,informationwill floodout.
I'd love to know who PercyBurnettwasandwhat happened
to him. If onesmallbook makesit
recorder.thenhe musthavehada herbariumandstacksofbooks
so obviousthat he wasa systematic
and files of noteswhich. I hope,found a safehome.Mv instinctis that his effects,includingmy
chancefind, weresoldoffwhen he died(I apologiseto him ifhe's still around)andscattered
all over
the place.
Ifreadersknow anythingofPercyBurnettI'd be very gratefulto hearfrom them.
References
Fitch.W.H &Smith.WG 193I lllustt'otionsof
theBrirish['-lorsL. Reeve&Co.Ltd.Ashford.
Kent.
Merrvweather.
J.W. 1988.Yorkl\4usic Sessions
of York.
Merryweather.J W & Seattle.M l9q4 TheL'iddlerof Helperb.t'.Dragonfly,Newbiggin-on-Sea,
Northumberland.
JAMESMERR\IVEATHER. Biolog- Department.
Universitvof York. PO box 373,YORK
YOI 5Y1V,
CASES OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY,OR HEI)ERA HEADACHES
DespiteHugh McAllister'sandmy work for 20 yearson iviesandpubtishing
the findings.penniesare
not droppingasmuchasthey mightl
'lrish' iv,v.Hugh lv{cAllister
movedon to species
from asmanycountriesashe
Staninewith
wa1.with no preconceived
ideas,he examined
could.Workingin a practical.svstematic
andgrew
Notesand Articles
25
materialfiom eachplace,countingchromosomes,looking at trichomesand noting diftbrencesand
similarities.
(wherecultivatedspecies
wasthat
A discoveryofconsiderable
importance
areconcerned)
Willdenow'soriginalCanaryIslandsiry. endemicto that archipelago.
doesnot occur.evenasan
- Madeirahasits own endemic,the Azoresanother
in anyotherpart of Macaronesia
escape,
(endemic),whileN Africahasa furthertwo species.
and
oneof whichis propagated
by the thousand.
a form of the otheris widelygrown in S Spain.
Someworkersdealingwith namesof cultivatedivies,haveseenWilldenow'sorigina[pressed
Thereis no doubt whateverthat this is validly publishedand
type specimenof H. canoriensi.s.
matchesthe plant there today,but agreeswith no other To applythe label'Hetlera canariensi.r'to
plantsfrom Madeira,the Azoresor N Africa,is to misapplya perlectly'sound'name.
Hugh McAllister findsHedera speciesfall into two groups.the largewhite-hairedand the small
reddish-haired.The former are,H. helix- H. azorica andH. hibernica.thoughthe last falls midway
between.All the restbelongto the other.muchlargergroup.
A synonymyof 'H. canariensl.r''hasrecentlybeencompleted.It revealsthat H. canarien.si.s
of
'lrish' By' I 864,
Willdenowwaspublishedfour timesafterhim-but in 1834 GeorgeDon added
Atlantic ivy (H. hibernica including'Irish') and Algerianwere lumpedin. and from then on most
authorsin FranceandBritain,meantthe so-calledIrishwhenusingthis name.But in the 1890s
writers. especiallvif German.often referredto N African speciesLater H. ozorica-H. muderen,si.s
anda speciesfrom Portugalhadcreptunderthe umbrella.Who todavwould thinkit anythingbut
quaintto say'H. canariensrs'andbe referringto 'Irish' iry? In the lastlew yearsthe curiousposition
hasarisenwherein a singleissueof a journal. H. canariensismay meanAlgerianor true Canary.
dependingon the writer.
Speciesfound in the areacoveredby'Hedera canariensis'
l. H. canariensi.s
Willdenow, endemicto the Canaries
2. H. maderensl.s
K. Koch ex Rutherford subsp.moderenslsMcAllister, Madeira
3. H. qzorica Carriere.Azoresendemic
4 H. marocc'anaMcAllister, Morocco and westernpart of Algeria
5. H. algeriensi.sHibberd,Algeria
6 H. maderenslssubsp lDericaMcAllister. SW Portugal,SW Spain
7 H. helixsubsp.lellxfound asfar southas S Spain
8. H. hibernica(Kirchner)Bean.Atlanticiry occursfrom SW Scotlandto the Straitsof
N
Gbraltar,alongthe Atlanticseaboard,
but furthersouth.inlandalso- Pvrenees.
Portugal,S Spain
L H . c a n a r i e n s i . s 2 n : 4 8 , r e d d i s h - h a i r e dIgt irsoauppi t v s o f e w p e o p l e a r e u n f a m i l i a r w i t h F l o r a d e
(]ran ('anmia. whichhasa good description
andan ercellentcolourportrait oneglancewould
popularin florists'andgardencentres.
sufficeto showthisplantis in no way the species
H. canoriensi.s
is our only truly non-hardvirry,though it hasrecentlybeenplantedout in the
- has
haspoor adventitious
roots-doesnot phase-change
southofEngland.It is non-climbine.
no fertileleavesandis very shv-flowering.
Whenit does,thereis oneumbel.The foliageis dull
grevish-green,flat and heart-shaped.
Its nearestrelativeis H. colchica.
2. H. maderensl.r
Almostunknownto botanislsand
subsp.maderensis2n=144reddish-haired.
gardeners
alike.The mostcommonform is like a miniature'lrish' ily. exceptit is more
yellow-green.
It is an equallygoodground-coverer.
formingdensemats lnlandthereis a more
narrowlobed form. which resembles
the Iberiansubspecies.
3. H. azorica 2n=48. white-haired The form grown for about I 50 vearshasmatt grey-greenleathery
Fatsia-likeleaves.whenyoung.furry with trichomes.In the 1970sa cordaleform was
introduced,in the field,thereis everypermutation
between.
4. H. maroccona2n:48,reddish-haired.
The form 'SpanishCanary'wasintroducedby the Clement's
& Can Expeditions
to S Spainwhereit wascopiouslyplantedandhasbeenfoundnaturalisedIt
is alsogrown in the BotanicGardenon Tenerife,andis naturalised
on GranCanaria.It hashuge
glossyemeraldsharply-five-lobed
leavesup to 12cmtall by'10 5cmwide.The ruby petiolesmar-
Notes and Articles
reachI I cm lonq.lt is so rampantit shouldbe plantedwith care.lt is hardierthanboth common
andAlgerianivies
5. H. algeriensi.s
2n=96.reddish-haired.
Aleerianivy is presumed
to havederivedfrom the Moroccan
iw andanotherspecies.
It is believedto occupya smallerareaofNW A,fricathanthe hardier
'Gloire
H. montccana.The kind incorrectlvlabelled'H. canariensrs'(usually
the variegated
de
Morengo'),appearsto be a lowlandform; at higheraltitudes,toughleatheryfoliagedformsare
found,thesehavebeenusedin qardensin the SE ofFranceandhavebeenfoundnaturalised
on
theIsleofMan.Thesoftlowlandformhasnaturalised
9 i9n. rT. h
. ce l o w l a n d k i n d h a s t h i n .
soft-textured
leavespuckeredup slightlybetweenthe veins,ifshade-grown:the outlineis gently
three-lobed.
the centralthe longest.the basescordate.Like the Moroccan.it hasruby petioles.
but considerably
lessvigour.andit maybe cut to thegroundin winter.
6. H. muderensi.rsubsp.iberica 2n=144.reddish-haired.
This plant hasprobablycausedconfusion
over the years.il is obviouslydifferentin foliageshapeandcolour.andthe reddishtrichomes
makeit distinctfrom the Atlanticandcommonivies.Beinea relictplant,it is variable,but it
mostlvhasupsweptleaf-bases
and3-5 lobes.
7. H. helix subsp.iell-r2n=48-white hairs.This is loundasfar southas Andaluciawhereit occurs
amongcoloniesofthe othersubspecies
andH. hibernicrr.As well asthe'usual'.the'south
Europeancordateform' is seen-with heart-shaped
foliagewith greyveins.
8. H. hihernica2n=96.hairsintermediate.
The Atlanticiry confuses
many.asthe wav in which
KirchnerandBeanreferredto 'lrish'. meansthe form hashadto becomethe type,obscuringall
otherforms.This speciesis asvariableasH. helix.It is not appreciated
bv somepeoplethatthis
is not a doublechromosome
helix.ifit were.it wouldnot occurin suchvarietvover sucha huge
geographic
range.Thereis a doublechromosome
helix from Sicily,andapartfrom possiblya
greaterhairiness
andslightlvmorevigour.it differsin no rvayfrom the commonirnr:it hasthe
paleveinedfoliage unlikethehihernicoswhich.we suspect.
black-green,
derivetheir
leaves,gloss.long petioles.intermediate
hairtype.greatersizeandvigourand
vellow-green
sweetersapscentfrom the Nloroccanspecies.
TheseHederoswill be describedmore fully at a later date.with a full synonvmy:this is just an interim
reportto keepmembersin the picture.especiallv
overthe positionof what is Canaryirv.
Reference
Kunkel,G & lVtA. (1978) l:lora de (jran ('anaria 2. p 72. plate79
ALISON RUTHERFORD-l9 SouthKing Street.HELENSBLTRGH.
Dunbartonshire
G84 7DU
SEEDCOLLECTINGIN SICHTIAN
At the endofSeptember1994.I andtwo otherstudentswereluckyenoughto go on a seed
collectingtrip to Sichuanin WesternChina The BSBI. throughthe WarburgMemorialFund.was
oneofour sponsors
The mainpurposeofthe expeditionwasto discoverwhetherseedcollectedfrom individuals
growingat the top of their altituderangewould provemorehard-v
in Britainthanthosecollectedat
the turn oflhe centuryat lower levels.We intendedto go to five differentlocationsin Sichuanand
we hada list anddescriptions
ofthose plants*e rvereinterested
in. aswell asa schedule
of
observations
andexperiments.
Our basewasthe provincialcapitalChengdu.With our guidelrom SichuanUniversity,we setoff
by mini-vanto our first location,\tr'olong.the DragonForest.We took it in turnsto driveandmade
frequentstopsalongthe banksof the YingaxionsRiver.primarilyto look at lclilidia andAcer
species.
Our little van copedremarkably
well asit wasdragqedandshovedacrossfloodsand
landslides
).1
Notes and Anlcles
-7
v :
:-*
d:^
o=;^
:\O
s-j
F >€
>l
o
1*
i:
k a)
;o=
;-f>
v,i
5?5.
!
!{
(r*
:: =
-;
.'*
F
i\:
x,v
:-c
\ q
]
.rEE
J:.
9r>
.='*
!
z;!
' Ei s
oi"
!{
c -:v.\
o
..: ' o'
-i
- : \ Jr
ir, i
a
-!
^€
!l
s-E -* --oo
\.- ,
!
dtj
a7,
.=9
*9:
a
4
o-*i
,L
l
:
\-\
^:!
r
c€
>
>E
23=
F b.Y
S:s
<!9
* \+
.:{,
ar
=
28
Notcs and Articles
Wolongis to the Westof Cheneduandis a protectedarea.Herewe \.!'ereableto recordthe
exactrelationofspeciesto altitude.asw.ellascollectingsomevaluableseedof,-{cer.I'iburnumand
I)nnymus.
rich Emeishan.
in finding
Our nexl locationwasthe species
or N,lountOmei We wereinterested
hen4i- oneof ErnestWilson'sfavouritetrees-Aucuhaomeiensis
andsome
seedof Emmenoptery'.s
lvlahoniospecies.
We setoff with a groupof Buddhistpilgrimsby'busfrom Chengdu.Thejoumeyis
only I 52kmandthe roadsweregood.Thereareseveralpilgrim'spathsto the summit,(3 120m),
constructed
of limestonesteps.We stayedin someof the manv.richlvornatemonasteries
on the
mountainand tried to avoid the gangsof monkeys!Our bestfinds from Omei wereAcat,thop.tnqx
ewxliaefoliu.s-Plerocan'a macropteraand an as vet completelvunidentified('onnts.
200kmNorth of Chengduis on the Tibetanhighway.We wentby bus
Songpan,approximately
again,but this time it took 48 hoursto get therelHerewe werelookingfor rhododendrons
and
soilsin which
conifers.ErnestWilsonclaimedthat in the hillsaroundSongpantherewerecalcareous
grew rhododendrons.
Unfortunately.
thingshavechaneedsinceWilson'sday andnow its hardto find
anytreewithin 20 milesof Songpan!We hireda localguidewho took us to somehiehwoodswhere
we mademanvusefulfinds, an unidentifiedDaphne at 3440m.Sorbussetclu,anensi.s
forms, some
varietiesof Picea lihangensis andAbie.s.fahri,but no rhododendronsgrowing in alkalinesoils.The
nearestu/egot werereadingsofpH7.
Offby trainnow to Xichangin the Southof Sichuan.primarilvto attemptto photographand
record specimensof Acer penlapb,llum. JosephRock discoveredthe plant in 1929at 3050m
betweenBaurongandKulu. West of the Yalung fuver. Armedwith this impreciseinformationwe
huntedin vainflorthe plant!
We werethe first Westemers
the peopleof the areahadeverseenandwe drew inquisitive
crowdsin eachvillagewe passedthrough.We hadheardreportsthat theAcer hadbeenfoundquite
recentlynearMuli, nearthe Yunnanborder,but the way wasdangerous.
so in the end-our guidesfelt
safertakingonly one of us. incoenito,thanall three We neverfound,4cerpentaphvlfum,
but we now
know whereil is maybenexttime!By wa_".'
we collectedRhododerulnnt
of compensation
aur iculalum and severalinteresting.,lcer pectint um varieties.
We collectedmanyrareandinteresting
seedson our trip. I haveto admitwe onlycollected
abouthalfofthoseon our list, but maybethat is onlvto be expectedin sucha vastandbotanically
rich countrv.We weremorethancompensated
bv the collections
we hadnot beenlookingfor andby
the rich culturaladventure.
Thankyou for helpingus makethe trip!
NEIL PORTEOUS.No I Old Butts Cottaqes.The Butts.SANDWICH.Kent CTl3 9HY
WILD CLARY $ALWA VERBENACAIN CHURCHYARDS
I readNick Sturt'sarticleonSalviaverhenacu
in Sussexchurchvards
(BSBI Nev's68)withgreat
interest.ShortlyafterwardsI waspleased
to readin Pepys'Diarythat on April 26th 1662,having
stayedin Portsmouth.
Pepysandcompanions
travelled.
'...overlo Gosport.andso rodeto
my Lord Southamptons
SouthamptonIn our way.besides
parksand lands-...weobserveda little churchl'ard,
wherethegravesareaccustomed
to be all
Sowedwith Sage'
Pepys'partywas accompanied
bv a localguide.who waspresumably
the sourceof this information
FRANCESABRAHAM. Old SchoolHouse.Ebernoe.PETWOR'IH.West SussexGU28 9LD
Notes and Articlcs
GREY WILLOW
IN BOTH Lf,AF AND FLOWER
On November23,1994.whenwalkineon WandsworthCommon.LondonS.W..Ken PageandI
to seea willow in both leafandflower.On a closerlook. this turnedout to be a
weresurprised
largishbushof Satixcinereasubsp.oleiftlia.Its foliagewasfull, andfreshif not exactlyspring-like
andthe catkinswerelargeandmale.It wasgrowingin a woodedpartof the commonin lightish
shade.
that I should
by Mr R.D. l\leiklewho suggested
The identification
of the plantwas confrrmed
quitelike thiswith catkinsandleaves
reportthe find. sayingthat he hadneverbeforeseena specimen
developed
at the sametime in autumn.
to know ifother peoplehavenoticeda similarphenomenon
It would be interesting
LONDON W l4 8JR
ELIZABETH NORMAN. I 2 AddisonCrescent.
THf WORCESTERSHIRE5OOCLTIB
ofvascularplants
Membership
ofthe Club is restrictedto thosewho claimto havefound500 species
oneFloraProjectco-ordinatorwith a particularly
in a Worcestershire
tetrad.It currentlycomprises
vivid imagination.
In the hopeofimprovingon this unhappyposition.it is proposedto mounta shortcourseaimed
andinhibitionswhichhaveheld
in the Projectto overcomethe constraints
at helpingparticipants
thembackliom achievingheftytetradtotals.Particularattentionwill be givento the needsofthose
especially
the nervousnineties,
boggeddown in the upperreachesofthe four hundredsunfortunates
The coursewill consistofa short
sixtiesandseventies.
excitableeishtiesandseriouslyunsatisfactory
andfieldvisits
sessions.
(note l) lectures,individualandgrouppsychotherapy
seriesofephemerolog_v
to the mostlethalbits ofterrainin the county.Thosecompletingit canconfidentlyexpectto be
Altrihutes(('.S1. li) neededto turn the key in the
greatlystrengthened
in the fiveCritical Success
door to Club membership.
Motivation
Theywill emergefrom the coursewith their competitiveedgehonedto a westwoodian
pertetradfigurefor
the highestaveragespecies
Theywill be in no doubtthat achieving
sharpness.
their 1O-kmsquarerankswith Englandwinningthe World Cup in the overallschemeof things.
OutrageousOptimism
Facedwith a choicebetweentwo look-aliketaxa,onecommonin everytetradin the BritishIsles
ableto
andthe otheronly recordedfrom the ScilliesandLlltimaThule,theywill find themselves
they'vefoundin the pub car-parkis
that thebotanicalscrag-end
comeconfidentlvto the conclusion
beyonddoubtthe latter
PunctiliousPedantr-v(or the Pursuit of Trivia)
to be found.theywill
if therearemorespecies
Giventhe premisethat you canfind morespecies
convincedofthe validityofthe'splitting' approachto planttaxonomv.andwill see
be intellectually
nothingamissin havingFestucaolirrn dividedinto severalhundredtaxa separatedone from another
in microns.Confrontedby somegaudygreatdeformity
solelyon the basisof lemmalenEh measured
of an Oenotherahybrid,they will curb their naturalandwell-foundedinstinctto nrn awayfrom the
thing, and insteadengageit at closequartersin an effort 1oconvincethemselvesthat it is O.Jalku
ratherthan one of the manifestations
ol O. glaziot'iana ' O. biemri.s
Disregardfor Danger
and
concernswith self-preservation.
narrowandmean-spirited
Theywill havelearntto suppress
withouta thoughtfor the ever-present
situations
theywill pursuerecordsin the mostdesperate
and/orinto reeking
fallingofffriablelumpsof sandstone
countryside:
hazardsof the Worcestershire
ohlu.sifttlra
crucifixion.going
pools,terminalentanglement
in brambles,
deathb1-Ro.sa
settlement
down with Weil's Diseaseor LymeDiseaseor both.etc.
Notes and Articles
Overcomingof Obstacles
The.vwill sharethe garneric(note2) approachto problemsofaccess.whichis essentially
based
on the strikingcorrelationbetweenstraightlinesandshortestdistances.
andtheywill be familiarwith
theassociated
cornucopian
or'han'esthome'method
collection.
Whilstfully
of specimen
appreciative
ofthe rightsofo*ners to enjoytheirpropertvin peace,quietandprivacy,they'will
nevertheless
be clearin their mindsthat thereareoccasions
whentheserightswill be overriddenby
primeconsiderations
ofthe publicinterest(e g , the needto takea closelook at a flower-bedweed
while the occupants
watchattentivelvthrouchthe fienchwindow)(note3).
A particularfeatureofthe coursewill be a specialworkshopfor thoserecorders
who areanxious
to havea betlerunderstanding
ofthe aerodvnamics
ofthe techniqueofdetermininscriticalJh/lx
materialby throu,ingit over one'sleft shoulder(note4).
In conclusionit mustbe stressed
that this inrportantnew initiativewill not be allowedto compromise
the high standards
ofscientificrieourwhichhavecharacterised
the FloraProjectfrom the outset.
Recordsof P.serrcktfumorta
lutea*ill still only be accepted
if theyaresupportedby a videoof the ant
carryingthe seedup the \\all
Notes
I The studyofday-oldcotvledonsenjoyinga brieflodeement
in the cracksin pavements.
An
experienced
ephemerologist
hasbeenknown.by wav ofexample,to find representatives
of40o%
of the Madasascan
flora in 100m of a North Londonstreetinsidehalf anhour.
2. Rogeteivesthe followingrangeof synonl'ms
for garneric.-rumbustious.
turbulent,tumultuous,
uproarious.
boisterous.
maraudine,
rampaeing,
rapacious,
raptorial,piratical,buccaneering,
lreebootineandswashbuckling.
3. It is understood
that William\l'aldegravehasnow accepted
thatit maynot be possibleto
implementcertainelements
of the Citizen'sCharterin the Malvernarea.
4. A practicewhichis thoughtby somecommentators
popularsong
to hal'einspiredthe insouciant
lyric 'Over mv shoulderqoesonecare. ', etc
for anyincomprehensible
in-jokesandwith thanksto PeterGarnerandBrett
[With apotogies
Westwood,two key membersof the FloraProject,for consenting
to be adjectivally
assaulted
beforea
widerreadership.
Peterhassincebecomethe secondmemberolthe 500 Cluband.ablazewith
ambition,formeda splintergroupcalledthe MalvernThousands.]
BILL THOMPSON.Tile Cottage.Far Foresl.Nr BEWDLEY. Worcs DYl4 9UE
No. 5, March 1993and I
[The abovefirst appearedin the lforcester.shireFlora Project Nev'.sletler
am gratefulto Bill for allowineus to reprintit here.Ed.]
ARTIC,4 GALEOPSIFOI,IA IN NORFOLK
F u r t h e r t o t h e n o t e b y B a r b a r a L a s t ( B i B ^ / A / gl v0..s. J6a8n. l 9 9 5 ) . t h e ' S t i n g l e s s N e t t l e ' h a s l o n g
beenknown10Norfolk botanists.andwaspointedout to me manyyearsagoby the lateEric Swann
rvho referredto it as Ilrtica dioiL'ovar. inermi.sthoughhe failedto mentionthe plant eitherin his
Iilora or it's supplementFollou'inqGeltman'spaperin llatsonia I examinedseveralpopulationsof
this taxonin Norlolk andcameto the conclusion
that thel'wereidenticalin everyrespectto the
WickenFenplanttheredescribed
andit's continental
counterpartA pink cardwasduly sentto Chris
Prestonwho saidthat he would haveto awaitfurtherinstructions
beforepublishing
the recorduntil
I/rlica goleopsiftslla
hadbeenacceptedasa Britishplant.Notwithstanding
this,I askedhelpers
collectingrecordsfor the forthcorningTetrad];lora qf Norfolk to be on the look out for it andhave
receivedseveralrecordsfrom Broadlandasa result.I havealsofoundseveralcoloniesalongriver
andstreamlines,
in old shadylanesandbridleways
especiallv
wherethesearecrossedby springlines
in clay areas To date.sinceGeltman'spaper.I lrtica galeopsifoliahasbeenrecordedin 18 East
Notes and Articles
3l
'get theireye
Norlblk tetrads,and I would erpectthis numberto increase
appreciably
onceobservers
in' for what is quitea distinctiveplant.
In additionto the pointsmentionedby BarbaraLast.I would addthat the stemslook grevish.
beingdenselvpubescent.
In additionto Norfolk specimens.
I havealsoreportedonesitein West Suffolkto Mrs Hvde
AI.EC BULL. Hillcrest.EastTuddenham.
DEREHAM. Norfolk. NR20 3JJ
FEN NETTLE (URTICA GALEOPSIFOI,/,4) IN BERJ<SHIRE
On 21 August 1994I waserploringa stretchof the fuver KennetnearWoolhampton.
Berks.
Crossinga footbridgeI lookeddown on a patchofnettlesofslightll'unusualappearance.
tall and
with slenderleaves;closerinvestigation
shorvedtheseplantsto haveall the characteristics
of ( lrtittr
guleop.sifolioincludingnot stingingme. The plantswereon the riverbankin partialshade.growing
with a numberof commonriversideplantsandwith the CommonNettle((trtica dioit'tt\
A specimen
wasgatheredandsentto the vice-countl'recorder.Dr StephenJury who passedit
on to Prof.D. V. Geltman.with whom he wasin communication
at the time.The identitvof the
wasdulv confirmedbv Prof Geltman,rvhoorieinallvdescribed
specimen
it lrom England(Iyotsoniu
19 127-9( 1992)),thusaddingyet anothersitefor this nettle.whichappears
to be commonerthan
originallyexpectedin Britain
ALAN SHOWLER. l2 WedewoodDrive.HushendenVallev.HIGH \\YCON{BE. Bucks
HPI44PA
OBSERVATIONSON ORCHID POI,LINATION
My article on Orchid Pollinalion in I'emhrokeshirein R.lB,riVeu's68. Jan. 1995.persuadedfive
'orchidnuts' to replv my
to
appealfor actualobsen,ations
insteadofgeneralised
andoftenvague
book referencesI list the repliesbelow,alonewith the correspondents
initials,asI am not happy
aboutdirulgingtheiraddresses.
but shouldanvreader/researcher
wishto enquirefurtherI will pass
on their Ietter.
Orchismilitoris.EmPi:itessellarcpollinatingon 30.5.9j C.R. (LanglistsJpls. Bunhus and
Syrphidae).
Oph4:smsectiferaSimilarmemberof Empididaepollinatingon 29 5.93 C R (Langmentionsmale
()orytesmylaceus).
Iipipacris hellehorine l'espulagermanica(probably)pollinatingin 1994in Wales C R
Daclylorhizoftrc&sil(hybrid) Ochlodesvenata(largeskipper)pollinatingin 1994 C.R (Lang lists
manyspecies
ofbee and Syrphidae).
,Allthe abovevisitswererecordedon videotape.notabha good sequence
ofthe wasp,plusattached
polfensack,visitingEpipacti.s.
Gutowski.J N 1990.mentions
pollinationby 'longhorn'
-1)..lirchsll
beetlesin Polishprimevalforests.
pvramidalis.Arpp'nnisaglaja (dark greenfritillary) and Tht'lemic'us.l,h".r/ri.s
(small
Anacampti.s
skipper)feedingon, 24.'1.85 al WhiteDown. Sune1"J C (Lan,clistsbutterflies.
morhsand
Diptera)
f.pipactispurpurala Wasps(presumably
I'espulasp ) visiting-on 31 7 82 ar Boxhill.SurreyJ C
Dacll,lorhi:a purpurella andD. incarnala Occasionallvpollinatedby Romhu.ssp. in 199.1.
J.W.
Daclylorhizamacuktta. Occasionallyvisitedby Syrphidaeand smallflies in 1994.J.W
Platantherabtfolia.No visitsof insectsobsen'edin I 994 duringdegreedissertation
in
Northumberland
by N.K.. nor anvmothswith polliniafrom nearbymothtrap.but he makesa
Notesand Articlcs
refbrence
significant
to Proi. L.A. Nilsson.1983,of L,ppsala
University,Sweden,who liststhe
followingmoth visitorsin Europe.
pine
H.tlt tiot.tprrrtt.ttrr
Hvle.tgullr
hawk-moths
bedstrau
l)etlt'lthtlu ,'lpenr
elephant
l )ei lephi fu port'e I I rr:
s m a l le l e p h a n t
Also llalitphohu.\ reticuldto. Hado nonu-.4pLlneu onogltpha. A..fttrvq. Plusia gumma(inopfux nttt'tillatu and Aplot'eru plegiule (a1somentioned by Darwin).
\or were anv visits seenbv C.H. who rvatched a 55-strong colon,!-in a 10 squareyard patch in
U f t o n \ [ ' o o d - W a r w i c k s h i r e -i n t h e 1 9 7 0 s .
]'lotontheruthlorutiht Novisitsseenb_vCH ofmoths.butterfliesorbeesinideal conditionsinthe
'10
1970s. The colonl contained about 100 plants in
squareyards of Ufion Wood. Warwickshire
He lir,ed in the *ood as woodman and actually sat bv the orchids all night long on several
occasions.with picnic hamper! Durine the two to three week flowering period he noted that
t h e i r s c e n tw a s s l r o n q e s td u r i n g d a v 2 - . 1 .b u t t h a t o n d a v 1 0 - 1 4t h e i r p o l l i n i ah u n g d o w n ' l i k e
pendulums'. after which capsulesdeveloped. He refers to Nl Catling's paper. 1980. which
demonstrated that Itpari.s loeselii was self-pollinatedin every instanceb1'rain.
References
Catling. P M
1980 Rain-assisted autogamy in Lipari.s lrrcselii. Rulletin of the Torrev Rot. ('luh
107(4)525-s2e
Gutowski, J.M. 1990 Pollination of the orchid I)ac'tt'lorhiza-fuchstiby longhorn beetlesin the
primeval forests of Northeastem Poland. Biologit:ol (-onsen,ation 51. 287-297 .
Lang. D. 1989. llild (h'chids of (]reat Brilain anLJJrelturrl. O.U.P.. Oxford.
Nilsson, L.A. 1981. Processesof isolation and introgressiveinterplay between Platontheru bifitlict
and P. chhrotho
Bot. .httrnal of the Ltnnean ,\oc.81 325-350.
GORDON KNICHT. l2 Ffordd v Felin. Trefin. HA\'ERFORDWEST.
Dvfed 5A62 5AX
POPULUSNIGRA subsp.BEIL,ZIFOLIA
N.A,MES
AND DATES
'Manchester
I am trving to discover the date when the name
Poplar' was first used llenrv. who
poplars
in
studied
some detail, makes no mention of the name (Henry l9l4). Having said this he also
statesthat.'thistreedoesnotseemtohavebeenpropagatedbynurserymenlormanyyearspast...'
(Elwes&Henryl906-13) ThiscannotbecorrectasStace(1971)statesthatthetreesinManchester
were then between l0 and 100 years old This means that they would ha,"ebeen planted from 1870
onwards. long before Henrv was writing. This being the case, were nurserymen selling Populus nigra
subsp.healtfolirr under another name? If so, what was itt Stace (1971) quotes Hadfield as using the
name Manchester Poplar in 1957 It therefore seemslikelv that the name came into use sometime
between 1914 and 1957. Can anyone shed more light on the matter? Answers to these questionsmay
help to uncover the oriein ofthe clone/clonesinvolved. Whilst on the subject ofour native black
poplar. can anvone tell me when the name Populus nigra subsp. beuliftlla first came into common
usage and when it was first generallv acceptedto be native. I have recently been studying F.A. Lees'
notebooks in the Leeds ReferenceLibrarv where I found that he describesthe sametree by two
different names In 1907 (Florula Meanwood Vallev. Notebook No. 8) he describesit as P. nigra,
while in I 9l 6 (Notebook No 9) he calls it P. nigra tar hetuli.folia.What had happenedin the
'lhe
inten'ening vearst Had he read Henry"s accounts in
Trea.stf Oreot Rnrain anl lrehrnd (Elwes &
(iardener.s'
('hronicle
(Henrv 1914)e I understandthat our native tree was
Henry 1906-13) or The
first describedin America bv Frederick Pursh and l\{ichaux (White 1993) although Henry (1914)
'
well known to the pre-LinnaeanEne[sh botanists.whose numerous soecimens
statesthat it was
l3
Notes and Articlcs
betweenit beingdescnbedtn Amencaandtt
may be seenin the BritishMuseum.'What happened
for thisgeneral
beingacceptedasnativein this country?WasHenrythe manresponsible
enlightenment?
References
Elwes-H J & Henry.A. (1906-13).TheTreesof GreatIJrittritrond lrelurd
6('+)66-68
56(l ) l-2. 56(3) '16-47.
Henry,A (1914) TheBlackPoplars(iu'tleners'('hrotricleLibran
Lees,F.A (1907) NotebookNo 8 LeedsRelerence
Library
Lees,F.A. (1916) NotebookNo 9 LeedsReference
Poplar llcrrsonla8 391-39-l
Stace"C.A (1971) The Manchester
White. J. (.1993).Black Poplar: the ntostendangeredrutit'e limber tree rn Rrituin Forestry
Research
InformationNote 239
Commission.
KEVIN PYNE. 100EdenCrescent.LEEDS.West Yorks LS4 2TR
WATSONIAN VICE.COUNTIES IN LONDON _ 2
ln R.\81Neu,s68 Brian Wurzell refersto the needfor a London A-Z atlasshowingin detailthe
in the Capital(ofEngland!)whichclarifieswhereeverystreetbelongs.The
vice-countyboundaries
good newsis that this hasrecentlybeendone.In the 199,1issueof TheLontlonNaturqlist.published
paperby RodneyBurtonthatgivesthis
at the endofNovember.thereis an illustratedsixteen-page
in words-andwherethereis
in andnearLondonaredescribed
very information.All the boundaries
especiallv
bearingin mindthat mostLondon
anydifficultyrelatingthemto modernboundaries.
boroughboundaries
changedslightlyrn 1994,markedfiguresfrom a streetatlasareprovided
OffprintsofRodney'spapercanbe obtainedfrom me on receiptoffive unused2nd classor l9p
stampsper copy.
RhandirmwynLLANT)O\ERY, D),fed
KIITH H HYATT. EditorLond.,\hr.. I Tremcelynog.
SA2OONU.
DIALECT PLANT-NAMES
list of namesgivenrn
The batchof nameswhichfollow form an interruptionin the alphabetical
previouspartsof R.\R1Ner'.s.andareall nameswhichhavebeengivento cow parsley(Anthrt.sc'us
sylvestris).
I\{iddlesex.
November1994]
Blackman'soatmeal 'from friendsfiom York' [Edgvr'are.
Break-your-mother's-heart- 'You know wild cow parsley. . we \!ere not allowedto pick it. We
heart.'[Wimbledon.London.November1983]
calledit break-your-mother's
Bunker [Brundall,Norflolk,March l99l]
'[Name]
Cauliflowerflower
usedby rnl fatherwhenreferrineto the cow parslevand.as he finds
this familyvery confusing.for similarspeciesThe nameis cauliflowerflower.Thouehbrought
he doesnot remember
wherehe pickedit up. He has
up aroundthe ClentHills fWorcestershire]
alwayscalledit by this name.'[WestStow. Suffolk.JanuaryI99 I ]
flesh I
Deadman'sflesh-'As a childin the lpswichdistrictI alwavscalledcow parsleydeadman's
I didn't know of anvothernamefor the
assume
becauseso muchof it growsin grave--vards.
plant' [Stowmarket.Suffolk.September
1985]
Devil's porridge [Dublin.May 1993]
dog'sflourish.As a
Dog's flourish - 'The centralwest Scotlandnamefor Atthn.sc'lr.r.r'r'/r.'e.slrl.r
localin her 70s said."well- it srowson the vergeswherethe dogshavebeenl"' [Helensburgh.
Dunbartonshire.
FebruaryI 991l
Notes and Articlcs
Gypsy lace I l aunton.Somerset,
April 1994]
Hemlock- 'Cow parsley- widelyin Norfolk calledhemlock.andvery unluckyto pick andtake
indoors' [EastTuddenham.
Norfolk.October1984]
I 993]
Keck IShipston-on-Stour,
Warwickshire,
September
weeds.I heardthisfrom my
Kex '[Namegivento] cow parsley.and/orothercoarseumbelliferous
fatherabout1930walkingthrougha fieldhe hadknownas a boy (alsonearBaltymoney).'
Co. Antrim.Januaryl99l]. Also recorded,askecks,from Gloucestershire.
[Ballycastle.
October
Kexy or Keksie- LincolnshireISt Albans,Hertfordshire.
andAlvingham,Lincolnshire,
tee4l
andwould
Kill-vour-mother-quick- 'Cow parsley my mothercalledit kill-your-mother-quick,
neverallow it in the houseor shew-oulddie.QueenAnne'sLace[anothernamefor the plantis]
generallvunderstood
but also[refersto] her (QueenAnne's)
to referlo its lacelike appearance,
'
tragicchildlosses [Witham.Essex.May 1983]
in thethirties,childrenusedto ref'erto
Mother-die- 'When I wasgrowineup in Northamptonshire
cow parsleyasmother-dieandpredictthat,ifyou pickedit andtook it home,your motherwould
andmv nrother.I'm gladto say,is stillaliveandwellf)'
shortlydie (l nevertried the experiment.
July t983] Also recordedfrom Norfolk. SuffolkandYorkshire
[Oakham.Leicestershire.
Pig weed-'Cow parsley.all foresters[in the ForestofDean] kept at leastonecottagepig and
bunchesofcow parsleywereoftenfed to it. togetherwith newbrackentops.blackberrytips,
etc..asa changeof diet from kitchenscraps.But you mustn'tfeedthisto a little pig or.vou
would "stitch'un". In otherwordsit wouldsrow too quicklyfor its skin.' [Cinderford,
Gloucestershire.
NovemberI 993]
givenunderkill-your-mother-quick.
the explanation
above,has
QueenAnne's Lace .- widespread.
only beenrecordedonce.
Sheep'sparsley- Suffolk [EastTuddenham.
Norfolk.May 1994]
Shit parsley- 'An old manwho usedto live in the village.who dieda few vearsagoaged80. used
'
to call cow parslevshitparslev [Wickham.Cambridgeshire.
April 1993]
Stepmother'sblessing- 'As a childin Yorkshire.we wouldneverpick the tallish.lerv smallwhite
flowersthat grew by the wavside... manvtimesI wastemptedto pick them,but wastold not to
asit was calledstepmother's
blessingor mother-die... asI wasvery fond of my mother,I did
whichwaswhat wouldhappen"I wasinformed-if I picked
not wishto acquirea stepmotherShropshire.
March1983].
them' [Astrley,
Thanksto AnnettaAndrews.PatriciaM. Berrv.Alec Bull. RayCowell.BrianDawson.Betty Loring.
HelenD. Megaw,ElsieOlivey.W Osborne.NormanPage.CalvinPodd.JohnN Porter.BrianRich.
AlisonRutherlordand StellaWilsonlor theircontributions.
ROY VICKERY- l2 EastwoodStreet.LONDON. SW166PX
HERBARIUM OF D. DICKINSON MPS (fl. IE75-I902)
l) Dickinson'sherbariumoriginallyconsisted
ofthree leatherandclothboundvolumescontaining
'1875
pressedspecimens
collectedin the BritishIslesbetween
and 1902.Onevolumeof cryptogams
aremissing,presumed
This herbarium
andanotherofangiosperms
destroyed.
is not listedin Kent &
Allen,British & Irish Herbaria (1984). The sin_ele
extantvolume.apparentlyvolumeone of the
originalthree.contains32J lea"es.28 ' i5 cm. eachwith a greenclothtab-andbearinqan
angiosperntspecimen(exceptfor a singleLqtisetllr, (Horsetail)anda.lunipents).The contentsof
this volumeweremostlycollectedbetweent878 and l88l The first threesheetsaredamaged
by
sootandfoldingbut the remainder
arein a goodconditionEachsheetcontainsthecommonand
Latinnamein copperplatescriptandusuallvtherearenoteson thelocalitv,a dateandoccasionally
additionaldetails.Thereis alsoa separately
boundindex.consisting
ofpages159-l8l that havebeen
removedfrom a printedbook whichwasentitled(accordineto lhe runningheads)OlLllinglish ll'ild
Notcs and Articles
i5
I;lowers. fhis index is annotatedwith the appropriateherbanumsheetnumbersibr volumeone. I he
coverofthe indexbearsan importantclueasto the collector'sidentitv- a pharmacylabel'D. Dickinson,Chemist-HoolePharmacy.
that D. Dickinson
Chester' Thrsperhapssuggests
developedan interestin botanyfrom his pharmaceutical
studies.althoughthe collectionconsistsof
generalmaterial,both wild and cultivated,with no specialisation
apparent.By far the largestnumber
mentionedRiponsites
of collections(c.165)weremadearoundfupon (v.c. 64) in 1878 Frequently
rvoods.Parker'splumpand
include:Ashfieldwoods,Bell banks-Hutton moor.Maggashaw
There
Whitecliff The othermainlocalitvis Nottingham(v c. 56) in 1879with at least40 collections.
in the form ofa few specimens
lrom otherlocations.
is evidenceofpossiblevacationexcursions
Theseinclude;Coventry( I 880).Grantham( 1879),Leamington( I 880. I 881. I 887).Orknev( I 880).
RBG Kew (1880)
Oxford(1880),Sussex(1880).\l'ales(1902)-andperhapsembarrassingly
foliage.
The standardofpressingis highwith evidentcarebeingtakenover delicatedissected
suchasF'umaria(Fumitory).The stateof preservationis alsoexcellentwith little insectdamageand
mostspecimens
haveretainedtheir colourwell especiallv
the blueflowersof Li'hlum vulgare
(Viper's-bugloss).
The annotations
on somesheetsprovideulimpsesinto the personalfeelin_es
of D. Dickinsonwho
'l
evidentlyhadan eyefor naturalbeauty. got someofthe exquisiteflowers.but theyspoiledon
drying. D.' (Menyanthestrtfoltata, Boubean) 'The pond at Copgrovewas coveredwith white and
yellowlilies,& Bogbeanflowersandvery prettyit looked,I hadto wadeto get them' (N.tmphaeu
'Butter$'o( - I founda
alba-tffhiteWater-lily).Occasionally
onereadsof disappointments.
specimen
on Hutton Moor, Riponin I 878.but lost it'.
Thereare a few alienplants.notablya yellow floweredMimulrr.r(Monkevflower)'l found this
in fact a largeclusterof them- growingon a larsestone,the slonewascoveredwith moss.in the
middleof the beckor streamat OldfieldSpa,fupon 1878'.A sheetof Ecballiumelatertum(Squirtine
Cucumber)from Micham,Surrey1880mayalsobe of alienorigrn.
Enquiriesregardingthis herbariummav be madeto the addressbelow.
NOTTINGHAM. NGg 8DB
JULIAN M. H. SHAW.4 Albe( Street.Staoleford.
Tel 0115949 I 198
WARNING: PLANTS HAVE GOOD AND BAD YEARS TOO!
BirdsCensus'
On theneedfor a botanical'Common
In recent years there has been an upsurge ofinterest in vegetation change. In particular. those ofus
involved in site management(on NNRs. SSSIs. Wildlife Trust resenes. etc.) often need to know how
'delivering
our vegetation is changing. to help establishwhether a given managementregime is
the
goods'.
For example we might reintroduce grazins to a piece ofderelict pasture. or return an abandoned
'traditional
hay-meadow to so-called
management'. The costs (financial or otherwise) of such
management may be high. and. sometimes for this reason alone. it is important to demonstrate that
the venture has been v,ortlwhile. To this end a monitonng programme is establishedso that- within a
few years, we can say which specieshave decreasedor increasedin abundance If all goes to plan. on
our newly grazed pasture we will be able to show how grazing-sensitivespecies(e.g Arrhenatherunr
elatirts)have declined, and how a range of'desirable' specieshas increased.regaining a foothold now
that the turfhas been nibbled down and opened up.
I suspectmany BSBI members are involved in sone kind of vegetation monitorins. whether
working for a conservationbody. or as consultantsor'volunteers'. and our attentionsmay be
directed at either particular species(often the rare ones) or whole communities Of course. few
monitoring projects are concemed with cases as straightforward as my Arrhenqthentm-infested
pasture, indeed, many are dealing with lairlv subtle managementchangesand barelv discernibleshilis
in species' abundance.Nevenheless.ifon a particular site we/o discern that speciesa- b and c are
Notes and Artlcles
increasing,while r, y and z are decreasingthen - more than likely - we w-ill try to interpret these
c h a n g e si n l e r m s o f t h e s i t e ' s m a n a g e m e n rt e e i m e
Over the last few years I have been involved in establishing(and revisitine) monitoring plots for
English Nalure on grasslandSSSIs in south-wesl Enqland. We now have 53 plots (usually whole
fields) on 30 grasslandSSSIs. each one har.ingbeen set up to investigatethe eli'ectsofparticular
managementactivities (usuallv under some form of managementagreement).Of course. many of the
botanical changeswe have recorded have been clearly due to management.For example, it is difficult
199.1ofClltceria.fluilans.(artlaminepratensisand
toavoidtheconclusionthattheincreasein
Senecioaqueticu.son fields at Southlake Moor SSSI. SomersetLevels, was due to the reinstatement
ofraised water-levels to provide'splash flooding' in spring. forbreeding waders. Nevertheless.other
botanical changesthere have proved more difficult to interpret. why, for example. should Rarznclrlrs
ccris have increasedon these flooded fields? Data from other sites revealedthat in 1994 R. acri.s did
well in all sorts of grasslands.irrespectiveof managementregime. R. ac'ris had increased'acrossthe
board', at sites on Dartmoor and in South Devon, on the Dorset coast and the Blackdowns. Other
species.too- appearedto be undergoing parallel fluctuations in abundanceon most ofthe sites being
monitored. including ('entaurea nigra. Prunella vrlgaris. Ranunculus bulhosus and'l'rifolium
duhium.
These observationshighlight the dangersoflooking at individual sites in isolation - dangersthat
'Common
Birds Census'
have long been appreciatedin our dealings with animals. Through the
(CBC) and the ITE-run Butterflv Monitoring Schemewe are now accustomedto the idea that. at a
'bad'
years. For example we know from the
national level, birds and butterflies can have'eood' and
'crash'
locally ofbreeding whitethroats in the late i960s was part of a national decline:
CBC that the
and that it had more to do with the Sahel drought than with how farmers in Somersetwere managing
their hedqerows. Thus changes in local bird populations often reflect ndtionol changes which, at local
level. we are powerless to influence.
But this national perspectiveis lacking when it comes to plants. True. there was the BSBI
monitorinq schemewhich. useful though it was. focused on national changesin speciesdistribution
and liequency. It did not deal with year-to-year fluctuations in the abundanceofspecies on individual
sites. Perhapswhat we need now is something like the CBC - a'Common Plants Census' with
fieldworkers registering their monitoring plots as pan ofa national scheme,and an annual report
telling us which specieshave done well or badly. and pinpointing the environmentalfactors (e.g. cold
winter, wet spring, summer drought, declining rabbit populations. atmosphericpollution) likely to be
responsiblefor the observed trends.
Only if we can somehow gain this national perspectivewill we be able to correctly interpret the
botanical changestaking place on individual sites Without such a perspectivewe lall into the trap of
assumingthat changesin species' abundanceon a particular site are the result ofsite-specific changes
in management.many probably are. but some certainl,vare notl
With Atlos 2000 getting into qear this is probably not the time to be floatine ideas such as
these...but all the same I thought I would. what do membersthink?
SIMON J LEACH. English Nature Reserve,Roughmoor. Bishop's Hull. TALNTON.
TAI 5AA
Somerset
english-Names
Attention has been drawn to the fact that the article on Subspeciesfailed to include the English
common name for ('ategoria tntlondita. This gross breach of B.5B1i/elr.feliquette is regretted and
such a botanical solecismmust be corrected. However the author wishes verv strongly to avoid any
participation in the controlersl- surrounding the correct nomenclatureofBritish plants in the
vernacular. has no views on capitals or Capitals and is neither hyphencolenor hvphenfuge.
It will be recalled that(-uregoria oullatuliLo originated in the southern hemisphereor Southern
Hemisphereor southern Hemi-sphere This speciesis well known to the New ZealandMaoris who
37
Notcs and Artrcles
'ili-ahi-a-lo'e-lana-i-ka-wai
meanswelcome
alohawhlchroughlytranslated
call it La'au e komo mai
too manyor
greetingplant.This namehastoo manyor too few hyphens.
waterbeachsandalwood
lor generalusein the BritishIslesunlikeits more
too few Capitalsor capitalsandmavbe unsuitable
mellifluouscompatriotPirri-pirri bur. I am gratefulto Mrs StellaLuce for drawingmy attentionto
this latterspecies.
Categoriaoullandica w-asfirst formally namedas recentlvas \927. in Australiawhereit was
Apparentlyin
giventhe commonnameof Adrian'sdidgeridoo.The originof this nameis interesting.
tennisplavercalledAdrianQuistwho hadthe mislortuneto slurhis
that yeartherewasa successful
with theirrhymingslang
EventodavAustralians
wordscausinglistenersto think he wasinebriated.
'a
referto a matewho hasa 4XXXX too manyasbeing bit Adrian'.This originis suspectespecxiallv
when it is rememberedthat betweenl'797 and I 82I some600 peoplewere convictedof forgery in
the British Isles,ofthese 300 were executedand the remaindertansported lo Botant'Ra1.
here,
Thusthe way would appearto be clear for ('ategoria outlandica.now that it is established
It is boundto be contrivedand
to be givenan englishcommonnameor an EnglishCommon-name.
raisesthe moral issueas to whetherCommonenglishNamesshouldbe inventedfor foreign plants.
japanese
Normally.of course,the BSBI NamesCommitteewould
Knot-weednotwithstanding..
resolvesucha matterbut in this casethereis perhapsreasonto engagea wideropinionespecially
It is thereforeproposed,albeitby an amateur.
sinceForget-me-notwas renamedRemember-me.
to commentand suggest
ignorantbeginner.that all BSBI membersbe invitedthroughthe B.\81 A'ev'.s
namefor those
a suitablename.At the sametime theyshouldbe invitedto supplya Common-english
and without namely.('ocacolo emetica,
other unfortunatespeciesrecentlyquotedin the rv"ex,.s
Naslicreechia crm-luppia. tr'ertigo verticalis. I)tphoria scolia andP1'lonrepens.
to EnwauCymraegar
to endthis piecewithoutreference
Finallyit would be inappropriate
Blanhigiongan DafuddDaviesac Arthur Jones.Mae Env'au ('vmraegar Blanhigtonyn darparu'r
rhestrfiyaf cynhwysfawra gyhoeddwydhyd yn hyn o cnwauCymraegar blanhigionblodeuoga
We needa Welsh
rhedynPrydeinigynghyda'u henwaug'*yddonol &ladin) a'u henwauSaesneg.
nametoo.
JOHN TOPP.20 LupusStreet.LONDON SWlV 3DZ
EPIPHYTIC SEEDING S}'CAMORES
(but not exclusively)
foundon
andYew, usuall-v
The epiphytictrees.mainlyAsh.Elder.Sycamore
CrackWillow pollardsin Aveburyandthe KennetValle-v.havenot yet reachedfruition(R.\8,/Nevs
haddescended
saplings
in humus.or lbr the biggerepiph-vtic
65: 18-20).Theirrootsweremostl_vverticallyinside crackedor hollow, but still living. willow trunks.
Avon. againmainlyon CrackWillow
Epiphyticsycamores
alsooccuralongthe Bath,tsristol
pollards.However.someofthesehaveproduceda latticeofroots externolto the willow trunks,
to enlarge.flower and
reachingthe groundandtherebypermittingthe orisinallyepiphlticSycamore
leaves.root networks.andat least2 bunchesof
fruit. The photo(page38) showsthe Sycamore
samaras,
aswell assomeof the willow leaves.in the risingwatersof the RiverAvon at Limplev
to the
The centraltrunk is a l0m Sycamore.
but thebunchesof samaras
Stoke(Wilts) on 1111194.
epiphlticsycamores.
left andmiddleof the picturemay comefrom othersmallersurrounding
the willow trunk reachesaboutI m to the waterleveland
The Sycamoreroot latticesurrounding
about2.5mto the groundwhenthe waterleveldropsin summer.Thefact that a WiltshireSycamore
canmatureand sexuallyreproducefrom a living perchbv useofa networkof'stranglerroots'
indicatesan incipientevolutionaryparallelwith AustralianStranglerFigs (l;ictrs destruens,
in the illustration.
can
l'. macrophl,lla).Thesealsoneedmoistconditionsand.like the Sycamore
grow directlvfiom the ground(Nicholson
or alternatively
eithermatureasepiphJtic'stranglers'
le90)
Notes and Articles
38
Reference
PlantsI & ll. NationalLibraryof Australia
Nicholson,N. & H (1990).Austalian Rain/orest
with an exlemal'stranglerroot' latticeon a healthyCrackWillow
EpiphyticfruitineSycamores
Photo@ J.E Oliver
Risingwatersof the Bath Avon ar LimplevStoke.Wilts.-1111194
JACK OLI\ER. High View. RhylsLane.Lockeridge.Nr MARLBOROUGH,Wilts.SN8 4ED
TAKING BRAMBLES TO THE GRAVE
Thebotanist
J B.L Warren(1835-1895)
wasno stranger
to thegenusRr/6as
Some20 pagesof his
l:lt>raof('he.shire(1899\aredevotedto the subject.(Farmorethanmostmodernvice-county
floras).
'of Trout Hall. Plumlev,
is
TodayWarren's'R.cottcirutus
Cheshire(whereit is still locallyabundant)
uarrenti
known asrt.
for a species
Sudre.ClearlyWarrenhadplavedhis partin the studyof batolog-vto be namedin his honour.
at Lower Peover.His sraveis easyto find.for at the
J.B.L.Warrenwasburiedin the churchyard
headofthe gravestandsa largememorialcross.The ironyis that at the foot ofthe graveis a robust
identifiedasthe alienR. Iacinialus.
bramble(perhapssurprisingin sucha tidv graveyard).
This raisesthe question.hasthe plantbeenintroducedby the localavifauna,or bv deliberate
means?
Rubu.slacrniutu.v
is the cut-leaved
bramble.andis unmistakable,
shouldanymembers
be in the
neighbourhood,
andthe BellsofPeoverpublichouseis adjacentto the churchyard.
DAVE EARL. .1MeadowWav.BrooklvnPark.GravelLane,Banks.Nr SOUTHPORTPR9 8BU
Notes and Articlcs
l9
THE WOLLE]ITI PINE
During 1994an amazingdiscoveryr.vasmadein Australia.a smallgroupof previouslyunknownpine
treesin a deepvallevin the WollemiNationalPark
Botanistsfrom the NSW NationalParksandWildlifeSen'icewereableto quicklyestablish
numbersat about40 specimensand effectivelvsealoffthe areaas a resen'e.
investiqations
Subsequent
havefoundthe treesto be 'livinq fossils'.plantswhichwerebelieved
period(80 millionyearsago)andrepresent
to havebecomeextinctin the Cretaceous
a new senus.
The treesgrow to a heightofabout 40 metres.
Botanistsaroundthe world havebeenableto seethe pressreleases
andfirst illustrations
ofthe
discoverythroughthe lntemet.It is a remarkable
fact thatthe globalcomputernetworksnow
availableto anyonewith the necessarv
accessandequipmentcanparticipate
in sucheventsalmost
immediately.
The paceofdevelopinesuchtoolsis hardto keepup with andyet thevhavebecomean
everydayresourcein institutionssuchasthe NaturalHistorylVuseumin London.wherescientists
both contributeanduseinfbrmationon the'Net'.
Amateurandprofessional
botanistsshouldfind somethinsofinlerestalmosteverytimethevlink
into the Net- so rapidlydoesit change.Therearean estimated
40 millionuserstoday.but thisis
increasing
hourly!
So,what happensnextto the WollemiPine?Unfortunatelyit seemstheyhavealreadvattracted
the attentionsof'collectors'andurgentattemplsarenow beinemadeby officialsto collectseedsto
grow in botanicgardensaroundthe world andto protectthe few treesfrom an unwelcomemodern
disaster* extinction.
MALCOLM BEASLEY, BotanvLibrarv.NaturalHistorvMuseum.CromwellRoad.LONDON
MORE WINTER-FLOWERING
HOLLY
Without wishingto clinglike iw to the on-goings1oryof winler-flowering
Hollv (llex aqtiftiliun\.
none-the-less,
membersno doubtwill wish to know thatwe have.herein Kent.our own Christmas
flowering specimen.
Its a male,no less.henceno berriesto embellish
the story But everyDecember.
the hardiest
membersof the SidcupNaturalHistorySocietvwalk FootscrayMeadowswith birdsandflowersin
mind.So in 1994this hollytreewas in bloomon December18 andmy recordsshowit to havebeen
in bloomon December19, 1993aswell.
The questionthenarisesasto whetherit is wonhy of statusasa variety After all the
GlastonburyThorn is listedin Bean's lree.sandshruhs hardf in the Brttish Lsle.sas('rataesu.s
monogvtravar. proecox. Perhapsnot. but at leastit shouldhavea commonname.How about 'The
SidcupThorn'?And, please,no lettersaboutTed HeathandN{rsThatcher I
DAVID NICOLLE. 15 ParkhurstRoad.BEXLEY. Kent DA5 I AX
LINNAEANSversusJUSSICtIANS
I havejust read RobynMarsack'sbookMv garden : selected.fntntthe lettersand recollectiortsof
Mary RussellMilord (Sidgwick& Jackson.1990) In a livelyandamusinqletterdated4 May 1837
to ElizabethBarretlBrowning.a closefriendwith'*hom shecorresponded
onceor twicea week
' ..untilMr. Browningstoleherfrom
me'. N{issMitford(1787-1855)
wrote.
'Moreover,they
for the mostpart,so scornfulandconceitedthat
arethemselves.
[the scientists]
we areat perfectlibenyto "scornthe scorner" Ody think.tbr instance.
of botanists.
who kno*-
+o
Notcs and Articles / Mrstletoe Sun er
n o m o r e o f t h e c u l t i \ a t i o n o f a p l a n t t h a n t h e d e s hI a n r w r i l i n g o n . d e s p r s i n gf i o r i s t sa n d
h o r t i c u l t u r a l i s t su. h o b n n c t h e l o r e l r f l o u e r s a n d t h e g o o d h t h i n g . t h e f r u i t . t o s u c h p e r l e c t i o n l
And thev can't even agree about their own jargonr We had the other day a pitched battle in my
garden betu'een a set ofl-innaeans and a set ofJussicuans.Oh! ifyou had heard the clatter! I was
lain to bnnq ltrrth mv o*n list of new annuals(l have sixty. most of which have never blown in
England). and had the glow ofout-long-wording both panies, to the shameoffloriculture, who
ought to speak plain. I *ish -vouhad been present-it was a curious scene.'
Can someone tell me who the Jussicuansweret
JO DLfNrNl.Flat 2. Sandford l\{ount. Charlbun. OXFORD OX7 ITL
MISTLETOESTIRVE}'
MISTLETOE SURVEY 1994.96- A BRIEF UPDATE
Manythanksto all thosemembersandfnendswho havesentin recordcardsandobservations.
Please
acceptmy apologiesfor an."-delayin replvingto queries-the responsefrom the generalpublichas
beenratheroverwhelmingand both I and the Plantlif'eoffice havebeendelugedwith mail.
Severalpeoplehaveaskedwhetherit is worth recordingsquareslikely to be recordedby others.
The answerto this is YES PLEASEIasthe surveyis recordinqhostpreference
aswell asbasic
distribution.We will be undertakingsomepreliminan'analysis
of 1994195
databeforeresumingthe
surveynext winter so any data gatheredso far would be welcome.
JONATHAN BRIGGS.2 Ledsemoor.Watledee.NAILSWORTH.Gloucestershire
GL6 OAU
MISTLETOE_ MORE ABUNDANTON CALCAREOTISSOILS?
SincelastNovemberI havebeenan activeparticipantin the lvfistletoeSun'evorganised
by the BSBI,
in collaborationwith 'Plantlife' Before I set out on my first search-tripI readthe accountofL'iscum
album in Clapham.Tutin & Warburg(1st and2nd editions)and in the more recentClapham,Tutin &
Moore.andI wasastonished
to readthe words:'On the branches
ofa greatvarietyofdeciduous
trees...moreabundanton calcareous
soils'.It wastheselastfive wordswhichcausedmy
astonishment!I had alwaysknown that mistletoehad definitepreferences
as to its host tree but I
failedto understandin what way it could matterto the plantwhetherits host was growing on acid,
(or nearlyso).thenall
neutralor basicsoils.Ifits ody knownhostshadbeenobligatecalcicoles
would havebeenclear.but this is obviouslvnot the case.Ofthe thirteen'possible'hostsgivenon the
SurvevForm, onlv two - field mapleand perhapscrab apple- show a markedpreferencefor basic
soils,whereasmostof the others(includingcommonlime- oddly.not on the list.but by far the
commonest
hostin Berkshire)will grow in anvreasonable
soilwherevertheyhappento havebeen
planted.Rowan.alsoon the list. I would havethouehtto be a calcifugeasit is usuallvfound,when
nati!e.in graniteareas.
I havespokento severalReadingbotanistsandalsoto an ecologistfrom Bristolaboutthis little
puzzleand they were all equallvmystified.Is there anv objectiveevidencefor the abovestatement.I
wonder.or wasit just a casualobservalion
madeby somebody
livingin a limestoneareawhere
mistletoehappened
to be plentiful.asit is in that sectionof the Boroughof Readingwhichliesnorth
of the Thamesbut whichis actuallypart of the chalkolthe SouthOxfordshireChiltems?
As well ason limesI havenow foundthis mr4hladenhemi-parasite
on crackwillow, h-vbrid
blackpoplar.Norwavmaple(not on the list. thouqhsvcamore
is listed).hawthom,cultivatedapple,
Mistletoe Suner / Botanrcal Latin
('ralaegts spp.unldentifiable
andthreesmallornamental
in the absence
ofleaves.and I haveto admt
that all havebeenfoundgrowineon calcareous
soils.
ProfessorClive Stace.in hisy'y'gv'
Flortt of theBfiti.rhI.tle.s.
is silenton the subjecrof mistletoe's
- ifany Is it reallvmoreabundanton calcareous
soil preferences
soilsor wasthis wholestorvjust
perhaps andyet - I continueto wonder?
onemore m!th, now explodedby modernresearch?
CAROL HORA 5l EasternAvenue.READING. BerkshireRGI 5Se
MISTLETOE IN COVENTRY
Althoughnot a memberof the BSBI. I heardabout1,ourMistletoeSurveyfrom a friendandthouqht
the followingobsenationsma,ube of inrerest.
For manyvearsI havenolicedbunchesof Mistletoealongthe ,{.129.WarwickRoadin Coventrv
andwhenI heardofvour surveyI did a countofthenr recentlv
This roadrunsNorth,/South
w-ithan areaknownas Top Greenwhichis an ornamental
park on
the west side.Nearerthe stationis the King HenryVllI School.
On the westsideof the roadis a line of seventeen
matureLime trees( liliq " wtlsari.s)andof
thesefive havelrom one to four buncheson them Tuo limesin theeroundsofthe schoolhavelour
and sevenbuncheseach.Next to the railu'avbridgeare anotherthreetreeswith erowthson thenl
On the eastsideof the road there are two matureHawthorns((rataegts minogvna\.one in the
gardenofa privatehouseandthe otherin the groundsofa hotel.Theyhaveone and'threegrowths
respectivelv.
As I left the stationon the trainto London.I spottedanothertreecoveredin Mistletoe.
I will returnto checkifthere areany othertreesin the areawith srowthson beforesendinsin
the findingsfor your survey.
JEM{IFER TURNER.83 KinrossRoad.LEAMING'ION SpA. Warks.CV32 7EN
BOTANICALLATIN
LATINT]S BOTANICI]S
A report on the meetingon Botanicall.atin atThe LlniversitvofReading.4 February 1995
Springwas in the air as an eagerbandof membersplus Universitvstudents(numbering45 and25
respectivelv)
gatheredat the SchoolofPlant Sciences.
The UniversityofReadins.for the
Iong-awaited
meetingon BotanicalLatin.
After somewelcomingwordsby ProfessorMichaelDick of the UniversitvBotanvdeoartment_
'our
own' Dr StephenJurvintroducedProfessorWilliamSrearnAs VisitineFrofessor
foi manv
yearsat Reading.
a world-*ideauthontyon bothLinnaeus
andbotanical
Latin.andwhosebook
BolanicalI'atin is now in its fourthedition-ProfessorStearnwasthe keynotespeakerHe beganbv
givingus a definitionofthe term BotanicalLatin a modernromancelanguage
ievisedanddeveloped
over aboutthree hundredvearsas a technicallanguageseparatefrom Laiin usedspecifically.and
internationallv,
for the naminganddescription
of plants.An ancientRomanwouldnot recognise
it
todayashis everydavlanguage.
as manynewwordshavebeencoined- the maioritvofthem from
Greek;andmanvclassical
Latin wordshavebeenqivennew andprecisebotanilal*.unrnn..
The Professorthenspokeofthe historvofthe development
ofthis laneuage,
mentioning
the
contributions
madebv manvearlvscholarsandscienrists
goingbackasfar-as,iristotte.
Theophrastus.
andPliny.thenCarolusClusius.JoachimJungius-JohnRay.andCarlLinnaeus.The booklJotanical
I'qlin waswrittento keepopenthe channels
of communication
bv providinga key to unlockthe
wealthofknowledgerecordedin this specialist
lansuase.
Botanical Latin
At l:.l5 themeeling\\as adiourned
tbr lunch.lt wasa beautifulh'sunny
day,andso we all
walk acrossthegroundsof the Universityto WessexHall, wherea
enjovedthe delightfulfir'e-minute
superbbuffetluncheonu asprovided .,\llaroundonethe subiectof the meetingwasunderdiscussion
evidence
thate\enonefoundit ot'qreatinterest
Al1er*'e hadreconvened.
PhilipOswald.a classics
scholar.addressed
the meetingwith a talk
'HappvEndincs!'.whichwas
look at the
entitled
described
in the programmeasa light-hearted
grammarof scientitjcnames.but which wasalsoan ertremelyusefulexpositionof where,when.and
how. the specificepithetshouldagreewith the genericname.Philip.with greatoriginality,illustrated
parallelof
the pointshe wasmaliing(on rvell-produced
overheadtransparencies)
usingthe fascinating
titlesofvariousroyalpersonages
throughouthistory.For instance.
in the examples'Alfredthe Great'
and'Mvosrus minimus'-the specificepithetsarecomparative
in 'WilliamRufus'and
adjectives:
'Lamiumalbum', the
adjectives
aredescriptive.
In both thesecasesthe adiectivehasto agreewith
the noun.'William the Conqueror'andthe parallel'Quercusilex'. however,consistof two nouns;
and in 'William of Orange' and 'Primula )'erl.f'. the specificnameis in the genitivecase.Neitherof
thesehaveto agree.Thereweremanvmoreexamples.
andthe talk wasso sood that severalofus
askedhim to publishit in B.\B1,Vevs.and we are looking forward to him doing this
ProfessorStearnthen returnedto the platformand gaveus a verv entenainingaccountofhowhis book cameto be written in odd momentsover a lonc oeriod.
Prof Stearnand'TheBook'at Reading.Photo@ A. Daly, 1995
After this JohnDavid deliveredan interestingpaperexplainingthe benefitsthat a knowledeeof
BotanicalLatinis to mycologv.whichhe seesas:an eniancedappreciation
ofthe development
of
mycology;an understandingof the namesandterms(makingthemeasierto remember),an ability to
manipulate
the endingsofnamescorrectly.andan abilitvto readdescriptions
that wouldotherwisebe
publishedin a foreignlanguage.
He gavemanyexamples
to illustratethesepoints(all of whichapply
equallyto botany),includinga humorouselementfound in someof the newernames.e.g . Blanteva
hibernica- a newly discoveredfungusfrom lreland-Rubiha. whosespores(accordineto the
authors)'beara superficial
resemblance
to a Rubik'scube.andhavea complexstructurewe have
beenunableto fully understand':andZ.txiophora.thus namedto ensurethe last entryin the
Dittionary of Fungrl
Botanical Latin
t-]
Finally,GordonRowleyroundedoffthe proceedings
with 'tsotanicalLatin.the unfirushed
chapters?',
a very amusingconmenton someof the strange'Latin' wordsandodd pronunciations
onecomesacrossin the botanicalworld.
Despiteits formidabletitle.this meetingwasa ver_v
informalafi'air- combiningthe more-senous
pointsraisedby our speakers
with a linle levity.It wasinteresting
to seethat manymembersnot
oftenseenat fieldmeetingsweredrawnto this meeting.EveryoneI spoketo afterwardshadenjoyed
it very much, and it was a pity more had not attended.
For this extremelyinteresting
andenjoyablemeetinqour thanksgo to'
StephenJury,who (actingon an ideaoriginallyput for*ard bv BrianGale)vervkindlyandefficiently
organised
the meetingin the Departmentof PlantSciences
at ReadineUniversitv.Proi-essor
William
Stearn,who despitehis 83 years,nranagedto hold an audienceenthralledfor aboutone and a half
hours(in two sessions):
andPhilioOswald.JohnDavid.andGordonRowlevfor theirexcellent
contributions.
ANNE P DALY. 698 VicaraseRoad.Wollaston.STOLTRBRIDGE.
WestMidlandsDY8 4NP
BOTANICAL PRONUNCIATION - ELEVEN ROIjGH GUIDES
haslonebeena thornvissue.possiblyevenmoreso thanits sister
Botanicalpronunciation
controversy,
that of commonnames.Thereareplentvof guidesandrules(especiallv
from Victorian
times),andyet it is clearthat few peoplepronouncethe wordsasrecommended.
andifthey did they
wouldbe regardedratheroddly,evenin respected
circles.
academic
The guidingprinciplein accumulating
the recommendations
below.hasbeento reflecthow most
people,particularlybotanists,do actuallypronouncebotanicalnamesand other words. ratherthan
how they should.Thereforetherearemanydisagreements
with works like Coombes( t985).etc..
whichquitecorrectlyhavea differentfunction I havelistenedwith interestto botanistsoverthe
'oldergeneration'whose
years,particularlvto the morerespected
properway ofdoine thingsis in
dangerofdying out with themastheyarereplacedbv Philistineplantscientists
or whatever.Despite
the classicaleducationthat manyof my informantshad,they still do not follow the stricterrulesthat
arestill laid down. As ProfessorStearnsaidat the 1995BSBlfuniversitvof Readinsconference
on
RotctnicolLatin, '[English]botanicalLatin is a modernromancelanguage
in its own right'. andthe
presentcontributionis the resultofobsen'ingthe pronunciation
ofthis livinglanguage.
Yet it is still not just a matterof pronouncing
lhe wordsasyou like, or asif thevwereEnglish;
in the m.iddleliesa practicalcompromise.
somewhere
andit is for this that a simpleguideis needed.
for the botanicalneophyte(aswell asthe occasional
gerontophlte)Practicalpronunciation
lies
betweenpretentious
classical
usage,andgardeners'gaffs:few would disagree
abouttheseextremes.
but thereis of coursesomevariationof view aboutanymiddlepath.Therewill alwaysbe.andalways
shouldbe.thosewho categorically
with theseor anv guides.ficrthat is whatthevare- not
disagree
rules.InevitablyI havetakensidesin somecontentious
issues.not leastlor (-amellia It is probably
unwisefor a southemerto instructa Mancunianon how to pronouncethe word bus.andI suspect
that this shortpiecemaybe unwiser:I shallbe disappointed
ifit doesnot triggerrobustcomment.
givendo not usedictionarvconventions.
The pronunciations
exceptlor a singleinvertedcomma
aftera stressed
svllable.readthemas Englishwords In the caseofforeign names.this is a bluntbut
functionalinstrument.
The guidesbelowwerefirst producedsomevearsaeo,in response
to studentrequests
fbr a
one-sheet
simplehandout.whichis ofcourseimpossible.
The selectionhereis necessarily
subjective.
but manyexamples
aremultifunctional,
or arewordsthat studentsaskabout.Thereis alwaysthe
temptationto cramin anotherpoint.example.exception.or reference,
or to closeup line-spacinc
or
to usesmallerpoint-size.but this would loosethe intendedpurpose.
Whatfollowsis the currentversionof that handout.stilljust one A.1sheet.For a fullerlookup
reference.
Johnson& Smith(1931) providesa smallbook thatgivesboth realisticpronunciations.
andalsoderivations.
Boanical Latln
{,1
NOI E. guidesbeloware'l raditionalt.nglishpronunciation,
unlessindicatedas:"RA" whichmeans
Reformed(or Restored)Academic.andis not generallyused.
* "G"s and "c"s aresoft beforean "e" (or the diphthongs
"oe" or "ei") or
containing
an "i" (or "y"). othenvisehard(before"a". "o", "u", "c", etc.);the mnemonic"A gungyginger
gargoyle"mal help.Thusflaccidis pronounced
flak'sid,as in accent,andfungus(fun'gus)
becomesfungi (funj'eye,or lesspreferredfunj'y, thoughfung'eyeiyareoftenheard)in the
plural.as doescoccus(kock'us)becomecocci(kock's-eye,or kocks'y).Hence.Scutellaria
( S k o o t ' - )a n d S c i l l (aS i l l ' a ) . b uSt c i r p t t s S
i sk e r ' p u s" C " b e f o r e a n " e " o r " i " a s " t s h " i s a
ChurchLatin affectation((-erorodonas Tsherat'-odon)."G" or "c" fiom a Greekroot is
traditionallyhardasin (iymnop'ne(Gim'no-guy'nv)(RA "g"s and"c"s alwavshard).
- *Cht' and "th" areusually"k" or "th". asin lichen(lie'-ken)and.lchizo.sll,li.s
(Skit'so-sty'lis,
but Shy'zo-is acceptable.
and Shy-zee'afor Schi:aeo,Shy'nusfor Schinus(RA: Skeen'us),
(RA: Skoy'nus),etc.,arein practiccusual.But lhea (Ta.v'a),Thymus
Shee'nusfor Schoentis
(Tie'mus),etc.,have"th" as"t".
\ 'rcn' at the beginningof a word hasa silent"G". asin Gneum (Neet'um),but in the middleit is
pronounced,as in Sphagntm (Sfag'num).Similarlv"Ps" as inpsetrdocapsicum
(syewd'o-cap'sikum).
and"Gm" inGmelina(Mel-eve'na)andRegmatodor(Reg-mat'odon).
(Mesip'-teris).andalso"Pn". "N,ln","Ts". etc Many
Similarly"Tm", "Pt" Tmesipteri.s
exceptionsinclude.Rhizomnium-Hvpoptengium. wherethe link vowel is not accented
(Rie'zo-nie'urn.Hie'po-teri'gium).
'[htqo
- "J"s maybe pronounced
(Thoo'ya)and
asa consonanl-"y"beforean ultimatevowel,asin
Ruddleja(Bud'Jeya), but usuallynot othenviseasin Junipents,Juncus,Juglans,Leucojum,etc.
- The vowels rray be pronounced
(RA) asin the rnremorric
"Pa let me offtoo", but this is
by long and shortvowel sounds,whichdependon grammar(seeStearnI 992).
complicated
"y''s as"w"s,
you. especially
Fortunately,
ifyou pronounce
nobodyin Englandwill understand
and"j"s as"y"s. It is. however.closerto the botanicalLatinusedon the Continent.Common
(Hie'men-offillum). Plnrs is invariablypolitely
sensehelps.e g "y" in Hvmenoph;.'lhrm
pronounced
Pie'nus.
> The finaf "e" shouldalwaysbe pronounced,
a bit like a short"i", asinCardamine
(Cardam'iny);exceptions
usuallvincludeHelleborrne
andAlot, whichcansoundodd unless
pronounced
like thcir Anglicisedforms.l/oe evenhasthe final"c" with two littledotsovcr it to
(Alo'-y with a long "o"), but thosewho do so
indicatethat it shouldbe pronounced
separately
risk raisedeyebrows.
> f)ouble-"i" endingstendto get pronounced
as in .snrthii(smith'y-eye)
> Diphthongs/monophthongs:
examples:Cheirqnthus(Kie'-), Coelog,ne(Seel'o-),
Euphorbia(You'-), Dqucrts(Dor'kus),Aegilops(Eej'-),(brx (Koyks) For RA seeStearn
(1eez)
> Not diphthongs: whenthe abovepairedvowelsarereversed,
or whenthe letterscometogether
from differentword parts,e.9.. Elodea (E'llo-dear).lanceolata(-ee-oh-),lsoeles(shouldreally
be writtenIsoetes:Eve'so-eet'ees).
Aloina (A'lo-ee'na).aloides(strictlyal'-o-eye'-deez
with a
(-ay'si-ee'),or practicallyandsensibly
short"o", but usuallyal-oy'deez),Ranunculaceae
(An'dri-av'si. with short"i"s). Joking aside.(-otoneasler
condensedas in Andreaeaceae
is not
pronounced
"Cotton-Easter".
\ Stressing syllables: various(conflicting)nrles
a) ifthe nameis derivedfiom trvo or moreparts.thenit shouldbe pronounced
accordingly,
(Tet'ra-fiss),angustifoliun(angus'ti-fol'iurn).
e.g. Tctt'dpht.s
do not accentthe link vowel.
include:(ierroplerrs,Xryhoplens(Ienop'-lZiffop'{eris),Polytrtchm,
Commonexceptions
Orthotrichum(accenton link-"o". and j'y"), seerule (b) below. The worst I haveheardin all
is Dizz'y-Goth'icafor Din'gotheca(normallyDie'-zie'go+hee'ka.
seriousness
with a soft"th"),
owingto slavishapplicationof rule (b).
b) accentfirst syllableoftwo, middleoftkee. third from endoffour or five;but this is a
cruderule,anddepends
on long or shortvowels(e.g.accentpenultimate
if long.if not then
Botanical Latin / Consen ation Ne$ s
+l
antipenultimate)
andgrammarwhichwould not be knownby mostpeople;euphonyin English
usuallywins.
> All these guides areusuallyover-riddenin the caseof scientificnamesderivedfrom proper
asin
names,which shouldbe pronounced
asclosell'asreasonable
to their nativepronunciation,
(lesneria(Gez'-),Schefflera(Shetr-),('amellia(Kamell'ialiom the N{oravianKamel,Latinised
Buxbaumia(-bow'- asin house),(-olchicum(Kol'chikum,fiom Colchis),
to Camellus),
Matthiola (Mat'iola from the Italian N{attioli), andv'ar.scevrc:il(a closetry is
whichis
liom Polish).The problemis knowinghow they'werepronounced,
Varsh'evich'y-eye.
often debatableanlnvay.The AustraliangenusAustroballe,ruwould be "Ost'-" if the prefix
"Orst'-". Exceptions
referredto the country,whichit doesn't.so it shouldbe pronounced
usuallyinclude:Menziezia(Men-zeez'ia.from Scottish"Min(g)'iz"). ('hoiq'a andMagnolia
(Choy'ziaandMag-noh'liafrom the (Swiss-)French
"Shwus-ee"and"Manyol").l;uchsia
(Few'-sha,an Englishdelicacyfrom German"Fooks").Mahonra(Ma-hoh'nia.from
American-Irish"McMar'n"). and evenRffiesla (Raff-leez'-ia.from English"Raffls")
SOIIRCES include:
Stearn,W.T. (1992).BotanicalLatin (4th edn).David& Charles
'l'he
Collingridge l)ictionan'of Plant Ncmes NewnesBooks
Coombes,A.J (1985)
Johnson,A.T, & H.A. Smith(1931).Plqnt NamesSinplfied (2nd edn).Collingridge
Paxton,J (1853) I PocketlJotenicalDictionon'(2nd edn) BradburyandEvans
Plusgeneralobservation
amongstbotanists.
to whom manvthanls for their(oftenconflicting)
comments.
Museum.Manchester
Universitv.MANCHESTERM l3 PL
SEAN EDWARDS.The Manchester
CONSERVATIONNEWS
NEWS FROM CONSERVATION COMMITTEE
for
We haverecentlybeenaskedfor our viewson anvchanges
to be madeto the listsof species
Act ( 1981) We proposedthe following
specialprotectionunderthe WildlifeandCountryside
candidatespecies
to the JointNatureConservation
Committee(JNCC)via Plantlife:
('arex buxbaumii
Club Sedge
Carex muricala slbsp. muricata
Large-fruited
Prickly-sedge
Dianlhus armeria
Deptford Pink
Dryopteris crislata
CrestedBuckler-fern
(ialirm parisiense
Wall Bedstraw
Hammarbya paludo.sa
Bog Orchid
I lle cehrum verlic i llatu m
Coral-necklace
Juncus pygmaeus
PigmyRush
Leersia oryzoide.s
Cut-grass
L1;chnis viscariq
Sticky Catchflv
Provisional candidates are lv{elampvrum cn:ttatum Crested Cow-wheat and Asplenium septenlrionale
Forked Spleenwort. Members who have views on these proposals.or information about threats to the
species,pleasecontact me. David Streeter. chairing his first Conservation Committee meeting,
pointed out that it is always bad news for a speciesto be named after an-vplace in Kent. which seems
inevitably to lead to a decline of speciessuch as pinks. warblers and filmv-ferns. Maybe the most
constructive recovery prograrnme for Dianthus armerla would be a change of namet
Members may also be interestedto know ofthe'Plant Europa' conference,to be held on 2-8
Seotember 1995 in Hvdres. France. Organisediointlv bv Plantlife and the French Ministrv ofthe
Consen atlon News / Aliens
Environment,it will be the first buropeancontbrencetbr wild plant conservationand will cover legal
instruments.
practicalmeasures.
sustainable
and
usesofplants.the planttrade,habitatmanagement
the involvementof people.Detailsare availablefrom Plantlife.c/o The NaturalHistory Museum,
CromwellRd- LondonSW7 5BD
\''ICKY MORGAN, Hon. Secretarv.
Conservation
Conrmittee.
A L IE N S
ALIENS WELL RECEIVEI)
Thelong-awaited
AlienPlantsof theBritishIslesby E J Clement
by
andM.C Fosterwaspublished
the BSBI on 26thNovember1994andlaunchedat the AnnualExhibitionMeetingheldat Baden
PowellHouse.It hasbeenverv enthusiastically
received.A sampleof someinitialreactionsfollows
(namesandaddresses
supplied).
'The
book is marvellous... I am amazedat how muchinteresting
informationhasbeenpacked
into it, andhow rewardingit is just to browsein . . a ereatachievemenl.'
tDifed]
'I
am muchimpressed
bv its scopeandaccurac_v
... It shouldsellwell andbecomea classicwork
ofreference.'
[Dorset]
'I expectedit to be first rate.
but I think it is evenmorethanthat ... I canthink ofno
improvement
that mighthavebeenmade.'
lSutrolk]
'... the
sheerwealthof informationpackedinto a smallspaceis extraordinary.' [London]
'The book isfar ntoreexcitingthanI was
expecting!... it reallyis a landmark- andso
inexpensive.'
[Dorset]
'Magnificent,fantastic, higtrli'remarkable
a
achievement,
on whichthe authorsdeservethe
highestcompliments.'
[Kent]
'It will
be of enormoususefor all peopleworkingon aliensin Europe.'
[Belgium]
and similarcommentsbv severalothersl
The authorswish it to be put on recordthat theirnameswerearranqedalphabetically.
therewas
no seniorauthor.They are now busy,underthe directionofBruno Ryves,andwith assistance
from
Duggie Kent and Dr Tom Cope. on producingthe concludingpart of their work (entitled,4/ler
gra.sses
of thellritish Isles) which shouldbe publishedin 199516It will includekeysto somedifficult
generaand.hopefully.illustrations
bv GrahamEasy.
MeanwhileEric Clementis assembling
corrections
andadditionsto the first volumein the hope
that a new editionor supplement
will eventuallv
be produced.
Finallvmav I coneratulate
Eric and Sallvon receivingThe Presidents'Award
for 1995.a well
deserved
honour.
GWYNN ELLIS. Editor
ALIEN RECORDS
My thanksto thosememberswho sentin detailsofthe alienplantstheyhadrecordedrecently.
Becausethe April issueof /J.lB,/NevrsalreadvcontainsFieldMeetingReportsandthe Reportof the
AnnualExhibitionMeeting. Alien Recordswill normallvappearin the Septemberand Januaryissues
of News.The recordsI havenow. togetheru'ith anvmorethat I receivein the nextfew months,will
appearin the September
issue.
GWYNN ELLIS Editor
Aliens
GLORIESOF THE SNO\\'
'('hionodoxa
werediscovered
onlv abouta centuryago hrghin the mountains
of AsraMinor where
they floweredin greatsheetsofblue backedby the meltingsnow,'(Doerflinger,l97j) Indeed
'chion'means
snowand 'O9y'qlon. u,hichpaintsaspiciuresque
an introdu"ction
to the subjectas
we may seek Thesebeautifulbulbousalpineshavetranslerred
errraordinarily
well to Britishgardens,
their gracefullvspreading,
rotate,squill-likeflowersbringingvivid sky.azureandgentianbluesto our
springmonths.Thereareactuallvtwo or threespecies
aihigh altitudesin southeri Europe,Tutinet
a] (1980) giving(-hionodoxa
creti(a and('. rtttiu lrom CreieandWalterser al (1986)giving
(-' albescensand('. nana from Crete and also(. lochitte
ftom Cvprus.The three discussedin this
paper,however,are,('.
luciliqe,(.'..forhe.siiand('..sczrclclsr.rfromWestTurkey.Theseaccountfor
practicallyeveryGIoryof the Snowlikell'to he foundin culti,"ation
or as a gardenescapern Great
Britain In total,the genuscontainsapprotmatelvsir specres
Despiteits limitedsize('hionodoxahasbecomea iatherconfusedgenusin botanical
and
horticulturalliterature,with synonyms
unclear.epithetsmisapplied
anditatusesdebatable.
Sufficefor
the.moment
to presentat leastthe Turkishrepresenlalives
asaurrentlvunderstood.
with descriptions
whichwork andwith nameswhicharenow deemedcorrect The'are asfbllows:
('hionodoxaluciliae.Flowerslarge,upward-tbcing,
usuallysingleon theirscapes.
pateto sky blue
with lobesl5-20mm 'Eyes' (palebasalringsinsideperianthsegments)
conspicuously
white.
Leavesoftenratherrecurvedtowardstrps
Thenamis('. gigaticrrund('.trcit,r,"vat.gtgottrea
havebeenmisapplied
here
('hionodoxu.forr5c'.rll.
Flowersmoderate.outward-lacing
or ascending,
sometimes
the lowerslightly
pendent,usuallyin racemes
ot' 6-r2 on theirr.up.i, .i"h to u^r" bluewith lobesr0-r5mm.
'Eyes'
white' proportionately
smallerandlessconspicuous
thanabove.Leavesnormally
straight
a n d s p r e a d i nTgh e n a m e s ( ' l t t c i l i o e , ( . s r e h e r a n d ( . t m o l u . s i h a v e b e e n m i s a p p l i e d h e r e . t t i s
muchthe commonest
('hionotloxttin cultivation.
('hionodoxa-gsrderrsrs.
Flowerssmall.ourrvard-facing
to pendent.usuallyin racemes
of'6-16on their
'Eyes'vestigial
scapes'azureto gentianblue*'ith lobes8-1Omm.
to almostunnoticeable.
Leaves
normallystraight,spreading,
slenderandconvolutelvchannelGd.
(- forbe'sitand(-. :urdenstvhaveboth beenrecorded
in ihe wild in this country.as .well naturalised
from seedsw-hereneglectedor thrownout.' (g1ngsl99l From my own
)
a,.p"ii.n... too. they readily
self-sowon dry groundinsideandoutsidegardens.
Moreovertheirbulbs,like thoseofthe common
('rocusspecies(B.sli1Aex..s
snnng-flowering
60) areremarkably
adeptai sun.ivinghot,
drought-stricken
monthsofaesttvationamongsrpredomrnating
i oots'of LoltuntpJre22e(perenniai
Rye.Grass)beneathtrampledurbanlawns C. foihesri and('. iartlensi,
ur. pt,otigruphedwith rather
washedout coloursin Rix andPhillips( 1081, ,n. formerunderthe name('. sieher.
More trueto life
('.
arethe photographs
of
forhesti and,C. lutiliue in Bnckell( I 99j ) Authenric,too, is the line
drawingof ('..forhesiiin Srace( I 991)
, , o n a g r a s s y e a s t - f a c i n g h i l r s i d e i n S p r i n g f i e l d p a r k ( L o n d o n B o r o u g h o f H2alc) ,ktnheeyr ,ev c
haslong eisted a populationofnaturalised('hion<xloxu.
lt comprises
tie bestpan oia thousand
plantsandtheyflower eachyearfrom lateFebruaryto earrl April
Struckby,exlreme
degreesof
variabilitywithinthis population,I examinedindividuals
morecriticalll.,ni no* distin-eursh
fbur taxa
(seefro.ntcoverillustration).Threearethe clear-cutTurkrshspecies
described
above The fburthis
largerthananyof them,with.upward-to outward-fbcing
flo*ers. usuaily2-21
,ogon", on their
scapes,
rich violet-bluewith lobesI 8-25mmand 'eyes'andleavesas in (. lttctllqe
For the moment,I
am postulating('. luciliae ' ('..forbesii,basedon featuresofintermediacy.
andI consrderit likely
that similarplantsareconlinuallyarisinglr .rill here.I am not awareif sucha
hybridhasyet been
described,
it is' however,possiblethat iuch hvbridsarisingelsewhere
havebeenplacedin the vague
'giganteo'
bracket.sincethe^('../l.y/ra.
of fux andphrJlips(l9gl)doesbearsomepassrng
resemblancetoourlargest-of-all
Springfieldexamples
Ciertainlythereisalotofself--seedrngtaking
placein thisflamboyantcolonl with ne'\,progenvmaturingall ihe
time.A parasiticsmutfungus,
[ / s t i l a g o v a i l l o n t i i ' w a s f o u n d t o b e i n f e c t i n g t h e so
t af m
c . e/ bnrsh e . t t r a r o n e
-lx
Alicns
( 'Jttottrtil tt'o is closelr relatcd t o Scr//rr 1\\ alters r-t al. I 486 ). dilTeringprinrarih in havine the
b a s eo f i t s p e r i a n t hl u s e d i n t o a n r ) h c o n i c atl u b e a p p r o x i m a t e l va f i 1 l ht h e l e n g t ho f i t s l o b e s f i g h t l y
rvithin this proximal tube there nestle si\ tiee stamensbearing characteristicallytlattened white
filaments and mustard yellow anthers In .\r'r1lr. bl contrast. the perianth Iobes remain virtually or
be bluish and little flattened. S. btrtilia (Npine
entirely separatedto the base and the filaments ma_vS q u i l l ) i s a l s o n a t u r a l i s e di n t h i s S p r i n g f i e i dP a r k l o c a l i t v I t i s d e s c r i b e di n S t a c e( 1 9 9 1) a n d i n
gardening books, as a speciesconsideredparticularly near ('hionodtxo by virtue ofproducing at least
one intergeneric hvbrid with it. namely .\. hiftilro , ('.,litrbe.vi :' (.hiornscilla ttllenii.'llns hybrid is
a fairly widespreadgarden plant although perhapsnot o{ien identil'redaccurately.We may note that
its perianth segmenlsare cut to the base as in.\crlia (Chittenden & Synge, 1974), while Schaunberg
(1965) further describesit as resembling('../orhc.sii e\cept that 'the deep blue lloral segmentshave
no white basal patch and turn a darker violet blue when the flower is about to fade. The ... stenr
'the
produces 6-9 t.lou'ers'and
leares are longer than those ofits related species.'There exists the
possibility of , ('. ollenri arising spontaneouslyat Springfield Park and such crosseswill eagerly be
sought in future.
May all these genera receive the botanical scrutinv thel- desene, for they bring pleasureto many
as winler relents its urip.
References
Brickef l, C. ( 1993 ). ( iurderrcr.s I'.nclclopaedra of I'lont.s and FTou'er.r,Dorling Kindersley, London.
Chittenden, F.J. & Synge, P.M. (1974) R<t1.'alHorlrt'rltural S<tciet.tl)ictiortttrl'of (iardenrng.
Vol. L Clarendon Press. Oxfbrd.
Doerflinger. F (1973) The Rulb Rook David & Charles,Newton Abbott. Devon
'l
he Rulh lJook. Pan Books. London
Rix, N.{.& Phillips, R ( 198 l)
'|'he
llulb rSool<.Frederick Warne, London
Schaunberg,P (1965).
Stace, C.A. (1991) ,\'tlr l;lora tf the Rriti.\h lsle.\, CLrP. Cambridge
Tutin, T G et al (1980) l"ktra f.uropoeu, Vol 5, CLtr, Cambridge
Walters, S ll'l etal (1986) Ihe l.uropean(larden l;lora.Yol 1 CLP, Cambridge
BRIAN WURZELL. .17Rostrevor Avenue. Tottenham. LONDON \15 6LA
TWO TIN[iSI.IAL
GARDEN ESCAPESIN KIRKCLTDBRIGTITSHIRE
h li 9
r e9 3 a
lnthelastfewyearstwounusuag
l a r d e n e s c a p e s h a v e b e e n r e c o r d e d i n K i r k c u d b r i g h t sI n
St John's-wort with flowers nearly as large as Hyperiutm cttf,cinum was seengrowing out of rocks
in a roadside cutting. two plants had seededthemselvesinto crerices 30 feet apart. Like
H. c'alycinun and H. pseu<loheir1'l(l thought it was the latter) our plant had 5 stylesbut Norman
Robson has identified the plant for us as Hypericun ftrre.rtll . he said this was the St John's-wort
that is grown in Scottish gardens(see illustration p {9)
The second is a pretty potentilla, bnlliant yellow with Sibbaldia-typeleaves This w.asfound by
Anna White in a disused quary in the north part ofthe countv. The owner can't account for it being
there, but it probably was introduced when some broken masonry was tipped there without her
'dump'
permission. lt hasn't been used as a
betbre. lt isPoterttilla eriocarpa, a plant from the
(see
p.
illustration 49) When trying to identi$ rt, I looked through Edinburgh Herbariunr
Himalayas
and found one specimenin the cultivated l)otetililla folders which had been given by Gen. Murray
Lyon. Ardoorly, Pitlochrv lrom his garden in Perthshire.I thought there rvas no specimenin the
Botanic Gardens, as it was not on their list ofeverything grorving in the garden, produced in 1990,
but it has been introduced since then Ron McBeath in the _qardens
says it has a limited life and has
been replaced from time to time. Our plant covers over 2 fbot squareand looks very healthy, so it
will be interestingto see how long it will last with us.
O L G A S T E W A R T . 3 0 / 5 C o l i n t o n R o a d . E D I N B L T R G HE H 1 0 5 D G
{
q
Ia
;r
F
{
{
J
,r
ia
N
h.
o
a
o
tr
o
\
a
'J)
;
!
I
:
!
:
F
EXOTIC TREES IN THE BRITISH FLORA
Furtherto my note in BSBI A't'v's68 regardinga requestfor informationon Exotic Tree speciesand
nrv recentappointment
asRefereefor IntroducedandCultivatedTrees,I feelit would be usefulto try
to clarifl'a few points.
(1981),inapproximateorderofarrival
I TreesconsideredNativebvMitchell
afterthelastice-age,
areasfollows.
Juniperu.scommunts
Quercusrobur
('rataepps monogvna
Belula pilbescens
B. pendula
Salix.fragilis
I'opulu.stremula
Populusnigra var. benlifolia
Pinus q'lvestrts
Tants baccala
Salix penlandra
Sorbusaria agg.
('rataegu.slaet'igala
.4lnusglutinosa
('or.tlus a,ellana
Malus q,lvestris
I-ilia cordata
Pntnustwium
Prunuspadus
Salixalba
Salixcaprea
Acer campestre
Illmus glabra
Sorbustorminalis
Sorbu.saucupariq
f ilia planplry'llos
l"agts nlvatica
Quercuspetraea
('arpinus betnlus
Frminus excelsior
llex aqurfolium
Buxussempervirens
Includingtheir naturalhybrids(e.g. ()uercusx rosacea)and subspecies
or varieties.
Any not on this list areconsidered
thereforeExoticor Introduced.
2. The recordsin which I am interestedare ofthose speciesofintroduced treeswhich are asyet little
recordedin the British flora. Exotic speciessuchas Sycamore(Acerpseudoplalanzs)and Sweet
Chestnut(('astaneasalrva) arevery well representedin the British flora and consequently,very
well recorded.theserecordsare oflesser interestto my project.Sincebeingin conespondence
with JackOliver, I am novr'awarethat the tree specieswith which I am interestedneedsfurther
clarificationand I will attemptto do so as follows.
I . Treeslisted in Stace(especially'other species') but which arenot in Claphamel a/ ( 1987).
2 Treesneitherlistedin Stace(1991)nor Claphamet al (1981)
3. Any treeswhich may be fairly commonlyplantedbut as yet not consideredfully naturalised.
e.g.Alnus nrhra- Acer cappadocicum
4. Any recordsofnon-native treesestablishedin semi-naturalvegetationwhich the recorder
thinksareofparticularinterest.i.e.the sort ofthing that wouldbe sentto a v.c. Recorder.
3. A treewould be definedasa Woodv Plantwhichnormallygrowson a singlestemandis capableof
reachinga heightof 10mundernormalconditions.
Finally.manythanksto all thosewho haveso kindly sentme informationasrequested.
References
Stace,C.A (1991).Neu'F lora of the British Isles. CambridgeUniversityPress.
Mitchell. A.F. (1981). 7heNalive and Exotic Treesin Brilain. Arboicultural ResearchNote
ArboriculturalAdvisoryandInformationService.ForestryCommission.
29181/SILS.
Clapham,A R., Tutin. T.G and Moore. D.M (1981) F lora of the Rritish Ls1es.
Third Edition
CambridgeUniversityPress.
CAMERON S CROOK,8 WoodstockClose.LostockHall. PRESTON,Lancs.PR5 5YY
5l
Aliens
WHAT
NAME
FOR THE TREE TOMATO?
The Tree Tomato, occasionallyfound as an alien in the British Isles. and well known as a tropical
crop, has for many years been referred Lo as (-.tphomandra betaceo. Recently the name
('. crassicauli.s has appeared in several British publications including. Mabberley. The Plant Book and
Clement and Foster. Alien Plants of the Briti.sh /.s/es.However in many American publications the
name (-. crossifolia has proliferated. especiallv since it was taken up bv Macbride inthe Floro of
Peru. This name is based on Solanum crassifolium Ortega which was described in I 800 According
to Bohs (F-lora Neotropica 63. 57) Cavanilles first published Solanum betoceilm in 1799 and again in
his Icones in I 801. It thus has priority over S. crassr/oliunt Ortega and consequentl!'the combination
('. hetacea (Cav.) Sendtner has priorit-v-over (-. crossiftrlrc (Ortega) Kuntze. But what of
C. crassicaulis? This appears to be an orthographic error orisinating in Britain. The Venezuelan plant
is shown by Bohs to be
sometimes seenin cultivation under qlass and labelled ('. meritlen.sr.s
( ' y p h o m a n d r a d i v e r s i f o l i o( D u n a l ) B i t t e r . B o h s ( l o c . c i / . p 8 3 ) l i s t s t h i s a s a s y n o n y m o f s u b s p .
chlorantha (Rusby) Bohs. but as I have not seen fruitine material I am unable to suggest which
subspeciesof (-. diver.sifolia is cultivated in Britain. Rarely. cultivated plants with large entire denselv
villous leaves are encounteredunder the apparentl-vunpublishedname ('. etultrana (which name is
attributed to A. Child) This name is not treated by Bohs. although (-. casana Child (based on lintlt
(HBK) Walpers and the plants cultivated as
s.n. K) is treated as a synonvm of ('. to.janunen,r'l.s
('. endtiana appear to be referable to this taxon.
JULIAN M.H SHAW. Dept of PharmaceuticalSciences.Universitv of Nottin-eham.
NOTTINGHAM. NG7 2RD
NATTIRALISED MESPILUS GERMANICA: FACT OR FACTOID?
For severalyearsnow I havebeenintriguedb-vthe way in whichMespllu.sgermanic'a(Medlar) either
appearsor doesnot appear.apparentlv
at random.in booksconcerned
with the BritishFlora.No
'[he
(Rackham1986) a
mentionis madeof this tree in Oliver Rackham's
Histon o.fthe (-ountry,.srde
strangeomission,for a treewith suchobviousinterestto the historicalecoloqist.ifit is indeed
naturalized.
This togetherwith the fact that someofthe references
to the treearesuspiciously
similar.
suggesting
theyhavesimplybeencopiedfiom otherworks.startedme *,onderingwhetherthe
Medlar'snaturalisation
wasfact or factoid(Rackham1990)!
In'[he Englishman'.sF lora Geoffre-vGrigsonstatesthat. 'Gerard alreadyknew the Medlar as a
wild tree.moreor less.found"often-timesin hedeesamongbriersandbrambles".'(Grigson1955).
Gerardwrote this in 1597.About 100 yearslaterSir J.D. HookerstatesthatM. germantc'a
occursrn
'HedgesandthicketsMid
a n d S E n g l a n d . C h a n n e l l s l a n d s . n a t u r a l i s e d ' ( H o o k Ienrll995370 )
MilesHadfieldsaysthat it is'Seldomfoundout of gardensor far from the habitations
of man.' Later
in the chapter,however.he savsthat 'In somedistricts,particularly
the woodsofKent andSussex,it
is reportedas naturalized.
The wild treesarethomy.with smallfruit.' (Hadfield1957).Most recently.
asfar asI am aware.Clive Stacespeaksofit as'Introduced.naturalized
in hedgesfor at least4
localin ChannelIslandsand SouthemBritain.sporadicin CentralandNorthernEngland.'
centuries,
(Stace1991).The aboveevidenceseemsto suggestthat this treehasmaintained
itselfinthe wild
statefor 400 years.What otherevidenceis there.however.to supportthis conclusion?
Perhaps
answersto the followingquestions
would help.
l) How isM. germanicafaringin a modernBritainwhichhaslost its tasteboth fbr the Medlarasa
Iiuit andthe hedgerowas a landscape
feature.i e. aretherereallystill anvMedlarsgrowingwild
in this country?Ifthe answeris yesthendo rveknow wherethevareandhow long theyhave
beenthere?I notice that M. sermantcais not includedin theAtlas of the Rriti:;h l;lora. Are Ihere
52
Aliens
siteswhereit hasbeenlost in the last50-100yearsafterhavingpersisted
in a naturalized
state,
e.g.due1ohedgerowremoval,etc.?
2) Doesit readilysetviableseedwhichgerminates
andgrowsto maturity.i.e.hasit reallymaintained
from cultivation?
itselfin the wild for 400 vearswithout relyingon the arrivaloffresh escapes
Hastherebeena declinein the occurrence
of wild Medlarswhichcorresponds
with the declinein
the treespopularityas a cultivatedplant?
3) Has it any meansof vegetativereproduction.e.g suckers?CanM. germanicaregenerate
from cut
stumpsor fallentrunkslimbs?
4) Are individualspotentiallvlong lived.i.e.how manygenerations
wouldthereneedto be to spana
periodof400 vearst
Whileon the subjectof ll{edlars,Stace( 1991) mentionsthe Haw-Medlarhybrid
(.x('rataemespilus
grandi.flora(M. germanica \ ('rotaeguslaevigota)as occurring'sporadically
asisolatedtreesofuncertainoriginvery scattered
throughBritain...'.Hadfield( 1957)statesthat
'The tree is presumedto be a naturalhvbridbetweenMespilusgermanica
andCrataegus
oxyacanlhoide.s,
and is saidto occur spontaneously
in partsofFrance. (SeealsoElwes,H.J. &
H e n r y - A1 9 0 6 - 1 3 p1 7 3 2 )
It wasin cultivationin Britainin the lateeighteenth
century.andwasthenknownas Smith's
medlar In 1838a tree40 feethighandgirthingover 3 feetwasrecordedgrowingin Wiltshire.'
AugustineHenry says'This remarkabletree, of which thereis a good specimenat Kew, nearthe
Directorsoffice [is it still there?].was in cultivationat Parisabout 1800.and possiblyearlierin
England,asLoudonmentionsold treesat SyonandotherplacesnearLondon' (Elwes,H.J.&
Henry,A 1906-13)Hadfield(1957)saysthat 'lt is seldomplantednow. but is oftenseenin old
gardensandin publicparkslaid out duringthe lastcentury.'
Are any of the treesoccurringin Britain thoughtto be of a spontaneous
origin?Wilkinson
( 1973)statesthat 'An old treewhichpuzzledme for a longtime,right on top of Parliament
Hill,
turnedout to be (-rataegomespilu.s.
a hybrid of hawthornand medlar.'He doesnot indicate
whetherthis treeappeared
in origin.
to be plantedor spontaneous
I hopememberswill forgive me if I am travellinga well troddenpath,or havemissedobvious
I'm rathernew to this game(J C. Loudon(1844)mentionsa reportofnaturalizedtreesin
references;
Sussex(Mag. NaL Hist. ix: 86) but I've yet to seethejoumal)l I would alsoask that authorscited
will excuseany apparentpresumptuousness
on my part. I would, however,like to hearmore ofthis
tree.QuotingDu Hamel,Loudonsaysthat the medlaris 'moreun fruit de fantaisie,
thanoneof
utilit_v'(Loudon 1844).Is the naturalized
M germanicaa tree'de fantaisie'aswell?
References
Elwes,H.J andHenry.A. (1906-13).1he 7ree.s
o.f()reotBritain arul|reland.
Grigson,G (1955).TheL,nglishman'
Flora.Dent.
Hadfield.M. (1957) British Trees.London
Hooker, J.D. (1930). Ihe StudentsFloro of the Briti.shIsles.MacMillan.
Loudon,J.C.(1844).Arboretumet FnilicetumBritnnicum. Longmans,
London.
Rackham.O ( 1986).TheHistory oJ the (-outttrT,sideDent.
'l'rees
Rackham,O ( 1990)
ond l4/oodlandin the British lttnd,scape Dent.
Stace,C.A. (1991).Nn' I'-lora of the British lsles Cambridge.
Wilkinson,G (1973) Treesin the Wild.StephenHopeBooks,London
KEVIN PYNE, 100EdenCrescent,LEEDS,WestYorkshire,LS4 2TR
53
NEW COTONEA.STER TAKA IN THE FLORA OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND
in I 99I severalnew naturalised
Sincethe publicationof Prof. Stace'sNeu';flora o! the British ^Isie.s
(-otureastertaxa havebeenidentifiedeitherfrom old herbariummaterialor from new siehtines.Thev
arelistedbelowtogetherwith a briefdescription.
petalserect:fruit globose.brightred.pvrene3.
C. apiculatusRehd.& Wils.0.5-1m:deciduous:
(). astrophorosFrver & Nelsonined.0.5m: evergreen:petalsspreading.fruit depressedqlobose.
blood-red.pyrene2(3)
C. hoisianusKlotz 2.5-3m:deciduous:petalserect:fruit subelobose.bright orange-red.pyrene
3-4(s)
(-. ctnperi Marq. 4-5m:semi-evergreen:
petalsspreadine.
fruit turbinate.plum-purple
to black.
pYrene2.
C.fangianus Yu 2m, deciduous;petalswide-erect.pink. fruit obovoid.ruby-red,pyrene2.
('. henryanus(Schneid.)Rehd.& Wils. 4-5m.semi-evergreen.
petalsspreadins:
fruit subglobose.
dark-red,plrene 2-3.
('. hummeliiFlinck& Hylmo ined.3-4m.deciduous:
petalsspreading.
fruit obovoid-pyriformblack,
pyrene2-3.
('. 'Hybridus Pendulus'(plantsfrom). Extremelyvariablerangingbetweenthe two parents
(). salicifolius andC. dqmmeri,but mostlyprostratein habit.
('. hl,lmoeiFlinck & Fryer 2-3m; evergreen:petalsspreading.pale-pink,fruit gJobose.orient-red,
pyrene2-3(4).
('. ichangensis
petalserect,fruit globose.black-pyrene2-3.
Fryer& Hylmo ined.2-3m;deciduous;
petalserect,fruit subglobose.red, pyrene
O. induratusFryer & Hylmo ined.3m; semi-evergreen.
(2)3-4.
('. mairei Leveille2-3m, semi-evergreen;
petalserect:fruit obovoid,orange-red.pyrene2-3.
('. marginatusLindl. ex Schlecht.0.5-2m:evergreen;petalsspreading.fruit depressedglobose.
carmine,pyrene2(3).
('. microphl:llusWal[. ex Lindl. 0.5-2m: evergreen;petalsspreading.fruit depressedglobose,finally
cherry-red,pyrene2.
(-. monopltrenus(W.W.Sm ) Flinck & Hylmo 3-4m. deciduous.petalsspreading:Auit cylindrical.
dark-maroon,pyrene l.
('.ohscuntsRehd.&Wils.aff.(sp.nov.).
1.5-2m:deciduous:petalserectfnritsubglobose,dark-red.
pyrene3-4.
('. pseudoambigutt
s Fryer & Hylmo ined.3m: deciduous;petalserect:Iiuit subgloboseto cylindrical,
black,pyrene(2) 3.
petalsspreading:
C. rotundifoliusWall. ex Lindl. 0.5-2m;evergreen:
fruit subglobose,
carmine,
pyrene2.
('. sherrrffiiKlotz 1.5-2m,semi-evergreen:
petalsspreading:
fiuit subglobose.
coral-red.pyrenel(2).
petalserect,fruit globose,finally
C. tengnehenslsFryer & Hylmo ined.2-2.5m. semi-evergreen:
blood-red-pyrenel-4-5
('. vilmorinianusKlotz L5-2m: evergreen;
petalswide-erect;ftuit subglobose,
dutch-verrnilion,
pyrene2-3.
JEANETTEFRYER.CornhillCottase.HonevcritchLane.Froxfield.PETERSFIELD.Hampshire.
GU32 1BE.
SPICE PLANTS NEAR GRAVESEND, W. KENT
I readwith interestthe articleby JulianM. Shawin BSRI Nev's67 52-3 regardingthe possibilityof
the introductionofAsian plantsas a by-productofculinarvactivities.Thispromptsme to recordthe
appearance
of suchplantsin the wild in I 979-80at Gravesend
whichhasa largepopulationof people
from the Indian sub-continent.
5.+
Alicns / Notices (BSBI)
I he plants appearedat vanous localrtresln the vlcrrutv of Denton \4hart, on the marsheseast of
Gravesend-which then *as. and lar_eelvstiil is. a semi-derelictarea near the Thames estuarv. with
hardlv anv resident oopulation
The outbreak ofsuch speciesthere remains a mvstery since the Dlantswere scatteredin a number
o f l o c a l i t i e so n e r o u n d a l r e a d r v e s . e t a t e dt.h o u g h s o m e r i m e sl i g h t l v i o T h e r e w a s n o d u m p i n eo f s o i l
or,qarden waste. ln one place plants aopearedon the side of a small. muddv lav-by on a marshland
road. and the growth of olants suchas Lath.t'rust'h'menum on a small beach diflicult of access.
indicated that spice adventiveswere on the shorelinealso.
T h e l a r s e s tc o l o n i e s\ \ e r e o n o r e - e x i s t i n p\ . \ ' a s t g
e r o u n d b e h i n dr h e r i v e r w a l l . a m o n e e v s t i n g
vegetation. the dominant plant bv far being I'risonella.foenttm-sraecum (Fenuereek). in hundreds. its
smell filling the air (Indeed pressedspecimensin Maidstone Museum still smell strongly after 80
vears). I visited the area I 0 times in I 979-80 but there was no sisn ofthe 'crop' ever beine
'harvested'
The dominance ofFenuereek seemsto indicate that the other utilitarian speciesthere with it
were merelv imourities e.e. Coriander. Lentil. Garden Cress (some with oink flowers)- Cultivated
Flax. Field Pea. Canarv Grass. Tomato. (lt's worth noting here that Caraway was establishedand
abundant in car-parks in central Gravesendfor some years from 1979 onwards until thev were built
over- very likely soillage from qroceries bought in Asian shops).
Mr Shaw has indicated the potential for Asian alien plant introductions. The following list of
associated soecies at Gravesend amolifies this in two wavs. that not onlv does it contain some aliens
not often recorded here. but others reoresentolants now rare in the wild in Britain.
a) Associated species - (ialium triconruttm. (;. socchsratum. G. spurium. Aszerula arvensir (some
with white flowers). A. laurina. Lath,r'ru.sartie'ulaus. L. clwenum. L. aohaco. lt[elilons indica.
Scartdix pecten-veneris. IJupleurum lancifolium.l,olium temulentum. Xanthium echinatum.
l)qtura slramonium (olus those alreadv mentioned).
b) Species which aopeared to be orobably associated: AtropLr belladonna- Iberis umhellato. Lamium
amplexic'aule- ('onsolida ttmbign- Sis.rmbrium orrentale. L'icia satrva subsp. ntgra- (Avena
sterilis and Phalarts paradoxa var. qnDendtculattt appeared slightly to the E on the sea wall and
mav well be connected.The latter (seen in two places) has the glumes of the sterile spikeletsall
deformed and club-shaped).A little further east still. a colony of Ambrosia trqfida on the beach
can be discounted. as being an oil milling alien. Similarlv lpera .wica-venti- in native veqetation
behind the sea-wall. would be a continuation of colonies stretching from Erith Marshes to
Greenhithe (and on Dartford Heath).
Asian plants have certainly also occurred in the last 25 vears on the more than halfa dozen larse
rubbish tips between Dartford and Cravesend The total number ofrecords for considerationis
enormous. especiallvwhen records from large deoosits in the wild of sewase sludge are added.
Indeed. also adding in a good native flora. oil-milling aliensand uarden escapes.the number of
specieswhich occur or hal'e occurred in the last 25 vears in this area (onlv about 9 miles long by 2-3
miles wide) is very much greater than in anv other similar sized area of the British Isles ever. I hope
to analvsethis mass ofrecords in due course. includinq the DlantsofAsian origin.
JOHN R PALMER lg Water Mill Wav- South Darenth. DARTFORD. Kent DA4 9BB.
\ o T r ( ' E S( B S B r )
WATSoNIA- INSTRIJC-I'IONS
FOR AT]THORS
The Editors of ll'qlstnia haveiust revised the Instructions fbr Authors and cooies of these mav be
obtained from the Honorary Receiving Editor at the addressbelo*
BRIAN S. RUSHTON. School of Aoolied Bioloeical and Chemical Sciences.Universitv of Ulster
C O L E R A I N E . N o r t h e r n l r e l a n d -B T 5 2 l S {
55
Notices (BSBI) / Notic€s (Non BSBI)
WATSONIA - VOLUME 2I. PART I. FEBRUARY 1996
The late ProfessorDavid Webb contributeda greatdealto British and Irish botanyand in particular
to the work of the BotanicalSocietyof the BritishIsles The Councilof the Societywould like to
that someform of oublicationwould
markhis passingin sometangibleway andit hasbeensuggested
be the mostfitting wav of doinethis.The intentionis thereforeto publishProfessorWebb'sobituarv
toqetherwith his extensivebibliograohyin llalsonio. Volume 2l . Part l. February1996.
Additionally.we will be includingsomepapersand noteseitheron Irish plantsor written by Irish
botanists.If vou havematerialthat might be suitableand would like to submitit for publicationplease
note that it would needto be with the HonoraryReceivingEditor by earlyMav at the very latest
Pleasenote that any submittedmanuscriptswill be subjectto the normalrefereeinqprocedures
operatedby the Journal.
Universitvof LllsterBRIAN S RUSHTON.Schoolof AooliedBiologicalandChemicalSciences.
COLERAINE.NorthernIreland.BT52 l SA
CAR}IARTHENSHIRE
FLOR{
RECORDTNG WEEKEND
Will the lady who bookeda placefor the abovefield meetinqat Llandovery.andwho hasnot
from the Leader.pleasecontactRichardPryceon 015547'75847
receivedan acknowledsement
zuCHARD PRYCE.Trevethin.SchoolRoad.Pwll. LLANELLI. D]'fedSAl5 4AL
FI.OII'ERS AND FLOWERLORE _ A THANKYOU
Followingmv requestfor informationon whereto obtaina copyofthe abovebook in a recentissue
of BSBI News-I receiveda postcard.signedWilberforce.giving detailsof whereI could purchasethe
'Wilberforce' to thank him
book. As no initials or addresswere qiven. I havebeenunableto contact
or her andto confirmthat I did buv the book So if vou arereadinethis - ThankYou!
JILL LUCAS- 8 CamborneDrive-Fixbv.HUDDERSFIELD.WestYorkshireHD2 3NF
r{oTrcES(NoN BSBI)
NATIONAL
COLLECTION
OF CAMPANUI.A_ OPEN DAYS
It maypossiblybe of interestto somemembers
to know that the NationalCollectionof (.ampanula
hasOpenDaysthis vearon Saturdavs
May 27th andJuneI 7th-from 10 am to 6 p.m..Some27Otaxa
are also
are locatedhere.includingalt British nativesand aliens.A numberofother Campanulaceae
grown. We would be slad to welcomemembersat any other time exceptSundays- and hopethat
they will makethemselvesknown when visitine.
PETERLEWIS- PadlockCroft. PadlockRoad.WEST WRATTING. Cambridee
CBI 5LS
Notices (Non BSBI) / Research and Trarel Grants
CAREERS IN THE ENVIRONMENT ACROSS f,UROPE
Sustainable growth and environrnental emplqtment in the EC
Iwo dav Conference.
22nd,& 23rdMav I 995
at BP BritannicTower.Moorgate.London
Following two successfuleventsor_qanised
by London GuildhallUniversityaspart of their Careersin
the Environmentlnitiative.this is now beingextendedto considerthe professionalstatus.career
opportunities-and skillsrequiredin environmentalareasofwork in diferent employmentsectors
acrossEurope.
Speakersfrom acrossEU memberstateswill review the qualificationsrequired.careerroutes
and-iobopoortunitiesfor thosein environmentalwork aswell as professionaltrainingissues.The
conferencewill alsoexaminethe contributionof environmentalemplovmentto the economvof
Europe.the potentialfor erowth andthe mechanisms
requiredto Dromotesustainable
development
programmes.
For further information.programmesand registrationforms. pleasecontactMonica Hale or Guy
Robertsonat.
The LondonEnvironmentCentre.LondonGuildhallUniversitv.CalcunaHouse.Old CastleStreet,
L O N D O NE I 7 N T T e l .0 l 7 I - 3 2 0 - l 1 2 6F a x0 I 7 I - 3 2 0 - lI2 I
EUROPEAN SCIENCf, FOT]NDATION NETWORK IN SYSTEMATIC BIOLOGY
The orincioalaim ofthe EuropeanScienceFoundationNetwork.established
lastvear.is to improve
communicationlinks betweenEuroDeansvstematists.
This will enablethe Europeansystematic
communitvto or_sanise
activitiesthat areco-ordinated
acrossthe continentmakinsthe bestuseof
Europe'suniqueresources
ofsvstematiccollectionsandexpertise.
The main activitv of the Network will be a seriesof workshops.addressingissuessuchasthe
relationship
betweenmoroholoeical
andmolecularsvstematics
andEurope'sresponse
to the gCobal
biodiversitvcrisis(thisworkshopwill be heldin Leiden.The Netherlands.
in May 1995).Thesehigh
profile workshopswill olay an importantrole in brineinetosetherEuropeansystematists
to discuss
issuesof concernthat crosstraditionaldisciplinaryboundaries.More detailsof the Network's aims
and activitiesare providedin the ^Systematic
Biologl, NetworkNev'sletler.the first issueof which was
publishedin Februarv1995.For any further informationpleasecontactme at the addressbelow.
NICOLA DONLON. Secretary
to the Co-ordination
Committee.ESFNetworkin Svstematic
Biology.The NaturalHistorvMuseum-CromwellRoad-LONDON SW7 5BD.
T e l 0 1 7 l - 9 3 89 3 9 9 F
: a x0 1 7 1 - 9 3985 0 6
RESEARCHAND TR{VEL GRANTS
DI]NGENESS GRANTS
The DungenessBird Observalorvis concernednot onlv with birdsbut with all faunaandflora ofthe
peninsula-and accordinglythe Committeerecentlvdecidedto invite apolicationsfor erantsfor
researchDroiects.centredon the Dunqenessarea.involvinganvbranchofnatural historv.
Apolicationsshouldbe madein the first placeto.
H A.R CAWKELL. Hon Secretarv.
3 Midrios.Jurv'sGao-RYE. EastSussexTN31 7SH
Rescarch and Travel Grants / Oflcrs / Requests
PAT BRENAN MEMORIAL
FUND
to British
in 1985to awardtravelscholarships
The Pat BrenanMemorialFundwasestablished
Botanistswishingto undertakefield studies.particularlvin Africa andMadagascar.
Applicationsarenow soughtfor the awardfor 1995.A sumofll.000 hasbeenallocatedfor
field work in tropical A-liicaor Madagascar
withoutfull institutional
Applicantsshouldbe Britishnationals.studentsor professionals
will be givento Drojects
botany.Preference
with proveninterestin systematic
support-or amateurs
ofbioloeicalproblems
involvinqplantexploration.proiectsshowineoriginalitvin the investigation
ofplant evolutionor proiectson plantutilisation.The
that would deepenour understandine
successfulcandidatewill be expectedto submita report on the approvedproiectbv June 1996.The
in the
llom the properauthorities
the research
to undertake
will needto obtainpermission
candidate
country chosenand.with that oroviso.will haveaccessto aooropriatefacilitiesand advicefrom the
Roval Botanic Gardens.Kew.
oroposalnot
Applicationsshouldconsistofa curriculumvitae.a summaryofthe research
3 sidesofA4 in length.an indicationofother sourcesoffundingandthe namesoftwo
exceeding
academicreferees.
lgg5.andtheseorenquiriesshouldbe
Theclosingdateforreceiptofaoplicationsis30Aoril
to:
addressed
Kew.
Trust (PatBrenanMemorialFund).RovalBotanicGardens.
Bentham-N,loxon
Secretarv.
SurrevTW9 3AE
OFFERS
A SAMPI.E SUR'EY OF THE FLORA OF BRITAIN AND IREI,AND
BotanicalSocietvof the British IslesMonitoring Scheme1987-1988
Councilbv T.C.G.Rich& E.R. Woodruff
Basedon a reDortfor the NatureConsen'ancv
Editedfor publicationbv M A Palmer& J.H Bratton
No 8. JNCC. 1995
U K NatureConsen'ation
HALF-PRICEOFFER
The long awaitedpublicationof whatwas onceknownas'The BSBI MonitoringSchemeReport'
will finallvtakeplacein April 1995.
From Julv I st. the pricewill be 140 olus13 p & p . but to membersof the BSBI. who placean
order beforethat date. the book witl be on specialoffer at only f20 plus 13 p.& p.
belowtogetherwith vour
To takeadvantage
ofthis offer ordersmustbe sentto the address
BSBI membership
number.
NaturalHistorvBooks Service.2-3 Wills Road.TOTNES.DevonTO9 5XN
T e l .0 1 8 0 3 - 8 6 5 9 1F3a x0 l 8 0 3 - 8 6 5 2 8 0
GWYNN ELLIS. Editor
REOI ESTS
EARLY COLOTIREDPHOTOGR{PHS
'Preface
From the Aoril 1891
to the first German Edition' of mv copv of Plant-Atlas. lllustrating
Seh. Kneipp's Water-(-ure. The Publisherswrite ofthe coloured olates
Requests
'lntirute
ofthe plants,absolute
carehasbeenbestowedupon the tbrthfulrepresentatlon
havingbeenobtainedbv the useofphotoeraohv- the first time to our knowledge
conectness
that this sciencehasbeenmadeuseof in a Botarucalwork.'
Do membersknow earlierbotanicalpublicationsillustratedbv photographv?
The
in colour.photosraphed
flat on tintedbackgrounds.
Theseplatesareofspecimens
'containingPictorialRepresentations
ofall the
frontispieceis titled,tl.r' Ilater-(-ure and describedas
Medicinal-Plantsmentionedas well as someothersin seneraluse amongthe people.Bv Sebastian
Kneio Paris(h)Priestof Woerishofen[Bavaria]'
The publishers
areH. Grevel& Co.. 33 Kins Street.CoventGardenW.C. andthe book was
printedbv Jos.Koselat Kempton(Bavaria)
MARY BzuGGS. 9 Arun Prospect.PULBOROUGH West SussexRFI20 1AL
INFORMATION
REQUIRED ON EPI I,OBIUM BRUNNESCENS
I am a studentat the Universitvof Walesat Bangor studvingMSc Ecology.I am olanningto research
a proiect on l,pilobium hnnmescens(New ZealandWillowherb).an alienspeciesin GreatBritain. I
am planningto studyits impacton the indigenousflora in uplandSnowdonia.I will be gratefulto
hearfrom anyoneelseresearchingthis speciesand alsoifanvone hasany seedsthat I could obtainfor
controlledexperiments.
Miss C.M. HAYWARD MSc Ecology.Schoolof BioloeicalSciences.
BrambellBuilding.UCNW
Baneor-Deiniol Road-BANGOR GwvneddLL5'7 2lNV
RUBUS SPECIMENS FROM v.c.59
In order to further assistmv studiesof RyDl in v.c. 59. detailsof herbariumspecimens
from that
vice-countvwould be gratefullvreceived.Pleaseincludeas manvdetailsas possibleincludinganv
previousnamesgiven to the specimens.Any field records(preferablvwith a lkm squaremap
reference)would alsobe much apDreciated.
DAVE EARL.4 Meadow Wav. Brooklvn Park. GravelLane.Banks.Nr SOUTFIPORTPR9 8BU
TUTSAN (.HYPERICUM ANDROSAEMU'^
IN ESSEX
On 4 Julv I 980 I found one plant of Hvpericumandrosaemumin a newly-coppicedareaof limewood
in ChalknevWood. Earl'sColne.N. Essex.it did not persist.Thisis an almostexactparallelto
JeremvDaglev's discoveryof the olant in Hatfield Forest(8.!91Neu'.s66 9).
Thereare manvearlvrecordsofthis olant in Essexwoods andEoping Forest.I havelittle doubt
and
that. hke H.r'pericumhir,sulum-H. tetraDterum-andH. humifu.suml-Haiw-Seuare-stalked
Trailing St John's-wortsrespectively]this is a woodlandplant-not very tolerantofshade-which
spendsmost ofits time as long-livedseedand aopearsonlv after felling.Did anvonerecordit after
the 1987and 1990storms-whichawakened
manvcoooicineolants?
OLI\€R RACKHAM- ComusChristiColleee-a*OOOU
CB2 IRH
Reouests/ Courses
FOREIGN FT,ORAS AND FIELD GUIDES
Bob Press.who compiledfor us in 1986.ldentification monual.s:Lt. uide l|'estenrLurooe and the
Mediterranean hasnow offeredto updatethis guide.lt was first publishedas a Suoplementto B.\r91
Nev's4l December1986.
Bob would be pleasedto hearfrom anvmemberwho hasusedFieldGuidesandFlorasrecentlv
in westernEuropeor the Mediterranean
with commentson theirpracticalusefor identification.
and
in whichcountriesor areasthevwereuseful takinslansuase.fornrat.illustrations.
etc . into
consideration
Pleasesendcommentsto: Mr J.R.Press-Deot of Botany.The NaturalHistoryMuseum.
CromwellRoad.LondonSW7 5BD
MARY BRIGGS. Hon GeneralSecrelan'
FIGS IN NORTH MIDLANDS AND NORTHERN ENGLAND
We are gatheringinformationof the occurrenceof licrr.r caricu (Fie\ in the aboveregionsin order to
evaluatethe distributionofthe species
in GreatBritain.
The occurrenceofthe fig alongthe banksofthe River Don in Sheffieldhasbeenhighlightedby
Dr Oliver Glben who demonstratedan associationwith warm water dischargefrom the steel
industry.Informationto dateindicatesthat the plantis orobablvwidespread
but local.occurringon
disturbed.urbanriverswith oastor presentthermalpollution.I{owever-few detailedaccountsare
available.
We would be eratefulfor anv informationthat is available:all contributionswill be
in resultinqpublications.
acknowledged
CHARLOTTE ALLEN & CAROLINE HOBSON. SheffieldCentrefor Ecolosv & Environmental
Management.
Town Hall ChambersI BarkersPool. SFIEFFIELDSl IEN
COTTRSES
TAXONOMY: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES
A I 2-dav short course.Toxonomv:Principlesand l)racticeswill be held at GlasgowUniversitv
betweenJuly 3-14-1995.The courseis ooento all who areinterested
in taxonomv.For furtherdetails
contact.
ZOE BADCOCK. TaxonomvCourse.Botanv.The Universitv.GLASGOWC l2 8OO
Tel.:(0141)339 8855Ert 6207 E-mail:[email protected]
ac.uk
ENVIRONMENT
COURSf,S AT THE TINIVERSITY OF BRISTOL
The Universitvof Bristolis offeringtwo courseswhichmavbe interestto membersof the BSBL
MSc in Ecologt'and Managemento.fthe Natural Environmeilt.cortmencingin October 1995.is for
graduates
in ecologicaldisciplines
who wishto becomeprofessional
consultantsThe finaldate
for apolications
is 30 Apnl. 1995
60
Courses / Book Notes
('erti.ficalein NoturalHistot.t'(OpenSttrtlies).
in association
r.','ith
the BBC NaturalHistoryUnit, is a
new,qualification
for anvoneinterested
in NaturalHistory The courseis part-time,flexible.
modularanddesignedto meetall interests
For detailsofthese.or anyothercoursespleasecontactme at the address
below
DAVID J. HILL Departmentfor ContinuingEducation.Universrtyof Bristol,8- I 0 BerkeleySquare.
C l i f t o nB, R I S T O LB S 8 I H H T e l 0 l I 7 9 2 87 1 7 2 - F a x0 l 1 7 9 2 54 e 7 5
T]NIT OF VEGETATION SCIENCE - 1995PROGRAMN{E
LancasterUniversityis wherethe NationalVegetationClassification
wasdeveloped,
work now being
publishedby CambridgeUniversityPressas lJrjti.thPlailt ('unnltilities. The Unit of Vegetation
Scienceis a training,research
and surveygroupwith an established
reputationin applyingthe NVC
approach
vegetation
resources
for understanding
Thisyear'sprogrammeprovidesContinuingProfessional
Development
for thoseworkingin
conservation,
landscape
management
andvegetationsurvev.aswell asmorespecialised
applications
of the NVC in vegetationscience.
For furtherinformationaboutour trainingprogrammepleasecontact'
KATE STEELE,Short-Courses
Lancaster
Co-ordinator,Unit of VegetationScience,
University,
LANCASTERLAI 4YQ Tel 0152465201ext.3486;fax 01524843854
COTIRSES AT SLAPTON LE}'
AilsaBurnsis leadingtwo coursesat SlaptonLev FieldCentre.FromMay l9-21. a weekendof Easy'
AccessBotany,plannedfor peoplewith limitedmotility,andfiom July28 - August9, a week's
I ntnxilt cIi on to Mon ocoj' Iedons.
For detailscontact:
The Warden,SlaptonLea FieldCentre,Slapton.KINGSBRIDGE,Devon
BOOK NOTES
This is my lastBook Notesasthe Society'sbook reviewseditor.I would like to thankall the
reviewers,
authors,publishers
andotherswho have.directlvor indirectly,contributed
to thebook
reviewssectionof llhtsotria.I hopethat ChrisPreston,who is takingoverthejob from the startof
the nextvolume.will enjoyit asmuchasI have.To makehis work easier.if you areplanningor
directinga publicationpleaseadvisethe publishers
asearlyaspossibleofthe amangements
for
obtaininga reviewin lilat.sonia.
A copymustbe sentdirectlvto the book reviewseditor,on or
slightlybeforepublication,ifdelay in publishinga reviewis to be avoidedlt is particularly
important
to includedetailsofthe price.and(ifprivatelypublished)
the address
from whichcopiescanbe
obtained
'[he
Floroof l)ilchle.t,.Inthereviewof
A.J.Dunn'sbookinllatsonra20(2).
theareacoveredbythe
I;lorawas incorrectlygivenas46 hectares.
whereasthe correctfigure,asreadersofthe book
will be aware,is 4,646hectares.
Algan,e Plant.sand Landsc'ape,
by D.L lv{abberley
and P J. Placito,r.r'aslistedat I45 in Book Notes
(BSBINews66, April 1994)and\n Watsonia20 (2) 163,September
1994) The correctprice
for this book,whichwaspublishedbv Orlord UniversitvPress.is f30 I apologise
for these
CITOTS.
Book Notcs
6l
Reviewsof the followingbookswill be includedin the August1995issueof ll/atsonia20(4)
( ireek wiltl flow'ersontl plant lore in ancient(ireece. H Baumann;translated& augmentedby W. T.
London.1993.
mostin colour.TheHerbertPress,
& E.R. Stearn.Pp.252,482illustrations.
Pricef16 95 (ISBN I-87I569-5'7-5)
ITtscularplant.familie.sond genero R K Brummitt. Pp. r'iii + 80.{ RoyalBotanicGardens,Kew.
1993.Pricet24 00 (ISBN 0-91'7613-43-5)
Atlas l;lorae liuropaeoevol. 10,Cruciferae(Sig'nhriumto Auhrieta).Editedby J Jalas&
for MappingtheFloraof Europe& Societas
Pp.224,324maps.Committee
J. Suominen.
PriceFIM 455;available
lrom PO Box
BiologicalFennica
Vanamo1994 ISBN 951-9108-09-2
128,Helsinki00101,Finland
We.stYorkshirePlonr Atlas. Edited by J C Lavin & G T D Wilmore Pp 287,6 colour plates,700
maps.City of BradfordMetropolitanCouncil,Keighley 1994 Pricef25 (ISBN 0-907734-i9-l)
('atalogne d the Rrcrmblesof Rritairt ottd lreland in the herbariumof l.iverpool Mu.setrnt(lJI'),
Pp.viii + 48; I map.NationallV{useums
&
compiledby M. Palmer,editedby J. Edmondson.
Liverpool 1994.Pricetl2 (ISBN 0-906367-70-0)
Gallerieson Merseyside,
llild I'lants of the PhoenixParl P A. Reillv, with contributionsby D L Kelly, D.M Synnott& J
McCullen.NationalBotanicGardens.Glasnevin
& The PhoenixPark.Officeof PublicWorks,
'Glasra'
Reprinted
lromthejournal
Dublin 1993 PriceIRJ7.50(ISBN 0-7076-0331-5)
An annotate.lchecklisto.fthe.flov,eringplants antl.lernsof lvfain Arg //. G. Rothero& B.
1994 (ISBN 0-9522852-0-7)
Thompson.Pp iv + 132;map Argyll FloraProject,Clenlussa.
A catalogueof the Herboriunrof the British l;lu'a cctllectedhy Mctrgaret Stot,irt(1756-1816)
BoroughCouncilLeisureServices
M. Simmons.Pp.422 (text) + 162(indexes)Middlesborough
Middlesborough.
1993.PriceandISBN not stated.
Department,
& C.D. Preston.Pp.
ScarcePlantsin Britain. Compiledandeditedby A. Stewart,D A. Pearman
JointNatureConservation
515, 16 tables,49figures,distributionmapsof325 species.
1994 Pricet34 (ISBN |-87370|-66-'7)
Committee,Peterborough.
I i l o r a o f G l a m o r g a n . A . E . W a d e , Q . OKNa y . R . G E l l i s e t a lP p v i i i + 3 8 3 + 8 5 u n n u m b e r e d p p
ofmaps(1019maps).H M S O., London 1993 Pricef29.95(ISBN0-l l-310046-9)
The followingpublications
havebeenreceivedrecently.Thosethat will not be reviewedin ll/atsonia
aremarkedwith an asterisk,unsignednotesareby J.E.
*The eutlogical effectsof increasedoerial depo.sitionof nitrogen. Ed. N. Bell; British Ecological
FieldStudies
Issuesno.5.Pp.v + 36;2 col.plates.
Council,Preston
SocietyEcological
Montfort 1994.Pricet3 50 (ISBN 1-85153-854-2)
'This bookletreviewsthe currentknowledgeofthe impactson naturalandsemi-natural
... the protection
ecosystems
ofinputs ofa rangeofnitrogenouspollutantsfrom the atmosphere
blurb.
of ecosystems
by emissioncontrolshascomplexpolicyimplications'- publisher's
('hemotaxonomieder Pflonzen(Chemotaxonomyof plants),vol. lla. Leguminosaepart L
R. Hegnauer&M HegnauerPp xix+ 529.Birkhauser,
Basel 1994 Pricet2l8 (ISBN
3-7643-2979-3).
Club,Sandwell.
Sandu,ellI'alleyF'loro M. Poulton Pp (2) + 42, ill SandwellValleyNaturalists
1994.Price13 incl p. & p from S V N C., 10VicarageStreet,Oldbury,Warley,West Midlands
8 6 8 8 H Q ( t S B N0 - 9 5 1 1 5 3 2 - 1 - 8 )
*Il'.H.('oleman's['-loraofliasrOrinstead(18361
EditedbyT.CG fuch Pp.[iii] +28,map
SussexBotanicalRecordingSociety,EastGrinstead1994 Price? (ISBN 0-9522981-0-8)
wrote a manuscript
catalogue
of the plantshe observedwithin
[W.H. Coleman(c'.1816-1863)
four milesof EastGrinstead,
Sussexin the year 1836.Tim fuch hasprepareda transcript,
recordsof
includingmodernnameswheredifferentfrom the namesusedby Coleman,containing
introduction,
377 dicots,126monocots,22 ferns& fern-allies
and2 conifers.A biographical
Kew
bibliography
andgazetteerarealsoprovided.The libraryofthe RoyalBotanicGardens,
holdsthe originalmanuscript
bv'one ofthe mostunder-celebrated
fieldworkersofthe last
century'.
62
Book Notes
An illuslroledl:lora of North (.-y'pru.s
D.E. Viney.Pp.xxix + 697: 1088 linedrawings,4 colour
plates,2 maps Koelz ScientificBooks.Koenigstein,
1994 Price[not stated](ISBN
3-87429-364-5).
*Slithlutnl ll'ood: a stud1'of its hi.storyand wgetotion S. Woodward.Pp. vii + 229 pp ,34 tables,
79 maps& figures.Leicestershire
Museums,Arts & RecordsServ'ice,
Leicester.I 994. Pricef9
(ISBN 0-85022-303-2);
availablefiom LMARS, The Rowans,CollegeStreet,Leicester
LE2 OJJpricef l0 incl p & p
Thisis the reportofa very thoroughecologicalandfloristicsun'eyofone ofLeicestershire's
finestwoodlands,siluatedat the edgeofCharnwoodForestroughlymidwaybetweenLeicester
andLoughboroughThe smallsizeof the woodland(59 ha ) beliesits floristicrichness,
andthe
author'sresearch
hasrevealedmanydetailsofthe historyofthe woodlandandplacedthemin a
wider context.The chapteron the flora,whichoccupiesabouta third ofthe book,includes
sectionson bryophytesandlichensaswell asvascularplants.
JOHN EDMONDSON,BotanyDept.,NationalMuseums& Gallerieson Merseyside,
Liverpool
Museum,WilliamBrown Street,LI\ERPOOL L3 8EN
NEWS FROM OUNDLE BOOKS
Thereareover 20 new titlesin the Supplement
to my stocklist for Autumn 1994.Theseincludethe
incrediblelllert Plqnts of the Rritish Isles.ScarceI'lants in Rritain, andBritish Plant ('ommunities
Yol 4,Ac1ualic('ommuniltes.
ThereareanumberofforeignbooksinthelistincludingExcursion
F lora von Osterreichreviewedin the latestpaft of Ll'atxtnia..Also,volume 82 in the New Naturalist
Series.7fteNew Naluralisls by one of our members,PeterMarren, describesthe developmentof the
seriesoverthe last50 yearsandits contributionto informationon the naturalhistoryofBritain. It is
availablein hard and soft back.
lf you would like a copyof my new stocklist supplement,
pleasephone,Faxor write to:
MARGARET PERRING,GreenAcre,Wood Lane.OUNDLE PE8 sTP, Tel 01832271388.Fax
018322'74568
BOOKS FOR DISPOSAL
We havea largenumberof ex-BritishMuseumNaturalHistorybotanicalbookswhichwe now find
that we haveto pulp.Beforewe do so,though,I thoughtthat it mightbe usefulto includea notein
BSBI Newsthat the itemslistedbelow are availableto anybodyfor the cost of postingit to them,if
theywereto includea stampto the valueof 36p:
Exell,A.W., Angiosperms
of the Islandsof the Gulf of Guinea(Fernando
Po,Principe,S. Tome,and
Annobon),Bull. Brir. lt4us.(Nor.Hi,st.)Roranl'4(8) (London1973)
Ludlow,F. andW.T. Stearn,New HimalayanandTibetanSpeciesof (brydall"s(Papaveraceae),
Ilull.
Brit. Mils. (Nar.Hist.) Botanl'5(2) (1975).
Press,J.R.Taxonomicstudiesin the LabiataetribePogostemoneae,
Bull. Brit. Mus. Not. Hist.)
Botanyl0(l) (1982)
Richardson,W D., The J\{arineAlgae of Trinidad,West Indies,Ilull. Brit. Mtts. (Nat. Hist.) Botany
5(3)(London1975)
Sledge,W A , The DryopteroidFernsof Ceylon,Rull. Brir. lllu.\. (Nar.Hrst.)Boran1,5(l)(197j).
Smith,H , New or little known Himalayanspeciesof Swertia andL'eratilla (Gentianaceae),
r9rtl/.
Brit. Mu.s.(Not. Hist.) Rotany4(6) (1970)
Book Notes / Reports ofField Meetings - I 99+
Smith,Harry. Sarifrago of the HimalayaI SectionKah.st'hia,Bull. Rrrt. il4us.(Nttr.Ht.st)Rotan|
2(2)( r e58)
Bull. Brrr.Mus. (Nat.Hist.)Rotan! 4(1) (1969)
StearqW.T , A synopsisof Jamaican
myrsinaceae,
Bull. Rril.
Steam,W.T., A surveyof the tropical generaOplonia andPsilqnthele(Acanthaceae),
Mu.s.(Nat. Hist.) Borany 4('7)(1971)
to Bhutanand
W.T..FrankLudlow(1885-1972)
Stearn,
andtheLudlorv-Sherriffexpeditions
(Nat.Htst.1Botanl,5(5)(1976)
South-Eastern
Tibetof 1933-1950.
Bull. llrir. lr'lus.
and
Ludlow,Frank,ReliquiaeBotanicaeHimalaicae
GERALD LEGG, Keeperof Biology,The Booth Museunrof NaturalHistory,194Dvke Road,
Ert
BrightonBNI 5AA. Fax 027i 56i455.TelephoneA273552586or 02731713299/603005
3299
- 1994
REPORTSOF FIELD NTEETINGS
Reportsof FieldMeetingsareeditedby, andshouldbe sentto, Dr B S. Rushton,Dept of Biological
N. IrelandBT52 I SA
Co Londonderry,
andBiomedicalSciences.
Universityof Ulster,Coleraine,
Correction: Field Meeting Lytham St Annes25 June 1994
oreruriu bur on
Referencewas madein the repon for the abovemeetingto the disco\ery of l:e.stuc'tt
furthereraminationof the materialit is believedthat this is a misidentification.
E F GREENWOOD,Keeperof LiverpoolMuseum,WilliamBrown St, LIVERPOOLL3 8EN
IRELAND _ 1993
GOREY, Co. WE)GORD (v c Hl2). 29th-30thMAY
This meetingwasblightedby reallyatrociousweather.with torrentialrainon both days.Six members
bravedthe first day,spendingthe momingon TaraHill, a rocla outcroprisingto over 240mabove
(reponedas H. tunhrigense(TunbridgeFilmy-fem))hadbeenrecorded
the coast.A Hymenoph.v'llurz
herein 1891,andwould be a greatrarityin this eastcoast,mainlylowlandcounty.andin l99l a few
plantsofthe Republicoflreland Protectedspeciestr7olalactea(PaleDog-violet)hadbeenfound
momingflounderingin
hereby RF. Attemptsto confirmtheserecordsled to a thoroughlyunpleasant
the coniferswhichnow degradethe hill, findingthe violet sitedestroyedandno signoffilmy-ferns
The afternoonwasstill soakingbut moresuccessful.
asa briefvisit to the glenolthe
OwenavavorraghRiver at Courtown confirmedE.S. Marshall's 1897record for ('arex slrigosu
(Thin-spikedWood-sedge),still plentiful,and David NashnoticedfruitingLathraeusquannria
(Toothwort)whichprovedto be very abundanton the rootsof a poplarplantationon the floodplain.
Thiswasthe first confirmedtoothwon recordfor H 12,the only otherreportsbeingin Wild Flower
Societydiariesofthe I 940s
Day 2 wasalmostmoreforbidding,but two Britishmembers,
Liz DeanandDavidHumphreys,
loyallyturnedup, so we hurriedinto KilloughrimForestnearEnniscorthy
for shelterThisonce
'forest' ofoak woodlandandheathstill hassomefinefragments,
andit washoped
exlensiveancient
'in
thousands'here
that Orohoncherapum-genistae(GreaterBroomrape)(reportedby C B. Moffatt
beforea hardwinterin l9l7 reducedit) mightbe refound.anda reportof ('arex.strigosq
confirmed.
The first areaexaminedwasbesidea stream,andalthoughthe only sedgelikelyto havecausedthe
('. slrigosarumourprovedto be ('. luevigata(Smooth-stalked
Sedge),withinminutesthe sensational
discoveryof a fine flowering sprkeof ('ephalantheralongifolla (Nanow-leavedHelleborine)made
rainandfailuresirrelevantThereprovedto be morethan20 plantsrn swampyconditionsunderholly
is a spectacular
andalder,andthisRedl)ota Bool species
additionto the countylist. The verywet.
Rcportsof Ficld Mcctings
I 991
acid habitat (the imnrediateassociatesincluded OenrnttheLroulto and a Sphagnum) astonishedus all,
but it appearsiionr literature retbrencesthat this is nrore n pical of lrish sites than the dry calcareous
woodland usual in Bntarn It is hoped that future legislation in lreland will give sites of biological
importance such as Killoughrim Forest some real prolection, and ensurethe beautiful orchid which
saved this dreadful meeting. a firture in Co \\'erfbrd
ROSEMARY FITZGERALD
IRELAND _ 199.1
CosWATEMORD & \\EXFORD (r'cc H6 & Hl2) ird - 4th SEPTEN.{BER
Day l, Co. Waterford
In the rnorningelevenparticipants
visitedthe saltmarsh
at the Backs(rand
behindTramorebeach,
wherethe focuswasprimarilyon Salicornio.The singlefloretS pu.riila(One-flowered
Glasswort)
wasfoundin abundance
alongthe hightide mark.whilebelowbut in the upperregionsofthe marsh,
two taxa,S. ramosissima(PurpleGlasswort)and S. europaea(CommonGlasswort)were
recognisable
in the S europaeaagg.At the middleandlowerlevelsof the marsh,S..fragili.s
(Yellow
Glasswort)andS. dolichosta(hw (Long-spikedGlassrvort)in the ^t sticto agg.were found. Other
interestingspeciesfound includedTri.foliumfragyt'enur(StrawberryClover), Porapholisstrtgosa
(Hard-grass),Puccinellia c/islans(Reflered Saltmarsh-grass),
Inulo crithmoi.le.\'(Golden-samphire)
egt a soIdanaIIa ( SeaBindu'eed)
and(-oly,.st
In the afternoonthe groupvisitedBallyscanlon
andCarrickaventry
Lakes,localitiesfor [.obelia
dortmanna(WaterLobelia).This wasnot found,probablydueto the lakesbeingunseasonably
high
after the wel sunmer. Interestingspeciesnotedincludedl.rttorella tniflora (Shoreweed),O.smunda
regalrs(Royal Fem),Anagallis rcnella(Bog Pimpernel),Hlpericum elodes(Marsh St John's-wort)
and fine standsof Riln ex hl,drolapathurn(Water Dock). The party went on to the neighbouring
Pembrokestown
Rocksandfoundthe recentlydiscoveredL'iolalactea(PaleDog-violet)thriving.A
pleasanteveningfollowedat the FiveCountiesHotel,New Ross,with a Salicorniaworkshopanda
demonstration
of someinterestinq
alienscollectedin Co. KilkennvandCo. Dublin.
I.K. FERGUSON
Day 2. Co Wexford
The secondday hadsomeunwelcomedramas,onememberhavingher parkedcar hit by a runaway
van,anotherhavinga grislyfall into barbedwire andthe blackestandsmelliest
ofbrackishmud,all in
unkindweather but moraleremained
goodl In the morningsaltmarsh
siteson BannowBay were
visited,includingthe beautifullittle marshbehindGrangeBurrow whereSarcocorniaperennis
(Perennial
Glasswort)wasabundant(with impressively
displaved
anthers)roundsmalitidalpools.
Salic<trnia
speciesseenduringthe morningrverethe sameasthoseidentifiedin Co. Waterford.
S. pusilla, S. ramosis.simaandS. europaea, ,\. fi'agilis andS. dolichostaclrya.
The afternoonwas spentexploringthe NationalNatureReserveat BallyteigeBurrow,with
welcomeguidancetiom the WildlifeRanger.EugeneWallace,who is makinga specialstudyof the
Sarcoconriapererzrlsundeterredby its hideousnamechanges.This speciesis locally abundant,with
a rangeofthe annualspecies
of Sahc'ornia,
on the Cull inletwherethe rarethoughmuddyand
(Borrer's Saltmarsh-grass)
inconspicuousgrassPuccinellia;t'ast'ic'ulata
was alsoexamined.Damp
brackishgrassland
with poachedandtrampledareashadthe interesting
little annual(-enraurium
'frrfolimr.frogtfenm
(StrawberryClover) and
pult'helhm (LesserCentaury)still in flower, with
Parapholisstrigo.srr(Hard-grass).But perhapsthe most excitingpan ofthe afternoonwas spenton
part ofthe Ilurrow itself, wherethe fine sandhillssupporthugepopulationsof A.sparaEpts
officinalis
pr().iretus(Wild Asparagus).
subsp.
cominginto berrl,amongdunevegetation
still lieshafterthe wet
summer.The weatherfinallyclearedup, andmembers
wereableto collectdelicioussuppersof Horse
Mushrooms(Agaricusanan.sis)in ad hoc carriersof scan'esandhats.
Reports of Ficld Meetings - I 991
65
to meet,or get reacquainted
Duringthe two daysit was a greatpleasurelor the Irishmembers
with, Keith andLornaFergusonCo. Waterfordwill benefitfrom theirplannedmorefrequentreturns,
andCo. Wexfordhashad a mostvaluableadditionto its recordsbv havinethe difhcultSalicornia
speciesconfirmedandelucidated
by Keith.
ROSEMARYFITZCERALD
SCOTLAND
SEATONCLIFFS.ANGUS (v c 90) 23rdJLiLY
This meetingto the AngusCoaslto visit ScottishWildlifeTrust'sSeatonCliffsReserve(partof a
alsoopento members
of the Perthshire
Societyof
coastalSSSIrunningnorth from Arbroath;r.vas
The sunshoneaseightofus assembled
the
NaturalSciences.
at the endofthe ArbroathPromenade,
a remnantofcoastalgrassland
sandwiched
between
mainaccesspoint,from whicha pathtraverses
arablelandand steep,high cliffsofOld Red Sandstone
The grassland
supportsa rich insectlaunaandsomeofthe groupwererecordingbees,butterflies
plusthe
ofgraylingbutterflies,
andmothsin additionto plants.Ofinterestwasan unusualabundance
vulneroria(KidneyVetch)enables
little blue.The presence
smallpopulations
occasional
of Anth.t,llis
Alsoworthyofattentionwerethesix-spotburnetmothswhich
ofthelatterbutterflytobreedhere
in their blackandred liverywhenalightingon flowersof(-entaureantgra
lookedspectacular
(CommonKnapweed).Someexposedareaswereparchedafterprolongeddry weatherandplantslike
Aslragafu.sdanlczs (PurpleMilk-vetch) were not their usualshowyselves.
We pausedto admirea sandstone
slackknownasthe Deil's Head(oneof severalsculptedrock
forms in the vicinity) - havingjust found a small groupof ('arlirto vrlgaris (CarlineThistle)on thinly
vegetatedslopesnearby.Detouringon to the siteofan ancientfortificationwe passedan e)itensive
areaof bumt gorsebut fortunatelyfire had not damageda fine specimenof tr'icia.sylvatica(Wood
(Greater
Vetch).ln due coursewe descended
into Carlingheugh
Bay where('enlaurea.scabiosa
Knapweed)wasfloweringin abundance.
Recordinga good numberof species
we progressed
along
the sandand shingleshore,and on reachingthe tall sandstonecliffs at the farthestpoint ('ampanula
(Wild Liquorice).Parietariajudaiccr
glomerala (ClusteredBellflower),Astragalu.sglycl,ph.t'llcts
(Pellitory-of-the-wall)
(CornmonMallow) hadall beenseen.Whilstretracing
andMalra .sylve.srri.s
our stepstwo fairly prolongedstopswere neededto identifyAllium spp.overlookedearlier.
Recording142specieshadconfirmedthe species-richness
ofthe reserve.With propermanagement
it
shouldremainso andcontinueto be a wonderfulolaceto visit
BARBARA G- HOGARTH
WALES
GARDEN FESTIVAL SITE, EBBW VALE, GWENT (v c 35) 26thJUNE
It wasa small,selectgroupof four that setoffto seewhatchangeshadtakenplaceat this sitetwo
yearsafterthe Festivalended.The meetingbeganby lookingat the areasthat hadbeensubjectto the
bulldozerandthenbecome'derelict'.Despitea good species
list ofweedsandearlycolonisers
there
werereallyno excitingfinds,althoughidentif,ingsmallscrappyspecimens
growingon poor soil
certainlypresenteda challenge.
The groupthenmovedon to look at the wild flowerbanksthat hadbeensownwith packetsof
seedto createan instantcolourfuleffect.Unfortunatelv
therewasa definiteforeignflavourto the
(Bird's-foot+refoil)continuedto grow
seedsource,asrobustnon-BritishLtrus cornic'ulalz.i
vigorouslyon this site.Otherspecies
continuingto thriveherewere('entauredscabiosa(Greater
Knapweed),Anlhyllis vtlneraria (Kidney Yetch), Echium wlgare (Yiper' s-bugloss),Leucanthemum
rrrlgare(OxeyeDaisy)andothers.noneof rvhichI suspectwas of Britishorigin.
Reponsof Field Meetings 199.1
Similarproblemswith introducedspecieswere evidentat the pond, wherePotenlillapalustris
(Marsh Cinquefoil),Ranuncuhrslingua (GreaterSpearwort)and(-atabrom aqrallcrr (Whorl-grass)
continueto grow well after they were plantedfor the Festival.All thesespeciesare uncommonor
rarein Gwent,so the progressof theseplantedspecimens
needsto be monitored.It will be
interesting
persistin andaroundthe areaswheretheygrow now,
to seehow someofthesespecies
andwhat problemsarepresented
to BSBI recordersin the future.
ELSA WOOD
l?{/r{/S RECORDINGWEEKEND. CARMARTFIEN(v c 44) 21st- 24thruLY
After meetingfor eveningdinnerat Trinity College,rhe basefor the weekend,the smallparty
enthusiastically
venturedforth to the first recordingsite, SpringfieldRoad on the outskirtsof
Carmarthen.No fewer than elevenRzbas speciestogetherwith a further six putativehybridsand
un-namedplantswerefoundgrowingin the hedgerows
surrounding
two smallpastures!
Thiswasto
prove to be one ofthe most productivesitesofthe weekendand includedR. adscitusanew
vice-countyrecordandR. biloensisnew for the l0-km square(SN/4.2).As therewasstill sufficient
time beforedusk, it was decidedto headfor a secondsite,acrossinto a neighbouringl0-km square
(SN/4 I ), in a railway yard on the other sideof town. This was not so productivebut still held five
species,
includingR. cardiophvllu.s,
new for the 10-kmsquare.andescaped'Bedford
Giant',of
gardenorigin.a new v.c record
Early Fridaymorning sawthe party speedingtowardsGelli Aur Country Park,nearLlandeilo,
whereit was met by Mike Smith,AssistantRanger.Nine frequentRlbas speciesand two putative
R. ulmifolius hybridswere noted,noneof which were new to this previouslywell-recordedl0-km
square(SN/5.1). The next site at Garnswllt,southof Ammanford,was in a previouslyun-visited
l0-km square(SN/6 0) and yieldedfive speciesincludinga new v.c. record of R. melanodermis.Nso
here,the party had its first encounterwith the 'Garnswllt Puzzler',a local SeriesRadtlae plant which
was to be found at six additionalsitesin the Llwchwr valleyareadown to the coastat Llanelli. A
further three new recordswere madefor SN/6.0 in hedgerowsnearto the entranceto Erw-wastad
farm which includedsecondv.c. recordsfor R.;fTeruosas
andR. melaruxlermis.
Much of the remainder
of the afternoonwas spentin SN/5.0,whereaftera disappointing
visit to
the siteof the defunctMorlaisColliery,Llangennech.
wherethe only new recordfor the squarewas
R. tuberculatus,the party madean unscheduled
stop on the edgeofa smallforestryplantation,part
ofTroserchWood. Herethe ten species
recordedincludednewv.c. recordsofR. breconensis
and
R. hastrformi:s(both later confirmedfrom materialcollectedby the leader),the secondv.c. recordof
R. ttessensisand four new l0-km squarerecords.The'Garnswllt Puzzler'was alsopresenttogether
with the secondv.c. recordof 'BedfordGant'. The leaderwasheardto say,'an excellentsite'!
After the eveningmeal,Coed CochionQuarry.nearLlangymogwas visited(SN/3 I ) This site
causedconsternation
in the geologicalcommunityin the 1970swhenfossiljelllfish werefound,
provingthe rocksto be of Precambrian
ageandcomparable
with a similarfaunain Australia.The
Rubusfloraprovedto be only slightlylessinteresting
producingtwelvespecies,
five of whichwere
new l0-km squarerecordsdespitethe squarehavingbeenpreviouslywell-recorded.Theseincluded
the secondv.c. record for R. amplif cans.
The Teifi valleywas the maintargetfor Saturdaywith the party startingat Llanybydder(SN/5 4)
whereten specieswere recordedincludingfour new to the l0-km square(R. bartoilii, R. longus,
R. polyanlhemusandR. prolongalus). Rubu.s
perdigitalzs andR. armeniacus'HimalayanGiant'
werealsonewto SN/5.4andwererecordedsouthof thetown at Cwm Hust.Travellingwestwards
into SN/4.4 severalsiteswere visitedwhich collectivelyraisedthe total Rzbrs speciesrecordedfor
the squareliom one to 14.Most notablewere R. biloensis,R. hylocharis andR. nessensis.
Before
stoppingfor lunch,the opportunitywastakento visit a known site of Rorippa islandicas.s.al
Gilwern Farm (SN/3 4), detailsof which had beenkindly communicatedby Arthur Chater The
specieswasfoundto be growingin greatabundance
in a dampoxbowdepression
adjacentto
Repons ofFicld lucslings
199.1
67
reseededpasture. Five Rabl.s speciesincluding R. tlunrtnnien.rrs(new to the lO-km square) were
recorded in the boundary hedge. Lunch was taken at Newcastle Emlyn Castle (also SN/3 4) rvhere
fle Jlubus species,inc)udingR. tztnltoph.rllrr.r.brought the colleclrre total fbr SNi--1..1
lrom nil to
e l e v e n ,e x c l u d i n gt h r e e ' p u z z l e r s ' .
Continuing ever westwards. a forestn'picnic site south of Cenanh (SN/2.4) \\'as to prove very
rewarding. Twelve lllrbl.r speciesrvere noted in this previousll unrecorded l O-km square including
no fewer than three new v.c. records ll. urittnrren.v.:, Il. lu'gt.fitu.s and ll. .sprengeltt \lso
noteworthy were ll. bartutll and 11.utrrulett.si.sReturn to Carmarthen was r,ia the Cych ralle1,
traversing both SN/2.3 and SN/2.2 where /?rrr5rr.s
tallies were raised from fir'e to l4 speciesin the
former square (including ll. tlumtnniensr.s. ll. l<trttttrcttulis. ll. longthy'stger. ll. pertfugttatut and ll.
pyramidalrs) and from three to eleven in the latter (including Il. renoralis and l?. perdr!:ttutu.\).
After dinner several sites around Carmarthen in both SN/4 | and SN/l I q'ere rrsited N{aterial
collected from a roadside hedgerou rvest olTr'll*yd-nrarvr, Login (SN/4 l) rvas later confirmed by
the leader as R. lamburnelsl.r, a new v.c. record. whilst rt. burtomr proved to be a new lO-km square
record.
'fhe
easterncoastal low'landsand coalfield were lo be visited on Sunday. SN/3 0. south of
Ferryside, was the first target. Onlv six Rzr5rr.s
speciesrvere found grorving in the vicinity of
St Ishmael's Church and adjacent Tregonning Hill It was a pit!'that the list did not match up to the
glorious views across Carmarthen Bay from Gower in the east,through Llansteffan across the Tywi
esluary, Laughame and Pendine Burrows. to Tenby and Caldy Island in the west. Hower"er, the list
did include R. aequaltdens,R. prolongotus and 11.r'ossgn.ris,all new l0-km square records.
Much of the remainder of the morning was spent in SN/4.0. krbus tardiophl,//ls was recorded
at Cydweli Station but the best site was along a pathwav through the bracken dominated heathland
overlying l\lillstone Grit on Mynydd-y-Caneg. Here material coilected later proved to be
R. lamhurnen.si.s,
the second v.c. record, whilst new l0-km squarerecords of R. aequalidens,
R. altiarcuottt.s, R. longts and R. ro.!.!er,.ri.rwere also made. The sites visited on the coalfield were
disappointing in as much as they contained a disproportionate nunrber ofundescribed plants.
However, the rhos pasture at Pant-y-Gino, a new Dyfed Wildlife Trust nature reserve,had several
small tangles of R. herlromii, the only site with this speciesseenduring the weekend and a new
l0-km square record. In the hedgerows ofthe track leading to the reserve.speciesincluded
R. dumnoniensl.r, R. r'os-rertslsand R. silurum However, the hightight was an addition to the party's
strength. The new member was very inquisitive. even overpowering, and was definitely too much to
'serious'
bear when he attempted to rub his muddy torso on
members' clothes! He rvas. however,
very affectionate and invited a loving pat on the back He surelv is the first ungulate batologist!
After lunch, a foray was made to the Llanelli area (SN/.{.0 and SS/5.9), where a large proportion
of all brambles seemedto be Rubus ulmifoliu.s,the taxon commonest in the vicinity of the coast.
Finally. party members were shown one of the newly discovered Black Poplars (Populus rrlgro subsp.
'Llanelli
betul(olia) of the
Levels' in a hedgerow near the entranceto the Wildfowl and Wetlands
Trust's Penclacwydd Centre. A substantialspecimen.it was growing adjacentto a large Black ltalian
Poplar (P. r csnadensi.s'Serotina') which was very convenient for easy comparison.
Before the meeting dispersed.the leader rvas heartill thanked b1,all participantstbr his
customary instantaneousfield determinationsand patiencewith the novices and he must also be
thanked for his subsequentconfirmations ofthree speciesin addition to relereeingthis report.
The weekend had been very successfulwith the recording oleight new v.c records, five second
v.c. records and 101 new l0-km squarerecords. These figures compare with the 1987 lluhns
Meeting statisticsoffourteen new v.c. records, seven second v c. records and 127 new lO-km square
records. Despite these figures much work remains and future /?rrDrr.s
recording will be required in
order to concentrateon those areas which at present remain under-recorded
R. PRYCE (with revisions bv A. \jewton and N{. Porter)
199.1
ReportsofFicld Meetings
CarmarthenshireRuhusmeeting- summaryof recording
-F
!a:
0:d
E;!
i:.0
E:
;"!r.!1
ii;it;;ri;Fiii;;l'i*;;glie*liiaAtE
s;ci
-9
:3
l.SprngneldRdGrnanhen
2
$d,noqle
.SN4l22li
SN41219:
G'nadhei
rdafmqry
2 lq!r9e4
3 Ge[Aur6lnryPark
4 Gr^3wrl1 *m Qrha.
11111
.sN593198
SN628099
sN628r@
s N 6 2 4 i1 0
irezu ro
: drg:
! i"try-t
7 Pan!4tinon sbl'on
/q1ai9!99!
8 Penrear^ tu Tycroes
I -nq.a
Ed-wabdlarmenrane
lO
rUna'
rj..
-sN60;@
'srmzo
",
tritg{gC
2
a
,Oohu duo^ ro.dsde & lrackwry
, D o r a ud u o n r a & a y
z--ra..yaauerywpo
'Dolh;a;d;de
& feid
?E -F"n
a,qd
rryt ,*.'tJu"r
zr
28 Grkn Fam (For@asil4
irurday ane|lgr
Eitylli:lle
4 -]!!!!{de
& Ghaah For6rPcnrcsrre
r@dsde&nerdbk
32 L[rrbd
3!+qltas r cltl3lLIII
99h
il- tuE rvatrFarm Fe[^dre
rorna'e
os-r'
s'-F.@"F"^
:1 l"rysqg |q!f{qr!Dr
tuiudayd9!,ng
S Ord Roman tud Gma^hen
i;;;h
s-P.;'
b -.;h d;
odq
qeryLlelg,md
5
3
_!!!!qlq
,-,N
rl
--
, -, --N
*tr
SN4a949
.sN4$418
4N.2744
5ruaaoz
Er
trI Etr Ftr tr
,sqaaoz
_SN32147
rrir- ft;-.;
sN3r2407
5N62408
.SN271370
_ sN278
SN2727
5N1t15s
snzrraJ
EI Jr
i
-,
ITT
r
,
l
R
6
.ErEr
EI-Eitr
11
E
1
6
1o
E-
-EI, iEtrr
r
SN5&39
.sN51e436
5
!
tr i
1 tr 's l=r
r-
r9 Llanywder roadsrdei & fa rway
e -L!tE4!!1!e!ry
1
|Tl
1
!n
EI
-snffi
--u"^q"€"';.".-",
|il|T|
-r-rr : Hr-tN
EIN
EI
s^r59e78
'srsezgs
y!lg!!qaq,Iumq!
Fa,m
T
l'il
sN5@42
r5 -Nstdebq
Et tr,;
I'
l
E tr
E E
5
tr
5
+=+.o -R#ffi
llFIrll
'F
gJ-
o
.*z;zo
SN412192
'sras*
.sN€1rs7
l
sN!33r93
ruDdryryB44y's
42
43
44
.Nr
lsd
FerFrde
rds'de
& tackway
-Tfeonil^gHil
5t shmaeschurch
a5
C)dw
46
(:)@L
L Sdro^
3*aoercds
hedoe@
aT,MynFdy'carlqa4frNdand
ltmara^
hdges
46,GndereFd
49_P.n!y G,no Dw \F & t&k
lay by
S Clapts/s wd
iglEy afrsn@n
51 (hC+d
BurryPod
52"_Tt1€-Teg Burry%n
53,Eeb
Llrynhehdy
qlqSls
i1.!94.q.E!E1
55 Pencladd
Wentan@
SNSI
I l
.sN$ro
SN$&
grcmr
SN3S3
sN4$83
.sN4465
9N1@47
5N!7r@3
-sN457022
.SN45S]2
SS537S3
. ss535$e
SS5B$4
EL--
lr
L
,tr_
madeiiom
-
lil
l
,
- N r-El-.
EET
1
- r , . , E I . __Et_
=---,
E
I
LI
.-.t.
1
.. Elr _
'r- EI r--
' ' ,",
fil _,.
-.r-a
.
.
ITT
ITI:,
1 1 $
tu@d
Etr
E
2 ! 10
-EI
' -'-
TiT'
46210122125
€r
LEGENo:
]i.'y99199qya94
$s!-.0,**ry'.-e
-
. . EI!1lqn'qr.,e,e@Id.
.r fr€r,e@il
"
Rcpons of Field Meetings - 199.1
69
LAMPETER AREA (v cc 44 & 1q 30rhJULY
Twenty-fourmembersandfriendsmet lhe leadersin Lampeteron a sunny,if ratherhumid,morning
wherea few plantsof llorippa islqtdicct s.s.(NorthernYellow-cress)were found growing on was[
groundnearthe CwmannInn (v c. .14.SN/634.+76)
The convoyof carsmovedoffto a forestpicnicsitenearLlanfairClvdogau,wheresomecars
wereleft; beforemakingthe finalleg to Pant-y-pistyll
(S-r-/6J.{..176)
wherethe panv wasmet by rhe
ownersAndy andLindseyApplegate.
Pant-y-pistyll
is a smallholding
comprisinggrazingpaddocksandhaymeadowswhichhavebeen
traditionallymanagedin the past.andexhibita varietvofgrasslandtypesin a very compactarea.Dry
mesotrophic
communities
weredominatedbv ('lttosunrscristotur;(CrestedDog's-tail),Agrostis
capillari's(CommonBent) andI)anthonio decumbens(Heath-grass)with abundant('enttiureunigru
(common Knapweed)and liequent l:uphra.siarostkol,iano(an Eyebright; Damperareashad,for
instance,Holcus lanatus(Yorkshire-fog),('arum t'er!rcrlltttunr(WhorledCaraway)andSrrcc.i.ln
N{ostorchidswerein seed,but I 5 plantsof Plarantheruchlorantha
Prolensi.t(Devil's-bitScabious).
(Greatertsutterfly-orchid)
werecountedconcentrated
in a smallstand,and several
Doc.4lorhizcr
nnculola subsp.ericelontm (HeathSpotted-orchid)\\'erescatteredo\er the site. Sevensedge
species,
includinga clump of('arex pallescerrs
(PaleSedge)wererecorded.A certainamountof
marginalbrackenandscrubwaspresent,andincludeda substantial
standofthe'suberect'Bramble
(conll A. Newton,1993).
Rrrbrrs
s'cl.slr.s
A smallareaofheathyrhos-grassland
with a dwarfshrubelementrepresented
by Culluntt
vrlgaris (Heather)occurredon a dry leachedbank.andwet acidgrassland
dominatedby tussocky
Molinio caerulea(PurpleMoor-grass),,vaspresentin the poorlydrainednorth-east
corner.which
alsohad speciessuchas Lritu le'rrallr (cross-lear,edHeath),,yartheciumossifragtn (Bog
Asphodel)andAnagalli.srenella(Bog Pimpernel)
at low density
Ar old ditch supportedllanunculusomiophtllus (Round-leavedCro\foot), andIl. penitillans
penicillolll,s(streamWater-crowfoot)
subsp.
wasgrorvingin the stream,an unusuallysmall
watercourse
for this species.Severalplantsof Oreopterisltmbospernallemon-sceniedFern)were
established
on the banks.A smallartificialpool with introducedspecies
suchasAusnr.s
t'alamu5
(Sweet-flag),Iris p.seudacorus
(Yellow Iris) andNymphoictes
peltata (FringedWater-lily) hadbeen
colonisedbybothl:leogitotr.fluirans(Floatingclub-rush)
and(rtriutlariaiirutr(Lesser
Bladderwort),the latterin resplendent
flower.Ratheralarmingll'(r'a.ssula
heln.sii(New Zealand
Prgmyrveed)
hadbeenaccidentally
introducedinto the pool,but did not appearto be thriving.
The partywasnextled to a rush-dominated
vallevmireabout0.5 km north-westof Pani-y-pistyll
(SN/632.480),
wherethe flushedmarginssupportedan abundance
of Hypericumelrxles(MarshSt
John's-wort) and(-orum verticillatum (caraway). togetherwith occasionallroranrutgeton
polygonrfolius(Bog Pondweed) Extensivequakingsphagntm matswhich supportedDrosera
ronndifolia (RoundJeaved
Sundew)werealsopresent.
Beforereturningto the forestrvpicnicsitefor lunch,both LindsevandAndy wereheartily
thankedfor allowingaccessto their land,andcongratulated,
not only for theirenthusiasm
for
appropriately
managingtheir fields,but alsoon theircottagegarden.full ofherbsandold varietiesof
cultivatedplantsincludingfor instance(all,.stegiapulchro (Hairy Bindweed) and,
Ml,rrhts otktrata
(SweetCicely)
R.D.PRYCE
Anothersmallholding,
in v.c. 46, wasthenvisited,u'ith 22 enclosures
noneof whichhadbeen
ploughedsinceat leastI 947 whenthe presenton'nermovedthere.Somebasicslacandlimewas
usedin 1985,andgrazingfor the last47 yearshasbeenvariouslvbv cattleandhorsesandby a small
permanent
herdofgoats.Fiveofthe enclosures
containeddry mesotrophic
grassland
wrth pH 5 Z6.2, andan abundance
oflocally scarcespecies.
200 or moreplantsof('oelogltrssum
tiridi (Frog
Orchid)wereseen,althoughthe otherorchidsl)ac'4,1rtrhiztt
firchsii (CommonSpotted-orchid),
l). meutlato (HeathSpotted-orchid),
(SouthernMarsh-orchid).
L).praeternri.sso
l.).purpurellct
Repons ofField Meetings
t99.1
(Northern Marsh-orchid),Lislera oveto (CommonTwayblade),]'latanthera bifolia (Lesser
Butterfly-orchid) andI'. chloranttho(GreaterButterfly-orchid)were mostlywell over. Botlc'hiunt
Ittnaria (Moonwon) and Ophioglo.ssunvulgotnn (Adder's{ongue). seenherein quantitya month
earlier,weresearched
lor in vain.Oneenclosure
containeda largecolonyof Briza media
(Quaking-grass)
(RoughHawkbit).Otherenclosures
andLeontodonhispidtr.s
variedfrom acidic
uplandwith I''estucaovlna (Sheep'sFescue)andGqliumsmatile (HeathBedstraw)andpH 4.8,to
poor fen,flushedareas,blanketmire andwet uplandheath.Threesmallpondsaddedto the species
total.whichwas I94 for the wholesite,includingI 3 kindsof ('arex (amongthem(-. pulicaris(FIea
(PaleSedge)andthe hybnd('. hostiana, (-. viridula subsp.oedocarpa)
Sedge),(-.palle.scett.s
and
I'e<liculari.sg'h'zrllc4 subsp.hibenttca, the hairy Lousewortthat is now turning up in severalpartsof
Wales.
The richnessofsuch a site,wheregoatsarea significant
elementin the management
is of
interest,andtheseanimalsmay well be more usefulas grazersthan they areusuallygiven credit for, if
they areallovl'ed
to roama sufiicientlvlargeareaThe ownersofsmallholdings
suchastheseare
amongthe unsungheroesofconsenation.
The meetingendedwith a shon visit to the old rvoodyardsiteat Lampeter(SN/579.488)
by kind
permissionof Nigel Davies,the owner.Ilorippo islandica s.s.(Northern Yellow-cress)occursin
greatabundance
on rubbleandsoil tippedherein 1992(illegally,so the originofthe materialis
unfortunatelyunkrown to the owner), and hasspreadto the adjacentmarsh.The spreadinghabit and
secundfruitingracemeswerecomparedwith the uprighthabitandfruitsspreading
all roundthe
racemein garden-grown
Rorippapalustri.s(MarshYellow-cress)
broughtalongfor comparison.
AO CHATER
RAMSEY ISLAND. PEMBROKESHIRE(v c 45) 3lst JLrLY
Twentymembersgatheredat St Justinian's
for the shortjourneyacrossthe Soundtothec.277
hectareislandofRamseythat the RSPBpurchased
in 1992.After landingat the smallquaythe party
were greetedby RSPB staff, SueWard and Ian Bullock, andwere soonexaminingthe manyfine
flowering specimensof Rumexpulcher (FiddleDock) in the shortturf adjacentto the fannhouse.
Scrophulariascorrxlonia(BalmJeavedFigwort) was alsoadmiredin the nearbylimekilnruins.
Ramseyis its only Pembrokeshire
location,andits absence
from the mainland,andits prevalence
near
harboursin Cornwall,suggestthaton Ramseyit mrghtbe a long-standing
introduction.
accidental
Wherethe rabbit- and sheep-grazed
unsurfacedtrack, that ascendsgently from the farmhouse,
reachesthe dampgrassyheathofthe plateausurface.severalscarceplantsflourish.The llushedopen
stony clay marginssupportedflowering Cicendiafihfornls (Yellow Centaury)of 1-2 cm height,and
membershad the pleasureof standingon a carpetof (-hamaemelumnobile (Chamomile)complete
with an occasionalinJlorescence.
Other speciespresentincludedAnagallis minima (Chaflireed)and
muchlladio Ia Ii noi <le.s( Allseed)
The dry red-deerpoachedbed ofthe shalloweastpond was carpetedwith Littorella un(Iora
(Shoreweed)andApium inundalunr(LesserMarshwort)with someBaldellia ranntatloides (Lesser
Water-plantain).Betweenthis and the west pond fine lawnsof ['ilularia globuhfera (Pillwort),
completeu'ith brown pills,werelocated,in companywith (-allirricheDrzlra(Pedunculate
Water-starwon).
The find ofthe daythenoccurredwhenPeterJonesdiscovered
the remainsofa few
hundredplantsof ll4oenc'hia
erecra(UprightChickweed),
in a onemerresquareareaon a grassy
mound.Noneof the membersresidentin Pembrokeshire
werefamiliarwith the species,
so mainland
recordscannow be expected.
Lunchwastakenoverlookingthe equallyshallowbut water-filledwest
pond, with its Luronium nalans(FloatingWater-plantain),
My'riophyllumalterniflorum (Altemate
Water-milfoil) andApium inilnd.ttum Arthur Chaterthen found a secondpatchof Moenchiaerecta
1othe southofthis pond
A-fterlunchthe partywalkedthroughthe extensive
heathland,
with its abundantfloweingEricct
cinereu(BeIl Heather)to the southernedgeof the island Partiesof chough,includingyoungof the
Reportsof FieldMeetings- t994 / AnnualExiibirion Meering- 199.1
7l
year,were admired,feedingin the openareasoflhe heathland.Huge standsof Ratliola linoicles
(Allseed)wereobservedin the uncolonised
baregroundofthe maritimeheathland
burntin the 1980s
The returnjourney took in the steepshelteredslopesofAber Myharen,whereungrazedcoastal
scrubof Pnrrzs spino.salSambucus
nigyall.igustntmntlgare (Sloe/F.lderMildPrivet) masqueraded
asthe RamseyForest.Two bushesoflolperus c'omilunis(commonJuniper)wereobsened
clingingto the cliffedge.Memberswereinformedof Dr DavidCombes'opinionthat the Ramsey
juniperswere intermediatebetweensubspecies
rnna andcommntis, and similarto the CornishLizard
juniperbushes.Are the four bushesremainingon Ramseythe lastremnants
ofthe post-glacialjuniper
forestsofPembrokeshire?Only three bushesare known, from widely scatteredlocalitieson the
mainlandcliffs of Pembrokeshire.
A'splenium
obovatum(Lanceolate
Spleenwon)patchesin the island'sstone-flaced
earthbanks
were then viewed on the way back to the farmhouse.This fern hadfirst beenfound in the county on
Ramseyin 1847,andis still frequentin wailsandin creviceson sheltered
cliffoverhangs.
A single
plantof Hypericum undulolum(Wavy St John's-wort)was notedin a Molinia caeruleu(Purple
Moor-grass)andJuncusaarttflorus (Sharp-floweredRush)peatyflush alongsidea streamnorth of
the farmhouse,and a nearbystandof osmundoregalis (Royal Fern)was examinedrhis fern is
fiequenton the more sheltered,
but oftenve.v steep,slopesofthe easterncliffs.prior ro
re-embarkationfor the retumjoumey to St Justinian'sflowering Tryt'<tlium
ornithoporlioitle.s
(Bird's-footClover)waslocatedon the traclortracksby the farmhouse,
but Lotui nhhiflory.s(Ilairy
Bird's-foot-trefoil)couldnot be refoundin its 1993locationon the edgeofa smallheadland
by the
harbour
S.B.EVANS
ANNTIALEXHIBITION MEETING- 1994
The reportsthat follow havebeeneditedfor publicationby Dr SarahWebster.
SOME BRITISH AND CONTINENTAL
RUBI CON'PARED
Suchmyriadsofdistinct entitiesoccurin thisgroupandthe variabilityofmany ofthem is so great
that establishingthat any two are one and the sameis by no meansw-ithouthazard.Nevertheless
moreandmoreBritish Ruhi arebeingacceptedasidenticalwith formsthat occuracrossthe Enslish
Channel
Sheetswereexhibitedofthe four latestcandidates.
The consensus
on thesewasthat.
l. R. milesiiNewtonis not a Britishendemicbut identicaltith R. aspertderrs
Sudreof the latter's
BatothecaEuropaea(but whetheralsoofhis original 1907desciiptionremainsto be
established)
2. An unnamedbramblelocallycommonin v c. I I betweenSouthampton
andportsmouthmatches
onereceivedfrom Belgium,but doesnot appeartobe R. spiruliferusp.J Mueller& Lef., the
nameunder which it is known there.
3. Ar unidentifiedmemberof seriesH7'stricesFocke,commonin woods in southand central
Brittany,is seemingly
represented
in Britainin one Isleof wight (v c l0) wood - but more
specimensfrom the latter are neededfor certainty
4. Similarly,only a greaterrangeofmaterialcandecidewhethera vanablebrambleofJerseyandthe
Normandycoastoppositeis the sameasR. splendidu.s
P.J.l\{ueller& Lef of forestsround paris
D.E. ALLEN
72
Annual Erhibrtion Meetins
199-l
BSBI/PLANTLIFE MISTLETOE SURVE}' I994-I996
Ihe BSBI Mistletoesurveyof l969lj0 is beingrepeatedfollowingsuggestions
thatthe declinein
traditionalappleorchardsandincreasing
imponsto meerthe Chriitmasmarketma!-indicatea
reducedor changeddistribution.The originalsurveyhighlighted
the species'restricred
distribution
andrelianceon appletreesasa mainhost.Resultsfiom the nervsurveywill be usedto assess
anv
changes
in hostrelianceaswell asdistribution.
The Christmastradein mistletoewill alsobe studied.Gatheringmistletoefrom orchardswas
oncewidespread
andthougha parasitethe plantmav evenhavebeenencoura-qed
asan extrawlnter
crop Todayimportsfrom Europeseemto be the mainsourceofretailers'mistletoe.Research
into
traditionalandpresent-day
tradeandimportsu,ill helpassess
*hether this is anvcausefor concern.
For example,arecurrentcroppinglevelssustainablet
Are berriesfiom importedplantsbeingplantecl
to the detrimenrofthe iocalgenotypest
J. BRIGGS
TREE DETAILS
Within theirtwo maincategories
of coniferousandbroad-leaved.
treesaresuperficially
similarbut
diversein detail.This erhibitof l0 drawingsshowedsomeof the diversity,with comparisons
of
catkins.developingbuds,leaf-shape.
cones.etc.The emphasis
rias on naiivespecies.
J. COMBES
A LLEYN (NORTH WALES) MISCELLANY l9e4
Threeadditionsto the WestLleyn(v.c. 49. Caerns)llora weremadein 1994.Epilobtumtetragonum;
pimpinellifolial4'brid; and the introducedvar la1lr?/.rof Lotu-scornicuittrus.
a Ro.sa
Thefirstnotice,inWestLleyn,
of Lotuscorniculatusvar.satiyusChrtkovAcamefromtheverge
ofa recentlyre-seeded
road wideningTheneedis stressed
to recordnew locationsofthis variant's
presentoccurrence,
so that anyfuturespreadinto secondary,
maybemorenaturalhabitats,canbe
monitored.
The hvbrid Burnet Rose(Rosacaninu R. pinpinellifolia) looked ]]ke Il. pinpinellifotia tvith
"
red hips,suckers,andsparseacicles,it is deemed'non-directional'
(asfemaleparentuncertarn).
Only
otherrecordllom Wales.v c. 52, Anglesey(R H. Roberts,l97g)
r'pilobiumtetragonum(Square-stalked
willowherb)is new to BardseyIsland.a single
pasture-field
clump.The solepreviousW Llevnrecordis lrom 1958 and 'unconfirmed';otherv.c. 49,
Caemsrecordsmaybe errors,or .old' (Griffth 1g95.in northCaerns).
A.P.CONOLLY
SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING BORROWED,
SOMETHING BLUE - EXHIBITS FROM THE BRITISH COLLECTIONS AT
THE
NATTIRAL HISTORY MTJSEUM
Itemsexhibited
Somethingold - collectionsby samuelDale.Joseph.Andrews
andRobertBrown datinslrom
r ' .1 7 0 0r o r h e 1 8 5 0 s
Somethingnew leafletsaboutthe IDQ schemewhichprovidesa qualification
provingcomperence
in identification,
two grasses
from Rosel\{urphy'sgift ofc.900 ,p..ir.n, anda iichennervto Britain
foundin v c 62. N.E Yorks
Arnual Exhibition Mecting - 199-1
71
a negativeanda lew
Somethingborrowed borrowedbooksfeaturingE.J.Bedford'sphotographs,
of hisc'.2000high qualitylantemslides,mainlyof Orchidaceae,
heldby the NHJ\{Departmentof
pleasecontact
Libraryand InformationServices.
Furtherinformationon Bedfbrdwasrequested,
MeganDowlen.
Somethingblue featuredthe folkloreassociations
olperiwinklewith the title rhyme.
lor borrowinson a self
Memberswereremindedthat the Britishtransoarencv
collectionsareavailable
selectionbasis.
CM DOWLEN&G LYALL
THE CIPIERES PROJECT, ALPES-MARITIMES
The communeof Cipidresliesin the submontane
limestoneregion25 km NW of Nice The coreof
the communityis the villageof Cipieressituatedon a highbench(750 m alt.)closeto wherethe
RiverLoup. whichrisesl0-km to the W, turnsabruptlySE towardsthe l\{editerranean.
The
commune
coversc.40kmzandis bounded
to theN andE bv the deepgorgeofthe Loup(450m alt.).
whileits S andW edgefollow high-cliffedescarpments
with an ertensir,e
karstplateauat 12001400m alt
The interdisciplinary
headedby DavidAustinofthe Dept.ofArchaeology-,
teamofresearchers,
Lampeter,is investigating
the socio-political
historyof this commune.includingdocumentation
since
mediaeval
times.vernaculararchitecture.
landscape
andterraceconstruction,
soils,geologvandplant
ecology.
After five seasons
offieldwork I havemadesome800 herbariunr
for namingand
collections
distributionto herbariaat Kew, ParisandNice.Numeroushabitatsandsitesat all altitudeshavebeen
monitoredseasonally
anda database
ofc. l 100species
is beingcompiled.The exhibitdemonstrated
somebotanicalaspectsofthis Projectarea.
F.N.HEPPER
HELP!
This is a regularexhibitdesigned
to give informalhelpwith identification
of plants.Awkward
specimens
aredisplayed
andthe assembled
anonymously
botanistsareinvitedto makesuggestions
lor
namingthem.Thisyear'sofferingsincluded.
Dalura melel I innoxio. Adenosll'lissp., andSidac'easp.. all from photos.Sileneitalicct,
Skintntiajaponica. Asperula an'ensis, Sida spitto:;u,Solantnr nigrun subsp..schulte.sii,Luzrtlo
forsteri, (ieranium " oxoniannt'G.C. Druce'?.lvledicagopol;morpha, lvledicagolacinialo
and a teratologicalform of Lolium perenne.
About forty specimenswere displayed.
S.L.M.& A.M, KARLEY
ROADSIDE COCHI-EARIA DANICA _ THE STORY CONTINUES...
A mapwas presented
showingthe invasionby ('ochleeriqdanicaof roadsides
in Britain.With just
two roadsidesightingsbefore1980,its subsequent
spreadhasbeenastonishing29 new l0-km
squaresduring1980-84.70 squares1985-89,and338 squares1990-94.By October1994it hadbeen
reportedfrom roadsides
in 439 lO-km squares
across67 vice-counties
Ofcourse,the spreadofthis (andother)coastalspecies
hasbeengreatlyassisted
by our
addictionto carswhich,sincethe 1970shasled to an unprecedented
upsurgein the construction
of
dual-carriageways
and motorways.
7t
Arnual Exhrbrtion Nleeting, 199.1
However,environmental
concemsaresignalling
the needfor an'about-turn'on transportpolicy,
programme
to be curtailed.It remainsto
callsarebeingmadefor the road-building
andincreasingly
be seenwhethersuchchangeshal'emuchimpacton C. danica; certainlyat the momentit appears
unstoppable,rampagingacrossBritain usingthe road network in muchthe sameway that Elodea
usedthe canalsand Seneciosquolidusthe railways!
S J .L E A C H
A SYMPHYTUM (COMFREY) HYBRID NEW TO BRITATN
v.c. 83 by Richard
A comfreyfoundgrowingin roughgrassland
at LibertonDams,IVlidlothian,
Learmonthhasbeenidentifiedby the Dutch botanistProf. T W J. Gadellaand FranklynPerringas a
hybnd - Symphytumaspenn, r S. caucasicum.It shareswith S. asperuma very shortcalyx (rare in
Symphytum)and short non-decurrentstemleaves,and with S. caucasicuma calyx dividedlessthan 1/z
the lengthofthe tube, leavesnot prickly/asperous
and stemleavesnot decurrent.One anomalyis the
flower colourwhichis purplishpink whereasboth the parentsareskyblue.
R.W.C.LEARMONTH & F.H. PERRINC
PHOTOGRAPHY IN LIEU OF SPECIMENS AS'HERBARIUM
MATERIAL'
Whereit is illegalor inappropriate
consideration
to collecta plantspecimen,
shouldbe givento using
photographyasvouchermaterial.
While one can mount a colouredprint, it is now possibleto transferan imagedirectlyfrom a
colouredphotographor slideto a herbariumsheet.In this way it is alsopossibleto includea closeup
vlew.
An exampleof direct transferof a colour imagefrom a slideis demonstrated
alongwith an
attachedlocalisedmagnifiedview showingdiagnosticdetails.It is alsopossibleto superimpose
the
localisedview as a'blown-up inset'andexamples
ofsuch experimentation
weredemonstrated.
P- MACPT{ERSON
TRIQUETRUM (THREE-CORNERED GARLIC): A REQUEST FOR
INFORMATION
'White
Often referredto in Cornwall asthe
Bluebell' this is a plant of the West Mediterraneannow
naturalised
in greatabundance
in someareasofthe county.Firstrecordedherein 1872.its favoured
habitatis at the baseolCornish stonehedges
by country lanesnot far from houses.Informationso far
availableallowedthe displayofa map showingthe distributionofthe species
on a tetradbasis
throughComwall Devon and Somersetillustratingits decreasein frequencytowardsthe east.Its
interestlies in its possiblecompetitionwilh H.vacinthoides
non-scripto.The latter seemsto disappear
whenAllium lritytetrum invadesthe hedge.Informationis soughtconcerningits spreadinto further
its possiblepresence
vice-counties,
in woodlandandanyinstances
whereit is seengrowingwith
H. non-scripla.It will grow, to a limited extent,with the hybridH. non-scriptax H. hispantca.
ALLIUM
R J fI{URPHY
HAMMARBYA PALUDOSA (BOG ORCHID): REFOUND IN CORNWALL
Cornishrecordsfor Hammurbyapaludosa arevery few. The frrst authenticated
find was madein
l910, (Thurston& Vigurs,1922),and,it wasnot seenagainuntil 1967,(Margetts& David, 1981).
/)
Annual E\hibilion Meeting - 199.1
(S)U27). tsowithickand
Repeated
fbr the plantal thesepastsites,Inearthe Cheesewring
searches
Crowdy Marshes(S)Ul 8)]. havenot beensuccessful.
lan Bennallick'srecordof 2l plantsmadeat
RetireCommon(S)V0.6)in 1993is thereforeof considerable
interest.The orchidsweregrowingon
and aroundSphagtruntussocksamongsuchspeciesasl)rosero internedia. I). rotundifttlioNqr Ihaci unt ossyt'ragun andM.v nc'hospor a uIba.
R.J MI.JRPHY
PROGRESS TOWARDS A TETRAD ATLAS OF T'IIE CORNISH FLORA
Detailedrecordingtowardsa TetradAtlasofthe CornishFlorahasbeencontinuingfor the past5
patternsof distribution- Armeriumarilima
years.The mapson displayillustratedinteresting
growinginlandon minewasteas well as on the coast.the greaterabundance
of Anlhriscz.s.$/r'e.s/ri.!
inWestCornwallandthelocalisation
of lirico cllral.r Newfindsrvereondisplay
[)at'n'lu'hrz<t
incarnata subsp.pulchella now krown from 2 sitesin r'.c 2, (East Cornwall) andPolystrthum
aculeatumon mineruins,alsoin v.c. 2. Thoughthe countycanboastof severalrareandinteresting
( photographs
wereshorvn Junc'u.v
lrifoliunr
species.
of someof The Lizard specialities
lt.tgmoeus,
hot't'onei.Trifolium.ttriL'lilm).
the numberofspeciesperletradtendsto be low anda countofjust
over 300 is deemedasgood. Someofthe conditrons
that operateto producetheselow countswere
illustrated,onebeingthe highproportionofmoorland.
R.J.MURPHY
GUERI{SEY BAILIWICK
I994
Specimens
wereshownvouchingimponantdiscoveries
in the Bailiwickdurin-e
the year.Guernsey.
Aristolochia clenutilis, neu to CI; Molinio caerulea subsparailnncea, new to Cl; Ilanuncufus
lingn,last noted in 18"19.Solanumcopstcasftum,new to CL Alderney. ('amponulaposcharskl'ana,
in severalplaces,new to Cl; ('rinum , prnrellii,apparently
established
in dunesover 10years,new
petiolatum,with seedlings,
to Bailiwick; Oersnium r oxottionum,new islandrecord,Helic'hr.y'sum
new to CI; I'hacelia tanaceti.folia.new islandrecord.Se/aginellahqussiana. new islandrecord.
Sark. ('ras:.ralahelmsii, new islandrecord,l:uchsia , .firlgens,new to CL Brecqhou. Inlium x
hurcheanum,new islandrecord;l)ol1'stichunrseltferunr,new islandrecord.
B OZANNE
CENTAUREA JACEA NOT YET EXTINC'T IN BRITAIN?
('entaurea.jacea
is a Europeanknapweeddifferingftom(-. rttgtt mostobviouslyin its pale,scarious.
mostlynon-pectinate
In Britainit is a scarcecolonistofgrassland,chieflyin
bractappendages.
southernEngland,andtendsto hybridisewith ('. nigra whenevertheymeet.This leadsto the
formationof hybridswarmsandthe eliminationof pure('..jacea,whichin consequence
hasbecome
rare;it is treatedasextrnctin Stace'sNeu./ora ol the Brittsh Is/es,thoughits hybridwith ('. ttigrtt.
('. , moncklonil.is included
What appearsto be good C.jacea hasbeenknown since1978on the old railwayat Upton,v.c. 22,
Berks(now in Oxon),growingsparinglywith frequent('. , motrcktotii.Specinrens
wereshownof
the presumed('. jacea and its hybrid Duringthe exhibition,howe,uer,
wasmadethat
a suggestion
eventhis apparent('..jaceamightnot be the purespecies(thoughcloseto it). the matteris being
investigated.
R.C. PALMER
Annual Exhibition Meetine - 199{
76
BLUEBELL SIGNS ON BRITISH INNS
WhereasThe Bell is one of the commonerinn namesBlue Bell or Bluebellaremuchlessfrequent:a
preliminarvsurvevhaslocated40
that Blue Bell inns
Thereis a stronglink betweenthe two namesandthe sun'evhasestablished
andto haveboth is common.
canhavebluebellinn signsandvice-versa,
it
The distributionof Blue Bell or Bluebellinnsis not random.Althouglrthe surveyis incomplete
in the EastMidlandscountiesof Northamptonshire.
seemsthereis a very largeconcentration
with erlensionsto the Ponteftactareain West
Leicestershire,
Nottinghamshire
andDerbyshire
Yorkshirewhilsttherearenonein Sonrerset.
Dorset.Oxfordsh.ire
andthe Bristolarea
Thereareoftenlocalclustersr.l'ithinnsin adjacent10kmsquares
or morethanonein a square.
whichcontains5 Blue Bell innsor
The largestconcentration
is in 53/1.0in the SokeofPeterborough
the
tavemsincludingoneat Helpstonenexl door to JohnClare'sbirthplacewhichdemonstrates
classicconfusion- the signoutsideThe Blue Bell hasa bluebell on one sideanda bluebellon the
other
True BSBI innsarethosenamedBluebellandwith only bluebells
on their signs,tbur havebeen
identifiedso far.
wasavailable
for members
to takeawav.
A list of all innslocatedanda ouestionnaire
F.H. PERRING
PLANTLIFE
'BACK FROM THE BRINK' PROJECT _ SOME MAJOR
SI]CCESSES IN I99,I
Plantlife's'Backfrom the brink' projectaimsto conservesomeof Britain'srarestplantsby carrying
Somemajorsuccesses
in 1994were
out ecologicalresearch
andpracticalhabitatmanagement.
carriedout by Plantlifevolunteers.
Narrow-leavedCudweed(Filago gallica), an extinctnativeplant,was re-established
in its last known
sitein Essexusingthe originalgeneticmaterial.
l{abitat management
for StarvedWood-sedge(Carexdepauperota)hasresultedin four (possiblysix)
in Surrev
new seedlings
Tw'o hundredplantsof Brown Galingale(('.r.'perus.fitscu.r)
appearedin Surreyfollowing pond
(lastseenin 1989).
clearance
(Thla.spiperfttliarum) andRoughMarsh-mallow(Althaeahirsuta)
Both PerfoliatePenny-cress
work hashelpedto maintaintheir
sufferedin poor weatherin 1994,but management
populations.
Grey Mouse-ear(('erastiuntbrachypetalum).underthreatfiom the ChannelTunnelWaterloorail
link, was surveyedandconsen'ation
advicegivento UnionRailways.
Work on theseandanotherl5 species
will be continuedin 1995.
T C G. RICH, J ALDER J KNIGHT AND A. lvfcVEIGH
ET]ROPEAN ANNTIAL BUPI.EURUM SPECIES (TJMBELLIFERAE)
Flora EuropaeaVol 2 gives2l annualBupleurumspecies,
ofwhich l9 arenarrowleaved.Thereis
considerable
scopefor confusionamongthe 19,andincorrectdeterminations
canbecomewidely
whichhadbeenkeyedout, andchecked
adopted.The exhibitorshowedspecimens
of 15 species
againsttexts.severaltimesover a periodofvears
Althoughtwo species
areBritishnativesandothersoccurhereascasuals,
SE Europeis the most
productiveregion,notablythe formerYugoslavia,
may
now practicallya no-goarea.Bupleurophiles
of furtherspecies
takecomfortfiom the plentifulexistence
in Turkey.
A n n u a l E r h i b i t i o nM c e t i n g
71
le9-{
'l
he exhibitconcludeda serieswhichhavebeendevotedto the largergeneraofEuropean
(with the exceptionof Lryngium).It wouldbe useful1oknow whetherinterested
umbelliferae
membersmightpreferto seethemagainor go on to the smallergenera.Europehas55 rnonotvpic
genera!
M . J .S O U T H A M
THE PROBLEM OF ROADSIDE VERGES BEING SEEDED AFTER ROADS ARE
REMADE
fiom the roadengineers.
seedmerchantandDumfriesand
The exhibitincludedcorrespondence
for seedinenew roadsideverges.
GallowayRegionalCouncilincludingthe latter'sseedspecification
The new vergeswere surr''eyed
andthe list of plantsshowedthat manyof the flowerswerealiento
var sotit'u.t.
the countyandincludednon-nativevarietiessuchas/-olr.scorniL'uldlus
O.M, STEWART
RECORDS OF SCARCE PLANTS SEEN IN V.C.73 IN 1994
Last year(inaphaliumsvlvaticumwasdown to a lew plantsat onesite.now thereis a healthv
populationofoverl00plantsnearL.DeeLcluisetunt
" litoraleiscommonbutthisisthefirsttime
thatfertileheadshavebeenseen.
HieraciunrvagenservasrefoundatTonglandlastrecordedtherein
1959 An exlensionof rangefor Hieracitttt drummotdtt when it u,astbund nearCarsphairn.A
specimenof a viviparousform of l richopfutrumcesptb.\ilmwas shown.
O,M. STEWART
PLANT-LORE ON POSTCARDS
holly
The exhibitshoweda seriesof postcardswhichdepictedplant-lorethemesincludingChristmas
well-dressing
anda Bird's custardadvertisement
inspiredby the children'spastimeofholdinga
buttercupunderthe chinto seeifa plavmatelikesbutter
notesaddingto our. asyet
Commentswereinvitedandseveralpeoplecontributedinteresting
somewhatpoor, knowledgeof the plant-loreof the BritishIsles.
R. VICKERY
GRASSES, SEDGES AND FERNS OF NORTH CYPRTIS
'rvork progress'
A setof l2 line-drawings
showing20 ofthesesubjectswaspresented
as
in
by the
author.who is preparinga companionvolumefor his Flora of North (llpru.s which appearedin
spring.1994.Sedgesandfernsarerelativelyfew in the resioncovered.but grassspecies
numberover
(Walt )
120.Two of those shown Sacchantm\pd,taneum L. andStenotoTthnrm
.set'undalurn
Kuntze- havenot beenpreviouslyrecordedin the literaturefor the island.
D.E. VINEY
CHR{NENA
KR{JINNA OBLAST BILE IGRPATY - THE WHITE CARPATHIAN
LANDSCAPE PROTECTION AREA.
The WhiteCarpathians
cover I |5.000haalongthe CzecLtSlovak
border The r"holeareais of
exceptional
botanicalrichness.
andis particularlvfbmousfor its orchidflora.Oneofthe most
Annual E\hibition Mcetine - I99-l
f-eatures
is the survivalofover 4,000haofspecies-rich
outstanding
A largeblockof
hay-meadows.
meadowsis presentin the south-rvest
ofthe area.whileto the north-east,
they form partofa
farnrlandmosaic.The WhiteCarpathians
arealsoone of the lastrefugiafor someof Europe'sarable
flora.
The \VhiteCarpathians
weredeclareda 'ProtectedLandscape
Area' in 1980,someofthe most
valuablesitesarereserves.
andthe golernmenthasrecentlvintroducedpayments
to support
manasement
of the ha1,-meadows
Recentpoliticalandeconomicchanges
threatenthe low-intensity
agricultureofthe areahowever.andthe futuredependson the maintenance
ofa healthyfarming
economy.It is thereforeessential
thattraditionalmethodsofland-management
remainviable.
P,J.WILSON.J-W.JONGEPIE&M, REED.I. JONGEPIEROVA
The following exhibitswere alsoshown.
Dr J Bailey& Ms L Child Unravelling
(the hybrid
the Britishdistributionol Fhllopia , bohemic'a
betweenJapanese
andGiantKnotweeds).
Dr N R.Cowie Action plansfor rarerrascularplants
Mr R.G.Ellis- The BSBI AlienPlantsStudvGroup
Dr G Halliday- Variationin Solidogovirgaureo(Goldenrod)
Mr S.L.N{Karlev The BritishPlantGall Societ-v.
Dr A.Morton- DMAP for Windows rvithexamples
from'liloro of )vlontgomenshire'
Mr D.A.Pearman.
Mr C.D.Preston.
& \,[issA Stewart- The'ScarcePlantsAtlas'.JNCC-BSBI-IT
Mrs O.Stewart Pagesfrom the proposedToraxacumHandbookandsomeof the originaldrawings.
Mrs O.Stewart- Scarcespecies
in Kirkcudbrightshire.
Mrs O.Stewart Paintings
of flowersseenin 1994.
BSBI meetings1994.
N{rs LWeston The AnnualGeneralNleeting.Oxfbrd.
Ms L.L.Laxton The Uists,WesternIsles,Scotland.
Variousmembers Recentpublications
by BSBI members.
Mrs M.Perring Botanicalbooksfrom Oundle.
N4rsM.Briggs- The Hon. GeneralSecretary's
miscellanv.
Thc Edrtor Grrnn Ellis can bc contactcdb) phone on lll222-397951 c(. 2 l8 (NMW) or 01222-.1960.12
(home)
Anicles can non bc Faxcd to thc Editor on 01222-239829 or 01222-173219
AII text and illustrations appearing in 1}.181Nar and its Supplements are cop! righr and no reproduction in any
form mal be madc $ithoul nritten pemission from the Editor.
Offers and special tcms appl\ onlv to membcrs of Ihe Socien and copics are not a\ ailable on an erchangc basis
li,\81 lerrs (ISSN 0](D-910X) is publishedbr the Botanical Socicn.ofrhe Brirish tsles.
Enquiries concerning thc Socict\'s aclivilies and membership should bc addresscdto:
The Hon. General SccreL:rn. c/o Dept of Botan\ . The Natural Histon Museum. Crom$ell Road London SW7 5BD.
Camera readl copy produced b1-Gwynn Ellis at the National Musum of Wales and Drinted by J. & P. Davison,
3 James Place, Treforesl, Pontr-pridd, Mid Glanorgan CF37 2BT (Tet. 0l{,13-{(t0585)
Contentr (continred liom tnsidc hack cor..r t
ANM IAI. I-.XI III]IIION MI:FTIN(},
199-1 t continucd l
IfuroJEan annual Itupl.ltntil
slecies t I ]mbell:l-erae I
I'hc problem ot roadsrdc lerges bclng seedcd atter r(Ecls arc renradc
Rccords of searcc plants wen in r e li ur I 99-l
I'lanl-lorc on lnsttu Ji
(irasscs sctlges anii lcms of North ('r pms
fhe \lhite Carpathian l.andscapc })rotrctroD Arq
()ther I:rhibirs
'76
77
71
17
77
1',1
78
Contcnts
Continued from back coler
{l
(.oNSI]RVN
NON NI-,WS
Nc$s lrom the Consenatton clomrttcc
,.
AI,IF,NS . ..
.'1/ia,J $ell rccelred
Ahflr Rccords
(ilories o1-ihe sno$
1 *o utusul grdcn cscapcs in Kirkuudbrightslxrc
Il\otic trccs in the lJritish llora .
What name lbr the lrce fomato
Nalrralised .\1e.sprlil.tSemtanica Iacl or I actold)
Nes aoloreasler laxa in thc llora of Ilntain and Ircland
Spicc plants near (;ravcscnd. W Kent
NOTTCI-lS (BSlll)
Instmcttons lbr Authors
,ti?6orid
IliTlsonia - Volumc 2l . Part l- f cbruan 1996
Flora rccording $eekend
Camarthmshire
a thanhou
Flov'ers and llot'erlole
(NON
BSBI)
NOTICF,S
National collection ofCampanula - (\En I)a\s
Careers in thc L-nvlroment across EuolE
liwolrem Sctencc fomdatioil nei\\orL in s\slcnldtlc btologr
RJTSITAIiCIIANI) TI{AM:1. GI{AN fS
I )rrnPcn.{. Ei-jrrrl.
Pat Rrcnan nlcmorial tirnd
15
46
l6
1'/
l3
5(l
5l
5l
'
Ol'l.LRS
.l sample swt q o/ tha.llora ol Brirau and lreland: I lalt:pnce olTcr
RIlQIltlSl S
I arl\ (,)lour(J nhotoPranhs
IfrlirmatIon reqrrrrcd-ott/:pllnbrrtil hnottt(t,,tt \
,Rrrbrrsslrcctmcns from v c 59
'fttlsan
(lltpeicun
ondro.raaan
) in L-sser
I orcign I'loras and held (iurdes
i'igs in North Mrcllands and Northm Lngland
..
C(n IRSI:S
I a\onomv Princtplc. alt,l Plaeticcs
Ilnrlronmcnt Cowses at the llnivcrsit\ ofBnstol
l]nit of Vegctatton Scicnce. lincast{
('ourses at Slapton Lca
B{X)KN()f[S...
It'.rtJorlid reuc\\s
Ne\\s iiom otndle Ilooks
Ilmks for I)ispsal
199.1
RFPOR] S OF I tEl.I) Ml.fl'flN(ls
Corcctionr Ficld Mecting I.\1hm St nnncs 25 Junc I 99'l
1993
lRll.ANl)
(lore\. Co Wc\tbrd (r c IIl2)
IRLI.ANI) - 199J
( os Waterford & Werford 1r' cc I16 & IIl2)
st()n AM)
Ssaton ('lifl:s Angus (\'c. 90i
WAl.l,S
(]ildcn lrestival Srtc. Ilbbu Valc. (i\ent (1 c 35 )
Rrrbls recording uekend. Camarthen (\ c '1-l l
l,ampctcr arca (\'cc 1'1 &'16)
Rams\ Islmd. f'enbrokeshtre (r c. '15
l99l
Ml.LlI}i(;
ANNIIAL LXlilllilloN
Somc jlntish and contincntal RrtSi compfcd
Srrnc\
I 99'1-l 996
MisllclGLlSlll/l)lautlife
I rcc Lletrilr
A l.leu (North WalcsJ Misccllan\ 199-1
Someihnrg old. something De$- somclhrng bono$ed sorncthlng nc\\
Thc (' iptercs I'ro1c'ct, AIF-s-Manlrmcs
IIclpl ... .
the ston contit)ues
Roadside (-oc,irlearr.r./drli(r
A Srmnh'hnt (Comtie\ ) h\bnd neu to Bntam
Photogriph\ in heu of .spiimens as llcrbanrun matcnal'
(iarltc ) a rcquesl for lnfomlrtion
. lllium tiqtetntn
$hrcc<omered
Ilammarbva paludosn (I'iog (hchid): Rclbund rn ('ontuall
Progress tosards a I etrad Atlas ol lhc Comtsh Flora
(iuenrscr IlailirricL l 99-l
('cillailrca jdacd rrot \e1 c\tlncl ln Ilrltaln )
Blucbell signs on llntlsir lnns
some nlalor succcsscs ln I 9()'l
t'lantlil'e Llack froru the bnnk ptojcct
Continued on pagc 78
52
5l
5.1
55
5,i
!5
55
55
i6
,i6
ib
5(r
57
57
57
57
57
5lt
58
5ll
59
59
59
59
59
h(l
b0
oll
()l)
62
h2
6l
63
6l
6l
6-l
tJ5
65
65
)'o
1l
'71
11
12
12
12
11
'11
7.1
7l
1.1
71
'71
75
75
15
16
Contcnts
CONTENTS
\DMNtS'fRA
il()N
O1.hccrsanclMembersofcormc|l'l995N|minatrorrs
l)eadline fbr contnbutions for B\?/ \'or r 70
('oMMl:Nt
l)rcsentalion lo otrr Prtron
Furopcan Contcr( ncc
l}c hu.rdcnts Aurrd
I)LARY .
(iuidance to contnbutors 1o B,SB/ Jev.r
Fll)IlORIAL
I1()N (itrNT:R L SFCRITI ARY S NOI-|-S
Conprrtuhtr,rns
frhrhitron Mcclrne I na5
Conlcrence Mce lirpr
Mem'h*rsh)p Sune\ ll
oflirs of help
Illpreec
fR()l fi.1.s
DAP
Thc f'll
[,lgrr Mrlnc-Rcdhea,l
l)a\ rJ Flhstonn ll(n
RI.(.I 'RDFRS N\I) RFCORJ)IN{:
Amcndment no I lo l.ist of llsDl Vicc-counl\ Recorders rn &5'B/ I eqr Book I 995
\c\\ aDpolnlmeilts
Amendnents to addresres pubhshed in I.ist ofRecordqs rn BSRI l ear llook 1995
nmcndmenl no I to Panel oflieferces and Specra)ists in B.SB1 l ear Book 1995
Rosatcae ..
Trlracqc . . .
Valcnalrltcae
.\ l i c r , *
nmendments to addresses pubhshed ln [.ist ofReferres rn ESBI Ieur Rook 1995
(,ramln€e
to IJSBI I enr tsuk 1 995
Upd{tcs. Amcndmcnts & Corstions
[.drtors. Compilcrs- Iudcrcrs
n Jdr('\s rmcndrt)eIt.
Ne\( nrla\
Rcrcordcrs ('onl'crcnce. I ancaslcr. 8th - I oth Scpl!-mber I 995
S( AR('f PI AN TS IN HruTAIN
S c J r c c P l a n l sn l l a s . .
Scarct I'lantr n llntatn
N()IFS ANI) NRII('I FS
Cmstal gravel as a source ofCocfi/eana danica on iniand roadsides
Thc origin ol'Oanolrera btanns L *nsu stnclo A neu hrTnthesis
lhEI on lhc A:rR .
Rare Plants (iroup of the Ashmolean Natwai ILston Sarch of (Xfordshire
Thc neu list of'Natronally Scar€ planls
l-iftr 1--ncc ucll spmt
Cars ofmistaken identrt\, or Hed€ra headachcs
Sed collectrrrg rn Srchw
Wild Clm (Salria wrbmca)
\n chuch\ilds
Grcr \\ ilios ll bolh l(rt JnJ 0o\1cr
Thc Worcestcrshue i0tj ( luh
I-nica galeopsifolia in Norfolk . ..
Fen Neltlc (l.fica galcop.rfolia) in Berkshrre
Ob*n'atrons on orchld polllnatron
Populus nigru subsp 6elilltto,4, nmes md dates
Watsonran vicc-counties ur l,ondon
2
I)ralcct planl nanrc\
Ilerbarium of D Dickrnson MPS (ll I 875-1902)
Waming: Plants harc good and bad \ears tml
cnglrsh-Name\
Fprplrrtrc xrdrnp Srirmorcs
Takrng bramblcs to thc grarc
flrc \\'ollcmr Prnc
More \rrn(cr-ll()\rerrnF lloll\
J inrracan- rcrstt*.lussrruti
N { I S 1 1F T 0 F S I R V F Y
Mistlele
srrrle\ | 99.1 tl6 A brir'i update
nroie abundant on calcarious sils'
Mrstlctc
Mr\tlclc- in t o\cnln
B(tlAM('.\l
I n Ill\
Latrnus Rotanrcusr A reTnn on thc mcclng ar lJotaDicdl I anil
Ilotanrcal pronuncialron
Iilevm rough guldcs
Continued
on inside back covcr
2
2
2
.1
1
4
7
8
d
8
8
8
it
t3
13
ll
ll
1.1
t,{
t{
l.l
l.l
1l
l-l
l5
IJ
li
l5
t5
Itr
t6
t'l
l'l
1'7
t8
2t)
20
22
2-I
26
ln
:9
29
30
3l
ll
32
33
35
l6
1"7
31i
39
l9
-19
40
4{)
-1(|
4t
.ll
4l
.13