BSBI News No. 64

B.S.B.I.NEWS
September1993
Editedby R. GwynnEllis
No.64
Dept.of Botany,NationalMuseumof Wales
CardiffCF1 3NP
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Administration
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ADMINISTRATION
HON. GENERAI SECRETARY (GeneralEnquiries)
Mrs Mary Briggs,M B E.,
9 Arun Prosoect.PLILBOROUCH.West SussexRH20 IAL
Tel.0798-87-1234
Mr MichaelWalpole,
HON. TREAST'RER(Paymentof Subscriptionsand changeof address)
Leics LEI I ILY
68 OutwoodsRoad.LOUGFIBOROUGH.
Tel 0509-2I5598
(Pleasequote membershipnumberon correspondence
concemingmembershipor subscriptions- your
membershipnumberis on the addresslabelof your mailings).
HON. FIELD SECRETARY (Enquirieson Field Meetings)
Mrs ElinorWiltshire
62 Canoll House.CravenTerrace.LONDON W2 3PR
ri:itiii::ii::a!irsi.::$iiiii:Iii:
irj j
PLEASE NOTE
Changesof addressfor secretaries
of TWO PermanentWorking Committees
CONSERVATION
RECORDS
Ms Vicky M Morgan
2 FlaxenWalk,Warboys,HIJNTINGDONCambsPElT 2TR
Mr DavidJ. McCosh
BaconsthorpeOld Rectory,HOLT, Norfolk NR25 6l-U
NB.
We now havetwo 'Old Rectory Davids'on our RecordsCommittee.
L Hon. Sec.ofRecordsCommitteeand Recorderfor v.c. 78 Peebles(and specialinterestin Hieracium)
DAVID McCOSI{
Baconsthorpe
Old Rectory,HOI-T, Norfolk NR256LU
2 ScarcePlantsProject 1990-91BSBI/BRCLiaison,NationallyRareSpeciesProject1993(-1996)
BSBIiEN/JNCCLiaison, and Recorder'sConferenceOrganiser,York Septemberl99l (and
DAVID PEARMAN
specialinterestin lVledicagol
TheOld Rectory,FromeSt Quinton,DORCI{ESTER"DorsetDT2 0lil'
MARY BRICTGS,Hon GeneralSecretary
CONTRIBUTIONSINTENDEDFOR
RSI'I NEIYS 65
shouldreachthe Editorbefore
5 NOVEMBERI993
Dian / Editorial
DIARY
N.B. Thesedatesaresupplementary
to thosein the 1993Calendar
t993
OCTOBER
t-)
t6
NOVEMBER
l6
27
DECEMBER
l 6 -t 8
(lareers in the ,b,nvironmezt
NationalConference,London (seepage58)
('onservationof the Biospheremeeting,WinchesterGuildhall(seeB,SB1ly'ers
62, page 49)
Careersin the Environment
Workshop,[,ondon(seepage58)
BSBI ExhibitionMeetingat Reading(seepage9)
Rehabilitation of Riversworkshop, ICOLE, LoughboroughUniversity (see
page57)
1994
FEBRUARY
RSRIAbstractsto be distributedwith llatsonia (seepage9)
APRIL
t4
Plant and Insect RelationsfupsConference,Royal Entomological Society
rooms,London (seeBJB./News63: 37)
EDITOR
: i::::1i:.::1:l:l lli:f:ili:i:ii
EDITORIAL
It is gratiSringthat Newscontinuesto attracta very mrxedbagofcontributions.Thismeansthatthere
shouldbe somethingof interestfor all membersin this issue.My thanksto all contributorsand apologiesto thosewhosearticleshavebeenpostponeduntil the next issue.Pleasekeepyour contributionsfloodinsin.
The sfig[tiy delayedmailing of this issueof BSBI Nevs is one consequence
of the recentpostal
strike in Cardiff Proofs were sent out just beforethe strike but their return was much delayed.It is
possiblethat someare still lost in the post and I apologiseto any authorswho find that their corrections havenot beenincoroorated.
apologisefor a shortdelayin the publicationof the BSBI'sConference
ReportNo 22
-._I musJ-also
- Plqnts
l|/ild aru{ Gqrden. Proofs havebeensentto authorsand we hopeto havegoneio pressby
the time you readthis nolice.Publicationshouldtake placein October(Novemberat the latest).I do
hopeall subscribers
will bearwith us a little longer.
Another apology,I'm afraid, for againnot havingtime to checkthat Englishnanes are used,as
well a-sLatin, whereverpossible,and that all Latin namesfollow Staceand Kent. It would be a great
help
- if contributorscould makeeveryeffort to conform.
May I take this opportunityof thankingall thosewho ordereda copy of my'lndex to Stace'.
Theyshouldhavereceivedtheir copyby now but ifnot, pleaselet me know.
Finally,sincerecondolences
to JeffCurtis.a friendandformerRecorderfor v.c. 41, whosewife
Chris died in August. JelI, Chris and their two young childrenwere on the first field meetingorganisedforthel;loraoJ()lamorgan
projectintheearly1970s.
Weusedtojokeaboutherbecominga
grandmotherbeforethe l,loro was publishedbut neverdreamtthat "rftewould not live to seeit. May
sherestin peace.
EDITOR
Proflles
PROFILES
NEW PRESIDENT
DR FRANKLYN H, PERRING
The new BSBI president,FranklynPerring,is of coursebest known as the co-editor,with Max
Walters,of the Atlas of the British I'lora (1962) ln 1954the BSBI appointedFrank, a young CambridgePhD student,as SeniorWorker for the Maps Scheme.He provedto bejust the right personto
inspirebotaniststo take up grid-squarerecordingand then pushthe publicationthroughto a successful conclusion.Many readersno doubt havevivid nremoriesof thoseyears,but to my generationthey
givesa flavour of the
havealreadybecomea time of myth and legend.Readingthe ,flSBI Procee<ling.s
period: a small band of botanists,not yet swollenby the massedranhsof environmentalists,
learnt
how the nationalgrid worked (sometimesagainsttheir naturalinclinations)and attemptedto record
leadingfield meetingsin reall the 1Okmsquaresin five years.frank was apparentlyomnipresent,
mote areas,headingoff with his bicycle on the pre-Beechingrailway systemto record unworked
squaresnearer home or travelling the lanes of lre{and assistingDavid Webb in his alnrostsinglehandedattemptto map the lrish flora. The Atlas is perhapsthe most signilicart tsritishnaturalhistory
book to be publishedthis century. Using it every day, I'm struck by the quality of the first edition.
This extendsfrom the broad accuracyof most maps,and the soundjudgementwith which problems
ofdoubtful identificationsor ofalien statuswere tackled,to the lack ofmisprints - all achievedby the
Atlas teamdespitethe limited numberof recorders,a tight timescaleand technologywhich was then
the bestavailablebut now seemsvery slow and labour-intensive.
After the Atlas, Frank moved to Monks Wood in 1964 as head of the Nature Conservancy's
Biological Records Centre. There he set out with his zoological colleaguesto extend the Atlas
methodologyto other groups. Atlasesof butterflies,mammalsand many lesspopular groups have
resultedfrom the schemes
they launchedor promoted.MeanwhileFrankwascompleting(with Peter
Sefl)the Crltical Supplementto the Atlas of the British I,loru, andusingBRC as a baseliom which
to promote other initiatives.These included the Europeanmapping project which has resultedin
Allos l;-loraeEuropaea,network surveyssuchasthe Winter Mistletoe Count (1969-19'72).the establishmentof local recordscentresin manvcountiesand (with Lvnne Farrell)thefirst Britrsh Redl)ata
followedvearslater bv the publicationbv
tltnk (197'11.The latter was an importantdevelopment.
(1991)andby Poyserofa volume
NCC/JNCCofvolumesfor insects(1987)andolherinvertebrates
for birds(1990)
By the late 1970stherehadbeenchanges
at Monks Wood. The splitof the NatureConservancy
in 1973.into NCC and ITE was deploredby most of thosewho worked for the old organisation,and
perhapsleff Frank feeling that in ITE he was on the wrong side of the fence. It also markedthe
period when managersof scienceceasedto appoint good peopleand then let them get on with the
job, but adopted more intrusive techniques.I suspectthat Frank was not reallv interestedin the
developmentof computerdatabases;
the plantsand the peoplehad greaterappealto sucha gregarious person.The pioneerwork had beendoneat tsRC,and in 1979Frank left to beconteGeneral
Secretary
soonto becomeunderhisleaderof the Societyfbr the Promotionof NatureConservation,
shiptheRoyalSocietyfor NatureConservation.
Back in the voluntarysectorFrank'sspiritsrose. herewas a new challenge.With his background
he could start immediatelyto get the bestout of this complexorganisationof nearlyfifty autonomr,rus
local Trusts. He had beena founder memberor"the CambridseshireTrust and was chairmano1'the
of naturclonservationand a convictionthat its
Northamptonshire
Trust. He had an understanding
How could it posriblybe
importancemustbe shoutedfiom the rooftopsto a muchwider audience.
that thosein high placesdid not alwaysseethingsexactlyasFrank sawthem?
The RSNC's magazineNotural ll'ortd was one of Frank'sinitiatives.During his energetic8%
years, the Society lainched its successfulBritish Wildlife Appeal under Sir David Attenb-orough's
patronage,raisingll5 million for the Trusts.It also embracedand encouragedthe growth of Urban
Wildlife Groups. Once again Frank had shown what was possibleand had openedthe way tbr his
successors.
On his retirementin 1987he receivedthe OBE lor his services
to natureconservation.
During his working life Frank had beeninvolved,in his sparetime, in numerousbotanicalprojects (he is co-author of the lloras of Cambridgeshireand Shropshire),and in his retirementhe has
beenableto concentrale
on his rolesas tour leader,lecturer,authcr,conservationist
and Margaret's
assistant
in the Oundlebook business.
The new presidentis aboveall an ideas-man.ldeasflv from Frank like sDarksiiom a Catherine
Wheel.The BSBI now providesits presidentwith an EnergisingPanel- in thii casethe memberswill
surelybe redundant!ln a Societywheremostofus arecontentto follow established
procedures,
such
a personis a most valuableasset,as the numberof pioneerworks alreadymentionedtestifies.Of
course,like all ideas-mensome of Frank's suggestionsare totally impractical- thesehe defendsat
meetingswith great mentalagilityuntil the inevitable.
gracefulsurrender.
He hasalwayshada great
driveto get thingsdone:ifhe seesa goalhe will headstraighttowardsit. obliviousofthe fact that he
is cuttingacrossmore circuitousofficialpathwavs.This can,of course,lead to heateddiscussions.
Hereone of Frank'soutstanding
characteristics
Howevergreatthe argumenlsin commil.lee.
emerges.
he will alwaysbe as friendly and charmingat the end of the meetingas at the beginning.He bearsno
grudges,harboursno animosities,and alwayscomesup smiling.A valuableassetin a president!
It is certainlyfitting that Frankshouldnow be electedas the presidentofBSB|. He hashad its
interestsat heart throughout his career,and servedit with as much enthusiasmas anyonehas ever
done.We look forward to a productiveand eventfulterm of ofljce.
C D PRESTON,BRC. MonksWood, AbbotsRipton,HUNTINGDON,Cambridgeshire
PEl7 2LS
--**"*-.3
S'l
Franklvn Perring on his birthday, photo O C Crompton, l/8/9,i
NEW HONORARY MEMBERS
JOHN (P.J.O.)TRrST
JohnTristjoined the Societyin 1956and wasimmediately
cnrolledas an activeworker lor the Distribution Maps Scheme.One of his first field meetingswas a weekendbasedon Bury St Edmunds
where althoughhe was a seniorADAS adviserhe managedsomehowto balanceencouragingmore
efficient agriculturewith a love of wild flowers and a care for conservation.Perhapseven then his
developmentof a keen interestin grasseswas a diplomaticmeansof beingable to work comlbrtably
in both camps
In Bury he was extremelywell placedto take an interestin the Brecklandand,almostimmediately the Maps Schemewas over, he becamedeeplyinvolvedin a project which was to occupy him for
the next 15 years - the preparationof An Ecologrcal Flora of Breckland which he edited and for
which he producedinvaluabledetailedhabitatstudiesand rare speciesaccounts,sevenofwhich were
for grasses.One of thesewas FestucacctesiaSm.(l;. ktngrfulia Thuill.). A studyof this teasingtaxon
'l'ransactions
led to severalpapersin l{atsonia and the
of lhe Suffolk Naturalists' Society.
TheseBrecklandhabitat studieswere part of John'sgeneralinterestin habitatsand rare species
and their conservationand, as ConservationOfficer of the Suffolk Trust, he carriedout and published
surveyson severalSuffolk specialities,notablylirifillario meleagris, Orchis militarr,s and'Iulipa
sylvestris.
But the Gramineaehavecontinuedto be his major interestand he has publishedpaperconMolinia caenrlea, Festuca anmdinacea and Festuca trachyphylla (F. brevipila) in the last decade continuing until the presentday with a paperon (orynephorus canescensin the latestissueof Ll/atsonia
(Vol. 19, part 3). His knowledgeof Festuca utd Bromus (sensulato) led to the Societyinviting him
to becomethe refereefor thesegeneraand he servedin this capacityfor manyyears.In carryingout
his duties he habituallywent out of his way to offer more thanjust the nameof the specimenssubmitted to him, as many memberscan testiit. His readinessto passon to noviceshis profoundknowledgeofour nativegrasses,clearlyderivedfrom long familiaritywith theseplants,hasensuredhim the
gratitudeof manygrassenthusiasts.
A1l merpbershave reasonto be eratefulbecausenot onlv was he a refereehimselfbut for manv
yearshe maintainedthePanel of Refireesand Spetialistswhich ensuredwe hadpeopteto turn to for
all critical groups.
It is most appropriatethat the Society shouldhonour John Trist in his 86th year when he has
reluctantlyrelinquishedhis duties as one of our most respectedReferees.That we shallmiss his expertiseis obvious- the Societyhasnot yet beenableto find anotherrefereeforBromus or Festucal
RONALD PAYNE and FRANKLYN PERRINC
DrcK (R.H.)ROBERTS
R.H. Roberts was a school teacherby profession.Earlv on in his careerhe had a post in Sussex
where he botanisedenensivelyon th; SouthDowns. li was herethat he first witnessedextensive
habitatdestructionas downlandwas ploughedfor the war effort and the experiencegave rise to his
great interestin conservation.After sewingin the RAF during the war, Dick ieturnedio North Wales
to teach.He continuedhis botanicalactivitiesand becamea close friend ofEvan Roberts.Between
(v.c. 49) and the peaksof Snowdoniaand pubthem they surveyedthe plantsof SE Caernarfonshire
lishedtheir recordsin severaliournals lt was at this time. in the earlv 1950s-that Dick ioined the
BSBI.
He moved to Bangor in the mid-1950sand was appointedvice-countyrecorderfor Anglesey
(v.c. 52). He continuedto botaniseas ferventlyas before,both on the mainlandand on the'island,for
the BSBI's mappingscheme(thoughhis effortswere curiouslynot acknowledgedintheAtlas).
Severalplant gtoups have attracted his specialinterest,namelyfems, monkeyflowersand orchids.He hasactedas BSBI Refereefor Polpodium andDactylorhiza,hashad an activeand critical
interestin Dryopteris (though he has publishednothing on this genus)and has remarkablefield and
lab experience
ofmost othergeneraofferns and orch.ids.
ln additionhe was the first to discoverthe
Prohlcs / The Partnership Calc
presenceof Mimulus hybridsin Britain and has actedas Refereetbr this genusas well. His expertise
in two of these senerahas recentlvbeen markedbv the namineof two hvbrid taxa in his honour Mimulus " rober"tsiiSilversideand'Dactylorhiza" dinglensisnoihosubsp.iobertsii F. Horsman.
Apart from being an outstandingbotanist,Dick hasbeen,and still is, an influentialplant conserfor the establishment
of the North Wales
vationist.He and Prof. Bill Laceywerejointly responsible
Naturalists'Trust in 1963, specificallyfor the purposeof safeguardinga particularlyimportantwetland areain Anglesey- the Gors Goch NatureReserve.
In recognitionof his outstandingcontributionto botanyand conservationin North Wales,Dick
was awardedan HonoraryM.Sc. by the Universityof Walesin 1979andin 1982,the NationalMuseumof Wales publishedhis F-knering Plonts and Ferns of Anglesey.Despitehis years,he is now
81, he worked actively on the BSBI's Monitoring Schemeand the ScarcePlant Project and is an
enthusiasticsupporter of the Society'sAtlas 2000 project and intendsto co-ordinatethe effort in
v.c. 52 of which he is still a very activeRecorder.
There can be few more fitting personsthat the Societycould honour and we wish him many
more happyyearsbotanisingin Anglesev.
NIGEL BROWN andGWYNN ELLIS
iir.ilr.ti::
itli:]:::::lr:::.::i:::i:i:
THE PARTNERSHIPCAKE
Cake-decoratedto svmboliseco-oDerationbetweenRSNC. The Wildlife Trusts Partnershioand the
BSBI. enjoyedby m-embers
of the Societyduring the AGM at Lincoln who were invitedto join
RSNC Executiveand staff for tea at RSNC'sHQ in the city. The cakewas cut by Dr JohnPhilipson,
Chairmanof RSNC Executive,and Dr FranklynPerring,former GeneralSecretaryof RSNC, on his
first day as Presidentofthe BSBI
Photo O MargaretPerring
ImportantNoticcs
IMPORTANT N{OTICES
WHITHER BSBI?
Why do you belongto the BSBI? Are you an actrvememberregularlyattendingfield meetingsin the
surnmerand exhibitionmeetingsand conferencesin the winter? Do you enjoy Watsoniaand 1y'eu.s
andpossess,
anduse,all the Handbooks?
When I becamePresident-electI realisedthat, beforeI could decidehow best to servethe Society I have loved during 40 yearsof membershipduring my term of oftice, I would needto klow
what other membersthought about it and of any ways in which they would like to see things
changed.So, Council agreedto a Publicity Working Party being set up on which John Akeroyd,
Brian Galeand PatrickRoperhavejoined me as members,
andto our sendingvou the Questionnaire
which is enclosedwith this copy of 1y'ew.r.
Pleasesparel0 minutesto answerthe questionsandto makeany suggestions
for improvements
or new directionswhich you think the Societyshouldtake - and if you are family membersplease
make separatereturns - the best families disagreefrom time to time and we would like all your
oprnrons.
Send your completedQuestionnaire(s)
to Patrick Roper, South View, Sedlescombe,
Battle,
E. SussexTNl3 OPE.Patrickwill be analysing
the resultsleaningon his experience
as Development
Director at the NationalMaritime Museumwherehe is responsiblefor marketingand public relations
and hasbeeninvolvedin a similarsurveyfor their Friends.
The resultsof the surveywill be incorporated
in a Reportto be submittedto Council,with recommendations,
early nexl year.
One thing which is alreadyapparentas I havebeengettingout and about meetingmembersin all
parts of the British Isles sinceI took ofiice in May (Dublin, Cheviots,Cornwall and Gower) is that
therearestill manyactiveandtalentedfieldbotanistsout therewho arenot members
ofthe BSBI and
who know very little about us. I am sureyou know someyourself- membersof the botanysectionof
your local natural history societyperhaps,or conservationstaffof the Wildlife Trust, or officers of
English Heritage, Scottish Natural Heritage,CountrysideCouncil for Wales etc. At the end of the
ofpeople like that to whom we shouldbe sendQuestionnaireyou are askedfor namesand addresses
ing membershipforms. Pleasemakea specialeffort with this section.
I do not believewe shouldbe rushinginto the marketplaceto enrol membersjust for the sakeof
members- but the BSBI is an important Societywhich shouldbe servingthe needsof all botanistsin
the British Isles(and someoverseas!)with a seriousinterestin its wonderfrrland ever changing,ever
fascinatingflora - and I am sure that the numberis many more than the 2,700 or so who presently
belong.Please,for our sakeand for thosewho havenot yet 'receivedthe message',
help us to increasethat membership.
To remindyou herearethe categories
rates.
andsubscription
Ordinaryf 15 00 Opento all over 2l
Family12 00 (per member)Opento membersof the familyof the above.Havefull privilegesbut do
not receiveseparate
mailing.
Junior 17.00Opento youngpeopleup to the ageof 2 l, andto studentsin fuli+imeeducationup ro
25. Have full privileges.
Institutionalf15.00 Opento schools,colleges,publiclibraries,museums,
societies
andotherinstitutions. Full privilegesbut only one vote at meetings.
N.B. If a memberjoins afl.erlst Octoberthe subscription
laststo 3lst f)ecemberthe tbllowingyear.
so usethis bait to catchyour first new membersin October
FRANKLYN PERRING.President
lmponanl Noliccs
A REMINDER
With this mailing you have a Notice of the 1993 Annual Exhibition Meeting, at the Plant Sciences
l-aboratories, University of RIADING,
and a map of the campus showing the PSL (no. 35). The
available space and lacilities for the exhibition are very good at Reading, and a welcome is being
prepared for us at the P.S.l-. It is very appropriate that Dr StephenJury, who is in charge ofthe organisation for this meeting, has this year also been appointed as Chairman oIBSBI Meetings Committee
and BSBI Conference Co-ordinator.
N{oving the Exhibition meeting away iionr London is possibly the end of an era - Edgar
Milne-Redhead. unable to be at the 1992 meetinc told us that it was the lirst that he had missed since
the receptions were held in the Marylebone Hoiel. and some of us recall in the early 1960s the Exhibition at Imperial College followed by a supper at Crosby Hall, Chelsea, before we were invited to
h o l d t h e E x h i b i t i o ni n t h e D e p t o f B o t a n y , B M . ( N H )
Since, for nearly thirty years the meeting was based in the Department of Botany. but recent
visits there have confirmed the wisdom of the decision to move - the DeDartment is considerablv
obstructed al present with the scaflblding tbr the roof repairs. and this week sereral wrndows hai
been temporarily removed; the staff meanwhile have carried on undeterred through the disorganisation, with only very few herbarium cupboard doors completely blocked by scaffolding poles. But
even with these removed the shape of the Herbarium and the large blocks of cupboards no longer
make it ideal fbr an Exhibition meeting. The expansion of Dinosaurs into Galleries where we have
some years held the exhibition and showed slides elsewhere in the l\4useumhas added to the problems. and we look forward to the new venue fbr this 1993 meeting at Readine.
M A R Y B R I G G S . I l o n ( i e n e r a lS e c r e l a r y
SCARCE
PLANTS
PROJECT
I)uring the oourse of the above project nreasuresdeemed necessarylo encourage replies were reported and discussedat meetings of at least four BSBI Committees and repeated exhortations were
ntade to certain v.c. Recorders. Il is certainly true that without the dedicatedefforts ofthe organising
team the coverage would har.ef'allenfar shon ot what was eventuallyachieved.
At a meeting of the Executive Committee in April it was consideredthat a positive cornrnentwas
called for in respect of the considerableamount olrvork involved and carried out timeously and without complaint by the majority ofthe v.c. Recorders.It was therefore agreed that I should write a brief
note emphasisingthis point and expressingappreciationto these Recorders.
As a recorder myself, I can report that the exchange of knowledge was not all one-sided. The
printouts sent contained. for mv r'.c.. quite a number of sites of which I was unaware. The fact that
these were always accompaniedby souice and date made them valuable additions to my records.
P E I L . R M A ( P I l l - . R S O N .P r c s i d e n ru n t i l o { q . l
B,llll /1ll!;7'RACT',1
23 (FOR 1992)
l l S R lA h . s t r a t t . : i s a b o u t t o t a k e o n a n e w l o o k f h c p a s t s e v e n i s s u e s l l 6 - 2 2 ) h a v e b c e n p r e p a r e d o n
a word-processor and printed on a daisywheelprinter as camera-readycopy. Parts 2-l onwards will be
prepared liom the tsSBl Database (Lercester) and camera-ready copv will be produced tiom it by
'l
laser printer his will result irr a rnuch better looking tcxt, but unforlunalely the requisrte progranrnrrng had nol been complcted until very recently. so that there will again be a six-rnonth delay in
production this year. flcnce parl ]-i will be distributed with the February 1994 Wal:;onia mailing. We
apologise fbr the delay. but hope that the anticipated improved appearancewill justily it.
('t,lVE A. STA('t-., BSBI Database Project. Dept of Botany, Ijnri"ersity of Leicester. University
Road.Lil('ES TtrR Lh,l 7RfI
Regional Joumals / Hon. General Secretary'sNotcs
REGIONALJOTIRNALS
IRISH ROTANICAL NEWS
Irish Botanical Neus is publishedannually,usuallyin Februaryand is circulatedfree to all members
living in Ireland and to non-residentIrish vice-countyrecorders.Sinceits inceptionthreeyearsago, I
havebeenaskedby a small,but significant,numberofpeople to providea subscriptionservice.I have
resistedthis in the past owing to the uncertaintiesof publicationbut now, with three issuesalready
published,I think it may be time to introducesucha scheme.Printing and distributioncosts are approximatelyI1.50 Consequently,
cheques,madepayableto BSBI, in multiplesof ll 50, up to a
maximumoffour will ensurethat you receivecopiesasthey arepublished.
Ifprinting costsare conless.the balancewill be carriedforward.
siderably
BRIAN S. RUSHTON, Dept. of Biological and BiomedicalSciences.Universityof Ulster,
COLERAINE,NorthernlrelandBT52 I SA
I}SRI IYEI.SH BUI,I,ETI N
The B.lBl llel,sh llulletin (now at No 55) is normally publishedtwice yearly, usually in late
spring/earlysummerand in winter/earlyspring.It is circulatedfree of chargeto all membersliving in
Walesand to non-residentWelshvice-countyrecorders.All back issuesare still availableon request
(originalsor photocopies)and a list of contentsis availableon loan (to be retumedwith ordelsr).
Ordersshouldbe sentto Dr G. Hutchinson.Dept. of Botany.NationalMuseumof Wales.Cathays
Park,CARDIFFCFI 3NP. speci$ingthe issuenumber(or year.whichwouldhaveto includethe
seasonor month),togetherwith a cheque(madepayableto BSBI Wales)@ ll per issue,including
p.& p. For long runsthe priceis negotiable- contactme at the addressbelow.lf you would like to
subscribeto the lltelshRulletin, sendyour cheques,to cover as manyyearsas you wish, to me and I
will inform you whenyour subscriptionis due to expire
GWYNN ELLIS, Dept of Botany,NationalMuseumof'Wales,CathaysPark,CARDIFFCFI 3NP
TH E SCOTTISH NEWSI,ETTER
The ScotlishNeu,sletterhasnow had l5 issues.It is publishedeachspringand sentto menrbersresidentin Scotland.Membersoutwith Scotlandwho would like to receivea coovareinvitedto oDena.n
accountliom which the cost ofpostagewill be deductedeachyear Those'interested
shouldsenda
remittance(of not lessthan 12 00) madeout to me at the addressbelow.As is the caselbr members
who havealreadysubscribed,
theywill be informedwhena top-upis necessary.
PETERMACPHERSON(JointEditor). l5 LubnaigRoad.Newlands,GLASCOWG4-l2RY
HON. GENERAL SECR.ETARY'S
NOTES
Congratulations to D.H. Kent, who was awarded the O.B.E,. in the Queen'sBirthday llonours List a w e l l d e s e r v e d a w a r d t o D u g g i e w h o s e w o r k f o r t h e S o c i e t y i n c l u d e s e d i t i n g t h e Y e a r R oi no k1 9 5 3 ,
then for many years he was Editor of l'rocecding,s rt the lJotanical Society rf the llritr,sh Lyles. and
now Compiler and Editor of RSRI Ahstracts currentl\,, and since Part I in 1970. All these have been
achieved as vofuntary work. and also the l.isl of lh,sculur l'lonts of the Rrttish Lsle.s,1992. Duggie
'seems
writes that the award
to have given me a new status in the eyes of my two granddaughters!
It)
H o n C c n c r a lS c c r e t a n ' sN o t c s
C-ongratulationsalsotoDrFvaCrack]eswhowas.*.a.a,r"*ffi
ljst lor servicesto botanyand nature.onsenation-"S-ile
attendedBuckinghampuiu.. on July I4th to
recervethe honour Ailhe ceremony,the
eueencamea"*" ii"n,,lr" ;;il;; ;;
Eva who wasin a
wheelchairHer Majestymentioned'botanv
herthat shehadbeena naturalistall her life
and the Queenwas-interested
""JE*-iora
As a disabieJperro",'gyuruase*trernely*"iil""r"o after palace
by
otiicialswho were attentive..supporrive
and
g";q h"r"r,Jd-E;,rli^;i;;;;;
.n.,ywe1 indeed;
It wasa mostmemorable
and happyday.The"!f
Hutfoaity wlail'sreportoittit" iirit *"* entitled,Botantst'sday at the Palace' In conneition with the otTt"iut
,it"tion the ieporter had added:'throughouther
life Dr crackles hasworked to increasethegeneiur'fiuir;.t
awareneisof natureandthe environment,.
congratulations also to David Mcclint6.l F.!r""trg
nr. il*.""--s".i"iv
or London HH
Bloomer Award for Botanv-to David chariesv.CiintoJt
Fts,
neanSocietysaid 'DavidMiclintock haslivedin x"ni to.-n"arty i" ivr"v,i[J'i1.ria"nt of the Linfifty yearsbut his paternalroorsare
in Ireland,where his famiryhas lived for centuriesHis fatheA;;t;;;r-;;iergyman
rook rhe
f'amilyto variouspartsof Ensrandi" o*;o,rl"ui-t."but his
mother, il;;;;;.
w;re provideda firm
link with Hertfordshireand lid to,hisjri"i"y'rh;i;fordshire
yeomanrybeforethe Second
world
having
no
il}ii"fiil|:*
biorogicar
rralning,"he
rr^ r"o. '"i""ui" i"nt.i6rffi;; ,; bothbotany
and
"r.,.i"Tlf,T'r:xll,',ixt'[,r';:{;",1[ff,"ff1'#,fii;,."*:l**tti."1
cil He haspuisued
hisinreresr.in
pl;"i; i;;;;;;;i'dl...rion. but alwayswithvigour His
detailed
floristicknowledge
or thep{isl rsles_;; .;;;;r;;il;
;;',h"'p.ipri;;'i;;L, (juide to rrttd
!'lrn'er' thatheivrotewith Richard-Fitt"i
i"'isi6'irt" Crr""""rirr^,ia!rio*,'pu.tt"ulurty
thatof
Guernsey,
hashelda const,rnt
attraction
for himandt" trasueensoteor1.Li'"rir,Ji.rrevenpublicatlons on them. His other
botanical publications have ra
nomencratuie,
and
incruoei
.""i;i;;ii;";r;;1ff13ff:T:"JjiX",'::.?illlii'j;r,fii',Xl
tign
'I 3na
he Luntpean (iorden l. loru
developedfrorn an iOeaoi fris
Davidgardenson three.ac-res
ol'dry sandyrentlh soilon whichhe hasproducedan unusual
and
tascinating
kaleidoscope
of nativeand exotic'planrs,
with emptrasi;";hi;K;;;
systematrc
con_
cerns' hardy bamboosand heather.s.ofEri"p'"
MeditenaneanTn.r. gi"rp, figure pronri""J'trr!
*'l;*y,n]::*,;t*,.f:m:[i"".*##
l,'Jllt;lq'::ji:':t"n::iff::",T,11',1:["#tt
boos,panicular.ly
on their erraticflowerinq
David Mcclintock's outsranding^
*ojt -for botanicaland horticulturalorganisatrons
has been
bv honotrrsfrom the"noyaiH"'tiJiri.r
s".;"ty""J *,. s".iii3ijr"-"iuire
l:ll"^*:!gd
and by
rxghotIIcetn sereralother societie^s
including.
gsilt,iir. frilj rtorr., Socjetv.
pasr-President
the HeatherSocietv.the Bamboosocietvaniihe tnie"rationiiD;";r"I";i'i;;r;-i;;h';
"ith.
i;"";;;
Societvhe hasserv'ed
on council ( ts7l-jv;.;" Fi";;;; c_ommitree. ti;;-p*;il;
nt g97 t_74) and
FditorialSecretary( 1974-78)u;s contnbuiion.io'*.i*rin.
",
r.nowledge.in
all fieldsoi'naturalhistory
tnto wluch he has ventured.as well as tire inspiialion
ol hrs pen, his broadcasts
and his inlbctious
havegiven pleasurero rnanv,makehim a very worthy ,e.ipGni
or:th" HH tsroomei
"^TifitfiT#i'ch
congratulations to prof-essorJim Dickson on being elected
a Feilow of the
Edi"E;eh,;;;.-LJiu,]ii.t
r"i.l C"r,g.r'trrrrilr,.?'Vi.r,y
- - -'Morgan,
Honsec
l i o n ( ' o m m i t t e e ,o n t h e b i r t h o 1 ' as o n ,E * u n
"rntfi{%.r""r!'ijJ:
Memorial
Tree
.lhe
tsedfbrdshire Naturai History societv has planted
a lilru ttndara in the grounds of l-uton Mul?yr1',f,ili#""J;j'i*i}.gry
chrisDonv
t"ili melnat
sher.vas ,"',t''3*ln'ir'"n,,tipuo.rrr
".i.4 menrbers
Peterlavlor'bothfounder
uitr',.g.arJrarnii.
Natural
- .r'r}f;io#i,ild
t{istorySociety
In Memorianr
\\ith sadness
sc rcpurrtliat.Dicr Daviddied rn April
.thisvear A past-presiden
Mcmber irr.so."rv,ol.t r,oat a""pil:ri"rr."i'*th.our
publications
and.-..ffi1j*?t:H?,?
"i
""n
:';ffi',:iillff,i*,".fi":f
;i:",i#.#:,:;'il,xl1J;i,[#lfli
F.',ii:iiii::'ilff
A,idatt,Bradv
B Ag 'Sc. l-1.S.I)irectorottt,e NatiirnJ-Botanic
Gardens,
cilasnevin.
liublin obituaries
ot both.togetherwirh thoseof the deceased
Re{brees
r.ee'pag.l2) wilr appearin w,o/.s.rtru
\{AR\' tsRI(;GS.Hon GeneralSecretary
II
Recordcrs tnd Rccording
RECORDERS
AND RECORDING
Supplementno. 2 to List of Recordersin I 993 Year Book
v.c. 72 Dumfriess
Mrs M.E.R. Martin - resigned.
Dr M G B. Hughes.SNH. Cairnbaan,
Lochgilphaed,
Argyll PA3 I SSQ
- appointed.
v.c. 91 Kincardine
Dr D. Welch,EastFembank.WoodsideRoad,Banchory,Kincardineshire,
ABI 4BY - appointed(in additionto v.c 93 N. Aberdeen)
v.c. l0l
Dr MarianHughes- resigned
Mr & Mrs B.D. Batty,KirnauFarm.KilmichaelGlen-Lochgilphaed.
Argyll
- appointed
Welcomeand thanksto the newly appointedRecorders.and to Mary Martin we sendour sincere
thankslbr being v.c. Recorderfor Dumfriesfor l8 years.In her letter of resignation,Mary writes'l
havehad a good spellcoveringan interesting
numberofyears . . . My last pleasureis now to thank
the Committeethat appointedme and those who helpedand encouragedme alon-qthe way. Thank
you for my place in your learned Society'srecording fringe which could not have been sustained
without the publicationcalledBSBI News containingmanythings fbr Recordersespeciallythe Panel
of Refereesand Specialists.
I canthink of two or threeunsolvedplantproblemsfor v.c. 72 andit will be nicefbr me if I can
'Ihank
you Mary.
solvethem and sendword of them on pink cardsfor my successorto dealwith'.
Eric Philp,Recorderfor v.cc. 15 & 16. E & W Kent. hastaken earlyretirementfiom his post of
Keeperof Natural History at MaidstoneMuseumand Art Gallery.We senta messageof good wishes
to his retirementparty at which the Mayor of Maidstonemadea presentation.
HappilyEric is not
retiringasv.c. Recorder(but we anticipatethat he will now be ableto spendevenmorehoursrecording in Kent?)
Supplementno. 2 to Panelof Referecsand Specialistsin l99J Year Book
With regretwe report the deathsof three Ref'erees.
PTEROPSIDA
Asplenium& Pol,vst
ichum.
Dr Anne Sleepwho sadlydiedthis yearaftermanyyearsof ill healthandpainfulillness.
POLYGONACOAE
Polygonumm'it:ulare s.|..
Dr Brian Stylesof Oxford,suddenly.
CYPERACEAE
Carex.
Mr R.W.David(seeHon.Gen.Sec.'s
NotespageI I).
All wereReferees
for the Societyfor manyyearsandwill be missed.
Specimens
of Aspleniumandl)oly.stichum
tn'uulurelo
can be sentto Miss Alison Paul.I'olyg<ttrrtm
Dr John Akeroyd, ('a/ex to Arthur Chateror Clive Jermy- all theseRefereesas listed in IISRI Year
Bookfor 1993pages10-14,with their addresses
in List ofN4embers.
MARY BRIGGS Hon. GeneralSecretarry
Rccordcrs and Rccording
RED DATA BOOK PROJECT
Many thanks to all those who have kindly responded to our request for new and updated records of
RDB species. There has becn a good response. and a considerablebulk of data has been received
from vice-county Recorders, fiom individuals with a particular knowledge of an area or a species,
and lrom staff of English Nature and Scottish Natural Heritage local offices We do appreciatethat
Recorders and others are busy people. and we are, therefore, particularly grateful for the efforts made
on behalfofthis project. We very much look forward to receiving records from other vice-countiesin
oue course.
These data are now being entered on the JNCC Rare Plants Database.together with information
culled lrom other sources.When data entry and checking has been completed, we will send a copy of
the updated printouts to vice-county Recorders.
We have been able to support some fieldwork this summer. In Suffolk Breckland, information is
being collected from all known sites for l)hleum phleoides, Silene otites and T'hymusserpyllum. In
[)urham, afl known localities for (ientiana verna and,]'otentilla.frutico,la have been visited, and new
localities for the former species have been found. Commissioned survey in Scotland has been centred
in the Braemar area, and localities for montane RDB specieshave been visited. Thanks to all those
who have been collecting field data.
As mentioned in BIB/ Ael'.s 63. we hope to be able to support further field surveys next year,
mainly aimed at checking localities for which there is no recent field record. The databasewill help to
identrfy where survey eftbrt might be directsd bu1 we will, of course, remain reliant on local knowledge. ifvice-county Recorders are aware oflikely needs lor surveys in their area, we should be grateli-rl to know.
MARTIN J. \I'IGGINTON
JNCC,Monklrone House,Clty Road, PETERBOROUGI::-l
,,:"
,
,
I.UDWIGIA PAI,USTRIS - FIRST RI]CORD IN STJSSEXSTN(]E I876
(L ) E,lliott(Hampshire-purslane),
A colonyof [.udv'rgiapulu.srri.s
about I metrein diameteron nrud
and in the shallowwaterofa dew-pondon the DownsaboveSeafbrd,EastSussex,was a surprising
f ind for Paul Mauriceon .i I st August I 99I The plantswerefruiting,the specimen
wasconfirmedat
R.B.G. Kew by Eimearnic Lughadhaand Dr Wheatley,and the associated
plantsincluded,ilrcz^s
(Toad Rush), llonunculusflammula (LesserSpearwort) and ('rassula helmsii (New Zeabu.fixtitr.s
landPigmyweed)
Speculating
on the sourceof this very rare plant,now restrictedto flampshire,but here well
awaytiom its presentknown New Forestlocalities.a) The Seaforddew-oondis not one of the old recordedSusserlocalities.l'he Rcv. Arnoldin Sl.rsex
(thenknownaslsnardiopolusliloru (1881)citesBuxtedandCuckfield.andsaysofthis species
/r/.\L, the MarshIsnardia)'probably
norvnearlyextinctin Sussex'Lieut.-Colonel
Wolley-Dod
( 1 9 1 7 ) c i t e s a s p e c i m e n i n t h e h e r b a r i u m o f J . H . A . J e n n e r f r o m B u x1 t8e7d6d. a t e d
b) l he Seafordareahasbeendiligentlybotanised
in this century,by the lateW H Spreadbury,
andby
Miss B.A. Kneller.We think it unlikelythat the Lum\igia in this dew-pondwould havebeen
overlooked.
c) 1'he ('rossulohelmsii alsopresent,suggestsrecentintroduction?Tim Rich confirmsthat most
exoticaquaticsare spreadby aquariststippingthe'Ihe
contentsoftheir fish-tanksinto a localpond,
there is a Car Park adjacentto this dew-pond.
recentfashionfor terrapinsamongstthe
voungin the Ninja Iurtle era,wasfollowedby a sharprisein terrapindonationsto zoosandpet
displays- andvery possiblyan increase
in discarded
tankcontentsalsol)
d) David Coombewas ableto find for me that StapeleyWater Gardens- Europe'slargestGarden
Centre,at Nantwich.can supplyLudu,igiapolu.stri.s
ar a cost ol"!1.50 per pot or 85p bunched.
plus carriage,subjectto availability'(but neitherlhe Ludv'igicrnor the ('rar'.slrla
are includedin
theircatalogue).
e) ('rdssulahelm.siigrowswith l,udu'igiuin its New Forestlocality.givingthe remotepossibilityof
both species
beingtransportcd
fiom Hampshire
to llast Sussexby waterfowl, but our considered
conclusionis that the Lildv,icruin E. Susseris alrnostceftainlva recentintroductionvia the
discarded
contentsofa tlsh.or terraDin.tank.
tl
Rccordcrs and Recording
This year, four separHowever the Luu*aigiaarrived at this site, it is certainlynow well established.
ate colonieswere counted,the largestbeingabout | 5 metresin diameter.
References
Amold, F.H (i887 & 1907) Sussex
l"krtt
Wolley-Dod,A.H. ( 1937). I''loraof Sussex
MARY BRIGGS, 9 Arun Prospect,PULBOROUGH,W. SussexRH20 lAL
PAUL MAURICE, l, The Spinney,42 WestCommon,HARPENDEN,Herts.AL5 2JW
ONONIS RECI,INATA REFOUND IN ALDERNEY
The smallcolony which had existedfor manyyearsin a singlespot, had not beenseenfor at leastfive
years despite careful searchingeach year by severalindividualsseparately,on different occasions
during its flowering period
The habitat is a short, rabbit grazed, slightly calcareousturf bank about l5m above FIWM on
Alderney'slow, rocky, eastcoast,at an elevationof5-8m with thin soil over sandstone.
This vear about 8 olantswere seenin flower on 2l st Mav and reoortedto me. The followins dav
I found only four plantsthat were in flower. but abouta doren other smallplantsnearbyseimei
likely to be the annualplant and not our very commonOnonisrepenswhich is alsofound in this area.
On 5th June I returnedto take more photographsand after careful searchingaround the spot
found over 100 plants in an area about l0 x 2m with 25-30 in flower, and severalwith seedpods
formed.
The plantswere growing in companywith Bupleurumhqldense,(lirsium acaule,Phleumarenaria, Destnazeriamarina. etc., and only a few metresltom one of our coloniesof Thesiumhumifusum
whichnow extendsabout l00m from this spotalonga lineaboutl-2m wide.
BRIAN BONNARD, The Twins, Le Petit VaI, ALDERNEY, ChannelIslands
THE T992 CROCKENHILL
TREE SURVEY - A TEN YEAR UPDATE
Crockenhill,in the north-west corner of Kent, is a thriving village with about 1,500 inhabitants.
Though set in rural surrounds,its closenessto GreaterLondon and even more so to the town of
Swanley and the M25lM20 road network makesvillagers aware of its vulnerability.It was this
awarenessthat led a team to undertakea full tree surveyof the village and its surroundingcountrysidein 1982.
At the time it was publisheda numberof expertssaidthat the real value would comeif, after ten
years,anothersurveycould be undertakenso that changes,includingthe growth rate oftrees, could
be quantified.The 1992surveyis the response.
Within the built-up areatreesbecomingtoo big for gardenshavecome under threat, minor developmentshavetakentheir toll as havemajor developments
like the buildingof the M25. In the
countrysidedamageby stubbleburning was a regular occurrenceuntil stringentbyJaws passedby
SevenoaksDistrict Council led farmersto drop the practice.An increasingworry hasbeenthe use of
hedgeslashingmachines,which can weakenanddamagetreesifthe hedgeis cut too closely.
The vast majorityoftree lossesoccurredon that traumaticnight of l5-l6th October1987so
vividly etched on many memories. Familiar landmarksdisappearedovernight and people were
stunnedby the extent of the devastation.Two hundredtrees were lost within the village itself and
changeofatticountlessothersin hedgesand woodlands- but out ofthe shockcamea remarkable
tude. After the Great October Storm there was a definiteslowdown of the deliberatedestructionof
tree featuresand a greater awarenessand appreciationof the importanceof trees in the landscape
developed.
The tree warden schemefor Kent \4'asset up by Treeslbr Kent and Crockenhillhas taken an
activepart in this. The Men of the Treescompetitionfor the villagein Kent whrchtakesbestcareof
t4
Rccordcrs and Rccording
its treeshasgonefrom strengthto strength- Crockenhilltakingits shareofthe honours.Many new
trees have beenplanted - the tree surveynoting at leasttwenty-four major schemesundertakenby
1ocalcouncils,larmerand individualla.ndowners
CrockenhillParishCouncilalonehasplantedabout
onethousandtreeson its land.
While cataloguingthe
All in all the picturewhich has emergedafter ten yearsis encouraging.
losses,the 1992 tree survey also highlightsthe hopeful trends. Much remainsintact and new trees
havebeenestablished
to enjoy.
to beautifovillageandcountryfor futuregenerations
('rockenhill-IreesandShrubsofaKentishL'illoge(tenyearupdate)publishedbyCrockenhill
ParishCouncilwith I 05 pages,| 8 mapsand45 illustrations
costst4 + 70p postageand is available
'Ihe
liom CrockenhillParishCouncilOffice,
VillageHall, StonesCrossRoad,Crockenhill,Swanley
BR8 8LT.
Mrs SUSAN PITTMAN, Tree Warden and Tree Survey Organiser.2J Old Chapel Road,
Crockcnhill.SWANLtsY.Kent BR8 8LL
LYME DISEASE: SOME TIiOIjGIITS FROM THE SHARP END OF A TICK
No doubtI readwith interestthe noteson LymeDiseasepublishedin BSRINers in 1990by fucher
(54.l5) and Lang (55.8) but, perhapsbecauseI haveneverbeenassaulted
by a tick in this country,
despiteextensivefield work in appropriatelocalities,thesepublications
had slippedmy mind until
remindedof them by a colleague,when I returnedrecentlyfrom an exlendedbotanicaltrip to the
UnitedStatesto find that I hadacouiredLvmeDisease.
Having had my awarenessrudely awakened.I leel that it may be timely to bring the matteragain
to the attentionof members.I cannotadd to the excellentadvicegivenin the notes,but perhapsa
first handdescriptionofthe highly characteristicprimaryrashmay be ofvalue. It appearssomeweek
to ten daysafterexposureto tick bites(not all ticks in an areaareofcourse infected- one out ofsix
in my case).The rashappeared
as a circularflushedarearoundthe bite andhasa'target-like'concentric zonation.with a palezone round the bite, then a red-flushedareaand finally a very dark blackishred ring round the circumference.I locatedit on my rear the day after my return home,as the area
f'elt somewhatsore - like a moderatebruise.I understandthat this rashdoesnot necessarilyoccur in
all cases.
I haveno wish to alarmmembersbut, as the diseaseseems|kely to becomemore prevalentin
this country,as it has in the USA and, as field botanistsare ideallysituatedto encounterthe tick
vectors,I do urge membersto bearthe possibilities
in mind and to seekmedicaladviceif in doubt
without delay.While it seemsreadilysusceptible
to earlyantibiotictreatment.delayor failureto
obtaintreatmentcan havevery seriouslong term results.Amongthese,chroniclassitude
and debility
are the leastworrying, while meningitis,cardiacconditionsand arthritisetc. may alsooccur. All these
are difficultto treat; while we were in the USA, we saw a televisionnewsitem which reportedthat
someinsurancecompanies
are decliningto fund the indefinite,long-termtreatmentof Lyme disease,
a very clearindicationofthe severityofthe condition.
To be forewarnedis to be forearmedand I offer this contributionin the hopethat it will help
in fieldwork.
members
to furtherawareness
of the potentialrisksof tick bitesencountered
reviervarticlehasbeenpublishedin Science
Sincewritingthe above.a very extensive
andinfbrmatrve
260 I 610- 16I 6 ( 1993), by A G Barbour & D Fish, underthe title TheRnktgical and Socittl PhenomenonoJ l..ymel)rsea,se.ltmakesplainthe considerable
ambiguitythat remainsaboutthis condiof laboratory
tion, cautionsagainsthastydiagnosisand indicatesthe needfbr betterunderstanding
for the identification
agent.It hasan extensive
bibliography
andshouldbe
techniques
ofthe causative
consultedby any memberseekingfullerinlbmationon this subject.
LastSussex,
BN7 .lttF
JOHNF M CANNON.RarnCroft.Rodmell.LITWBS,
l5
Rccordcrs and Rccording
NEW ZEALAND BITTERCRESS, C7RD,4MINE CORYMROSA
Dr StephenJury at Readingkindly sentme MichaelBraithwaite's
articleon New Zealandbittercress
from B.\B/,rVc'vrr
andillustrationshowclearlya Nerv
58 (Septemberl99l) The excellentdescription
Zealzndnativespeciesof (-ardominethat is a commonweed in our experimentalnurseryat Landcare
Research,
Canteibury,New Zealand.A nativeof coastalturl anddry fbrest.it growsin rockeriesand
shadedlawns in manyparts ofNew Zealand.The plantsthrive in pots. planterbags,gravel pathsand
rockeries,and are difficult to removeby weeding.Staffin our experimentalnurseryhavefound that
spotting them with vinegar kills them effectively - also, incidentally,an effective way of killing
llverwons.
As MichaelBraithwaiteDointedout. ('ordamineis in needof revisionin New Zealand.There
appearto be somewherebetween20 and 25 recognisableentities,many of which are probablygood
species,
but only six speciesnamesare avaiiable.
Linfortunately,
the nanrethat hasbeenappliedto the
speciesnow naturalised
in Scotland,C. unifloru (Hook.f) Allan, is illegitimateWhenAllan (196l)
raisedHooker's (. hirsutctvat. unillora to speciesrank. he was una\!'arethat the name('ardamine
unifTorahad alreadybeenused by Micheaux'(1803)for a differentspecies(now Leaverworthiauniflora(Michx.)Britton)Inaddition,thetypespecimenof(1.corymho,saHook.f,anearliernamethan
Allan's(L uniflora, is clearlythe samespecies.ln my treatmentof ('ardamine for l;kra of Neu'ZealandYoI IV (Webb et al 1988),I grouped a numberof different forms under C. corymboso The
is the sameone illustratedby Miform that bestmatchesHooker'stype specimenof ('. corytmbosa
chaelBraithwaite,so ('. corymhosais the correct namefor this new introductionto Scotland
The few New Zealandplantsnaturalised
in Britainare a drop in the bucketcomparedwith the
hundreds of British and European plants, among them (.ardamine hirsuta, (.-.flexuosa. and
C. pratensis,that have establishedin New Zealand(Webb e/ crl. 1988) They camewith the people
and their seedsand animals,and establishedbecauseof similar climatesand land uses.('aniamine
corymbosaandEpilobium brunnescenshave becomenurseryweedsin both New Zealandand Britain,whichmightindicatethat suchNew ZealandplantsareenteringBritainwith nurserystock.
References
Allan,H H (1961) F kra of NewZealand,Vol I Wellington
('ardamineunifl<tru
Braithwaite,M. (1991):The Scottishcabbagepatch New Zealandbittercress,
BSBINews58:38-39.
Micheaux(1803): l.'lora boreali-americona(2nd ed.). Paris.
P J. ( 1988) liktra of Nev'7,calmrl,Vol IV Christchurch.
Webb,C J , Sykes,W.R., Garnock-Jones,
Research,P O Box 6e, Lf NCOLN New Zealand
PHIL
:ARNOCT;I]NBS,
fndcare
CERASTIUM BRACHYPETAI,UM FACING DESTRUCTION IN S.E. ENGLAND
In the Bulletinof the Kent FieldClub No. 24 (Jan 1979) | reportedfinding('erastiumbrach-vpetait in a total of sevenseparate
lum Pers.in W Kent on l6th April 1978,and subsequently
discovered
locationsin old chalk grassland.
though all in the areawest of Longfield.Sincethen it has disap'Dearedin oneat leastoftheselocationsdue to chansein landuse.
The remainingsitesfor this /{c/ Ittttu Rook splcies(exceptlbr one possibly)witl all be totally
destroyedby the proposednew routeofthe ChannelTunnelRail Link. Otherplantsin the pathofthe
railway and certainto be destroyedarel)yrola rotilndi-folioL. subsp.mLrritima(Kenyon)E. Warb. in
what I believeto be its only locality in easternEngland(see page l7), and l:pipaclis palustris (L)
rich EbbsfleetValley,with the interesting
aquatic
Crantzin its only localityin v c I6. The botanically
habitatofNorthfleetBrooks.is alsoa routefor the new line.
('erastiumhrachypetulum
rs nativeto Britain,at leastin W Kent, and is probablythe last new
nativeplantto be discovered
in L.nglandA futurearticlewill treatthislopic in moredetail.
JOHN R PAI-MER, l9 Water Mill Way. SOU'IH DARENTII, Dartfbrd,Kent DA4 9BB
Recorders and Rccording
PRIMROSE VARIATION AND DISEASE
I now live on the coast betweenFishguardand St David's in Pembrokeshire(having moved from
Warwickshire)and nowhereelsehaveI seensucha variety of Primroses(Primula lrlgarls). In Shakespeare'stime Warwickshire,where I usedto live, did boastoccasionalvarietiesbut not, I believe,
on this scale.Reds,pinks,mauves(l am not too good on "reds")andyellows,solitaryor umbellate
inflorescences
imperfectlyshapedsepalsor sepalswhich do not unite, leavinggaps,my list ofvariationswould be longerbut for my idlenessbeyondnoticingjust the most obviousones.However,
well away from cottages,housesand farms as, for example,along the coast,Primrosesstay conventional, apartfrom the occasionalFalseOxlips alonga PrimroseiCowslip'frontier'.
In other words gardensare the sourceof the variation to be seenalong the nearbyhedgebanks
and of course in the gardensthemselves,as in my own where it is quite diflicult to grow normal
Primroses.
but I believeit
lnitially I puzzledover this differencebetweenWarwickshireand Pembrokeshire,
to be due to two major differences:a climatic difference,Pembrokeshire
being so much damperso
that Primrosesand many other woodland plantsgrow outsidewoods, and hedgebankswhich, provided they are shadedby grass-discouraging
trees,make an ideal local habitatfor Primroses.Hence
wild Primrosesfind themselvesgrowing muchnearerto gardenvarietiesof Primula.
As to genetransfer,locally this serviceis provided by Anthophoraretusa - a rapid and reliable
pollinator, Rombushorlorum and occasionallyBombyliusmajor. In my own gardenA. retusa visits
plants over and over again and maximumnumbersof seedare produced.Along the coast probably
onlyRombushorktrum is to be relied upon. I don't think that genetransferis any more effectivehere
than in Warwickshire.
As a result of local conditions,my garden,where I only grow wild flowers, includingcowslips,
should now be a solid massof Primroses.But it isn't. As rapidly as they are producedthey die of
what appearsto be root rot. The rootsbecorneblack,the leavesbrown andin effectthe plantsdie of
'drought'.
I would be gratefulfor two piecesof informationfrom members.
l) Whereelsein GreatBritaindo Primroses
showthis incredible
variety?Devonfor example?
2) And what is known about the root rot? I{ow importantis it in populationcontrol and what is the
causativeagent?
PYROLA ROTUNDIFOLL4 subsp.MARITIMA lN E ENGLAND
On lOth July 1976,I found a quantity of I'yrolu rotundtfolie L. growing in a previouslyunexplored
chalkpit between Swanscombeand Northfleet, W Kent. There were also 200 plants of l:pipacti.s
palustris (Marsh Helleborine),some of which were var. ochroleucaBarla, and someDoctyktrhiza
proe termi ssa andAnacampli s pyram i dal i s.
On anothervisit, in September1984,I lookedat the Wintergreenagainand noticedthat it was
Pyrola rotundifolla subsp.maritimq, previouslyknown only from the west coastof England.(Leaves
round;scaleson stem3 to 5; calyxteethshort,broadandblunt;antherslessthan2mm;pedicelsless
than 5mm; were the charactersobserved).Determinationlater confirmedby E.G. Philp on a visit
(specimen
in MaidstoneMuseum).Colonieson the NW coastof Europeare not far away,for wind
or bird dispersal.
Due to tipping of building materials,the Orchid and Wintergreenare now confinedto a small
preserved
patch,whichis howeverin the directrouteofthe proposednew ChannelTunnelRailLink.
Owing to other development,this is now the only known location for Marsh Helleborinein W Kent
(vc l6).
JOHN R PALMER l9 Water Mill Way. SOUTH DARENTH, Dartford, Kent. DA4 9BB
l1
Recorders and Recording
HERBARIA: TOWARDS A BETTER USE
Are someofthe older herbariabursting at the seams?| imaginethat thought hasalreadybeengiven
to future spacerequirements,so perhapsit may be timely to considersomeaspectsof existingcollections ofsheetsand the acceotanceofsoecimensin future.
It seemsclearthat linei of eliminitionwill haveto be drawn.lt is not alwaysthe numberof duplicatesin a collectionthat is open to criticism.for specimensliom differentareasin a county or in
Britain and thosefrom unusualhabitatsmay well be worthy ofretention. It is the unnecessary
number
of specimensof very common taxa, some of which havebeenpoorly collectedand badly mounted,
perhapstakenlatein the seawhichis oflittle value,exceptin casessuchas whena poor specimen,
son,is the solevoucherfor a first vice-countyrecord. Someduplicatesrepresentingtaxonomicranks
recognisedby Victorian and Edwardianbotanistsare probablyworthy of consideration,as they illustrate part ofthe written history recordedin the old countyfloras.
We are in a period of change,and attitudestowards many facets of educationare undergoing
scrutiny.New schoolsarisewith new bannersover the door. What is going to be left behind?So is it
not time to considera new attitude to the botanicalsheet?Do we retain museum-pieces
on which
remnantsofa badly mountedplant are saidto be Rellis perennis,or shallwe store good specimens
whichdisolavthe characters
Is this consideration
ofthe determination?
a wasteoftime?
On sirmi:of my sheetsI sometimesfix a photographof the habitatand record full detailsof location together with a list of associatesand any significantnotes from my field book. For mountain
grasses,I note the facing position and altitudewhich are guidesto further searches.When I start to
work on the ecologyand distributionofa grasstaxon,I know that much ofthe informationI shall
useis annotatedon my collectionofsheetstiom differentareas.
Is thisjust the approachofan old manwith plentyoftime, or canit be a signalfor the subjectto
be reviewed?
JOHN TRIST. Glovers.28 Hieh Street.Balsham.CAMBRIDGECBl 6DJ
ANOTH ER DANISH INVASION?
Unlike the first, which sweptup our rivers fiom the coast,this appearsto preferto leavethe coastvia
our motorwaysand dual carnageways.
I wasnot awareof this advanceuntil the 27th March I993.Jim BevanandI usedthe M4 motorway to reachthe National Museum of Wales in Cardiff where,with George Hutchinsonwe would
pour over v.c.35 Hawkweedsfor the day. The conversation
was interrup'ied
suddenlyby Jim's'Is
that Oochleariadanica?'Other topics were forgotten as linear coloniesof the Danish Scurvygrass
were observedmainly along the centralreservationwith scatteredpatcheson the verge as well. Oh
for a specimen
to confitmour identification.
wasnecessunfortunatety
an earlyarrivalat the museu-m
ary to ensurea parkingspace.
Confirmationdidn'toccuruntil l8th Aoril whenthe weatherrelentedand I hada freemomentto
collectspecimens
recorder,I
on the M4 at Caldicotand Magor.Now armedwith a personalcassette
undertooka numberofjourneys to ascertainthe extentofthe invasion.
Exceptfor a stretchbetweenthe middleof Newportto the A48(M) turn offto Cardiffwherethe
central reservationhad been asphaltedover or had been treated with weed killer the scurvygrass
occurredin everytetradthroughwhichthe M4 passed,with the planttightlypackedfor hundredsof
metresin places.On the way back,I divertedup the A449 Newpon to Raglandual carriageway
via
Usk. The centralreservationheld lone stretchesofthe scurwsrassin evervtetrad and this continued
all the way alongthe A40 to Monmou-th
This was intriguing as the only native sites lor ('ochleoria danica in v.c. 35 were in the Bristol
Channel,on DennyIsland,halfin Walesandhalfin England,andon the coastat Sudbrook.
A casualrecordhad beenreportedat Abersychan
by Bob }{ewitt in 1985,probablyassociated
with winter road gritting. HeatherColls had recordedseveralpatchesnearMitchell Troy, on
the A40
'Ihese
in 1988and Brian Gregoryhad seenit on the sametrunk road nearMonmouthin 1990
last
'Where
'How
two recordshadn'trung any bellsat the time but now the questions
else?',
Far?','ln
whichdirectionwasit travellins?'.
demanded
to be answered.
l8
Rccordcrs and Rccording
F.0tt'?.t<r41
aest-o *J
4+
80
Tetrad distribution ol ('ochlearia dani<ct
Malor roads
Back fiom my )ounger son's olr 22nd April via the A40 Ross to MonrnoLtthdual carriageway,
only grass and the odd British weed in Heretbrdshire but there it was as soon as I crossed into Wales
a n dv . c 3 5
A 2lrd April visit to Jack Evans at Cefn Coed, N{erthyr T1'dfiI, enabled the scunygrass to be
plotted along the A40 from Raglan to Abergavenny but on beyond to Merthyr nothing but grass and
t h e o c c a s i o n aw
l eed.
Next day, a visit to my olher son. involved a journey into England along the M4 to the M5 and
up to Cheltenham. ('ochlearta tlqniccr soon appeared on the central reservation and less liequently on
the verges. Long stretcheswere to be seen in the central reservationofthe M5. but not on the verges
until the Stroud exit. From there to the Gloucester erit, plant colonies appearedless frequently and
beyond to ('heltenham. even less so. On the Lnglish part of the M"l and on the N45Stellariu media
appearedwith the scurvygrassbut was dominated by it.
My final trip along the 4465 fiom the county boundary to Abergavenny revealed no central
reservationand no scurvygrass.My distribution map was complete
Jhere must be hundreds of thousands.if not millions, of plants on the roads l've looked at How
manymorehaveturnedinlandfromthecoasttlnvc -l5itcouldbearguedthatthc'prevailingwindis
driving the invading lbrce eastwards and north eastwards. Horvever, the prevalence of ('ochleariu
danrt:a on the central reservation suggeststhat turbulence caused by the speedingtraffrc in the fast
'only
lanc is aiding progress in both directions. Wade inhis Iiloru ol lt&nmutthshrrc says of it
certain
'also
record for the county is from ballast' (''fW states.apart liom coastal,
on railwav ballast inland'.
'bv railwavs
(
Stace savs
and salt treated roads inland' Rich in ('ntttlers o/ irettl Britain and Ireland
says 'ln Engiand and Wales widely..distributed inland on railwav ballast and roadsides'.Yet. neither
the Atlus nor thc Monitoring Schenre map indicates how pervasive the scunrygrasshas become.
Adrian and Elsa Wood have added that it is extensivedown the M5 south of the M4 interchange.In
the superstitiouspast the doom-mongers would nou bc warning of a pending shortageof Vitamin C
and the scun'vgrass was sent to save us. l hen again - perhapswe will all be nrunching our way along
tne molonvaY
I R E V O R G . B V A N S . L a ( u e s t a .N 4 r i u n t o nR o a d . ( ' l l H l ' } SI O W . C i v n ' e nNt P O 5 B S
l9
Recordcrs and llecording
BASTARD CABBAGE IN CHALK GR{SSLAND
that the spreadof this specieswithin an SSSIat
GrahamSteven'sletter in BSBI News62 suggests
Amberlev.Sussexis recentandmav be dueto slobalwarmrnq.
I haveknownrhe species
at ihis siresinr'elq6-{and it may havebeentherelong belbrethis.
though it was certainlymuch lessabundantand widespread.We usedto call it Rapistrumrugosum
subsp.orientale (but may have been wrong). There can be little doubt that excessivestockingby
cattlehasso erodedthe areathat ifthis plantdid not invadethen someotherequallyunwelcomeone
would.The lastremaininsstandofJunioerin rheareais alsoat risk lrom the sameciuse
Board)and it may be also ESA
All this is within an SSSI and AONB isouth Downs Conservation
(thoughthis is a Statesecret!).The SSSIcitationstatesthat'it containssomeofthe richestgrassland
in Sussex... and severalnationallyrestrictedinvertebrates'.This particularlyconcernsbutterfliesand
snails.However, unlesssteps are taken promptly its importancewill not endureand this has been
broughtto the attentionofEnglishNature.
FRANK PENFOLD.Morels.Burpham,ARUNDEI. BN l8 gRR
TRANS LO(lATl ONS AGA I nI can understandthe argumentunderlyingMr Payne'sobjectionto translocations(B^\4./Neu's62.
Dec. 1992)but I am puzzledby his premises.ls it so certainthat 'the studyof the distributionand
'fhe
urbanelanguagebringsto my
naturalspreador declineof species'will alwaysbe opento us?
mind a pictureofa broadequilibriumin whichreplacements
havethe opportunityto take over gradually from formernatives.All my field experience,
and al! too manyof the itemsI read.tell me that
piecerrealand continuallygiving way. ln the
what equilibriumremainsto us is being underrnined
increasing
numberof caseswherewe watch a plantdwindlelou'ardsextinctionwe are hardlvlikely
is
to look for replacements;
often,indeed,it would seemthat any suchstudyas l\'lr Payneenvisages
Small-scale
instances
alreadya luxury of the past. sincethe habitatsthemselves
are disappearing.
perhaps,
andrelevantasyet, fortunately,
to onlv a comparatively
smallproportionot'our flora,but on
the long view and the global scalethat he favours I can seeno reasonto expectan).tiungother than
the sametrend writ large.
Behindhis equanimitythere is a curiouslyhazardousassumption.Of coursewe havealwaysbeen
agentsof'continuousunintentional
changesin plan1distributron'But to rely upon the futuresurvival
of this give-and-takerelationshipbetweennature and ourselvesseemsto me quite unrealistic.The
changeard a greatlyincreased
combinalionofan unprecedented
accessofefficiencyin accomplishrng
pressurefor land development
has createdan altogethernew situation,and raisesgucstionswhich
could hardlyhavebeenconceivedin formertimes.l1-,willy-nilly,as Mr Payneimplies,u,e are inexandrt seenrs
tricablya part ofnature.we arenevertheless
a part with a senseofresponsibility,
to me
presentsorrypassandthento
inconsistent
with a respectfbr our muteassociates
to bringthenr
'l 1othe
refusethem the possibilityof any remedialactionwhatsoever. he very cogentlyarguedletterfiom
MrWalls (BSBI News63, April 1993)indicatesa basisfbr considering
suchactionrationallyandin
strictly limited circumstances,and if - supposingthe caseto be one of an undoubtedlyendangered
species- this shouldleadto the resultthat'we shallneverknow whetherthe plantin questioncould
have spreadto the site by naturalmeans',I can only ask, what is the point of suchpurelyclinical
curiosityanyway?
On the face of it, the orchid incidentdescribedby Nlr PaynervascertainlyindelbnsibleBut it
also seemsto have been in a quite different category fionr that ol the situation envisagedby
Mr Walls,whosesuggestion
that we might considerthe provisionof 'steppingstones'for geneflow
wherea habitatis badlydisruptedseemsentirelyreasonable.
'few,ion.
JAMES ILIFF. L,ithin
Cilvcwnr.LLANDOVF.RY.DvtbdSA20LtI F
20
Recordcrs and llccording
INTRINSICAI,LY
POOR HABITATS
Most papers in the botanical literature not concernedwith the diffrcultiesof taxonomy and identification usually relate to rare species or habrtats of high diversity This is all very exciting, but rather a
blinkered view of botany and it may well be biasing our view of conservation. The climate and
edaphic f-actorsconspire to prevent manv scmi-naturalhabitats liom having great rarities (or at least
not recognised) or fiom developing a level ofdiversity comparable with that achieved by the more
sexy habitats. Should we regard these areas as being unworthy of consen'ation? To disregard such
habitatswould be to ignore large tracts ofgood countryside and the speciesthat are ordinary because
they are successful.With the pressureson the countryside I don't think we can afford to do this. Not
very long ago heathland and hay meadows were common in England.
I have become aware of our proclivity in Dorset over the last two years whilst we have been
developing our thinking on sites ofnature conservation interest (SNCIs). Two aspectshave emerged
which are basic to our strategy and may be wonhy of a wider discussion.These are the use of indicator species'and how to deal equitably with habitats that are intrinsically poor in plant species(lPHs)
- they either have low diversity or they have few scarce species.F'or reasonsofobjectivity we use the
term Notable Species instead of indicators. The latter ternr implies that something is indicated and
that there is an establishedcorrelation lbr the counn,. At worst the implication may be unfounded and
at best it is trivial or a tautology (e.g.. calcicolous speciesgrow on chalk)
I will explain the two aspectsseparatelvto start with although the second dependson, and may
be a consequenceofthe first
Notable species
It is inevitable, especially if time is short, that the initial assessmentof a new site as a SNCI will
'Ihis
is not ideal for a.llmanner ofreasons, but it is what often
usually be based on the vascular plants.
happens.The site report may be assessedin two wavs: either by looking lor rare speciesor by seeking recognisable assemblages of species. The second of these may be to identifr communities which
are themselves rare or decreasing, or the plant community is used as a surrogate lor scarce fauna or
flora which would not have been obsen'ed at the tine of the survev. In oractice the conservation
v a i u e o f a s i t e i s p r o b a b l yd e c i d e do n a m i x t u r e o f t h e s e a p p r o a c h e s .
To make the assessmentmore objective it is useful to have a clear idea of the significanceof the
species.We have found the tbllowing categoriesare uscful
RDB - Red Data Book, speciesrecorded from I to l5 hectadsin the British tsles
NSS - Nationallv Scarce Species,recorded tionr l6 to 100 hectadsin the British Isles.
CSS - County Scarce Speiies. recorded tiorn -i or i-ewersites within the county (excluding RDB
& NSS)
C'RDB - County Red Data Book. an account o1'all RDB, NSS and CSS species
CNS - County Notable Species,not in the CRDB, but of interest for reasonsother than extreme
rarlty
(a hcctad is a lOkm grid square,as defined by K.G Messenger, IISRI News45, April 1987).
T'he first ibur categories are precisely deflned and self explanatory; it is the last that is of con'l'he
CNS list consisls of all specieswhich we e\Dect to see in sood habitats.but which are not
ccrn
rare enough to hr in the CRDB. for ins(ancel.uph,rht<t unlg<laktirIr'.t. Lathl'ru.smtntanus. (ialium
rrkratum in u'oods Such species are being used to help us choose good habitats and in this sense
'indicator
they could be called
species'.
'I'hc
characteristicswe mrght expect of'a CNS. if it is to assist in habitat selection,are fbr it to
l a l l i n t o a t l e a s lo n e o l ' t h e s ec a t c g o r i e s
a) morc or iess confined to a particular habitat (probability greater than 0 75 say).
b) a componcnt ofthc defining assemblage
c) fairlv scarce.but too fiecluent to be in the CRDB.
d) known to support rare speciesin other 1axa.
Speciesmay be added fbr other reasons.such as a plant having an unexplaineddistribution, but these
are beyond the scope ofthis note
Some examples iionr Dorsel Notable Specieslist would be ('urex strtgoso rvhich is almost contined to darno woods. manv of which have charactenstics of ancient woodland. Helianthemum
rrumnulurtuti is rarcly found elsewherethan in cdcicolous glasslandanclusually in associationwith a
group of similar and rarer plants which may not always be as visible. ln contrast Succisa pratensis
occurs in a numbcr of habitats. but it is an imoortant food olant fbr the marsh fiitillarv. Mercurialis
l , ( ' r ( t i l i l . \i s n o l o n t h e l i s t b e c a u s er t i s t o o w i d e s p r c a di n a l l i o n s o l ' s h a d r p l a c e s
2l
Rccordcrs and Rccording
Intrinsically poor habitats
it as a good exampleofits type.This is morereadily
The first stepin conservinga siteis to recognise
done for somehabitatsthan others.It hasbeenfound, for instance,that manyspecies-richwoods and
unimprovedcalcicolousgrasslandsare readilyselectedas SNCIs. Heathlandsare poor in plant
species,but they are readily acceptedas SNCIs becauseoftheir associatedfauna,all that is askedis
woodlandsand scrubon poor soils are
whetherthe site is a good exampleof heathland.Grasslands,
rarelychosen,becausethey haveno rare speciesand few, ifany, CNS. Are they beingjudgedfairty?
Even the richest of acid grasslandswill have fewer speciesthan a chalk downland.A glance
through the NVC books will demonstratethis. To compoundthe effect,it is likely that there will be
fewer CNS listed from, for example,acid grasslandthan calcicolousgrassland.The net result is that
somehabitats,whilst scarceand as'natural'assomemore popularhabitats,are not conserved.In
Dorset,unimprovedgrasslandsnot on chalk or limestonehavedeclineddramaticallyand almostunnoticed,I suspectbecausewe are not valuing them properly.We are effectivelyreinforcinga prejudice that chalk soils should have grassland,sandysoils shouldhave heathlandand loams should
supportwoodland.
As I imolied in the introduction.I considerit importantthat all naturaland semi-naturalhabitats
arejudgedin a comparablemanner.Simplyto seta criterionbasedon the diversityor the presenceof
rare specieswill guaranteethe exclusionof somehabitats.What is neededis a more equitablescheme
which relatesto the bestexamoleofthat habitat.
I would be interestedto hear of any schemesfor appraisingsiteswhich avoid the bias I have
outlinedabove.
1o",1 ,t.
valeRoad,
So",:::.,:".luou*EMou-r]DorsetBH6ILR
**LS, 16Lefeham
CONYZA CANADENSIS I C. SUMATREN.II.'
INTERMEDIATES
betweenthesetwo species,
In August l99l I first noticedplantswhich appeared
to be intermediate
v c. 16,wheretherewere very largenumbersof bolh (lonyza
on a former rubbishtip at Swanscombe
(anadenstsand(-. .tumafrensts.
In July 1993a plant on wasteground near NorthfleetCemetery(alsoW Kent) caughtmy eye as
the sterq branchesand leaveswere intermediatein colour betweenthe lime-greenof ('. canadensis
The other featureswere:andthe grey-greenof (-. sumatren.sis.
l. The hairs on the leaf-edgeswere intermediatein length and thickness,patent near the stemthen
curvedto run oarallelwith the stem.
2. The hairs on the ohvllarieswere much fewer in numberthan in the caseof ('. ,utmatrensis.but
more than one would expectwith (. canadensrs.
3. The main stem snappedeasily and almost cleanly like ('. sumatrensl"rdoes. (This is a character
distinguishingit from ('. canadensis,which I don't think hasbeenmentionedelsewhere).
JoxNR..PALMER.]9waterM1llwav.SouthDarerrth.DART
IS POA INT-IRMA MOVING EASTWARDS?
This springI havebeensurveyingthe cliffs of PooleBay, Dorset within the Boroughof Bournemouth (v.c. ll). Thereare many interestingaspects,but paradoxically
the most importantfeature
a wide
botanicallymay be the worn out grasslandsat the top. Here can be found, in someabundance,
range of annualswhich arc scarcein the British lsles (severalrare clovers, (erastium semidecandrum, C. diffusum,Lotus.suhhiflorusand ('ras,sulatillca).lndeed theseplants are only to be found
where the grasshasbeencompletelyworn away by the continuoustramplingof residentsand visitors
throughoutthe year.
Whilstrecordingthesein May this year I noticedmanypatchesof deadgrass.Giventhe healy
use ofthe areaby dogsthis might be unremarkable,but on HengistburyHead,an SSSI at the eastern
One patchdid proveto
extremeofPoole Bay,I'oa hulhosais readilydetectedby this characteristic.
22
Rccordcrs and Recording
be I). hulhosa.but the others wereP. ailnn I thought until it dawnedon me that most plantsof this
elsewherewere still green.Closerinspectionsuggestedthat it looked very like ltoa infirma andJohn
Edmondsonat Liverpool has confirmed the soecimens.Earlier in the vear Felicitv Woodheadhad
found1'. inJirmaat Fiengistbury
Headand sheiuspectsits presence
elsewhere.
To the best of my knowledge,prior to 1989,this grasswas only recordedfrom Cornwall.In that
year, during the BSBI symposiumin Exeter, Ro FitzGeraldfound plantsat Dawlish and I noticed a
fbw plantswhile on the outine to Berrv Head. Fortunatelvthere were exoertson handto confrm the
find without removingspecimens.
Sinte then I believeother sitesin D'evonhavebeenfound.The
findsthis yearadvances
the rangeacrossonevice-countyand into the next.The speciesis presentin
somequantityin this communityand hasprobablybeentherefor sometime. Many peopleare known
to have introducedplants to the Bournemouthcliffs, but mainly gardenvarietiesof more colourlul
sDecles.
I supposeI'. infirma could have travelledliom Cornwall on the boots ofan enthusiasticclover
twitcher returningfrom the Lizard, but in view of the similaritywith one of the commonestand least
regardedgrassesin the British flora it is highly likely that P. itfirma has beenvery under recorded.
An altemativeis that aided by a changein the climate it is indulging in a rapid expansion,which
would be most interesting.Whateverthe reasona thorough searchalongthe southcoastnext Spring
will most likely bring in a host of new records.
After drafting this note I learnthat BournemouthBorough Councilis planninga major development for the cliffs which will undoubtedlyresultin the lossof a long stretchof this interestinghabitat.
'Ihe
final irony is that part ofthe developmentis designateda botanicgardenl
ROBIN M. WAI-LS. l6 LeichamVale Road.Southbourne.
BOURNEMOUTH.DorsetBH6 3LR
PLANTSFOUND IN A LEICESTERSHIREQUARRY
Introduction
I haverecentlymadea list ofthe plantsseenin a quarryat Groby,Leicestershire
duringthe past23
years.The site measures280 yardsby 75 yards,with an extensionat a lower level of 80 yardsby 60
yards.This latter part consistsof KeuperMarl from whichthe top soil was removedin 1960when
prospectingfbr more stone (Markfieldite). 'Ihe larger areawas lbrmerly a hill, 'BunneyHill', which
was quarriedtowardsthe end ofthe last century.ln 1889the nearbyGroby Pool overflowed,the
water pouring acrossthe road and into the quarry hole, fbrming a good-sizedpool. As quarrying
extended,boulderclay overburdenand'rammel'weretippedinto it, graduallyfilling it until in 1955
the fish it containedwere caughtand placedin the main Groby Pool. Tipping of soil, old machinery,
liquid concreteand tar macadarn,plus someunolicial rubbishdumping,continueduntil the site was
fbncedoffin the 1970s.
Native plants
There are severalwet depressionsin which grow Common Spike-rush(Iile<tcharispalurlrir') Common Club-rush (Schoercplectus tacustn.t), Bulrush ('lypha latilolia) and Lesser Bulrush
(1..ongrslifttlia). Thread-leavedWater-cror.doot(llantnculu.strichoph.y'llus)
seemsableto sun'ivein
quitedry conditions.Theseplantsare relicsofthe good-sizedpond mentionedabove.Seedlings
and
saplingsof common native trees and shrubs,suchas Ash (I;rtxitrus excel:sior),Sllver Birch (Betula
perufula), F.lder(Samhucu.tniger) and Broom (( y/r.ru.r.sct4turius)have appeared,whilst wild roses
are plentifuland bramblesabundant- liableto trip up the unwary.So far 8 speciesand hybridsof
willow havebeennamed.
lall nativeherbssuchas Hemlock(('oniummaculalum)andPloughman's-spikenard
(lnulu conyza) arecommon,the former up to 8 fbet tall. Weld (lleseduluteola), formerlygrown as a yellow dye
plant,reaches5 feet.Fat-hen(('henopodtum
goosefoot,growson soil heaps.
ulbum),our commonest
Great Lettuce (Lactuca vtrosa) has appearedin recentyearsand is spreadingover the county as a
whole.Althougha lettuce,its juice is poisonous.Mugwort (Artcmistttwlgaris), formerlyusedas a
strewingherbto keeplliesaway,growsheretoo, but in smallquantity.
Strong-smellingBlack Horehound (.lJallotarrrglrr) occurs, whilst Great Mullein (L'erbascum
rhdp.tus)with its flannellyleavesgrows in good numberson the patchesof tipped concreteand
asphalt.
Rccordcrs and Rccording
Smallernative plantswhich have appearedincludePrimrose(.|'rimula wlgaris), CommonDogviolet (L'iola riviniana), Silverweed(l'otentillo anserina),and abundantWild StrawberryQ;ragaria
ve.sca).Common Centaury(('entaurium erythraea)is a delight with its starry pink flowers. Scarlet
Pimpernel (Anagallis amensis) dates from Roman times. The oil of Perforate St John's-wort
(H.ypericum
perfbratum)was usedto soothethe scratchesof a cat on Don Quixote'sface.lt was also
formerlv used to improve the secretionof bile and the circulationof the blood, for the treatmentof
diarrhoea,and externallyfor wounds,haemorrhoids,andburns! The yellow flowcrs ofthis and Comspp.)make
monRagwort(Senecio'jacohaea)togetherwiththedeeppinkofWiliowherbs(lipilobium
a colourful display,along with the deepblue of Selfheal(Pnttella wlgcrris). Wild Teasel(l)ipsacus
fulknun), whilst prettywhenin flower,hasbecomea pricklynuisance.
Grassesrangefrom the 4-5 feet tall Wood Small-reed(('alamagrostisepige.jos)down to the 2%
inch Fern-grass(('atapodiumrigidum).
Plantsof the red-fruitedsectionof smalldandelions
arefrequenton theKeuperMarl areaof the
site, with Blue Fleabane(l'.rigeron acer), Fairy Flax (.l.inumcalharttcum),daisiesand occasionally
CommonSpotted-orchid(Daclyl orhiza fu chsi i )
Aliens
Plantsof alienorigin havebeenintroducedinto this countryfor their medicinalor culinaryqualities
and have become naturalised.Such are Greater Celandine((helidonium majus) and Good-KingHenry (Chenopodiumbonus-henricus).Also found in the quarry in the I 970sbut not later was Soapwort (liaponaria officinalis). which was usedby our forebearsfor washingand is still cultivatedfor
washingwoollensin Syria.A popularnamefor the doublevarietyis Bouncing Bett'. Oxford Ragwort
has an interestinghistory. lt is native of Sicily where it grows on soils formed fiom the volcanicash
of Mount Etna, lt escapedfrom the Oxford Botanic Gardenand was first'recordedon walls in Oxford in 1794. Later the wind-borne fruits were carried along the Great WesternRailway by trains,
soonreachingLondonand then spreadingwidelyto almostall partsofthe country.In 1978a patch
ofabout l0 plantsofBastard Cabbage(Rapislntmntgosum subsp.rugosum)appearedon this quarry
site.Until recentlythis plantwas recordedoccasionally
asa casual,but in recentyearsit seemsto be
(see,BSRINev,:;62, p 43 for an accountof its invasionof a chalkgrasslandSSSI).An
increasing
alienwhich is very much at home in Britain is the Sycamore(.Acerpseudoplatdnus),rhe seedlingsof
whicharevery plentifulhere.
Garden escrpes
Bushesofgarden origin establishedon this site are numerous.FloweringCurrant(llihes sanguineum)
is common, Lllac (Syringa wlgaris) and Butterfly-bush(Ruddle.jada,rdii) less so On one steep
slopefacing the former railway track is a patch of'Iwo
JapaneseKnotweed(ltalkryio.japonlca), about 8
fect high, a vigorous pest, difficult to eradicate.
of the bramblespeciesfound are gardenescapes.Rubu.slaciniatus has finely dissectedleavesbut nondescriptfruit, whilst Ruhus qrmeniacu,s
(formerly ll. procerus), the HimalayanGant has large lusciousfruit. One of the 7 willows named,
SiberianViolet-willow (Salix acuty'blia),has an attractivemauve-bluebloom on its twigs. White
Dogwood (('ornus alba) and ShrubbyCinquefoil(Polentilla.frulicosa)havealsobeenseenrecently.
Alien herbs which have appearedrecentlyon the site vary in quantity. There are severalbalm
plants (Mellis.saof/icinalis), formerly grown for its lemon-scentedleaves.The most flourishing
garden plant here is the Large-floweredEvening-primrose(Oenofueraglazioviana).Cushionsof a
hairy-leavedLady's-mantle(Alchenillo mollis) arevery common.lt hasyellowish-greenflowers and
was introducedfrom Asia Minor. White Stonecroo(Sedumalhum) and CaucasianStonecrop
(.\;..\punumlare in stonyplaces.aisoDovedaleVoss or MossvSaxilrags(.\uxtJrugu
h.VrtttLlc:land
plant of Celandine
Saxifiaga(SuxtJraga
Londonpride(5. x urhium)
'lolmiea
'fhisIn the spring of 1992one tiny
menziesir.
with its
cymbalaria)was found.
is occasionally
a persistentgardenweed
'pick-a-back'
young shootson top of the old leaves,grew for a few recentyears,whilst two other
short-livedinvaderswere ShastaDaisy (Leucutrthemum wperhum) and I)ame's-violet(He.sperts
matronalis).Thereare severalclumpsof Dotted Loosestrif'e(l.ysimachiapunctete).a nativeof Auson roughdampground.
tria, the Caucasusand Asia Minor which is becomingregularlyestablished
Opium Poppy (I'apaver somntferum)bloomedfbr severalyearsin the early 1970s,making a lovely
displayon a largeheapofsoil
If this site weregivena chance,it would becomesorubwoodlandin quitea shorttime,but there
areplansto build a new entranceroadto the mainquarrywhichwill cut throughthe centre.
Many thanks to Mr A NeMon, Mr R D Meikle, and Mr D Mc('lintock lor identilying
brambles,willows and gardenescapesAlso to the Rev.A [- Primavesifor helpfuladviceand fbr
typing the MS, to the former managerof the quarry Mr S. Percivaland the prcsentmanager
Mr Maruringfor kind perrnission
to wanderat will.
al
Rccordcrs and Rccording
List of plants found in the quarry
,1cer pseudoplatanus. .lchillea millefolrum. ,lgrostts canina.,1. capillans. A. stolonilera. Aluga replans. Alchemilla
conJugoto. A. nolli,s. tllliana peholala, Alnu.s lqlulinoso. Anagollis on-ensi,\. Anisonlha slerilis, Anlhriscus s.ylvestris.Tphanes onensrs-,lquil<1a vulgaris..4rabidopsis lhaliana, /lrctium minus, Armoracia ruslicana.,4rrhenathemm
elolius..lrlemisia
villgaris. Atriplex pr(rstratd, Ralloto nigra, Rarbarea verna, Betula pendula. Brachypodinn
(-alamagroslis epigejos, Calystegia sepium,
s.ylvattcum, IJromus hortleaceus. Rryonia dioica. Buddleja dwidii.
('. .\ilvatica. ('ardamine hirsuta. ('.. pralensis. (.'arex
('. nigra. (latapodium rigidum, Centaurea nigra,
J1acca('enlaurium er.ylhraea- ('eraslium
Iontanum. (1. glomeratum. ('. k)mentoflm, (lhomerion angustrfitlium. (lhelidonium
ma1us. Chenopodium olbum, ('. bonui'-henricus. ('. pol.vspermun, ('irsium qnense. C. vulgare, (lonium maculatum.
('omus albq- ('orylu"' avellana. (:oloneaster
W., (:rataegus monogna, (lrepk capillaris, C. vesicalia, (lynosums
cri)-latus. (.'.vlisus scoparius, Daav-lis gbmerota, l)act.ykrhiza fuchsii. D. praetermissa. Deschampsia cespitosa,
I).Jlexuosa. Digitalts purpurea. Dipsacus./illlonum- l)ryopteris filix-mas. Eleocharis palustris. Elttrigia repens,
Epilohium ciltalan. 1.. hirsulum. [,. nontanurn. F:. tetragonum, ]'.qui.\etum druense, Lrigeron acer, Ert;phila verno,
I;allopia 1ap<truca, liesluca rubra- F-ilago vulgaris, F-ragaria x ananqsso, Ii. vesca. Fruinus
excelsior, Galium
(i. tentm. (ieranium disseclum. (i. nolle, (i. pnsillum. (ieum urbanum, I{elichtotrichon
aparine, (i..suolile.
pubescens. Heracleum;phondvlium. llesperis matronalis. Hieracium maculatum. Ilolcus lanatus, Ilumulus lupulus,
It.vacinthoide,\ non-'cripto. Htpericum cal.vcinunt. lt. hirsuturn. H. maculotun stbsp. ctbnn'iusculun- H. perforatum,
Iberis. Inula coryza- Iris sp.. .Juncus cengk)meratus- J. eJJusus, J. inflexus. Lactuca virosa. Lamium alhum.
L. purpureun, I.apsana ttlnnunis. Lalh.yrus protensts- Leucanthemum x superbum, L. vulgare, Linum calharticum,
Lolium perenne- Lontcera periclvmenum. Luzula campestris. Lvsimachia nummularia, 1,.punctala. Meconopsis
canhrica. illelilotus allis.simus. \lelis.so ulfcmaln. ]ly<tsolis an,ensis. lf. discolor. I,[. s.vlvalica. Narcr.r'ws
pseudonarcissus. Oenolhera gluiovmna, Papm,er somniJbmm. Persicaria maculosa, Phleum pralense. Pilosella
ofticinalis- I'lanlago lanceololo. l'. ma1or. I)oa annuo. l'. nemoralis. l'- trivialis. Potentilla anserina. P.Jiuticosa.
P. replons. I'rimula vulgaris. I)mnella vulgaris- I'runus avium. Quercus robur. Ranunculus acris. R../icaria. R. repens.
Il. trichoph-vllu.s. Ropishltm nrgosilz subsp. ntgosum- lleseda luteola. Rheum x h.vbridum" Ribes sangtineum.
R. uva-crispa, Iloso glauca. Rubus armeniacu.s. Il. caesrus, If. calvatus- 11.dawphyllus. ]1. idaeus. R. laciniatus.
Il. lindleianus- R. tubercvlolus- R. ulni.fitlrus. Rumex crtngl<nrerolus. ll- crh-pu,t, ll. ohlusi/blius, Sagina apelola,
S. procumbens. Saln ocutiJblia- S. aurila x S. caprea. ,\. aunla x S. cinereq stbsp. oleifolia, S- caprea, S. capreo x
,\. <:inereo slbsp. olerlitlio, ,\. r'rnereo subsp. c/rs,?a" S. cinereo subsp. olei/blia. S. t'iminali,s, S. yiminalis x S. ourita
x S. caprea- S. vrminalrs x S. cinereo x S. aurita, Sombucus nryra. Saponalia olJicinals. SaxrJiaga cymbalana.
,\. h.vpnoides- S..spalhulori:- x ,\. umbrosa. ,\choenoplaclus lacu,tlris. ,\crophularia auriculala, ,\. nodosa, Sedum
alhum. S. spurtwn, Senecio Jacobaea. Senetto squaldus. S. vulgaris. Silene dioica- Sisymhrium olfcinale. Solanum
thtl<nmoro. ,\onchus osper. ,\. oleraceus. Sloch.ts s.yltotica. Stelldria nrcdta. ,\telldrio pallida, Sytnphytum x
uplandiatm. S.vringo vulgaris-'laraxacutn spp..7'eilcriun scorodonia.'lolmiea menziesii. TriJblium campestre.
'l
'l
'l
'[ypho
tlubrunt. . pral<'n.se. . rcp?ns.'lorilrs laponrctt. 7riplt:urosp<,nnum intxlumn- Tulipa sp..'l ussilagofar;/itro,
ongustilbliq.'!. luti.lolro. L.rtKo dioica- l'erbascun phl<nnides- I.lhopsus. l'(roniut qn'ensis. l'chamaedrys.
t . ol/idtloli.t. l'. perstut- I' .;erpvllr/blio. I iburnun opulus- l icia hirsuld. l'..ra//yd s.1..I. .tdtld subsp.nigra, L'iola
EDITIlHESSE'LGREAVES:28Wood1andsDrlve.GJoby]LElCE'ST!'RI-b60
THE SPREADOF I]RA('HYPODIUM PINNATUM IN WALES
Rruch.ypothum
pinnutum has beenrecognisedas havingthe potentialto becomean aggressivelyinvasivespeciessincethe 1950s(NatureConservancy
AnnualReport,1955)whenit was foundto be
spreadingover ungrazedareasof the chalk downlands.If uncheckedthis grasscan rapidlybecome
dominant,typically spreadingoutwardsin enlargingclumpsto form a densemat with growth of up to
lm high (Junghanns,
1988),studiesin Hollandhaveshownthat it can eventuallyrepresent80% or
more of the abovegroundbiomass(Bobbink& Willems,1987).In the latterstudy,increasing
dominanceof B. pin,olum was shownto be stronglycorrelatedwith a rcductionin speciesdiversityand
that species
numbercouldbe reducedby morethan50% withina f-ewyears.
TodayB. ptilnotumrepresents
problemofcalcareousgrassland
a Inajormanagement
throughout
westernEurope (Ratcliffe, 1984, Bobbink & Willems, 1987, l99l; Junghanns,1988) especially
wheretherehas beena declinein tradrtionalgrazingmanagement.
Many of thesegrasslands,
which
are amongthe most species-richcommunitiesin westernEurope and supporta large numberof rare
andendangered
species(Rodwell,I992) arenow underthreatfiom the increasing
dominance
ofths
species.
Furthermore,
accordingto Bobbink& Willems(1987)manymanagement
regimes,including
IJ
Rccordcrsand Rccording
mowing in autumn.burning and sheepgrazinghave not preventedinlbstaticrnThey also.suggested
that the depositionof atmosphericniirogenmay be furtherenhancingits abilityto dominatethese
However,on a n)oreoplinristicnoteBobbink& Willems(1991)haverecentoligotrophicgrasslands.
ly indicited ihat it may be possibleto reducethe dominanceof this speciesby cutting it back in
mid-summer.
To datetheredoesnot appearto be any evidenceof B. pinildlumbecontinga.problemon inland
in Wajesand it may still be a relativelyuncommonspeciesin Wales.Ellis
calcicolousgrasslands
in thirteenlOkn squares(Fig._i, page27). However.
(1983),for example,only recordedits presence
on certainbase-richdunesystems
ii hasrecentlycometo light that the specieshasbecomeestablisbed
in Walesand-thatthereaie now large'standsoccurringwithin the forestedareasof PembreyBurrows.
Carmarthenshire(v.c. 44), and Newborough Warren, Anglesey(v.c. 52) and the open dune gras(v.c. 45). In fact,concernsover the threatto the nature
slandsat StackooleWarrenin Pembrokeshire
vilue of the latler two siteshaspromptedactionto eradicatethe speciesfrom these
conservation
areas.At StackpoleWarrenattemptshavealreadybeenmadeto eliminatethe speciesby handdigging
(pers comm.R. Haycock; At the Newboandthe applicaiionof the herbicideGlyphosate'Roundup'
rough sitf it is proposedto artemptfo eradicateB. piinatum also usingweed wipe application.of'
Glfrhosare(peri cbmm.J Ratclitfe)Table I (page27) showswhenB. pinna|umwasfirst recorded
at the three Welsh sand dune sites and the estimatedareasof infestationprior to any eradication
programme.
^ -lt
is of interesrthat the coastaldune systemsin Walesratherthan inlandlimestonegrasslands
have beeninvadedby R. pinnotum since,as yet, it doesnot appearto be to be a problenron coastal
is that it-mayhavebeenintrodunesystemsin England(pers.comm.Dr G. Radley)One suggestion
duced'to the forestid areasduring hydro-seedingoperationsto stabilisethe forest trackways.The
sanddunesin Walesalsotendto be morebase-richthanthosein England.l{owever,the community
compositionof the Welsh dune communitiesdiffer significantlyf'rom the more typical R. pir.t.ntum
(Rodwell,l9q?) which so
describedin the NationalVegctationClassification
dominatedgrasslands
far, in Walei appearto haveonly beendescribedai occurringon thc Limestoneclifls ol Stackpole
Warren (Coop6r, te8al lhe differencein the dune B. putnalum communitiesis partly explainedby
ofa woodlandclementat two ofthe sites
the Dresence
ofa sandduneelementand alsothe presence
(see Table2, page28) but in additiorr,at Newborough,
there is the addedcomplication.that
I). piwnlum appearsto be closely associatedwith a number of calcifugoustaxa such as ('alluna
wigaris andlbb,tichum sp. lts piescncewith thesespecicsand the fact that.it appearsto be thriving
in that it seemsto be extending
in the semi-shade
of woodlandridesin Walesis slightlydisconcerting
beyondits normalecologicalrange.However,it is hopedthat the prompt actionto elintinatethese
do'minantstandsof R. pinnalum in Waleswill preventthe speciesspreadinginto other semi-natural
in the Princioalitv.
calcicolous
communities
References
pltuuniln 1L ) Beauv.
dominance
o| Brachyptilrum
Bobbink,R. andWillems,J H ( 1987).lncreasing
14.
lliohrytcal('on.\endltotl40.3l-1
inchalkgrasslands.athreattoaspecies-richecosystem.
of
Bobbink,R. ind Willems,J H (199lj Impactof dilferentialcuttingregimeson the perfbrmance
Riologic<il('on.sen'ation56. l-2 |
Rrachypodiumpinnalum in Dutch chalk grasslands.
Brown.N H. and Roberts.R.tl (19s2) PlantRecordsllat.sonrul9(2| 2.
E A (1988) L'egetatunmap.srll the lJriti:h seacltlls ond t'lilf ttrys. 5 Stockpgle,l'eyCooper,
'hrokeshire;
BullslaughterRct.)'to lJant/utrdleRuy. Naturc ConservancvCouncil and University
(unpublished
report)
of l,ancaster.
Davis-T W. (1969).FieldNotesNolurctrtlValesll(3\ l1
in the S.l'..i{cgrrlr English
pinnatumm(mo4em(:nt
D (1988) Ilct'tet rf Brachvpodium
Junghanns,
NaturelSouth-EastRegionl
16(3) 213
Kay, Q O.N (19'79a).FieldNotes Nuturein Wale.s
Kay, Q O.N (i979b) PlantRecordsllut.sonral2(1) 363
(1955) Ik'portJbr lhe]'ear etuled30 Septemher
195i HN'ISOLondon
NaiureConservancy
Ratcliffe,D.A. (1984) Post-medieval
and recentchangesin British vegetation.the culminationol
98 7l- 100
humaninfluence.Nev'Ph.y'toktgr.t/
.t)mmutlilt!.r.
and morrlttrtc
Rodwell,J.S.(1992) Rritr.shI'lunt ('omnuvlia.\, I.iiluma-l ()nt.;sluncls
Press
CambridgeUniversity
'Ncvhr<nrgh
Surva.t'Forestrv('ommissionlunpublished
!'<re:t L:egetation
Ct I toS-t1
Studhotme,
report)
/o
Rmorders and Rccording
D ct'ibfrtior ot Btdch\pndtum
.I'ABLE
ptFnarun
rn Wale.
I
Ihe lirst records cll'Bruth.1'yxnliumptntutum and its presenl extent at the three sand dune sites in
W a l c s w h c r c r c l a t i l c l v c x l c n s i v cs t a n d so c o u r
Sitc
Nt u hororrgh\\'rrrrcrr
S t r r u L p o l\c, \ ' . rrre r r
Pcnlbrc\ ( ountn Prrk
l'irst rccords ol
I). pinnotum
'lbtal
l ( ) X l ( S l r t d l l o l n t c| ( ) x t .
llr0\\ n & Rohcrls l 9 9 t )
cstimatcd arca (ha)
()+
I')(,')l
05
l 9 ? l ( K a \ . l 1 ) 1 9 rb. )
0tl
l ' ) ( ' l lt l ) i t \ i \
Numher ol maior stands
21
'l
Recordcrs and Rccording
Associates
Agrostiscaruna
Ammophila arenaria
Anthylliswlneraria
Anthoxanthumodoratum
Arrhenathenrmelatius
Bellispcrcmis
Behrlapendula
Brach)'podiumsylvalicum
Bri;zamedia
Bromuserectus
Bromusmollis
Callunavulgaris
Chamerionangustifolium
Carexarenaria
Carexflacca
Cerastiumfontanum
Ccnlaureanigra
Cenlaureascabiosa
Cirsiumarvensc
Cirsiumvulgare
Clematisvitalba
Conopodiummajus
Cotoneastersimonsii ?
Cratacgusmonog.vna
Crepissp.
cristatus
Cynosurus
Cltisus scopanus
Dact-vlisglomcrata
Dryoptens spp
Epipactishelleborine
Equisetumpalustris
Erodium cicutarium
Eupatoriumcamabinum
Euphorbiaportlandrca
Festucaspp
Galiumaparine
Calium vcrum
Geraniummollc
Geraniumrobertianum
Hederahelix
Heracleumsphondylium
Hieraciumspp
Holcuslanatus
Homalotheciumlutescens
Hyacinthoidcsnon-scripta
H)p€ricumpulchrum
H)'pochocrisradicata
Hippophaerhamnoides
lns foetidissima
Lcucanthemum
vulgarc
s
P
*
*
+
*
Assftiates
Liguslrum \ulgarc
Linaria vulgaris
Lithospcrmum ollicinale
lnlium percnne
Lonicera periclymenum
Lotus comiculalos
Ononis repcns
Ocnothera sp.
Pcltigera sp.
Pinus ntgra
Pinus radicata
Pinus sllvestris
Plantago lanceolata
Poa pratensrs
PolJtrichum sp.
Primula \rolgaris
Pnrnella wlgaris
Prunus sprnom
Pseudosclcrapodium purum
S
fteridium aquilinum
*
*
*
*
*
+
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Quercus sp. (sapling)
Ranunculus bulttosus
Ranunculus rcpens
Rh1'tidiadclphus squanosus
Rhl.tidiadelphus triquetrus
Rosa canina agg
Rosa pirnpinellifolia
Rubus fruticosus agg
Rubus caestus
Rumex acetosa
Salix rcpcns
Sanguisorba minor
Scnccio jacobaea
Solanum dulcamara
Sonchus oleracca
Stachl-sofficinalis
Taraxacum sp.
Tcucrium scorodonia
Thuidium tamarisclnun
Thvmus praccox
Tortula ruraliformis
Tnfolium campestrc
Tnfolium dubium
Trifolium rcptars
Ulcx europacus
Unica dioica
Vicia satila
Viola canina
Viola tricolor
TABLE 2
PETER M. RHIND, CoastalEcologist,CountrysideCouncilfor Wales,Plas Penrhos,Ffbrdd
Penrhos,BANGO& GwyneddLL57 zLQ
28
Recorders and Recording
STINGING NETTLE II - MIDWINTER
GROWTH
The StingingNettle ({,/rlrcadioica) is the most widely recordedplant in the new WiltshireFlora, and
is the most abundantfarm weed. lt is also the most frequentlyprevalentriversidespeciesfor the
Rivers Ebble,Upper (W. Wilts.; Avon and tributaries,Upper Kennet,and many(or most?)other
Wiltshirerivers.
Frost in Decemberhalts vertical growth of nettle and brownsthe leaves- but horizontal growth
of stemswhich root at the nodes con-tinues
at the expenseof surroundingvegetation.This G most
obvious under carpetingput around young trees in December(to protect them from weedsin the
following spring).Buries residualnettle rhizomesconvertin Januaryand Februaryto surface-rooting
pink or creamstolons,growing from nothingto l0-40cmseithermid-Dec.to mid-Jan.,or mid-Jan.to
mid-Feb.In uncoveredgrassland,
this processis lessobvious.only 2-lOcmsper monthin mid-winter.
However,understonesand insulatingdebrisofany sort,5-30cmsper wintermonthcanoccur.
The creamy-pinkwinter stolonsnot only give the nettle a head-startfor next spring, but they
usually divide into numerousshooting branches.Other weeds such as Broad-leavedDock (Rumex
obtusifolius)only have one shoot, and, CreepingTtrstle (Cirsium arvense)may put up 2 or 3 fiom
the undergroundrhizomes.However a buried segmentofnettle rhizomecan put up 4 to 20 shootsall
round the edgesof a 30 x 30cm obstructingflat stoneby late February,readyto form the monopolostic clump of densevertical stemswhich occludeall other competingvegetationby mid-summer.
Vertical stemsbent over to ground level can also (in any season)give rise to axillary creamy-pink
surface-rootingstemswith multiple new verticalshootsfollowing.
Do anv other olantsconvert resourcesfrom rhizomes(or other stems)to surface-rootingstolons
in the winter months?
fsw:ffi
'
I r , .+ , . i ." !
- "1 l,sl
Rootingstolons
ofnettle,photoO J.Oliver,Feb 1993
JACKOLMR. HighView RhVfsLane,LOCKERIDGE,
MarlborouehWlltsSN84ED
I,EMNA MINUTA III - MONOCTILTURES
Two adiacent ponds, A & B. were partiallv cleared out in 1990 ['ond A was covered by
Lemnamtnula,Bby L. mnor. but after clearanceA became thel.. mrn<trpond and Bthe L. minuta
one. Despite frcquent mixings. neither specicswill survive in the other's pond.
29
Recordersand Rccording
Lemna minuta is spreadingrapidly in Wiltshire, coexistingin the rivers (Thames,Kennet,both
Avons) with L. minor - but in enclosedor stagnantwatersand in long stretchesof the Kennetand
Avon Canal,there are onl)' vast densesurfacemonocultures.Wherethe water is sluggish,only one of
these 2 vigorous speciessurvives.This all implies chemicalinhibition by one speciesof the other,
tlvithL. minutagettingthe edgebecause
The sameconsiderations
apply
ofits greaterllost-resistance.
to Elodea nuttallii appearingto 'drive out' 1,.canadensls(againincreasedfrost resistance,and dense
underwatermonocultures).
If there are indeed subtle biochemicalinhibitors. these would seemfar. far more effectivein
weed-control than broad-spectrumherbicides,skimming, cutting, and all other artificial controls
together.
JACK OLIVE& High View, RhylsLane,LOCKERIDGE, Marlborough,Wilts SN8 4ED
I.EMNA MINUTA IV. GREEN ROOTS
Do (many)speciesoutsidethe Lemnaceaehavegreenroots?Underthe (dissecting)microscope,both
Lemna mimtla andL. minor roots seemto be greenas a consequence
of?chloroplastsin the cortex
and epidermis.Thereare often smallepiphyticfi]amentousalgaeon both thalli and'roots,but thesedo
not account for the greenness.Serried ranks of active L''orticelletwere seenon all the L. mimtta
(pond) roots. Might this indicate symbiotic association;oxygenatingrootlets in stagnantanoxic
water, with Ihe krticella moppingup noxiousbacteriaand debris?
JACK OLIVER, High View, RhylsLane,LOCKERIDGE.Marlborough,Wilts SN8 4ED
BEE ORCHIDS AT LANDBEACH
The correspondencein B.SR1News 62. 32, about the occurrenceof Bee Orchids (()phrys aptferu)
nearEly, took me backmorethan40 yearsto thatvicinitywhen,as a child,I listedplantsin a square
kilometre around The School House, Landbeach(TL1476.652).On one occasionI came across2
spikesofBee Orchid.As far as I know it had not beenseenin Landbeach
before,and I neversawit
again.Although ill-equippedfor close-upphotographyat that time, I did the best I could, and rather
clumsilytinted the result. [The photographis perlectly adequatefor identificationpurposesand the
tintingis by no meansclumsy!Ed.l
In the samekilometre squarethere was a field generouslypepperedwith Green-wingedOrchid
(Orchis morio\. I wonder if this is still found there and if anyonehas subsequentlyfound the Bee
Orchid at Landbeach?
HILARY ROSE, l6 KilfieldRoad,Bishopston,
SWANSEASA3 3DL
HENBANEON SET-ASIDI]
'fhere
has been considerablc correspondencein thc past on thc gcrmination of long-buried seed including Henbane (Hyoscyamus ntger). I have just observed a ficld full of it; a population of several
hundred Dlants.this time on a set-asidearea on a larm on Salisburv olain. l'hc larmer was aware of
this and s-aidit trad occurred lrom time to time in the past. I suggest-ed
lo hinr that it would be unwise
ro graze the field now, although the unplcasant smcll would probably bc a dcterrent Now it has the
conditions to grow undisturbed, it has flourished in abundancc, prcsumably lionr a dormant secd
reservoir One can only guess at its origin, thcrc has bcen no ancient monaslcry on thc site but maybe
it was grown for herbal properties or sorcery by a witch in times past!
tsARBARA l.AST,
'l-he
StablesB
, e r w i c k S t J a m c s ,S A l . l S I l t J R Y S P I 4 f N
l0
Rccordcrsand Rccording / Notcs and Articlcs
THE SEARCH FOR W.P. HIERN'S SORBUS DEVONIENSIS RECORDS 1864-1922
Hiern's recordsand herbariumsheetsare now lodged at Exeter'sRoyal Memorial Museum.The list
containssome 56 records of Sorbu.sdewnierr.r'i.r'
which was then known as I'1'rus lalifolia'Devon
Form',of which 39 wereusable;the remainderhad to be lumpedtogetheras the localitiescouldnot
easilybe separated.
Twenty-foursiteswere searched
in the 1992seasonand in I 7 the Jorr5rrs
wasfound at or near
the recordedlocality.The remaining7 siteswill be visitedagainin 1993.
On the tetrad distributionmap producedtbr the speciesby Dr M.C.fr. Proctorin June 1992,
Hiernrecordsconfirm6'dots'andorovide5 additionalones.
My unfunded'work'of 199l, and my WarburgMemorialfundingof 1992,has also addeda
further 7 dots to the mao with one more awaitingconfirmation.
Only oneofthe landowners
I havespokento wasawarethat theyhad something
differentandof
unusualinterestgrowingon their land.
DAVID C G CANN Halburv.MorchardRoad.UOPPLESTONE.
Devon
[The abovenote wassentby Davidwith manythanksfor hisgrantfiom the WarburgMemorialFund.
Edt
NOTESAND ARTICLES
THE T]NIVERSITY
O F E X E T E RH E R B A R I U M :
C H A N G E SA T L I V E R P O O LM T ] S E T I M
Thecollections
liom theherbarium
of floweringplantsandt-erns
of the University
of L,xeter(EXR)
havebeenacquired
by theNational
Museums
andGalleries
andarenowbeingkeptin
on Merseyside
(l-lV).TheW. KebleMartinHerbarium,
theherbarium
of theLiverpool
Museum
whichwasformerly
kept at EXR, has been transferred to the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter (RAMM)
The newly acquired collections total some 25.000 sheets. Their removal to Liverpool brings
about roughly a l5ozoincrease in the size ofthe British Herbarium and a slightly smaller percentage
increasein the size ofthe Eurooean Herbarium The latter will continue to be arransed accordine to
l;lora l,uropaeu, but the British Herbarium is bein-erearrangedin Cronquist family o'rder, in line iith
Stace'sFlora and Kent's checklist
Nonnally such a major rearrangement and merger would cause considerable upheaval, so to
improve access and avoid overcrowding of specimensa new set of herbarium cabinets is being acquired to rehouse nruch of the British Herbarium We hope that these cabinetswill be installed in the
autumn of 1993. and that work on preparing new folders will be completed by the end ofthe financial
year(March 1994)
JOHN EDMONDSON, Liverpoof Museum William Brown Street, I,IVERPOOL LJ {lEN
, \ G T I I D ET O F I E L D 1 ! I E E T I N G S H I P
It, Iike me, you attcnd Field Meetings. know nothing and. when you lcarn something. very quickly
lorget it. 1'ou bccome discouraged It is. altel all. unfbrtunate if you have. during the day, pointed
three times to the same species onlv to be told that it is still a f)andelion. I his is a guide with hints
and tips to maintain vour morale and self-respcct
Notesand Articles
The first golden rule is to assumeyour Leader knows everything.He probablyand, relativeto
you certainly,does.If he insistsupon callingan applea pearthen a pear it jolly weil is. Never argue
with your leader. Flatter him or her to the 6est of your iimited abiliti The Ldder is always;ghti tf
you_takethis attitude as basicthe Leader will almostcertainlynot exposeyour enormous-ignorance
to the restofthe partv.
Having solved the problem of the Leader you may now turn your attention to the rest of the
party It is no good trying.to impressall of them especiallyas most of them will know a good deal
more than you. You must identifl, one who is evenmore ignorant,a total ignoramus,a beginnerwho
like you do_esn't
know a Dandelionfrom a Daisy. Look carefullyaroundthi party at the 6cial stage
when_youfirst meet.Avoid anyonecarrying Stace,Rose,Jermy,Hubbardor'crw, especiallyif w6ll
lhu1nbqq Ilome in.on anyonewith an absolutelynew copy of Dolly,s Book of Charmiig F'loiers.for
Little Children or, bestof all, no book at all. Even so, beware,for someexpertscontainln their memory the entire I'-lora Europaea and probablyFlora Asiatica, AmeriL'ana'andAuslraliensis aswell
Avoid anyonefrom the Wild Flower Societywho are frightfully keen, Iike earnestjoggers, learnfast
and shouldbe askedwhether they have seenI'ykn rcpens.a saprophyticplant, giey, glabrousstem
to 70 metres sometimesacuminate,rooting at the nodes,wittr prirmineniauricles,long filaments,
apetallous,with no leaves;parasiticon Generator. Pick your mark, ask a few searching{uestionsto
conlirm a greaterignorancethan you, then proceed.
_ Make iiiends with your mark, distract and leavethem at the tail of the party, then hurry to the
Leaderatthefrontwhichhasjust'discovered'anotherspecies
Listencarefullv
Writethenameofthe
species.
in your notebook.Look up the species
in your CTW FieldCuide,a smallprofoundbook with
a good weight lo impressivenesi
ratio, gathera coupleof essentialpoints,kneel down and start
examr^rung
the weed with your lens.This not only impressesthe departingexpert front of the party
but, if cgrrectlytimed.meansyour markfindsyouin an expertpositionandouf of expertearshoi.
'Whathave we here?",you
are asked.Although musicto-the ear, keep readingyour CTW with
one finger firmly touchingthe.specimenso that you do not make a mistakb.After-a pause,you may
tu\" lny one of a numberof lines. Quite a good one is. "Well, it keys out ro Taraxaium oficinalei'
I1 is mportant at this moment 1o guesswhetheryour mark is goin! to ask the Englishnime and if
they are tell them beforethey do becauseit scoresyou an extrideux points in avoidingtheir embarrassment_and
increasing
their liking and respect.You then follow up with a quick'sen,su
lato', and
remark that of coursemost British forms are apomictic(havingjusf read this'on page 411 of your
CTW) Neither of you of courseknows what this meansand thi'fact that CTW saysit means'Auits
ripeningindependentlyoffertilisation'does not add to your wisdom one whit, but, by God, it sounds
goos.
You will by now have establishedquite an impressiveposition and it is essentialnot to lose
ground.Hurry away.liomyourmark beforetheyaskvou anoiherquestionAny questionNever.lor
example.put yourself in the position of being asked,at random for heaven'siake, 'what is this' for
you will demonstrateonly that there are at leasttwo speciesyou don't know. If trapped,say it is a
difficult genus.Blame Staceand shift subjectto Carex, Poaceaior Rumex- "Isnt it shockincihe *au
pulcheri;.being pushedout by hybrid in-Surrey,but I supposethat is typical hybrid vigour;. (Usefiil
phraseslike this can be gleanedby overhearingLeadei ialking to eipen ani shouli be carefully
noted).Talk aboutnon-botanical
subjects.Ifasked,'Isnt that WaterChickweed?",
do not reply.Turn
up.Water-Chickweedin your CTW and say "Oh' Myo.vnn oquatkum. with its distincliveblue
anthers.Of course.I'm so badwith Englishnames.theiare so numerousandit ail dependson where
you are in the.country..Souselesswhen you are abroadtoo. I prefer the scientificnameswhich you
can use.anywherein the world " This gains severalpoints and strongly suggeststhat you tr;vel
abroadbotanicallyand are more fbmiliar with the flora of Outer Mongolia I1'quoteda L-atinname,
'form;
you play it the other way round. Otherdefensivemeasures
includean adiective
-belowplusthe word
e g 'sylvan'(not to be usedin opendownland),'montane'(not to used
i,000 feet),'aquatic'
(not to be.usedon dry land),-'umbral'(notto be usedin bright sunlight)and'depauperaie'(can
be
u.sedanyrurhere)It is also useful to be a 'loveablelumper'ratherthan a 'schizopkeniciplitter'. Above
all trytomaintain credibilitythrough pseudoexpertise A knowledgeof Latin is invaluableand if you
99n ald Greek you are home and away. It is a tough life trying to demonstrateexpertiseon a Field
Meetingbut alwaysbearin mindthe old Latinmotto "Nil despeiandum.
- don'tlet
non carborundum"
tirebastards
grindyou down [toadflaxes
or cabbagest
Ed.]
JOHN TOPP.20 LupusStreet.I-ONDON SWI
tt
Notcs and Aniclcs
BSBI MEMBERS IN NORTH AND SOT]THCYPRI.,IS
Dr Deryck Viney, who is part{ime residentin Cyprus and author of Lndemic lltild Plants of North
('yprushassetup an herbariumat Alevkaya.He is pleased
to welcomevisitors,andwasableto assist
a group - someof them BSBI membersand led by Tony Kemp - on a Cox and Kings botanicalholiday to North Cyprus in March this year. Their particularlyexciting record was a first sighting in
North Cyprus of Orchis papilionacea L the Pink Butterfly Orchid. DesmondMeikle in F-loraof
('yprus 1985givesthis as'veryrare'and 'foundonly oncein Cyprus'(1960,in SouthernCyprus)'and
may no longer grow there.' (Paul Davies also regardedits occurrenceon Cyprus as 'suspect'- pers.
comm.).
1993was an exceptionallygood year for (). papilionacea, andon nearbyCreteit was particularly abundantin March 1993- possiblypartly dueto the late seasonandgood winter rains.
Dr Yiannis Christofides,mentionedin BSBI 1y'eyr59: 14 Going to Cypnts, is now a BSBI
memberwho is alsopleasedto welcomevisiting BSBI membersin SouthernCyprus,and he canoffer
accommodation
too.
'l'his
note in BSBI News59 lists altemativefield guidesand flower books for Cyprus- theseare
helpful, but the rare opportunity to have a completeFloro specificto the islandof the visit, for me
far outweighsthe smalleffort in transportingthel;lora of(lyprus for a botanicalvisit there- but both
Dr Viney and Dr Christofideshavel;lora of (ypru.s availablefor reference.
ENGLISH NAMES OF WILD FLOWERS - A REpLy (r)
'Ihe
article by MessrsJury, Oswald and Perring concerningL,nglishNamesof l'ltild I''lowersin the
last issueof BSIil News(63, April 1993,p. 43) cannotpassunchallenged.
As joint authorsof the
(lhecklisl of the I'lanls of Perlhshire.which we have good reasonto believewas one of the three
urnamedrecent publicationsdismissedin that article as havingtaken 'little, if any, notice of English
Names',we havea numberof pointsto make.
I:nglish Namesof lltikl lilov'ers (EhWr) developeda binomialsystemof Englishnames.To fit
this system,trinomials and higher nomials had to be hyphenatedin a complicated,often illogical
manner,as is evidentif one readsI|NIIF's introductione.g. pp 4-7 of the lst editionof 1974.The
effectsof this hyphenationare well demonstratedin the exampleusedin the recentarticle - Common
Bird's-foot+refoil.
Lookingfor this in an Englishnameindexunder'trefoil',whichis wherewe expect
most sensibleunsuspectingbotanists,let alone generalreaders,would seek it, one finds that the
authorsof F.NI|4''havehad to includean additionalindex entryto avoid disappointment:Trefoil seealsounderBird's-foot-trefoil
while usersofStace'sNev, I"loro of the British Isles aredirectedonly to lrifolium spp. and not at all
to /,01rl.rspp.
Fromthe authors'comments
aboutthe threerecentlocalFlorastheyconsultedasbeingtwo from
Scotlandand one from Ireland,your readersmight be excusedifthey had concludedthat it is only a
lunaticCelticfringethat disregards
liNI(I;'s recommendations.
We havejust consulteda numberof
the BSBI's own Handbook seriesand find that those on Sedges.Ilmbelhfers. Willcl's and Poplars,
and('ructfers all to a greateror lesserextent rejectthe hyphenatedforms, as doesJermyand Camus'
recentFern field guide.Only the l)ocks and Knolwee.Ls
handbookappearsto conform.
The unwelcometruth lor the authorsof IiNWr is that the hyphenatedEnglishforms are seenas
unaestheticand unsatisfactoryby a signilicantnumber(majority?)ofbotanists. We cannotrecallthat
the omissionofhyphensin the Perthshire
Checklistwasa causeofmajor debateamongstits authors:
we used'CommonBirdsfootTrefoil'.
Apart from this matter of hyphenationthe PerthshireChecklist took care to use the recommendedEnglish namesfor the great majority of species.A count of the first 100 Checklistspecies
commonto LNlll"s list shows that 72 are identical,23 are identicalexcept for hyphenationand 5
differ otherwise. Manv of the differencesare extra or alternativeScottishnameswhich liNWIr for
t-)
Notcs and Aniclcs
reasonsdoesnot wish to list. Ifany readersofthe Perthshire
ofits
understandable
Checklist,because
lack of hyphenation,considerthemselvesmisledby its statedclaim to havefollowed l'.NI'14'',thenwe
apologiseto them.But mosl, we hope,wouldjoin us in totally rejectingMessrsJury, Oswaldand
Perring'scriticism abot ignoringLNWI'
Finallywe take issuewith their beliefthat their binomialsystemis eren morepertineillnow that
I.lora-writing is computerised(our italics).A personwishing,for example,to mergeor processautomaticallytwo computerisedlists, one list perhapswith 'authentic'forms as CommonBird's-foottrefoil or its rearrangement.
Bird's-foot-treibil,Commonandthe other list with maybediff-erentforms
as CommonBirdsfootTrefoil or CommonBird's-fbotT'refoilor their rearrangements.
could readily
get most word-processors,spreadsheets
or other programminglanguagesto - l) rearrangenames
with commas,2) strip all apostrophes,hyphensand spacesand 3) changecapitalsto lower case- so
that all the above forms gave commonbirdsfoottreloil.After the necessarycomparisonsand processingthe Englishnamescan be reconstituted
to whateverform desired.Providedauthorsusenanres
with lettering identicalto LNW.'s, such a procedureis more foolproof than one relying on correct
hyphenationin both lists. A tbw minor problems(suchas St or Saintfor St John'sWorts) remain.So
computers,far from saddlingus still more, provide the meansto liberateus from the proverbialhyphenationcameldesigned
by this committee.
We hopetheseviewscomein time to influence
IiNWFs Jrd revision.
R E T H O M A S , R . A H S M I T H , N F S T E W A R T a n d N WT A Y L O R ,
OrchilHouse.nr BRACO.Perthshire
FK l5 gLF
ENGLISH NAMES OF WILD FLOWERS - A REPLT'(2)
As one of the authorscriticisedin BSBI Nev,r 63 tbr not conformingin my recent flora to litrglish
Namesof llild l;lowers, could I explainmy reasons.I did sometimesprefer the namesin this listing
to thosein CTW/CTM, for exampleI use'Smith'sPopperwort'(not'Smith'sCress')and'LargeBittercress'(not 'LargerBitter-cress'),
both
but it seemsto me thatfor a localflora thereareshortcomings
in the actualnanlesrecommended
andin usingonly a singleEnglishname.
Firstly a local flora shouldbe a sourceoffacts aboutthe plantsand it is importantto recordwhat
localscall plants.It is silly if peoplehave a namefor a planl, or have seena namein print, fbr
examplein poetryor the larmingpapers,and this nanreisn'tthereto help thenrin the Flom. Indeed
this sentimentis supportedin the pretbceto LNll/L'... wisely insistedthat the Englishnamesof
in a country,like
weedsshouldbe thoseknown to farmers'.Why then shouldnarnesuseduniversally
GeanandBlaeberry,be omitted?
SecondlyI fbel that Englishnamescoinedrecenllyby botanistsare iess sacrosanct
than real
namesusedby peoplein general.lf coinedniunesare used(shownin parenthcsis
in CTW t952 and
1962),then they shouldbe helpfulto readers.I thereforetendedto avoid'Common'whenthis isn't
true in NE Scotland(e.g.Comfrey)
lhirdly the binomialsystemis too restrictiveEvenin ENll'l: it is not fully applied.manysingle
namesbeingretained.andornithologists
and fbreignbotanistshavenot movedoverto this systemin
their naming.LogicallyI cannotseewhy trinomialsareruledout. callingcommonplantslike ('erurstium spp.by a namenot usedin the district(Mouse-ear)to avoid a trinomialseemsabsurd.And
(Marsh-nrarigold
alteringthe form to parallelthe scientillcclassification
versusCorn Marigold)when
thereis no grammatical
or pronunciation
reasonis alsoundesirable
I am surethatconservalion
is hinderedifit appearsto be beingrun bv outsidersforgetfuiofiocal
people'sneeds,and too often this impression
hasbeengivenin Scotland.Easeof indexingis desirable,but moreimportantis not alienating
farmers,landowners
andcountryside
users.
I hope I do not seemperverse.I feel the Working Party were given a dilicult task and that if
their nameswere intendedto be mandatoryratherthan recomnrended
then wider consultation
was
required.But this takcstime.timethat wouldprobablybe betterspentstudyingthe flora.
DAVID WELCH. EastFernbank,WoodsideRoad,BAN('I{ORY. Kincardineshire
AB3 I 3XL
l4
Notcs and Anicles
ENGLISH NAMES OF WILD FLOWERS - A REPLY (3)
The authorsof the proposednew edition of the BSBI's English Namesof llild lilowers havepointed
out that three recent checklistsand floras have 'taken little, if any, notice of English Nenes' (BSBI
Ncv,s 63, pp. 43-44). It seemslikely that authorsare ignoringlinglish Nzynesbecauseit doesn'tprovide themwith whatthey want. [fso, revisionofthe book to suit the needsofthe usersis likelyto be
much more effectivein encouragingits usethan any amountofexhortation in News.
I can't speak for the authors of floras, but I can explain why I have always disbkedEnglish
Nomes.I must admit to an initial uneaseabout the whole conceDtofa standardset ofnames. Scientific namesprovidean international
standard.The wonderfulthingaboutEnglishnamesis their sheer
variety. I didn't welcomethe idea of being told which Englishnameto usell'm surethat a book of
Englishnamesmight havewon me over to the conceptof a standardnamelor usein floras.However,
the current one doesn't!| think'Ihere's
that it was an error to havea binomialsystemwith Englishgeneric,
subgeneric
and specificnames.
absolutely
no necessity
for this.The only needis for oneEnglish nameto be unambiguouslylinked to one scientificname.No harm would be done if Epiktbium
'Codlins
hirsulum was
and Cream'andIi. pahstre'Marsh Willow-herb'.In any event,the exceptions
to Englishgeneraare numerous:'Oxlip', 'Cowslip'and 'Primrose'in Primula, for example,and even
within a speciesthe yellow-flowered variant of ('arpobrolus edulis is'Hottentorfig' whereasthe
purple-flowered
planti are'Sally-my-handsome'
(intermediates
would appearto lacka name).
The worst featureof Istglish Names- the plethoraof hyphens- derivesfrom the binomialsystem. This featureofthe book seemsto attract almostuniversaldisapproval.lt can'tbe a coincidence
that the namecited by the authorsof l,nglish Namesas ignoredin all three floras/checklists,
Common
Bird's-fbot-trefoil, has an apostropheand two hyphenswhereasnone of the nameswhich were
actuallyusedin thesebooks requireso much punctuation.I'he binomialsystemhas also perpetuated
the literal translation of specific epithets or former epithets, which results in such horrors as
'Alternate-leavedGolden-saxifraee'.
'Various-leavedPondweed'and 'Six-stamened
Waterwort'.What
contrast
a
theseareto the wond;rful namescoinedfor plantsby J.R.R.Tolkeinin l.onl of the Rings.
I often think it's a pity that the tirst edition of linghsh Names wasn'twritten by Dony, Perring and
Tolkeinl Finally.one trivial but annoyingfeatureof the binomialsystemis the abbreviation
of the
Englishgenus,resulting
in theuglylistscontaining'Least
B.'or'Bog P.'.
I shall reluctantlycontinueto useEnglish Namesas I am expectedto do so by bodiessuchas
ITE andJNCC.If I had the freedomof mostflora writersI would not usethe officialnames.I hooe
that before they prepareed. 3 the authorswill canvassthe opinion of potentialusers,and revisethe
book accordingly.Let's find out why authorsdon't use linglish Names,thentry to devisesomething
which we are all at leastreasonablyhappyto use.
C D PRB-S
I ON l1'E,Monks Wood AbbotsRipton.HLINTINGDON,Cambndeelhire I 7 zLS,
:E
MORT] OROBANCHE RAISED F'ROM SEED
ln the December1992issueol'RSRIA'er.l's
purpurea
I reponedgrowingand floweringOrobanche
Jacq.liom secdin a seedtray. Followingthe flower spikeproductionthe host,Achilleamille;folium
lookedpaleand not very vigorousso I pottedthe wholetray of(). purpilrect,Achilleaand compost
into a largerseedtray r'"ithadditionalChcmpakpottingcompostandkeptthe tray outside.
f he O. purpurea set seedwhich was han'estedand sown at intervalsonto new Achillea in seed
traysoutsideandintoplotsofgrasslandwith.4cfullea
Onetrayhasalreadyproducedan()robanche
flower spikefrom seedsown at the end ofAugust last year.Additionally,someseedfrom the original
floweringhassell'sowninto a nearbyAthillea plantandflowered.
'Ihis
year, 1991,thereare lJ flower spikesoft,r. purpureein the repottedtray. Ihey are not as
vigorousasfastyears7 spikesandtheAchilleadoesnot look vcry healthyat all.
I have also discoveredlhat to flower O. purpureo,in additionto seed,one needspatience.I
madetwcrolher sow,ngsin October| 990 of seedtionr Maryport.One of thesewas into Achtlleuin
long grassin a track veigc in the botanicgardenat Newcastle.'This
hasproduceda clumpof J flower
splKestnlsyear.
l5
Notes and Articlcs
The other sowing was aroundAchilleo plantsin adensel;eshtca turf which had beenlifted and
put into a deeptray. This hasproduced2 flower spikes.Thesetwo sowingshavetakenthreeyearsto
produceflower spikes.
In March 1992 I gatheredseedfrom Maryport and at the end of June 1992 I sowed this onto
Achillea in Chempakpotting compost in a plastic seedtray. This sowing has produced 19 large
flower spikes.Again the Achillea in that tray is yellowishand has on.lyone flower headwhereasthe
Achillea in trayswhich havenot yet producedO. purpurea spikesis greenand flowering.The seedof
O. purpurea is then still viablein the deadflower spikesuntil the following March and remainsviable
until the end ofJune at least.
I now know a few more things about O. purpurea.
l. The flower spikescan first appearup to three yearsfrom the seedbeing sown, perhapslonger or
they can take as little as l0 monthsfrom sowingto flowering.
2- The flower spikeswill comeup in densegrassor in long grass.
3. The seedis viable for a year at least. It may benefitfrom a winter chilling in the persistentseed
heads.
4. As would be expectedit severelydebilitatesits host.
In field monitoring this EasterI plotted the position of every dead 1992(). purpurea flower spike at
one of the sitesat Maryport and comparedthesewith the plot of the 199I flower spikesmadeby Eric
Martin who lives in Maryport. The spikesoccurredin greaternumbersbut in the samepositionas Mr
Martin had plotted them. FrequentlyI found the previousyearsdeadspikesin the grassand mossat
the baseof the current dead spike. There were very few spikesfound in locationsother than those
where spikeshad beenfound the previousyear.
This indicatesthat there is little spreadfrom seed.Even ifthe seedtook severalyearsto produce
flower spikes,somenew locationsshouldbe observedeachyear.
It seemsprobablethat a declinein the populationof O. purpurea is due to a declinein theAchilIea. Oncethe parasitehas declinedtheAchillea populationcan againbuild up. lf 0. purpurea is stlll
presentin the areaas plantsor seedits populationwill thenbeginto build up again.This would cause
cyclicalexpansionand declineinO. purpurea populations.The persistenceofseed as a seedbank in
the soil is as yet unknown.
Out ofinterest, to seewhether other()robanchespeciescould alsobe grown from seed,I sowed
Orobanchereticulata seed,obtainedfrom UppsalaUniversityonto the roots oftomato plants - the
only host I had in January1993 This sowingproduced5 flower spikesin one of the four pots in June
1993.
ANNE T. PICKERING, Departmentof Biological and Nutritional Sciences,Universityof Newcastle
. :o:ltrn"
NEI7RU
BEATRICE SALKELD (192s-r ee3)
botanistand artist
Dublinon 9 March 1993
BeatriceSalkeld(Mrs BrendanBehan)diedat herhomein Ballsbridge,
By training and inclinationBeatricewas an artist. Shewas educatedat the Loretto Convent,St
Stephen's
Green,Dublin and spenta periodat the NationalCollegeofArt, KildareStreet.Sheentered the Civil Servicein the late 1940sand was emnlovedin a clericalDostin the Office of Public
Works wheresheissuedpay chequesto lock-keepers
on the inlandwaterwaysystemSherecalleda
chequeissuedregularlyto, - the keeperofthe RooskeySluicesin Co. Roscommon.Someyearslater
a oost arosein the Botanv Section-Natural Historv Division of the NationalMuseumof lreland. She
wasa successful
applicanifor the postof TechnicaiAssistant.
The duties in the Botany Sectioninvolved the drying, mounting,labellingand incorporatingof
plant specimenscollectedin the wild. Beatricesometimesengagedin field work in conjunctionwith
the DublinNaturalist's
FieldClub of which shewas a membersinceschool-days.
Sheoftenworkedin
the Zoological Section and helpedto arange specialExhibitions.One is especiallyrememberedEarly Irish publicationson botany. Shewas engagedin mountingarrearsmaterial- collectionsmade
in India and other regionsin the last century.Specimenscollectedby BeatriceSa.lkeldfrom counties,
to
Notes and Articles
Westmeath,Wicklow. Dublin and Donegalare in lhe NationalHerbarium(DBN). She was most
a c t i v ei n 1 9 5 3 - 1 9 5 4
Beatriceresignedher post on marriageto BrendanBehan,poet and playrvrightbut her interestin
plantscontinued.When on holidaysshe collectedspecimensand sentthem to the Herbarium.In the
mid-1950sspeciescollectedaboutGort na gCapaill,Aran Islands(H9) provedof interestto David
Webbwhenhe comoileda list of Aran olantsin 1980.
BeatriceSalketdwas a painterin oils. chieflylandscape
portraits.Sheexhibitedat
but sometimes
the Royal Hibernian Academyand at the OireachtaisExhibition. She travelled much in Italy in the
interestof art. Trees featuredin her landscapesand occasionallyflowers but she made no detailed
plantstudies,no plantportraits,aspart of herwork in the Museum.
It is necessary
to correcta statementmadeby JoanLittlewoodn T'he(hnrdian,3 April 1993.
There it was statedthat Beatrice"paintedgrasses,leavesand flowers with an accuracywhich would
havegracedthe pagesofa Linnaeusbotany". This is not so. There is no art work by BeatriceBehan
in the NationalHerbariumat Glasnevin.
Beatrice Sa.lkeldwas an excellentTechnicalAssistant,with a great interestin plants. She was
good too at gardenplants.Shedid not own a car and did not drive.
Sheis survivedby fwo children,BlanaidandPaudge
A CURf, FROM SIR HANS SLOANE (1660-1753)
Sir Hans Sloanewas a medicaldoctor. He was from Killyleagh,Co. Down. He prescribedfor Lady
Fermanaghthe following treatmentfor what was probablyinfluenzaor a chill (undated).
Sir, -I just now receivedyour letter and am sorry that I cannotcomply with your desirein
comingto my Lady Fermanaghpresently,but a hoarseness
and coughhindersme from being
ableto ventureso lateupon anyaccountwhatsoever.
lt is very plainthat my Lady shouldbe
immediately
bled at the arm, to aboutnine ounces,and two hoursafter if her tightheadednessecontinue,she shouldbe blistered.Ifthe colic painsremain... she ought to take 20
drops of laudanum.Shemay drink someBath watersand wines of Portuga.llor Maderafor
her ordinary drink and a Lambiteveof Syn:p of Marshmallowsand Oil of Sweet Almonds
shouldbe madefor herto takea spoonfuleverysix hours,drinkingafterit a draughtofBath
Waters. These are all the things that I foreseenecessaryand if my Lady's circumstances
requireit, I will be with my Lady as soonas I can in the rnorningprovidedI know it by eight
o'clock. I am your most obedientand most humbleservant,
HANS SLOANE
The sourceof the aboveinlbrmationis givenas.
Margaret,Lady Verney(ed,.).L'erneyletters of the eighteenthcentury.fromMSS. at ClaydonHouse.
(Benn 1930)
andis includedin the book.
Harrison, M. & Wells, A A (1961). Pit'lure Sourt'e h<xtk.for SiocialHistory, eighteenthcvnfttry.
London.Allen& Unwin pp 129-ll0
THANK YOU
When I was Field Meeting Secretary,a frequentcomplaintfrom meetingleaderswas that of members
who bookedfor meetingsandthen,withoutapology,failedto attend.
I must thereforesay thank you to those,members
who booked for the meetingin Monk's Dale,
Derbyshireon May 22nd,of the 26 who booked,23 attendedand the other 3 gavetheir apologies
well in advanceofthe day. T'hisall helpedtowardsa very enjoyableday.
\9lil4]!.qs"!q
Notcs and Aniclcs / Alicns
CHAMO]\IILE
- CHA MA EM EI.U M NoBI I.E
I would like to thankeveryonewho haskindly sentin recordsfor the Chamomiledistributionstudy
(RSBINeu,s63, April 1993).The studyhas unlbrtunately
confirmeda numberof presumedextinctionsin manyvice-counties.
Field studieshavebeenundertakenin southernEnsland.revealinsthat somecommonsand coastal
heaths.whilstherb-rich,no longersupponchamonxL.The cessati6n
of grazingis the primaryreason
for chamomiledecline.However it appearsthat chamomilepersistson cricket pitchesand sports
fields where the weekly mowing and rolling routine mimics the traditional grazingpracticesof old
heathsandvillagegreens.It is hopedthe finalreportwill be acceptedfor publication.
HEATFIE,RR. WINSHIP, The HampshireWildlirbTrust, 7l The l{undred,ROMSEY, Hampshire
THOLIGIITS ON MISTLETOE
As a new memberof the BSBI and a gardenerat the Universityof Exeter,I wonderif the following
inJbrmation
on mislletoehostswill be of interest
Overthe lastfew yearsI haverecordedit on a numberofdifferenthostplantsat Exeter.
Ilohtnta pseudoocacia(False-acacia)..luglots regia (rNalnut), Sorhns uut'uparia group
(Rowan).ktlix alha group (WhiteWillow), l'opulussp. (Balsam-poplar
group),('rataegus
monog,r tq (Hawthorn),1l7aIus cultivars ( Apple)
AJIsingleplantsonly excepton theMalus.
At the SomersetCollegeofllorticulture I haveseenit on a largeleaved('otrneaster.
DAVID CANN. Halbury.MorchardRoad,COPPLIISTONE,Devon
A I,IE N S
A I - I E NN E W S
F O R } ] I G N E RI N
SO T ] RM I D S T
conections added
Evebrows usually raise when I reveal to interested newcomers to our subject that l-ondon probably
turns over more wild species per annum then any other British city or indeed county. They wonder
h o u ' m a x i m a l p l a n t d i v e r s i t yc a n c o r r c l a t ew i t h m a r i m a l h u m a n a c t i v i t y B u t i t d o e s .o f c o u r s e .A n d
from this hotbed of botaniCal intriguc, I again rel'lect upon the observalions of recent months and
choose particular items to write about
Single examples of Dandelions matching or closely rcscmbling lbraxacum pa<;tittLttiformeoccur
sporadically in our city. Presumed alien, they are distinctive by vinue of lcaf lobes narrowing into
"many long, very narrow linear proccsscs" (Richards 1972). these give the plants a gracefully slender
and ragged outlinc quite unlike our common members of section lludarqha Many of our'common
-fhey
members' could be alien as well.
comprise the largest flowered. most conspicuous and most
abundant representativesofthe genus, thcy charactcristicallyflourish in disturbed and urbanisedhabitats and they defv spccific identification Onc roadside form with dark-bordercd interlobes seems
reasonably constant from place to place Others grow huge and lettuce-like in the enriched soil of
aliotments and rubbish heaps. Others again pref-ercompact clayey soils and produce regularly backcurved leaf lobcs, these are most likely native and nray justify scparation into section Humuttt. For
over thirty years, I have gazed ambivalently at our springtimc panoranrasofbcautilll golden yellow.
as flummoxed by their taxonomy as by the paradox that they attract countless insects to effect
selFpollination. l)o I chose publicly to wonl about unknowable l.atin labcls. or do I choose privatelv
38
A lr c n s
to enjoy quests for unusual-looking patterns to create artistic herbarium sheets rvith? The latter. I
think. more deeolv touches the heart.
Trvo yellow-flowered crucifers deserve highlighting. Each is new to L.ts. Hackney. each is a
second record fbr v c. 2 I and each astounded me while strolling innocently through residential streets
which. on the face of it, could scarcely have looked more boring. Ssymbrtum /rro even presented
itself on a miserable November morning, comprising over a hundred specimens (stunted plants and
seedlings)on a pavement in Hawkslev Road, Stoke Newinglon. Llowever casual mav occurrencesof
this genuine London Rocket be elsewhere - and indeed its future here is as precarious as could be
imagined - there is no denying the tenacity of our single classic location around the old London Wall
near Tower Bridge where I tirst made pilgrimage to see it in the tri-centenery yearol 1966.
The other yellow crucifer is llorippa x armorac'torde.s.a notably drought-resistant cross between
R. sylvestris and R. &rstriaca. which I first discovered as new to Great Britain by Walthamslow Reservoirs, E,ssex,in li)71 (Jonsell 1968. Rich 1991, also Stace l99l where it is incorrectly given native
status). Its identity was confirmed in 1975 (Jonsell,pers. comm.) and it was suggestedthat introduction by seed was quite possible since Scandinavian eranrples show partial fbrtility In the late
seventies, Thames Water erected a protective lence around the main colony which then, depnved of a
mowing regime, almost entirely succumbed to the vigour of native vesetation. Later, in the early
eighties, Thames Water constnrcted a huge tunnel main on the same ground instead, this upheaval
sprcad propagules ofthe hybrid cress over a wider area, morc than doubling the original population.
1'oday, in the early nineties, it continues to survive in more modest quantity. despite being heavily
overgrazed by Canada Geese. [A drawing by tsrian appearson thc l]ont cover. Ed.].
In June 1991, David Bevan found a sturdy patch ofthis plant topping fieshly excavatedearth by
the new North-South Route on the opposite (Middlesex) side ofthe River Lea in Tottenhanr lt lasted
but one season until roadside landscaping was completed. In i\pril 199-1.I found another colony
tbrming vigorous stands and pavement weeds around gardens on a newly built housing eslate nexl to
North Millfields open space, Clapton; this is the old Latham's timber-r'ard site, roughly a mile south
of both the T'ottenham and Walthamstow stations. Thus li. x armorqcioules now assumes ecological
significancewithin a broad section of the southern Lea Valley Region.
Our alien Solanaceaecould fill pages oftext. so rich is their potential fbr ecological discussion.
'Ihe
laronomic argument, culinary adventure and sheerblack humour
"Black" aspectrelatesnot least
to the almost cosmopolitan Stil,tnum tilgrilm aggr.:gatewhosc morphological Viriations are as controversial as their gastronomic attributes No more infbrmative or entertairung discourse on these
weeds and "Wonderberries"(l)exists than Ileiser 1969 and 1987 I warmly reconrmendit.
In September 1992, Gordon Hanson escorted me to a sewage dump near Rve Housc. Herts,
where, for many years in succession.he has known prolific displavs of Solanaceae.including 1)alrrrrr
:tromotium
va( t.ttulo. Niconlru ph.vxtltiles. I'htsalr.s peruvond and l'. phttrulttpllrcrr.r amidst
literally hundreds of thousands of tomalo plants I'he two l)h-r'.r'clls
specieswere in erceptionaily fine
tbttle last autumn, and l've sincc seen thc chsry-lil(c berrics ol'the lormer one sold expcnsive)vin
supermarketsunder the label "Physallis" (sic) Pick olthe bunch at Rye House. hovnevei.*ere i*o
robust examples of Solanum x'uhrum. thc Garden lluckleberry. (not to be confused rvith those North
American speciesof (ir4'lzsrzli'rrrand Iiuttntun whose liuits mav loosely be called "huckleberries").
An upright, large-fruited relative of .\. nigntm. this novelty was tbrmerly called S guineen:t( and may
have been honoured onlv *ith one or llvo Kcntish records prior to last year (John R Palnrer, pers
c()mnl ) Ccneral stature aparl. it mar hest hc distinguishediionr 5. lrtr'r'lirr hr havinq palc chocolate
brown (not vcllo*') anthers
'Iwo
o t h c r a i r e nS o l a n a c e a c o n t i n u ct o i n c r c a s et h c i r n a t u r a i i s e dr a n g e si n L o n d o n . T h c e l a n d u lar S. nigrum ssp. schultesti from soulhern Europe (not described by Heiser) is now so trequent in
c c n t r a l ,n o r t h - c a s ta n d s o u t h - c a s tl , o n d o n a s n o t t o r n e r i ti n d i v i d u a lr e c o r d sa n v m o r e ( d o c s i t i n t r o gress with native ssp ntgrum.l ask nrvsclfl) S. chctnryxfuoirlts, tirst recordcd bv John R Pa.lmertn
[ . . 8 S o u t h r . r ' a r kn, o w r a n s e s s p o r - a d i c a l l by c t \ r e e n P o t t e r ' s I r i c l d . B e r m o n d s c l , a n d R u s s i a D o c k
Woodland, Rotherhithc And, although slightly offthe subjcct, I can't resist the pleasurcof inserting
hcrc that a strikingly variegatcd ,\'.LlulLdnr.truwith the oulcr t\\'(')thirds ol'each leat'-bladecream. has
spontaneously reappeared in Abney Park Cemctcry. L B llacknev. tcn ycars alicr tht' original
e x a m p l eo f t h i s u n i q u e l a r i c t y n r a t e r i a l i s e do,n l y t o s u n i v e o n e s e a s o n
S t i l l t r u c t o l h m i l y , c h c w e d r c m a i n s o l ' t h e s l e n d e r l yt u b u l a r l e m o n v e l l o w t b r m o f { i 4 r . r l z z r
<utultn tiequcntly' littcr urban pa\enl(.nts.cspecially where rcsidentsot'ethnic ori-qinare highlv conccntrated. sceds spilt fiorn thcsc discarded fruits continually gcrrninate bctwecn tlagstoncsand kcrbs
firsting but a month or two at most .ltnpt hall&l()ntu pcrsists and self-sc'rws.
with unconrpromisinrl
dct'iancc,in the grounds ofl'ottcnhanr hospitals.churchyardsand council housinu cstatcs So prcrlific
l,)
Alicns
were seductivelyfruiting specimensaround one suchestatein 1912.againwhere residentsofethnic
origin were highly concentrated,that I informed upon them by visiting the nearestpolice stationto
advisethat they presenta seriousdangerin an areawherefew peopleare like to know what they are.
I returnedto the site a week later to find that our worthy guardiansofthe law had corectly identified
and thoroughlyremovedthe unfortunateoffenders.A monthlater, the disturbedgroundwas covered
by Connm-maculatumseedlingsinstead,so naturestill had the last laugh.And trienty yearslater the
Deadly Nightshadesare keepingthem companyoncemore ... but a London recordof Cyphomandra
betaceamust surelvcaDall.
This remarkableirborescent Solanum relative hails from highlandEcuador and neighbouring
countrieswhere it is much grown and its liuit widely marketed;it is linle cultivatedelsewhdreexcep'i
as a greenhouseorrurmental(Heiser 1969, 1987) The spontaneousappearanceof a plant in L.B.
Suttonwas reportedto me last Januaryby RodneyBurton, and I quotefrom his letter which refers,in
tur4 to John Archer'sdraft text for a London Ecology Unit handbook.The Tree Tomato, C.y'phomandra belacea,is "a solanaceouscrop from the Andes ofColombia found at BeddinglonSewage
Farm in September1989 by Mike Prime. It is very distinctiveand tall with huge,hairy heart-shaped
leaves.The specimenhe found at Beddingtonwas in flower and aboutfive feet tall. I don't think this
had beenrecordedbefore,althoughwe may haveseenseedlingsofit on tips a long time ago and not
known what they were."
It is the turn of other familiesto be discussednow. Sedumspectabileshouldbe recordedwith
caution.The true speciesbearsleavessparselyand shatlowlytoothLed,
roundedat their baseand with
conspicuouslyconcave laminae.Similarly robust plants bearing leavesmore deeply and regularly
toothed with cuneate bases and almost flat laminae are referable to Setlum 'Autumn Joy'
(=S.'Herbstileude'), a probable and convincing-looking hybrid between S. spectabile and
S. telephium(Wright | 984). Some2004of cultivatedpopulationsanswerto this descriptionin North
London parksandgardens,and they will occur correspondinglyfrequentlyas outcasts.
Middle cauline leaves of Setlunr
lcm
Jerlzrn'AutumnJoy'
Sedum spectahile
Del. BrianWurzell.O 1993
Alicns
Our mixed teaselcolony at ParklandWalk Extension(BSBI News 62 & 63) has increasedits
numbersand extendedits area this year, comprisingc. 40 D. l<tciniatusand c.20 D.fullonum. The
former speciesshowsextraordinarilvvariableleaf-shapes.
but no speculationsabout new-to-science
hybridswill carryweightuntil they ilower in July/AugustReaderswishingto admirethesedramatic
plantsir,silz shouldcrossStroudGreenRoadfrom FinsburyParktube,British
and much-publicised
Rail or bus station and enter ParklandWalk by the lootpath next to the railway bridge. The steep
earth slopeshereaboutsare now so rampantlyovergrownthat there would no longerbe any way of
ascertainingwhetherthe solitary(:ornus nuttallii strugglingin the middleof it all were plantedor not
- but I know that it was.
Small urban public gardensare always promisinghunting grounds.In St James'sGardens,between HampsteadRoad and Euston station, I found planted and establishedthickets of Mahonia
pinnqta x M. oquifolium (= M. ' v,agneri),a taxon differingmarkedlyfrom the latter parentwith its
palergreeq more crispedfoliagewhich mostlybearsleafletsdown to the baseof the petiole.(Why, I
muse.hasno-one yet found seedlingsof the abundantlyfruitingM..japonlca?).Amongstthesewere
plentif.rlSisymbriumofficinale var. leiocarpum(with spreading,glabrousftuits) and from a concrete
crevicenearbysprouteda self-sownltrl siajaponica seedlingI 5cm tall. Even more remunerativewas
a long derelict council nurseryat Friern Barnet last autumn,whereCyrtomiumfalcatum,the House
Holly-fern,Adiantum speciesand Pteris cretica had thoroughlynaturalisedthemselveson old, sheltered broken walls (the latter specieswas also noted low on a housewall in Gough Square,near
ChanceryLane tube station). Together with these ferns there were mary Trachelium caentleum,
(lyperus altemifolius and massesof sprawling,self-seeding
llccremocarpusscaber,a hardy Chilean
climberin the Trumoet-VinefamilvBienoniaceae.
South Tottenhim back streefsari closestto home and are correspondinglymost often monitored. The Tradescantiavirgtniane (r ohiensisl) Spiderwortsknown for two years on pavement
edgesin Norfolk Avenuecontinueto breakvigorous shootsftom the basedespiteconstanttrampling
producesa healy crop of black
and herbiciding.In WargraveAvenue, plantedJasmimrmo;t'Jicinale
berries each winter, and self-sown seedlingsto lOcm tall are now plentiful both in neighbouring
gardensand at wall basesoutside.Turning to someof our local trees,Acer palmalarn seedlingswere
noted beneathmature specimens.during April only, in SpringfieldPark, L.B. Hackney;havingtuned
my eye into these,I went on to detect similar shortlived regenerationswidely in central London
(KensingtonGardens,WestbournePark, Islington),so clearlythe reproductiveness
ofJapaneseMaples in Britain has been under-observed.Two seedlingsof -l,bgrs q'lvatica intermediatein colour
betweentypical green and the Copper Beech were detectedin woodland at AlexandraPark near
Wood Gre€n,although I have not yet seenany of the incisedor fernJeavedBeechesproduceseedlings true to variety. There is actuallya schoolof thought that l'agrs sylvalica is not native in England anyway,basedpartly on absenceofposrglacial fossilpollen until it was too late for heavybeech
mast to cross the Channel unaided.Finally with trees, staff at Friem Hospital (formerly Colney
Hatch) assuredme in Octoberthat their magnificent(-edrusatlanlica self-sowsin surroundinggrass,
with specimensusuallydug up for people'sgardens.Unbelievingat first, I was inclinedto assumethat
any juvenile conifer in the vicinity would come fromChamaecyparislawsoniqna,but closer investigation revealedtwo stout seedlings20cm tall which were undoubtedlyCedars.A similartree again
in SpringfieldPark was observedsheddingviable seedsin May, a few of which were beginningto
sproutin the lawn beforeperishingfrom drought.
A word aboutnativesedgesin alienplacesmay be ofinterest.(larex divulsahasoccured on a
mown lawn in West Dulwich (L.B. Southwark), C. remota on the R. Lea wall at Clapton,
('..rytlvaticain an urban roadsideshrubberyalso at Clapton,C. otruhae on a rubbishdump at New
Southgate(L.8. Barnet) and (-. pendula persistsas a garden escapein nativeJooking woodland
nichesaroundFinchleyand Highgate.All self-sowas weedsin my own garden,so their adaptability
out-of-its-elementsedgehasgot
But the most sensational
to secondaryhabitatsis well demonstrated.
ro be Scirpusmaritimus.During an ecologicalsurveya year ago, I found it thickly fiinging the lower
lake at ScoutPark, BoundsGreen(L B. Haringey),andentirelychokinga feederditch. The rhizomatous aggressiveness
of this brackishdyke pioneerproves quite dauntingwhen transferredto freshwater swamp, and notwithstandingthe novelty of seeingit there, I found myself duty-boundto
plantsandanimalswereto be encouraged.
counseldrasticreductionifa wider diversity,ofinland
Two rare herbaceousalienstend to come and go in associationwith introducedgardenplants,
and are undoubtedlydispersedwith soil of honicultural origin. I am indebtedto David Bevan for
drawing my attentionto L'eronicaperegrina in BroomfieldPark, Southgate,where,last year, several
dozenexampleshad sprungup in herbaceousbordersand along gravelpathsin a ratherdamp,shady
area.My only previousencounterwith this specieswas at Syon Park in 1980,on stonyground next
4l
A l i c ns
to the car park outside the butterfll'house; rvith a large nursery only yards away, its mode ofintroduction was evident enough. The other plant in mind is (bra1a umruryifblia. a rather tamiliar
ephemera.lvisitor to the damper parts of university botanic gardens and the subject of other articles
coincidentally submitted for this issue (see below and page 43) Additionally I saw it in 1987 and
1989 by the landscapedpond at Gillespie Park. Highbury, and small numbers of obscure origin used
to pop in and out of mud bowls on my own roof garden at intervals in the early eighties.Il seemsthat
seed can remarn viable buried in soil or mud fbr many years befbre germinating when the light or
disturbance signals are just nght The most recent record which has come to my notice hails from
East Sussex where my aunt Mrs Debbie Boder discovered a number of specimenson a gravel tbotpath in the Meridian Nurseries, Peacehaven.They were already flowering by late May 199-3
Meanwhile, if anyone wants the distinction of adding another new species - even another new
family - to the British alien list, try naturalising Houmrynia utrdota (Saururaceae) in shady scrub or
woodland gardens. If its performance in my own tiny back yard is anything to go by, it will romp
away forever. You may then emulate part of a traditional Vietnamese diet by consuming cautious
quantities ofits foliage under a nanre I shall not attempt to reproduce.
And last but not least. mav I again remind readersthat what you get dependson how you ask for
it. Rules are rules (RSRI News 57) and any requests for identification MUST be accompaniedby an
adequate specimen and an adequate s.a.e. l o the person who sent me a three-page description of a
North American Hawthom and nothing else, I can only say whew . . pleasetry again See you all at
the Annual Exhibition Meeting. in Reading don'1fbrget!!
References
JONSELL Il. 1968 Studies in the North-Wcst European speciesolliltnpTxt s sIr. S-ymboldeBolatilcae | lpsttlten.u.rXlX.2, Uppsala.
tlElSER C.ts Jr, 1969 Ntghtshotle,s: Ihe Pantdoxrtal Planls. W.H. Frceman and C'ompany, San
F'rancisco.Cali{brnia.
'Ihe
HEISER U B. Jr, 1981
lta.s<rruilittg World oJ the Ni4ht.thddcr. Dover Publications, Inc., New
York. ('An unabridged and correctcd re-publication'ofthe above the body ofthe text is identical, but revised l,atin names are given in a new preface).
R I C H , T . C G . , 1 9 9 1 .( ' r u c i f e r . s o l ( ) r c o t l J r t t a t n a n d l r e l u r r r l B S B L H a n d b o o k N o 6 , L o n d o n
R I ( . H A R D S . A I , 1 9 7 2 ' [ h e l u r a x a t u m I ' l o r a o f t h e B r i t i s h l s l e sW L r t . ; o r t i c t S u p p l e m e n t t o V o l u m e
9 BSBI London
S f ACIE C.. 199 | New Iiktra ol the llnttsh /.rie,r,('ambridge.
WRIGT{T, M , 1984 1'he('ompkte flqndfunk ol Ourden l'lants.Michael Joseph/Rainbird l-ondon.
I I R I A N W L M F - [ . L . 4 7 R o s t r c v o r . A v e n u c .I ' o t t c n h a m .L O N D O N N l 5 o L A
C0T UI.A C0 RON OPI T-OI. IA ES'TABLISHT]DIN YORKSHIRE
(llive Stace's Neu' I;ltru rl tha llrrtt.;h Ls!e.s(p 1169) suggests Ihat ('otulu crtrom4ufbtiu L
( B u t t o n w e o d ) i s o n l y n a t u r a l i s c di n t h e v i c c c o u n l i e so 1 ' ( ' h e s h i r ea n d W ( ' o r k . I h i s a n i s l e p r e s e n t s
t h c c v i d c n c ct b r a d d r n gS W Y o r k s t o t h i s l i s l
frirst tbund at Nemon Ings v c 6-] (SW l'orks1 in 1959, the advcntivc ('()luld &)t(),u)prJ<tlru
is
n o w a n c s t a b l i s h e dp a r t o f ' t h c f l o r a o f t h c l o w c r A r r e v a l l c y i n Y o r k s h i r c S u b s e q u e n t l yr c c o r d e d
l i o m M i c k l c t o w n F l a s h v c ( > i i n 1 9 6 ( ) .t h c s p c c i c sh a s c o n l i n u e d t o s p r e a d ,i f s o m e w h a t s l o w l v
along the marshlandsin thesc two arcas.
Distribution
l h e Y c r r k s h i r cs i t c s l i r r ( . o t u l u t r n r n 4 t t / o t t u a l l a p p c a rt o b e i n t h e l o r v c r v a l l c y o l ' t h c R i v e r A i r e ,
[ : a s t o l ' l . e e d s ,b e t w c c n t h c v i l l a g c so f ' N l i c k l c t o w n ( S t : 4 ( ) 2 t t ) a n d l i a i r b u r n( S l : 1 7 . 2 8 ) r \ l l t h c s i l c s
a r c t h c r c s u l t o f m i n i n g s u b s i d c n c rw
: i t h s u b s o t l u e nftl o o d i n g o l ' p r c l r o u s l y d r a i n o dm a r s h l a n d f h r e c
main arcas arc known
R S P I J } ; a i r b u r nl n s s N a t u r c R c s e r v c
Mtcklctown Ings
I I i c k s o n ' sI - l a s h
ll
Alicns
Newton Ings is now part of the R.S.PB. naturereserveat F'airbumIngs From Newton the
species
hasspreadto establish
coloniesby mostofthe waterbodieson the reserve.
MickietownFlashis now largelycoveredby collieryspoil.but the planthasspreadto a limited
areaof the adjacentMickletown Ings.
Hickson'sFlashliesjust west ofthe Fairburnreserve.lt was found here in 1992by Geoffiey
Wrlrnorc lhis is a recentflashandl understand
the habitatis similarto the othersites
Habitat
This is a speciesofopen wet mud exposedby recedingwaterlevelsin summer.Theseareasareoften
winter-flooded,
sometimes
to a depthof a lew lbet. At Fairbumthe mud is often but not alwaysof a
sandynature. ('otula coronopifolia d,oesbest in areaswhich are freshly exposedeach year as bare
substrate.It seemsto be soon crowded out by other colonistsin areaswhere water levelsare stable
and morepermanentplantpopulationshavebecomeestablished.
One ofthe mainareasat Fairburnis
a meadowedgewheregrazingstockhelpretainthe opennatureofthe shore.
whichoccupythis openhabitatinclude:
Otherplantspecies
Schoenoplecntstahernaemtnlani,I:.leocharispaluslris. Agrostis stoloni.fbra,.hmcuseffu:str.s,
J. ttrflenr.s,,1.aculiflorus, ('arex elotu. Myosotisscorptoides,[?anunculussceleralusgermdiiis
theseareall presentat one of the newerareasat Fairburn.At Mickletown.)uncus
alsoDresent.
Status
( ' o t u l a c o r o n o p i f t i l i a i s w e l l e s t a b l i s h e d a t i t s A i r e v a l l e y s i t e s a n d h a s b e e n s o f o r a t l eI ta s t 3 0 y e a r s
is slowly increasing,as evidencedby the spreadto the new flashesat the westernend ofthe Fairburn
reserveandthe nearbyHickson'sFlash,wheretherewasa'good population'in1992.
The plant usuallyoccupiesmany yards of shorelinearound Village Bay at Fairburnin late
summerand early autumn. At Mickletown it is less exlensive,but here the water levels are more
stable.It could be that winter-floodinsef}'ectsthe areaof shoreavailablefor ('otula the followine
year.
ChronologicalSummary of Yorkshire records
l95S Newton lngs, Fairburn, v.c. 6.i
J Morlevper F. Murgatroyd
1 9 6 0 M i c k l e t o w n F l a s h .v . c . 6 - l
Mrs W E Ckainger
l q o 5 L a w n w e e d . L a n g d a l cL . n d .v c o 2
| 9 7 5 F a i r b u r nl n q s , v . c . b J
1 9 9 2 H i c k s o n ' sF l a s h ,v c 6 - l
A. Wallis
C A. Howes
G. Wilnore
The word 'lngs'asusedon O.S. mapsstrictlymeanswatermeadowssubjectto winter-flooding,
but it
which form on them.often as a resultof
ha-scometo be appliedalso to the l'loodwateror 'flashes'
suDsrdence
A cknowledgements
l ) Y N U Recordssuppliedbv Eric Chicken(AliensRecorder).
2) DetailsconcerningFairburnIngssuppliedby RobinHorner- WardenR.S.PB. quoting'Botanical
1988[unpublished]
SurveyofR.S.P.BFairburnIngsNatureReserve'.
-l) lntbrmationconcerningthe findsat Hickson'sFlashwas suppliedby GeollieyWilmore,Ecological AdvisoryService.
.1) E J. CIcment,1fr encouraging
me to write this shortnote
JOHN MARTIN. I Westl-eaDrive.west Ardslev,WAKEFIEI-D,W Yorkl WF] lDH
BTITTONWEED (COTULA L'ORONOPIFOLIA L..1,Ntlw TO S. HANTS (v.c. l l)
On l4 August l99l Mr D P.J.Smithstumbledacrossa smallcolony(-14plants,in two mainclusters)
on sandyshingleloming thc drilllineo1'atidalharbouron thenorthcoastof The Solentin S Hants
I'hepreciselocalityis withheld,Trrotcmporu.as the colonyis tragileandthisappearsto bc almostthe
only localityfbr this plant in southcrnEngland lndeed,the next yearonly I I plantsreappeared
and
,1I
Alicns
thesewere nearlyall exterminated
by humandisturbance,
laler a new group of I 5 were discovered
nearby.The naturalhazardsencountered
itselfin NW Europeare vividly
by this speciesestablishing
detailedin Acta Oecologica3. 409-418( 1982)- seeBSBI Abstracts 13.29.
Mr R.P. Bowman tells me that this specieshasneverbeenrecordedbeforefor S. Hants(v.c. I I ).
in N. Hants(v.c. l2), however,it hasoccurredas a wool alienon two or more occasions
at Blackmoor (e g collectedby T.B Ryves,1970,Herb. E.J. Clement).
The S. Hants habitatis not unlike many other coastalspotsaroundEngland.The associated
specieswere largely annualsthat revel in muddy places,comprisingAtt'iplex littoralis, A. prostrala,
Beta wlgaris subsp.maritima, Llymus pycnanthus, Hordeum murinum, Juncu.sbufonius. Poa
annua. Itolypogon monspeliensis,]tuccinelliq na/itime, l). rupestri.s,Rununculus ,sordous,R. :;c'e/eratus, Sagina maritima, Spergularia marino andSuaednmaritima.
Although there is much shippingand boating traffic within the harbour, the area is also frequentedby many ducks,geese,wadersand other bird species,and dispersalby avianmeansseemsto
be the more likely meansof introduction.Surprisingly,
this rathercuriousbut weedy,SouthAfrican
compositehas also beenrecorded,elsewhere,as a gardenweed or escape,e.g. at Hougne Nicolle,
'l37)
1978(Supplementlltildl.'loaersGuentsey,
p 36)andatDyke,Moray, 1982(ll/atsonia,l5:
No descriptionofthe plant is presentedhere,sincethe one given in ('TM is adequate,but a fbw
points may be wonhy of mention. The S. Hants plants all appearto behaveas annualsand do not
perennate,
presumablydislikingour cold winters.the leaf lobesare dark+ippedand pointed.the
flower headsalwaysface the sun (unlessthe stem is damaged);the outer row of femaleflorets are
long-stalked,whereasthe disc florets are short-stalked.The two different forms of the achenesare
well documented,
the wingedonesprobablybeingmore suitablefor dispersalby water.In addition,
however,the two sidesof the achenealso have differing adhesiveproperties,one sidebeing almost
smooth. Why do not more speciesof plants adopt such diversedispersalstrategies?But, the most
extraordinaryfeature of the S. Hants plant, contrary to all literature lhat I have seen,is that the
antherswere NOT united into a tube aroundthe style- they were free, a tbaturetraditionallyreserved
in the British compositaelbr Xanthium speciesonly. Can any readercomment on this? - several
florets were examinedby DPJS.
Detailedanalyicaldrawingsof this speciesin the literatureare few. so no apologyis madefor
addinganother(seepage45). lt is basedsolelyon the S. Hantscolony.A key to the drawingfollows:
A
ts
C
D
E
F
f
G
g
H
h
Plant, I
Detail of leaf ' 2
Involucre , -l
Involucralbracts, l0
Sectionthroughrim of flower head,showinglong-stalked
lemalemarginalflower and shortstalkedhermaohrodite
discflowers' 20
Fenralemarginalfloret ' 30
Hermaohrodite
discfloret . 30
Margirialachene' 30
Discachenex 30
Stigmaandstyleof discfloret ' 30
Stamens
ofdisc floret.showingopenandclosedanthers. J0
This speciesis undoubtedlyspreadingin Britainand on the Continent,too, and is worth lookingout
for in any rnuddyplaces,especially
in salineareas.On oneof Mary Brige'scountless
holidaysabroad,
her party found this speciesin Corsica,a countrynot listedin l;lora f)tn4toeu 4. 177.In its traditional home in Britain, Cheshire,it continuesto spreadand is now abundantat Frodshanrmarsh.
accordingto Alan Newton. At present.I am awar-eof only four othcr recent recordsfor southern
England- theyare.
v c. 3. S Devon.Woodbury One smal.lpatchin 1980.first foundherein 1954.llep. Ii'ons.
l ) e v r n .A s . sA. d v m rS c i . . l l 3 1 6 6 ( 1 9 { t l )
v c 1 8 , S . E s s e xS t a n f o r d [ - l e - H o pWea] r r e nl,9 9 l l y i l d l i l o u , e r M a g . . 1 2 2 . 2 l ( 1 9 9 1 ) .
vc 22, Berks:OwlsmoorBog,Sandhurst,1988
ReodingNat.,4l.27(1989)
v c -19"Staffs Stafford,1989 Llut.ynta,l8 224 (lt)90)
A smallvoucherspecimen
hasbeendepositedin Herb. RP. Bowman. tt will be interesting
to moni.or the progressofthis speciesin Hampshire
44
Alrcns
f
W
t/
't1
/,(.1
Itru
@
r
( ' o l t t l u c o t t ; t t r t l t i . f o l tIo' d c l l ) P J s m i t h
lq9i
")
herecontained
mostof theinlbrmation
I ammuchindebted
to DelfSmithfor notonlysupplying
it.
drawingthataccompanies
in, butalsofor theveryprofbssional
ST ANDREWSAND ITS LINKS WITH ALIENS
'Aswiththegameof golf,theOldCourse
.. among
the
andmaddening
remains
bothenchanting
covertsof gorsetherearetrapsfor the unwarygolferin the tall spikymarramandsealyme
grasses
... But ashewaitsto playthrough,thegolfercanenjoythewidevarietyofplants- from
fue blue fleabaneto the harefootlsicl clover - ... and visitorscan admirethe yellow flowering
treelupin.'(1)
Aithough a Fifer born and pretty well bred, I'm not a golfer, so that until recentlyI'd not reallyvisited
St Andiews much, and seldomfor botanicalpurposes.As part ofmy ongoingrecording,during 1992
I decidedto pay particularattentionto the lOkm squarethat embracesSt Andrewsand area.On my
secondtrip, in May, I visited the West Sands- the links that comprisesthe golf courses- and was
amazedtofind that the tree lupin mentionedabove(l,upinusdrboreus)in fact outshonethe whinson
someof the dunesand the rough. Not only that, there were clumpsof the most incongruousspecies
accompanyingthe tree lupin, includingits relativeLupinusytlyphyl1rs, soapwort(Saponaria<fficirall^s),hoise iadish(Armoracia rusticona),winter heliotrope(Pela,sites
fragrans) and mountainbluet
((enlaurea montana) while nearby,in a yard, were severalunusualweeds, among them flixweed
([)escurania sophia). mignonette(Resedalutea), ea$em rocket (Sr.syzDriumorientale) and much
springbeauty(Claytoniaperfuliota) (wtlch provedto be all over St Andrews).
that for manyyearsthe West
I was bemusedat first to find thesealienplants,until I remembered
Sandshad housedthe loca.lcoup (refusetip). I realisedthat this mustbe the sourceofthese species
and this was confirmedby referenceto l(otsonia and severalrecordsmadein 1960by the late Betty
Beattie(as indefatigablein her pursuitof 'foreigners'asMary McCallumWebsterwas),includingtree
'well eslupin. This had actuallybeenrecordedas far back as 1936,when it was describedas being
filled
in
The
was
during
coup
tablishedand coveringsomeacresbetweenthe links andthe sea'(2)
1986and the area landscapedbut obviouslyover the yearsmanyplantshad fbund their way out and
establishedthemselves.Subseouentvisits vielded sweetwilliam (I)ianthus harbatus'1,red hot poker
(Kniphofiasp.).orientalpoppi (Pef(rverirrettrulcl,severalpatchesol'Michaelmas
daisy(,4slcrspp.)
and an.lrls;despiteStace,I could not makemuchof the last two. All lookedquiteout of placebut
quite happy.Elsewhere,on made-upsoil, occurreddrooping brome (fJromusteclorum)
nevertheless
and white mignonette(Re.sedaalha:1whlle another site produced musk thistle (('arduu,snulans),
unlikelyto be native.
Someyearsearlier,I'd visitedthe Lade Braes,a den leadinginto St Andrewsfrom the west.It
was soon obviousthat there were many alienspresent,somequiie naturalised.Enquiry revealedthat
the areahad beenplantedup earlyin the 20th centuryand that furtherspecieshadbeenintroduced
after the secondworld war. Visits in 1992confirmedthat there were indeeda varietyofunusual and
uncommonspecies.I'd been told there were three Alltum speciespresent.broad-leavedgarlic
(A. ursinum) (native), few-flowered garlic (A. paradoxum) (now a weed in severalparts of v.c. 85)
it hadnot
garlic(A. trtquetrum).I was disinclined
to believethe lastasapparently
andthree-cornered
beenseenin Scotlandbefore,but sureenougha searchrevealeda smallbul thriving colony I verified
the floras say
too a report that nettle-leavedbellflower(('ampanukttracheltilm)was well established.
that this occursnorthto F-ife,but this wasthe first time I'd seenit, andobviouslyan introduction.
There were also good spring colonies of winter aconite (I:ranthis hyemalis), snowdrop
(Galanthus nivalis), blue anemone,squill, periwinkle, a ('hrunrxloxa and various speciesof Ncrcrs'.vs,and, later, mountainvalerian(L'alenanapl,renorca),a fbw drooping sedges(('arexpendulu)
and an umbrella plant (l'eltiphyllum peltanm), accompaniedby two of the three large Polygonums,
I;ttlkryiajaponlca (Japanese
knotweed) andlt. suchaltnen.se
{Giant knotweed).Ratherunexpectedly,
loganberry(Rubusloganobaccz.r)was discoverednearthe burn tJntil recently,I would havebeenat
a lossto know whichofthesemanyplantsto includeasnow beingpart ofthe localflora (somebeing
markedlylessat homethan others)- but Stace'sNew l;kro has madethe decisionmuch easieras all
amongnative'goodies'
are mentionedlLest it be thoughtthat therewere nothingbut introductions,
Alicns / Translocationand Reinstatemcntof Plant Specics
were water figwort (ScroSthtlariaumbroso)and wood stitchwort (Stellaria nemorum)along with, in
the vicinity, moschatel(Adoxa moschatellina\andmeadowsaxifrage(SaxrJragagranulata).
introductions.
Back in St Andrewsitsell,an earlyJunerisit producedanothercrop ofestablished
The groundsof St Mary's College confirmedthat slenderspeedwell(I"eronica.filiformrs)still flourishedon the lawn whereit had beenfirst detectedin 1935.Accompanying
it, more recentinvaders
(Soleirolia soleirolii) and least
were yellow sorrel (()xalls atrniculata), mind-your-own-business
trefoil (Trtfolium micranthum),
the last probablythe first definite record for Fife, older onesalmost
'1
certainlyreferring to . duhium. Later, small balsam(lmpatien.span,iflora) was fbund in a border
while nearbywater fbrn (AzollaJilit'uloides) floated on a tiny pool. Adorning walls were red valerian
(('entranthu.sruber), purpletoadflax (l.inaria purputea), walllettlce (Mycelis muralis) andllu&llela. 12 speciesof bramblewere encountered,includingrobust clumpsof the escapeHimalayanGiant
(Rubus armeniacus Qtnrcerus));new for the squarewere R. &t.sypfuillus,R. elegantispinr-r,vrs,
R.
laciniatus, Il. mucronulatusandR. tuberculqtu.s.
In the openingquotation,mentionis madeof haresfootcloverand blue fleabaneThe reference
to the latter (l.rigeron acer) is intriguing;the plant had indeedbeenfound on one part ofthe links in
1982,in greatquantity However,by the time the book waspublishedin 1989the species
had all but
died out and it has now completelydisappeared(l think the samething happenedin East Lothian
someyearsago). On the other hand,the native haresfootclover ('lrifoliun anense) was flourishing
at the beginningof this century- and probablylong beforethen - and still is: will the tree lupin and
the otheraliensnotedabovesurvil'eas lone.I wonder'?
References
'I'he
( I ) Lamont-Brown,R. ( I 989).
life and timesof St Andrews.Edinburgh.p. I 87
(2) Cooke,P H (1935-37)Rep.Bot.Lxch.('lub.Xl. p 246.
G.H. BALLANTYNE, Branksome.l9l Nicol Street.KIRKCALDY KYI IPF
MT. ETNA BROOM IN W. KENT
(Raf. ex Biv.) DC was observednearNonhlleet. A
In Septemberl982 a colony of (ienrskt aetnensi.s
numberofbushes from one up to eight feet high were on rough ground on a roadsidewhere it runs
along the side of an old chalk pit, apparentlyderiving fiom a plantedspecimenon the other side of
the road. Determinationwas simple,even in autumn,as the pods have a distinctivedownward-curving "tail" (illustrationin l)ictionaryof(iardening Vol II)
In May 1993the plantsweredestroyedby the erectionofa metalfenceto enclosea new industrial site,but sincethen I haveseenfurthersmallspecimens
in the area.Plantsflower profuselywhen
only about one foot high which makesthem attractiveto be takenby the generalpublic.
In chalk scrub nearby are bird-sown specimensof an uncommon black-Jiuited(loloneqster,
('. ellipticus(Lindley)Loudon.Althoughfirst noticedin the Northfleetareain 1970.it is thoughtto
h a v e b e e n n a t u r a l i s e d t h e r e t b r a t l e a s t 5 0 y e a r s ( B u l l e t i n o f K e n t F i e2l d4C( Jl uabnN
1 9o7 9 ) )
JOHN R PALME& 19 Water Mill Way, SouthDarenth.DARTFORD, Kent DA4 9BB
TRANSLOCATIONAND REINSTATEMENTOF PLANT
S P E C IE S
The followingpapershavebeenreceivedliom threeolthe speakers
one-dayconferat this successful
jointly with the LinneanSocietyandheldat theirroomson l8 March
ence,whichwasorganised
Other topics covered were l,.nglt,shNature's speciesrecoveryprogramme (by Andrew Deadman); Some recent development,sttnd octivitie.r in planl reintroducliot, u,orldvide (by Peter
Wyse-Jackson);Reintrrxluctionsspecialistgroup tf the SpeciesSuruiwtl Commission(l(l('N) draft
guidelines(by MichaelMaunder)
VICKY MORGAN, Secretary
Conservation
Committee
47
Translocationand RclnstatcnlcntoI Planl SDccics
REINSTATEMENTOF RARE PLANTSAT BEN LAWERSNNR
Abstract
Monitoring of Red Data Book and other rare speciessince | 980 has confirmed decline of some populations, and resulted in predictions of probable extinctions within the NNR. To comply with agreed
management objectives to maintain both populatioms of rare species, and species and community
diversity, a programme of reinstatenrentof selectedspecieswas establishedin 1990. Because ofthc
constraint of heavy-sheep grazing, reinstatemenl of montane slrrubs is restricted to two sites protected by exclosure t-ences. Species planted during l99l and 1992 include J'a1rr lupptnum.
S. myrsintJolia, S. arbuscula, S. repens and..lu.ntperus.communts Additional species 1br which reinstatement projects are not yet implemented include Shilx latnta and Saxifraga rivulari.v. A number of
speciesoftrees, shrubs and tall herbs are being reinstated within one exclosurc to restore an area of
submontane woodland. The projects are the result of a management partnership belween Scottish
Natural Heritage (SNH) and the National Trust for Scotland (NTS).
Introduction
'Ihe
Reserve. The National Nature Reserve (NNR) covers about 4,000 hectares.is 9 miles/14 kilometres long, and includes l0 mountain peaks over 900 metres in altitude. It was designatedby fbur
Nature Reserve Agreements with owners. The National Trus1 for Scotland owns about three quarters
of the area, with ihe remainder in private ownership. Management involves a partnership between
SNH and NTS, with the Trust enrploying the stall, and the funding lor conservation work provided
by SNH
The principal constraint on all conservation work in the Reserve is sheep grazing. Eleven farms
hold grazing rights lbr sheep on the NTS land. The effects of this management,probably including
burning in the past, has been to conline many speciesof plant to ungrazed ledges on cliffs. Another
threat to certain plants is that of trampling by walkers, although this is largely confined to the main
path systems.
l'he Flora. l-ichens are a maior component of the flora. Recent survevs by Oliver (jrlbert et ul. and
Alan Fryday have recorded c.'500 specieson the Reserve.ot'which 25 ire linown from no other British site Bryophy'tes are also distinctive, with several rare species and a Red Data Book list of 22
species. However, no reinstatement projects for lichens or bryophytes are under consideration at
present. fhe vascular plants ofthe Reserle include l8 Red Data Book species,ofwhich 4 are scheduled. The scheduled speciesonly are included in the NCC Rccovery plan lwhitten. 1990) These are
asteriskedbelow.
Management and moniloring
'lhe
NNR Management Plan includes objectives 'to maintain, and, if possible, increase population
sizes of rare species ', and 'to maintain species and community diversity' It is these objectives
',rhich our reinstatement projects are designed to sen'e. Decrsions on individual projecls have been
derived fiom a programme ofsurvey and monitoring ofthe rarer speciescarried out since 198().This
prograrnme has provided information on selectedspeciesas follows.
(jenlutna nitohs* 'Ihe Ben l.awers population cannol be counted precisely fbr objective reas o n s ,b u t i s p r o b a b l y i n t h e r e g i o n o f 1 , 0 ( ) 0t o 5 . ( J 0 0p l a n t s L o n g t e r n r m o n i t o r i n go l t h e p o p u l a t i o n
size has therefore not been carried out Researchis being carried out on the efl-ectsof grazing, but
there is no reinstalementwork on this soecies
,\uxrlruga cernuu* lhe tsen Larvers populatron has been eslinrated at approxinratelv 1.5()0
plants of which approximately I 50 are mature, bulbil-producing plants, although objective difticulties
exist in counting methods Fluctuations occur but are considered to be natural. No reinstatement
proiecl on this speciesis envisagedal presenl
The popufations of l4kxd:;ia ulJnnu*. l:,rigentt brtrt'ttlts*, and lt.ltnrutrttu ruhellu have been
c o u n t e d t h r e e t i m e s d u r i n g t h e p e r i o d l 9 8 l - 1 9 9 2 M o r e o r l e s s d i s c r e t ep l a n t s ( o r ' c l u m p s ' ) o c c u r .
'fhe
s u c h t h a l o o n s i s l e n tp o p u J a t i o nc o u r ) t sa r e p o s s i b l e .
r c s u l t si n d i c a t et h e r e i s p r o b a b l yn o n e e d l o r
reinstatenrentof any of these species.although the tigurcs for Wtxnl.tittalpnw indtcale the necd lbr
'fhe
lurther nronitoring.
high count tbr this speciesin I 98 | is explained by the inclusion of more sites.
4ti
Tnnslocatioil xnd RcinsL'rtcmenl
ol' Plant Spccies
\Lhereasthe lower count of Minilortta ruhellu in l98l was a less targeted search than the later
counls.
Population Counts
il/oodsia alpintt
lirigerott boreoli.s
Minuartia rubetla
198I
&5.E1
90-92
4.18
532
48s
172
538
920
\67
639
951
Sognu.rnrvali.sis confined to Breadalbane,with most of the population onBen Lawers NNR. lt
has not been precisely counted becauseofobjective difficulties, but, a detailed study ofsamples ofthe
population has been carried out over [2 years. Large fluctuations recorded, although influenced by
sheep,are probably largely natural. No reinstatementproject is envisagedfor this speciesat present.
Saxtliaga rivtlari.s The population about 30 years ago was around 25 plants. Now only 2 plants
survive on the Reserve, and a third was collected in 1989. The joint management committee have
decided to reinstatethis plant, but this decision has not yet been implemented,largely through lack of
rime. There ate. however. some concerns about availability of suitable material, the nearestsite being
i n G l e n c o e .s o m e 3 . 1m i l e s ( 5 1 k m ) t o t h e w e s t .
llartsra ulpina is probably extinct on the Resene, in spite of several searches during the 1980s
and 90s lt is a likely candidatefor reinstatementalthough no project has yet been decided.
R e i n s t a t e m e n to f m o n t a n e s h r u b s
Reinstatement projects have been carried out with some species which are not national rarities, but
which are declining and fhce extinction on the NNR Factors contriburing to this decline have been
describedin more detail in Mardon (199()). These speciesare all dioecious. Their ability to form seed
is restricted when individual plants are too thr apart tbr pollination to occur.
.hntrperus commuris has declined liom a population of 8 to 6 plants during the 1980s. An atrempt to reinstatethis has begun. but difilculties arise tiom accessto the plants and a Iack ofsuitable
seed source It may bc necessaryto introduce material from another site. but none is known in the
vicinity.
,\olix lapgnnm. I he population is known to be at least 60 to 70 plants, perhapsmore, but many
of the sites are dilicult of accessand precise counting has not been possible. A decline in some colonies has been obsen'ed. Very little seed production has been observed and very few seedlingscan be
'fhe
tbund within the Reserve.
decision to reinstatethis speciesand reversethe decline, to ensure its
required
survival on lhe Reserve.
seedsto be collected on another site in the Breadalbanerange.
'fhe
population within the Reserve consists of only two female plants, separated
Solix lnnto.
tiom each other bv l0 kilonretres and resoectivelv. l0 and 20 kilometres fion the nearest known
male plant. Pollinaiion and seed production are the;etbre not possible.One plant has been monitored
annually since 1980 and its future survival is very doubtful. It was damaged seriously by a rockfall in
1990 and is now separatedfrom the cliffon which it grows by a gap of 6 inches. lts demise could be
inrminent. Reinstatementof this speciesis now under consideration,but again seed material must be
collccted from another site in the Breadalbanearca.
'fhe
population cannot be
.\ahx arhusculu is a local species,distributed mainly in Breadalbane.
counted precrselv,but there are some dense stands on the Reserve. However, other planls are isolated and, in some cases,too tar tiom the nearest plants to produce seed. These are interpreted as
remnants of a once bigger population and are very likely to have declined as a result of grazing. In
some areas goats rvere grazed during the last century, which may explain the absenceof willows on
'inaccessible'ledges Reinstatement this species is being carried out within the
certain otherq,ise
of
two exclosures.
.
S. ph.vlict/olia occurs at high altitude, in small
Salix n.y'r.sittt.fo1rcr.
or probably S. myr.sinrlblia
numbers, restricted nlostly to ungrazed sites l o restore these small populations to a viable size,
planting has been carried out within our exclosures
Exclosures
All reinslatenrentofshnrbs needs protectit'rntiom sheep and deer. and therefore projects are carried
out within tbnoes.One exclosure. built rn l98i). encloses5 hectaresat an altitude of 700-800 metres
'19
Translocatron and Rcinslatemcnt of Plant Soecies
abovesealevel.A secondexclosure,built in 1990,encloses25 hectaresat an altitudeof430-630
metresabovesealevel.
al_ritude.
tbnceenclosesa gorgewith clifi's,subjectto persistent
snowlie, and on
. The first,^hrgh
wtuch a very t'ewwillows remain,includingSalix lapponum,only 2 femaleplants, and Salixmyrsiniplants,
3
including
both sexes.One plant of Saiix arbuit:ula survivedwithin this e*ciosure
.lolia,
Steep.ground
within this areais subjectto landslip,therebycreatingthe nichesuitableibr seedling
estatlishmentOur projectaimsto boostthe populationof montane-willows
on this site.to produci
sulicient seedto re-establishthemselveswithih thesenichesas rhey occur.
. Our largestexclosureincludesthe gorgeofthe EdramuckfBurn and ertendsto approximately
the naturaltree limit. Thereis a survivingwillow populationwhich includesSatixarbilscuto,Salix
aurita. Salix mS'rsinifolia,Salix caprea and Salixiepers. However, in all cases,little or no seedis
produced,and there are few nichesavailablefor se-edling
establishment.
Our aim is to restorethe
entir€ communityassociatedwith the endangeredshrubsand trees,submontanewoodlandincluding
shrubsand tall herbsnative to the site. Speciessuchas ()erunium .rylvatiatm andliollius ,l,rnnneri
areincludedin the programme.
Propagationand planting for reinstatement
Reinstatement
work has includedpropagationfrom seed,collectedwithin the NNR if possible,but
outwiththe Reseweif necessary,
andplantingwithinthe exclosures.
Juniperseedis not availablewithin the Reserve,
or, as far as I knou,.on anvother sitein Breadalbane.Therefbrean attempt to propagateplants from cutrirlgshas been made,but has met with
limrtedsuccess.The fbw sourceplantswilhin the Reservelimits ihe variation
success.
Propagating
from
.Willows havebeenpropagatedmainlyfiom seed,with considerable
cuttingsis possiblein somespecies,but the amountof sourcematerialavailablelimits-tli poiential.
and the numberof plantsrequiredis best obtainedby seed Germinationand growth requiresconsiderablecare,as smallseedlingsare subjectto fungalinfectionsand predationb! slugs.Sebdlingsare
grown in root trainers,which permit plantingat one year old.
The total numbersplantedin both exclosuresduring l99l and 1992indicaterhe scaleofthe
operation.asfollows:
Sahx lapponum
I,800
Soltx arhuscula
800
Sa I ix myr si n rJbI i al p hv I i c ilo ho
1.200
Salix repens
160
.htniper
l6
Retula puhescerts
5t)
Monitoring successof reinstated plants
Numbers are t<-rolarge for all plants to be nronitored, but a sampleot'100 plants of two speciestn the
hrgher exclosure was measuredand monitored one vear after planting. Duiing their first year. | 99 I to
I 992, survival was at a rate ol'not less than g]o o and growth at a mian rate"of 570. Preiumably their
first year is needed to establishroots amongst the establishedvee.etation.
Summary
L
Reinstatementprojects are now establishedas part of the repertoire of managenent techniqueson
Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve,to achievethe objectires of maintainingthe populations of
rare species,and the diversity of speciesand comrtrurutieswtlhrn the NNR.
2. The.criteria for selecting species ibr whrch this is necessaryare their status and decline on the
National Nature Resenc rather than national or internationalconsiderations.
3. Work has begun with mostly non_-Redl)ata tsook species,but is expecled to develop to include
other species.some ofrvhich are listed in the Red Data Book.
4
lhe main constraint on the development ofthis work, the sheepgrazing. is assumedlo be inevitably continued lor the tbreseeablefuture, requrring reinstated trees or-shrubs to be protected bv
fbnces.
5L)
Translrcation and Reinstatenentof Plant Spccics
Acknowledgement
'fhe
propagationofseedlingsfor reinstatement
ofthe montanewillow specieshasbeenstrongly
supportedby voluntary work by Dr fuchard Marriott. I am also gratefulto other Reservestaffand
numerousconservationvolunteersfor help with the plantinq.
References
Mardon,D.K. 1990 Conservation
of montanewillow scrubin Scotland.1'rans.lJot.Soc'.Fdinb. 45.
42'7-436
Whitten, A.J. 1990. Recovery:A proposedprogrammefor Britain'sprotectedspeaies.Nature Consen)ancy('ouncil, CSI)Reporl,No. 1089.
D K. MARDON, National Trust for Scotland,Fagus.ManseRoad, KILLIN FK2l 8UY
PROPAGATION AND TRANSLOCATION
OF ORCHIDS*
Introduction
The Sainsbury
Projectwas initiatedat the RoyalBotanicGardens,
Kew in 1983
OrchidConservation
with the generousbackingofSir Robert and Lady SainsburySince I985 the Projecthasbeensupervised by the SainsburyOrchid Fellow who also liaiseswith EnglishNature, severalcounty naturalist
trusts, and other landownerswho supportandtake greatinterestin it.
The aim ofthe Projectis to developmethodsto propagatefrom seedsthoseBritishand Europeanorchids whose numbersare greatly reducedfor reintroductionto the wild. One of the inspirations for its inception was a visit to the Orchid Gardenat Gerendalin the Netherlandsby Lynne
Farrellfrom EnglishNature.Here, on grassyslopesnot far from Maastricht,thereis a naturalpopulation ofseveralcalcicoleorchidspeciesandothershavebeenintroducedsuccessfully.
The techniques
ofraising terrestrialorchidsfrom seedswereintroducedto Kew by Mark Clenrents who was secondedtiom the NationalBotanicGarden,Canberra(Clements,Muir and Cribb,
1986).They were developedby HarrietMuir (1987, 1989)andRobertMitchell(1989).Today,they
are being usedand refinedby MargaretRamsayand GracePrendergastwith an ever'increasingrange
oforchid species.A total of46 British and Europeanand l7 other terrestrialspecieshavegerminated
in the laboratory, and the plantletsare at various stagesof growth and development.Forty four
specieshave been raisedand transferred10 pots in the greenhouseFive orchid specieshave been
re-establishedin wild situationsin Englandand alreadyfour of them have flowered and set seed.
progress
Thereis still much to do, but this paperreviewsthe basisofthe proi€ctand the considerable
that hasbeenmadeso far.
Orchidsand mycorrhizalfungi
Orchidsproducea very large numberof minute seedswhich are as fine as dust and amongthe
smallestseedsof all flowering plants.The dilliculties of germinationand earlydevelopmentof a small
and fragile embryohavebeenovercome,in the wild, by an intimatesymbiosisbetweenthe orchid and
an appropriatefungus
The dispersalof orchid seedsby wind ensuresthat somewill land not too far from the parent
plant These'have
an excellentchanceofencounteringthe right fungus.Suitablet)-rngi
are wideipread
in the soil, though researchhasindicatedthat someorchidsare specificin their fungalpartner.Others
appearto be capableof using various fungi, and we have isolatedseveralfungi lrom the roots of
matureorchidplantswhichwill assistthe germination
of variousorchidspecies.
The funguspenetrates
cell. As the
one end of the embryo,usuallythroughits largesuspensor
fungalhyphagrows into the innercellsof the embryo,it ficrmscoils calledpelotonswhich,in turn,
are graduallydigestedby the orchid plant As the inl-ectionproceeds,the orchid embryogrows rapidlv to form a Drotocormwhich- in due course.develoosa shoot fiom which the leavesand roots arise.
fhe fungalhyphaealsoinfecttheyoungrootsandfoim pelotonsin the corticalcellsofthe root.
In wild orchidplants,the mycorrhizalfungiarefoundas pelotonsin live andhealthyrootswhich
appearcream or yellowish.Usuallythe coils of hyphaeare linked via root hairs to the soil or
Translocation and Rcinstatcmcnt o{ Plant SDlrics
substratum.It is believedthat the fungusdigestsorganicmaterialsin the suffoundingmediumand the
resultingnutrientsdiffi.rseinto the pelotonsfrom which they are obtainedby the orchid.
The undergroundparts ofterrestrial orchidsare quite varied,but the fungusis usuallypresentin
the roots rather than the tubers or rhizome.The degreeofinfection variesin differentspeiiesand it
alsoappearsto be somewhatseasonal.
ln manyspecies
thereappearsto be heightened
activityofthe
funguswhile the orchid is at the peakof its vegetativegrowth. Orchidswithlubers usually'donot
hold the fungal infectiontkough the dormant season,and the new roots ofthese plantsbecomeinfected from the soil when vegetativegroMh resumeseachyear. Orchidswith rhijomatous growth,
ltke (lyprrytedium,seemto harbourfungal activity after the leaveshavedied down, while tbr muchof
the year their roots containmassesof starchbut no pelotons.The extentof the dependence
of the
matureorchidplanton the fungusis still unknown.but it hasbeeninteresting
to find that the fungal
isolatesthat are most effective for germinationhave been obtainedfrom the most vieorous orchid
plants.
Fungal isolation
Mycorrhizalfungi havebeenisolatedat Kew from the roots and,ratherrarely,the protocormsof
Europeanorchid speciesin cultivation. A few roots have been obtainedfrom wild plants,with the
landowner'spermission,and from three ofthe scheduledendangeredspeciesunderlicencefrom English Nature.Fungal isolationis not a destructivetechnique,as a sampleof root can be collectedwith
minimaldisturbance
to the plant(Mitchell,I989, Stewart,t992)
So far the fungi havebeen identifiedrather tentativelyas they have only beenseenin the vegetative stat€.ln the past they were all referredto the form genusMizoctonia, but it appearsthat it
leasttwo diflerent generaof Basidiomycetesare active as mycorrhizalsymbiontswith the European
orchids.For the time beingall the fungi at Kew are known by numbersonly, and F414, isolatedfrom
Dactykrhiza iberica groting in the Gardens,is the most useful and vigorousthat hasbeenisolated.
We have also used commercially available cultures of the Basidiomycete.(leralohu.sidium
corntgerum.
Media for seedsowingand germination
The major differencesbetweenthe symbioticmethodof raisingorch.idsfiom seedsand the asymbiotic
techniqueswhicharecommonlyusedfortropical
orchids(Thompson,
1977;Fayetal.,'1992)relate
to the presenceof the fungusin the culture. For symbioticsowingsthe mediummust contain sufficient nutrientsfor the fungus as well as the developingorchid seedlings.The seedsmust be sown
thiniy, to allow eachprotocorm spaceto developand to ensurethat thele are sufficientnutrientsfor
both fungus and seedlings.Cultures must be watchedcarefully so that transfersto new media are
madeat the optimaltime for continuedgroMh. For asymbioticsowings.which are oflen madeas a
control,the mediausedlbr tropicalorchidsappearto be too rich for the terrestrialspecies.
but some
successhas beenachievedr.rith l/2 and,l/4 strengthof severalwell known media.A commercially
availablemediumcalledTGZ-N is particularlyuseful For the immatureseedsfrom greencapsulei
which hasbeena successfultechniquewith ('ypripednrmculceolu.r,a new mediumcafledKew-A has
been devised.It is dilute but complex and containspeptoneand potato extract. Full detailsof the
media and laboratoryproceduresdevelopedand tested have been publishedrecentlyelservhere
(Mitchell,1989;Stewart,1992)
Establishingthe seedlingsin the wild
Severalsu^ccessful
attempts have now been carried out to introduce one and two-year old plants
gmergrngfrom the dormantperiod into the wild. Ihe highestsurvivalrateswere obtainedwith plantingsmadein the late autumn.
The first trial was madeat WakehurstPlace,Kew's satellitegardenin Sussex,in the autumnof
1987 with Orchis lurJkra. The lax-flowered,or Jerseyorchid, does not occur in mainlandBritain.
so it was chosenbecauseit would be easilyrecognisedamongthe ()rt'hs norio and l)ac6,lorhiza
speciesin'The Slips'if plantssurvivedthe winter. ln May 1988,therewere sevenplantsin flower,
followed.in 1989,by 35 tall spikes.The survivalrateis excellent,more havebeenintroduced,anda
total of350 plantshad beenplantedby the endof 1989 Eightl,ofthesewere in flower in May 1992
and 135in May 1993
)L
Translocalionand Rcinstatenlcntof Plant Soccies
were addedto the wild flower plantingsin'l'he
Seventyfive seedlings
ol l)act.\,lorhtzu.fuchsii
were derivedfrorn seedscollectedat WakehurstPlace I)actl.lorhtza
Slips'in 1989.Theseseedlings
proetermtssaseedlingshave also beenused in the area known as 'LlangingMeadow' where Sheena
McKendrick, a postgraduatestudentfrom CambridgeUniversity is studyingthe ecologicalfactors
affectingorchid seedlings.
The plantsraisedat Kew serveas one of her studygroupsandthe monitoring of the plantsthat shewill do in the courseof her studieswill providefurtherinformationabout
restockingandthe conditionsrequiredlor its succe.ss.
Meanwhile,a fbrv plantingsol Ophrys apiferu. Orchis morio and Dactylorhrzapraerermissa
havebeentried in a secludedgrassland
siteat Kew, where,on the generallygravellysoils,conditions
tbr orchidsare much lessfavourable.Severalolantshavesurvivedandflowered.
Six seedlingsof ('.yVripgfixp .alt'e,oluiwere plantedat the wild site in autumn 1989,all of
which havesurvivedand increased
in size.Threeout of six plantedin spring 1990havealsoestabiishedwell
In the autumnof 1990,surplusseedlingsof severalcommonspecieswere distributedto the
Royal HorticulturalSocietyand the NationalTrust who will try to establishthem in wild flower
gardens.
Future work
Much remainsto be done.As mightbe expected.the rarerorchidsare provingmorediltrcuhto raise
than the lessthreatenedones.Work in the laboratoryand glasshousecontinuesto be carefullyco-ordinatedwith observations
at all seasons
ofthe year.
ofplant gro\lth cyclesin the wild andin gardens,
New observationsmay lead to smallchangesin methodwhich could generatea markedimprovement
in growthor treatmentof seedlings.
There has beentremendousinterestin this Projectsinceits inceptionfrom a wide varietyof
France,Germany,ltaly,
sourcesin the British lslesand Europe.Visitorsliom Finland,Switzerland,
Sweden.Denmark,Portugal. Canada,UrutedStatesof Americaand Japanhavecometo the laboratory andglasshouses
to learndetailsofthe work. Similarprojectshavesubsequently
beenestablished
in severalof thesecountries.A specialposterexhibitdescribingthe work hasbeenusedat Orchid
'A
Congressesin Cheltenham,Milan and Geneva,and at the exhibition Vision of Orchids'at the
Sainsbury
Centrefor the VisualArts in Norwich.A displavof the postercombinedwith seedlings
at
variousstagesof development,
includinga fbw in flower,gaineda Silver-GiltLindleyMedalfrom the
Royal HorticulturalSocietyat the British Orchid Growers'AssociationShow at Westminsterin
March 1989.A similarexhibit,combinedwith examplesof Kew's work on tropicalorchidsby the
Micropropogation
Unit, was stagedat the l4th World OrchidShowin Glasgowin April 1993,where
it was awardedthe Ahmed Sheikhitroohv for the best ScientificiConservation
exhibitin the show
Perhapsthe mostsisnifrcant
visitrirsto the Projecthavebeena few dedicatedcommercial
orchid
growerswho planto lollow the methodsKew hasdeveloped
andraisehardyorchidsfor sale.Negotilbr a 'royalty'on thesesalesto be paidto Kew'.We hopethat thiswill acknowlationsare proceeding
edge and advertisethe results achievedby the SainsburyOrchid ConservationProject and help to
supportfurther research.
References
M A., Muir, H. and Cribb. P.J., 1980.Preliminary
repo( on the synbioticgerminationof
Clenrents,
Eurooeanorchids.Kev'lJutlelin1l 137-45
Fay,M.F, DuPuy,B. andtsowling,J.C , 1992 Propagation
fiom Seed.In Stewart,J., (ed ) OrchrtLs
alKerv. HMSO London,pp 68-74
Mitchelf,R.8., 1989.Gro*,inghardyorchidsfiom seedsatKew. lhe I'lanlsmqnll(-l). 152-69
Muir. H.M, l987 Symbioticmicropropagationof
Orchtsloxr.flora
IheOrchidlleview95.2'l-9
Muir, H.M., 1989.Germinationand mycorrhizaltunguscompatibilityin Europeanorchids.ln Pritchard, H.W. (ed.1Modern Methods in ()rchid ('onservotton.CambridgeUniversityPress.pp.
39-56
Stewart,J (ed.) 1992 ()rchidsat Kev' HMSO London 155pp.
Stewart,
J andMitchell.R B, l99l TesttubeorchidsI he (jardcttll6(1) 32-6
T'hompson,
P.A., 1977 ()rchitls./romJgcc/ RovalBotanicGarden,Kew. WakehurstPlace.rHMSO,
29 pp
* Basedon a paperby JoyceStewan(1993).'The Sarnsbury
OrchidConservation
Project:the first
ten years'publishedin l he Keu'Magazire l0 ( l ). l8-43
JOY('E STEWARI. Sainsbury
OrchidFellow,RovalBotanc Gardens,
Kew
5.1
Translocationand Rcinstatemenlof Plant SDecies
GENETIC DIFFERENCESBETWEENPOPT]LATIONS
OF RARE PLANTS.
IMPLICATIONS FOR RECOVERYPROGRAMMES
Nearlyall therareplantspecies
thatarelistedin theBritishandIrish RetlDataRooksareonlvlocal
rarities,rarehere.but commonelsewhere
in Europe.We haveveryfew endemicspecies,
andvery
few absoluterarities,exceptamongcriticaltaxa. The patternsofgenetic variation'inthe scattered
populationsof our local rarities are often cluesto their historv. and may tell fascinatineevolutionarv
and ecologicalstories,but are still largelyunknown.
Patternsofgeneticdifferentiation
in rareplantsdependon severall'actors:their breedingsystem,
reproductive
biologyand life-history,the history.size,structureand degreeofisolationoft[eii locai
populations;natural selection;and perhapsalsohybridizationwith otheitaxa. Nearlyall thesefactors
vary much more in plantsthan in animals.Effectsrelatedto breedingsystemand populationstructure
rangefrom the near-completeabsenceof geneticvariation in apomicts(lor exampieHierat'tum. Limonium and Sorbus microspecies)through the steppedpattern of variation of autogamousspecies
with poor dispersal(for exampleOnonis reclinala), to the intemrptedclinesand exteisive stochastic
variationof -partialor completeoutbreeders
with small isolated'populations
(for exampleMibora
m_inima);A few geographicallyrestrictedor sparseoutbreedingraie specieswith exceptionallygood
dispersal(for examplesomeorchidswith dust-likeseeds,and some'waterside
olanti disoeiseid
bv
waterfow.l)may maintainoverallgene-flowand more normalpatternsolcontinuousecociinalvariation.and local adaptation,but most outbreedingrare plant speciesare likely to show patternsof
varialion.whichare disjunct,partly stochasticand often highlydiverse
In_plantconservationand recoveryprograrnmes,knowledgeofthe breedingsystemand the pattern ofgenetic variation ofthe speciesthat are involvedis a basicand essentiafrequirement
(Fali<&
Holsinger1991,Karron 1991)and shouldbe regardedas a priority Sincerheseiundamentally
important biological factors can be.so different in plants,conceptsof'minimum viable population-size,
samplesizeand breeding.
strategies
denvedfronr studiesol animalpopulalronsrnay'betorallyinappropriateand misleading
in plantconservarion
work (Templetonl99i).'
Knowledgeofthe breedingsystem,reproductive
biologyandpatternofgeneticdifferentiation
of
a,rareplanttaxon is essentialnot only lor a recoveryprogrammeto havea reil chanceofsuccess,but
also to avoid.endang:ring
exrstingpopu_lations
and losing,contaminating
or distortingthe existing
pattern of variation. This is often in itself an evolutionaryand historicaldocumentof*great interesi
value,.not
and
only in absolutelyrare species,but also, and perhapsespecially,in locally-rarespecies,
for examplein l)raba aizoide.s,Ononi.sreclirnta andMibora minimain Britain (John"& Kay 1989.
I 9 9 0 .J o h nI 9 9 2 y
Patternsofgeneticvariationin and amonglocalpopulations
cannow be screened
andmonitored
rapidly in plant speciesby modem moleculariechniques,especiallythe inexpensiveand non-invasive
(eg Lack &-Kay rb8Z, 1988.Schial, Leverich& Rogstad
!l.!-ryq,.legf pozy19 electrophoresis
l99l) Analysisof-DNA polymorphism
by varioustechniques,
particuiarlythoseinvolvingPCR'amplification(Amos& Hoelzel1992)is potentiallymoresensitive
ihan isozymeelectrophoreiis
but is at
presentimpracticably
expensive
andtime-consuming
Genetic adaptation and the causesof rarity: the hazards of translocationand unconscious
selectionin recoveryprogrammes
AJthoughth.epatternsofgenetic.variationin disjunctpopulationsofrare plant speciesare ofgreat
interestin themselves
and are of basicimportancein conservation
programmes,'nrost
conservition
and monitoringstudiesof rareplantsin Britainhavebeenconcerned-mainly
or exclusivelv
with their
(eg S).ngelq8 l. Whirtenl9q0) and hare considered
demography
and e^cology
gcnetic\ariation
only incidentally,if at all. Failureto screenor monitorgeneticvariationis a seriois omission,and
createsa.varietyof risks in lranslocationand recoveryprogrammes,
includingthe introductionof
inappropriate
genotypes
andthe distortionofunique,informaiir,e
andirreplaceadle
naturalpatremsof
vanatlon.
Plantspeciesmaybe rarelbr a_variety
ofreasons,oftencombinedin variousways.Somespecies
are rareor absentbecauseof a lack of dispersal.
1'hisgroup includespotentialcolonisers;
introduction of suchspeciesto an areaor site wheie theywerepreviouslyabsentrlay be easy.but oftenhas
unforeseen
and undesiredconsequen€es,
which can includethe'reductionor perhapsextinctionof
speciesthat previouslygrew theie. T'hespeciesthat are displacedare likelv to be ihose that were
alreadyrare lt is nol alwaysappreciated
lhat translocations
of rarespecies
b'etween
reti:c,esilesmav
alsohavethis effecr.displacingolherrarespecies.
54
Translocationand Reinstatementof Plant SDecies
Large-scaleexamplesof the effectsof introducingpreviouslyabsentalien speciesare provided
by the fate of the native floras of oceanicislandslike Hawaii and New Zealand.which have been
devastatedboth by the introduction of alien herbivoresand pathogensand by the introduction of
competitivelysuperioralien plant species.A familiarexampleof the sameeffect in Britain is provided
by the spreadof Rhododendronponticun,.
In the secondand third groups.rare plant speciesthat grow in specialisedand rare habitats,and
local rarities at the edge of the range of the species,individual populationsare likely to consistof
genotypesthat are particularly well-adaptedto local conditions, especiallyin geneticallyvariable
outbreedingspecies.In addition,the genotypiccompositionofsuch populationsmay be a uniqueand
irreplaceabledocumentoftheir historyand relationships,as for examplein Draba aizoidesandMibora minima. Such populationsare particularlywlnerable not only to the introductionof alien genotypes of the same species,but also to the geneticchangesthat may take place among nalive
genotypesduring both in srtu andex sltl breedingand recoveryprogrnmmes.
The introduction of inappropriatealien genotypes(which should, in the absenceof genetic
screening,be assumedto include genotypesfrom other populationsof the samerare species,even
within the samelocal geographicarea) is an obvious hazard,which shouldnow be well understood
from examplesin animalconsewationprograrnmes.The risks of changesamongnativegenotypesare
lesswidely understood.They may result eitherfrom stochasticchangesdue to samplingerror during
collectionof breedingmaterialand the various stagesof propagatior\or from unconsciousselection
for poorly-adaptedgenotypes.This may occur both during active in situ conservationprogrammes,
for exampleby relaxation of selectionthrough measureswhich favour the survival of the target
species,and during er sllz breedingprograrnmeswhich will favour genotypesadaptedto succeedin
artificial conditions.
Examplesofpoorly-adaptedgenotypesthat may be favouredincludethosewith smallbut numerous seeds,those with reducedseeddormancy,thosewith low allocationto defence,those with precociousgrowth and flowering, and those with increasedself-compatibilily.Such alteredgenotypes
may be unableto establishnew populations,and their reintroductionto the original populationmay
overwhelmits precariouslywell-adaptedgene-pool.
The genetic hazardsof well-conductedactive conservationprogrammesare much smaller in
homozygousinbreederswith monomorphicpopulations,1r'keOnonisreclinala in Britain (John 1992)
or Su{raga cespitosain North Wales (Parker 1981) and in apomictic microspecieslike Jbr}as
leyana.
In additionto the likelihoodofunconsciousselection,
in all exceptthe best-conducted
breeding
programmesthere is much potentialfor confusion geneticcontamination(especiallyhybridisationin
outbreeders)and mislabelling,if plants from severalpopulationsof the samespecies,or of related
speciesbetweenwhich gerre-flowis possible,are grown or processedtogether.A simplesolution is
to grow plants from only one population of each speciesat any one time. perhapscombinedwith
precautionary
geneticscreening.
Dangersof a differenttype arisein all activeconservationprogrammesinvolvingex situ cultivation, {iom the unintentionalintroductionof alien speciesof plant. herbivoreand pathogento wlnerable populationsof rare species,or their inclusionin newly establishedpopulations.At the genetic
level, somepopulationsofgeneticallyvariablerare speciesmay be ableto adaptto new pathogensor
herbivores(includingnewly introducedgenotypesofexisting pathogensor herbivores)but in general
rare speciesare likely to be particularlyvulnerable.
Populationsizeand structure in decliningspecies
In speciesthat havebeenrare for a long period oftime, populationsizeand structureare often essentially stable.or changeonly slowly.Speciesthat haverecentlybecomerare('newrare'species,
Franklin & Sould l98l), or are decliningtowardsrarity,show differentand much lessstablepattemsof
populationstructure.In these.geneiicd.ili, inbreedingand other potentiallydeleterioussmall-population effects tend to hasten the extinction of small oooulations.Geneticallvvariable outbreedins
speciesshowtheseeffectsmost seriously.Variousestimiteshavesuggested
ihat effectivesampleoi
population sizes ol at least 50 are requiredto avoid harmful loss of genetic variation in the short
term, althoughit hasrecentlybeenarguedthat smallpopulationsofplants growing in stressfulconditions may lose variation more slowly than those growing in more benignconditions,becauseof the
greatersurvivalofheterozygotes(Lesica& Allendorf 1992).
Non-geneticeft-ectsmay also causeextinctionof populationsbelow a certainsize,and it should
that iftwo rarespeciesthat co-occurin extensivesitessharemuchthe sameecologibe remembered
cal niche,or interactin other poientiallymutuallyexclusiveways,only one ofthem may be ableto
55
Translocationand Reinstatementof Plant SDccics
maintaina viablepopulationin a refugeof limitedarea.Both geneticselectionand stochastic
variation are likely to affect the chancesof survivalof an individualpopulation,but populationsthat
survive.ard especially
thosethat maintainor increasetheir numbers.are likelv to be thosethat are
genetically
bestadaptedto do so.
Speciesthat are rapidly decliningtowardsrarity, tbr exampieI'icitt orobu:;and other low.iand
ancient-grassland
presentthe mostsevereconservation
species,
problems.theirdeclineis ollen dueto
rapidandprogressive
ecologicalchangeswhicharedifficultto halt andmaybe impossible
to reverse.
The rate and extent oftheir declinemav not be realisedbecauseofthe timelae and tustoricalbiasof
plantrecords Hereagain.geneticscre-ening
is rhe mosteffectivemeanstbr ditectingthe patternof'
variationand the seriousness
of the geneticproblems,and fbr evaluatinsand monitoringpossible
(Kay & John1992).
conservation
measures
References
Amos,B. & Hoelzel,A R ( t992) Applicationof moleculargenetictechniques
to the consen'ation
of
smallpopulations.Biologtcal ('onseruation6l . 133-144
Curtis, T.G.F. & McGough,I{N (1988). l'he lri.th lled Dota Book. l. L'ascularPlants. Dublin,
StationeryOftice.
Falk, D.A. & Holsinger,K.E. (1991).(ieneticsand ('onservationof Rare Plants. Oxford.Oxfbrd
UniversityPress.
Franllin,O.H. & Soule,M.E. ( 198l). Conservation
andevolution.Cambridge,
CambridgeUniversitv
Press.
John,R. ( 1992).Geneticvariation.reproductivebiologyand conservation
in isolatedpopulations
of
rareplantspecies.
Ph.D.thesis,Universityof Wales,Swansea.
John,R. & Kay, Q.O.N. (1989) Populationstructureand interrelationships
in a rareBritish annual
grass,Mibora minima(L.) Desv.B^!81-ly'ev,.s
51. 49
John, R. & Kay, Q.O.N (1990) l)raha aizoidesin Britain - glacial relic or gardenescape?R.tRl
ly'ew.r54: 49.
Karron,J.D. (1991).Patternsofgeneticvariationandbreedingsystems
in rareplantspecies.
ln D.A.
Falk & K.E. Holsinger(Eds.).()eneticsand ('on,servation
ol Rare I'lqnts.87-98. Oxford,Oxford UniversityPress.
Kay. Q.O.N. & John,R.F. (1992).l'oJntlatrottgeileticstutd demopttphrcecoktpXt
o/ somescarce
anl declining vasculctrplant.so;f Welshkt'lmrd grasslalcl. Report to CountrysideCouncil for
Wales,Bangor.
Lack, A.J. & Kay, Q.O.N (1987).Geneticstructure,geneflow and reproductiveecologyin sand
dunepopulationsof Polygala vtlgoris..lournal tl l,coIogl 75.259-276.
Lack, A.J. & Kay, Q.O.N. (1988). Allele frequencies,
geneticrelationships
and heterozygosrty
in
Poll'gala urlgoris populationsfiom contrastinghabitatsin southemBritain. llktlogrcal .Journal
ol theLmneonSocien,34.ll9-117.
('on.ten)(ttton
Lesica.P. & Allendorf.F.W. (1992).Are smallpopulations
of plantsworth preserving'.,
R i o l o g t 6 :1 3 5 - 1 3 9 .
P a r k'lhe
e r , D . M . ( 1 9l )8. T h e r e - i n t r o d u c t i o nSoaf r i l r a g a c e s p i t o s a t o N o r t h W al nl eHs. S y n g e ( E , d ) .
Biological Aspecls of Rare Plant ('onserr,.tlirzr.506-508. Chrchester& New Yoik. John
Wiley& Sons.
Perring,F.H. & Farrell,t.. (,l983).Brttish lletj l)utu Rooks:I. I'asculurPlants.2nd edn. Lincoln.
RoyalSocietyfor NatureConservation
Schaal,
B.A, Leverich,W.J.& Rogstad,S.H (1991).Comparison
genetic
of methods
1brassessing
variationin plant conservation
biology. tn D.A Faik & KE Holsinger(Eds.),Oenitrcstnul
('onsen'dtionof llare I'lont.s l2l- 11.1.
Oxfbrd.Orford UniversityPress
Synge,H. (1981). Ihe btologtculospecl.\of rat'eplant conscnutrr.il.Chichester
& New York. John
Wiley& Sons
Templeton,A.R. (1991).O11'-site
breedingof animalsand implicationsfbr plantconservation
straregies. In D.A. Falk & K.E. Holsinger (Eds), (ienctils and ('onseivatiort of llare Plants
182-194Oxford.Oxfbrd UniversitvPress.
Whitten,A.J. (1990).Recoverv.A proposedprogranrnre
for Britain'sprotecredspecies.
Nuture('on('ourrcil,('Sl) Report.No. I 089
.tervenc.t'
Liniversity
of Wales,SWANSF.A
SA2 8PP
QUENTIN KAY, Schoolof BiologicalSciences.
5b
Nolices (Noil BSBI)
N OT IC E S(N ONB S BI)
STACE',S NEW FLORA of the BRITISH ISI.ES
A Dutch correspondenthas pointed out to me a very unfortunateerror in the 1992reprint that was
introducedby the printers.The captionon page974 (the third pageof ('arex utricles)is a repeatof
the onefrom page967 (the secondpageof ('arex utricles).This errorremainedundetected
because
I
was not given the opportunity of checkingproofs of the 1992 reprint, which I greatly regret. The
origina.ll99l printingis correct.A seconderrorintroducedby the printersoccurson page214 ofthe
reprint, where the right hand edgeofthe pagewas cut off; the marginalR and RR shouldread RR
and RRR resDectivelv.
Copiesoi the coirect captionlor page974 maybe obtainedliom me IiOC on receiptof a SAE.
CLIVE A STACE, Cringlee.ClaybrookeRoad, l-rllesthorpe,LUTTERWORTII, Leicestershire
REHABII,ITATTON OF RIVERS
An internationalworkshop to be held at the InternationalCentre ofLandscapeEcologr,
LoughboroughUniversity
l6-18 December1993
River managers,ecologists,engineers,hydrobiologistsand related professionalswill find this workshop of value in comingto terms with the implementation
of river rehabilitation.
Topicsto be includedare
Limitationsto river rehabilitation.
Tncentives
andobjectives
Europeancasestudieswith examples
ofchannel,riparianzoneandflood plainprojects
Developingstrategiesand defendingthe way forward.
Iherewill alsobe sitevisitsto experience
projectsfirst hand.
rehabilitation
Papers(presentations
and posters)are alsoinvitedwhich it is plannedto publishas a volumein the
\Niley Lanlstttpe Etoh,gt series.
For furtherdetailspleaseu,riteto the addressbelow.
GILL GILES, ICOLE, Dept of Geography,LoughboroughUniversity,LOUGFIBOROLIGH,
Leics..
LE I I iTU {Tel 0so9-22,30r2;ax 0s09-2607s3
f
DR A.N. BERKUTENKO
Furtherto my note in the last issueof BSBI Nev's,Dr Berkutenkowishesto inlbrm prospective
correspondentsthat, becausethe post to her in Russiatakes 2-3 monthsto arrive, any corespondencein connectionwith her botanicaltour to Misunderstandins
Islandshouldbe addressed
to her as
tbllows
Dr A N Berkr-rtenko,
cio RichardL Baldwin,Seedsof Alaska,Box -l 127, Kenai,Alaska9961I,
USA.
Dr Berkutenkois alsoinvolvedin a commercialventure(The Luny SeedCompany,Box 14,Ekaterinburg620008,Russia)to marketseedsof wild flowersof Siberiaand RussianFar East,including
RussianFar-Eastern
alpineand rock gardenplantsand would be gratefulfor any advicemembers
maybe ableto offer on how to reachthe retailmarketin the UK.
(' JEFFREY.RoyalBotanicGardens,Kew. RICHMOND, Surrey,TWg 3AB
57
N o t i c c st N o n B S B I )
CARf,ERS IN THE ENVIRONMENT
National Conference- l3 October 1993
Workshop- l6 November1993
BP BritannicTower.London
Background
publicattentionover the pastlew years.lt is
The environment
is an areawhichhasgainedincreasing
also an areawhere careeropportunitieshavebeenexpandingand diversilying.yet there is little readily availableinformationon careerroutes,suitablequalifications,
and the typesof work availablein
the environment.
Target audiences
All t-hose
interested
in careerswith environmental
asoects
Careersadvisorsin HE/FE
Courseoroviders
Localauthorities
careersservices
Trainersin industryand emplovmentagencies
TrainingandEnterpriseCouncils(TECs)
Personnel
managers
Topics
Environmental
careers
oooonunrtres
requiredfoi industry,environmental,
NGOs.government
andstatutorybodies
Qualifications
Profbssional
organisations
Sourcesofinformation,includingpublications,
databases
andorganisations
For funherinformationpleasecontact
MONICA HALE, Facultyof Human Sciences.
London GuildhallUniversity,CalcuttaHouse.Old
CastleStreet.LONDON E l 7NT ]'el 071-320-l l24 Fax 07 1-320-ll2l
WOODRINE- FLORA BRITANNI(]ANEWSLETTER
Ilindbtne is the newsletter from Flora Britannica. It's intention rs to give a progress report on the
project and to encourage wider participation.. Copies olthe original handbook are also available,as
are F-loraBntannica posters, intended for displav in public places,these are monochrome and come in
A'4 and A-l sizes
For a FREE copy olany or all ofthe above. pleaservnte to
FLORA tsRl] ANNICA. ('ommon Ground. 4l Shelton Street. LONDON WC2H 9HJ
LI('TIENSFORVEGET.4RI,E
DYEING
I was interested to read N{aura Scannell'snote crn Erleen tsolton in IJS!Jl Nevs 62 (19921. I had the
pleasure of co-editing the new edition of her book Ltchen.s.fbrtr'egetuhfuI)yetng. that was published
in 1991. Anyone interested in ordering a copy should write to' Robin and Russ Handweavers lnc.,
533 Nonh Adams Street, McMinnville. Oregon, USA 97 I 28, price approx $ 12 00 US
I am working on a history of lichen dye use liom i000 B.C to the present day and would be
delighted to learn ifthere is anv inlerest in this subject amongst BSBI menrbers
KARL.N LEIGH CASSELMAN. Research Associate. Natural llistory. Nora Scotia Museunr. 1747
Summer Street. HA-LIFAX. Nova Scotia B-lH 3Ab
[Ms Casselman has been kind enough to donate a copy of her book to the BSBI l-ibrary. anvone
interestedin borrowing it should write to me. Ed.]
s8
Rcquests
R E QT IE S T S
0RCHIS USTUI.ATA
I have been researchinginto the life-cycle of the Burnt Orchid (Orcirs ustulata) fbr a number of
years.Thishasbeencaried out understrictlycontrolledconditions.
with any memberswho may haveundertakensimilartesearch.
I would welcomecorrespondence
'my' plantsis
My particularinterestis in the seed-podsuccessrate. The productionof seed-podsby
very poor and I would be extremelyinterestedin the experiencesof others in differentparts of the
country.
RONALD KELI, Birdwood, HarmbV,L€YBURN
ORORANCHE SEED WANTED
I would be most gratefulif any BSBI memberscould supplyme with a smallquantityof freshseedof
anyOrobanchespecieswhich they may havein cultivation.
Thankyou.
Universityof Newcastle
ANNE T. PICKERING,Departmentof BiologicalandNutritionalSciences,
uponTyne,NEI 7RU
STEI,LARIA fuIEDIA AND S" NEGI,ECTA
At LancasterUniversityI am working on elucidatingthe cause(s)ofthe ecologicalseparationofthe
closely related Stellaila medio and S. neglecta.The fact that thesetwo taxa are closely relatedis
undeniableand has ollen resultedin their confusionwhere large S. medio is fbund growing at the
shadyend ofits rangeofhabitats. Generallythough,there is a sfunificantecologicalseparationwhich
is quite striking. with the former the familiar weed and the latter a somewhatrarer woodland
edgeihedgerowspecies.I would be extremelygrateful if anyonewould be preparedto let me have
can usefullyproceed.
someliving material(plantsor seeds)of S neglecta.so that this investigation
Grid references,or other meansoflocating the collectionpointswould alsobe valuable.
ANDREW FAIREY, Departmentof Biological Sciences,University of Lancaster,LANCASTER
LAI 4YQ
BETTY SWAINSON'S PLANT-Rf,CORDS - A LOST BOOK
In Liverpool nearly ninety years ago A.A. Dallman bought for twopence a copy of Mavor's lhe
Ladv's and (.ientleman'sBotanical Pockel-Book(1800) which had belongedto Betty Swainson,
eldest daughterof J.T. Swainsonand halt:sisterof the naturalistWilliam Swainson.She had annofor Mersevside.datine from 1816onwards.Theserecords
tated the book with her Dlant-records
andaie ofhistoricinteresl
considerably
anledatethe earliesrLiverpoolFlora("18-19)
t shouldlike to locatethis book whichdid not reachLivemoolMuseumwith muchof Dallman's
in 1949when he wrole to me aboutit, but its present
library.lt was still in Dallman'spossession
homeis unknown.
Cananyonehelp?
NORA McMILLAN, The Nook,!p!q
59
Rcqucsts/ Researchand Tra\el Grants
,IYMPHqRI('ARPOS
AI,IJUS"DOESIT SPREADBY ST]EDIN THE BRITISH
ISLES?
I am preparin-ean accounl ol'this species lor the Rioloyttol l;loru and there are sltll some very basic
questions that remain unanswered,for erample, does it spread by seed in the UK'l I wrote to ten of
the most active members of the BSBI whom I knew had an interest in alien species, two of them
reported having seen occasional seedlings in SE England but did not know if they ever greu into
mature olants.
I would like to hear fiom any members who have observed seedlingsof this plant in the UK or
who have germinated seed collected in this country.
OLIVER GILBERT. 42 Tom Lane. SHEFFIELD S J0 3 PB
BTIT(]HI.]R'S-BROOM
ocilledtus) in W.J. Beans' lrees aril:hrubs hartlv'in lhe
ln the account fbr Butcher's-broom (Rlr,rclr,s
'
l|ritish lsles, Bean states fhe flower bud lbnns early in the year and opens in spring'. u hich is rather
vague. Butcher's-broom was certainly in flower here (Exeter) at the end of January. Some fbrms
appsr to be good at producing fruit but in Exeter not a single plant has produced more than a lew
fruits in the last f'ew years. Some plants I saw in the Crimea, near to Yalta, in May 1992 also showed
little evidence of fruiting.
I am interested in the genus lluscus. and would be delighted to hear tiom anyone who grows any
of the speciesor cultivars with a view to discoverinrrhow widely cultivated thcy arc. I would also bc
grateful for inlornration on vellorv or white fir-ritedspecimensor any with variegatedleaves.
DAVID CANN. ESt. ClvdesdaleRoad. Universitv of Exeter. E-XETER. Devon
R S E A R C IIA N D T R A V E I,GRANTS
FOR SMALL PRO.IE(]TS
FINAN(]IAL STJPPOR'T
WILF-NEI,SONRTIMBTJRSARY
On 14 September
a lataltall whilecarrying
1989Wilf Nelsonsuli'ered
out roulinesurvevworkas
N C C w a r d e n o n t h e l s l a n do f R u m N N R
Wilfhad alreadv contributed a great deal to nature consenation, both on Rum and elservhere,in
his shon career and such was the widespread t-eelingof loss amongst his many lriends and colleagues
that a memorial fund was established. fhis fund, which is still open fbr donations. now stands at
around J6,000 and with the support of Wilfs widow. Rosemary,i1 was decided to establisha Bursary
which will be used to support small research/sun'evprojects centred on Rum.
Applications fbr linancial support are therelbre invited lor individual projects to be carried out
during 1993 Pref'erencewill be given to studies on the natural environment of Rum, particularly its
wildlife, but consideration will also be given to projects dealing with conservation management.including education and interpretation. lt seemslikelv that around i600 will be availablefor dispensing
during 1992
A brief summan of the project proposal and estrmatedcosts should be sent irutially to the Reserve Manager, The Reserv'eO11ice,lsle bf num. PH4-i 4RR and should arrive by 3 | Maich | 994
Further inquiries to
MARTIN CLTRRY ReserveManager. Runr 10687 2t)26.1
'fhe
CHRIS l:Al'OLiGH, Area l\{anager - Lochaber. Skye and Lochalsh. SNH, I'v{arnoreflouse.
P a r a d e ,F O R I W I L I - I A M P l l 3 3 6 8 A ( 0 i 9 7 7 0 4 7 1 6 )
6(.)
Research and Travel Grants / Book Notcs
THE OLEG POLUNIN MEMORIAT, FUND
Applicationsare againinvited for awardsltom The Oleg Polunin MemorialFund. Full detailsof the
Fundandapplicationdetailsweregivenin BS,tslNev's58: 47, Sept 1991.
Applicants should apply in writing to the Headmasterof Charterhouseat the addressbelow,
giving a clear statementabout their proposedfield studies,where they will be undertakenand when.
Priority will be given to applicantswith Charterhouseconnectionsbut other personswith strong
Theclosingdatelor applications
is lst Februbotanicalor biologicalinterestswill alsobe considered.
ary eacnyear.
Recentrecipientsof awards
l99l - Karold Marhold, lnstitute of Botany of the Slovak Academyof Sciences,Bratislava,
Czechoslovakia.Grant towards his own project 'The geil)s ('drdamine L. in the Carpathianand
Pannonianregion (biosystematicstudy)'.
- PalmerNewbould, taught by Oleg Polunin.Ecologicalresearchin northem Majorca. A.lso
hopesto producean annotatedplant list for the Albufera.
- David Bagley,CambridgeBA. Research
volunteerin the Seychelles
for the Royal Society
for NatureConservation
on the islandofAride. Exampleoftropicalislandin nearpristinestate
1992- Roger Hyam, Photographer,ReadingUniversity.To studyplant life in the WesternHimalayas
whereOles Poluninvisitedin 1960.
-JonathanMiller, Undergraduale
Botanistin secondyear at Oxford University.University
Expeditionto Nepalto studyOrchid Ecology.
- SallyFrancis,ScientificOflicer of the Oxford UniversityExpeditionto FireweedMountain
in Alaska.
- Five undergraduatebiologistsfrom Oxford airningto studyvegetationand smallherbivorous
mammalsin the SouthWestslooeof FireweedMountain.
l99i - RebeccaRowe.First yearPhD studentat Oxford Universitystudyingthe populationbiology
of the endemicflora of St Helena.
- Dr Virginiavan der Lande UniversityResearch
Fellowstudyingveivetwormsand leeches
in New Guinea.
- Martin Gardner.Managerof the Conifer ConservationProgramme,Royal Botanic Garden,
Edinburgh- grant towards expeditionto Chile to continuework alreadyundertakenon conifer
consenationandcollectionofseedsetc.
PETERATTENBOROUGH. M A.. Charterhouse.
GODALMING. SurrevGU7 2DI
BOOK NOTES
Reviewsof the followingbookswill be includedin the February1994issueof l|'atsoniavol. 20(I ):
'Ihe
ttnt'tse ()x.lbrd dtttionon'ol Rtttuttl' Edited by M. Allaby. Pp. vi + 442 Oxfbrd University
Press,
Oxford l992. Pricef18.95Vb (ISBN0-19-866163-0).
16 99 p,rb(ISBN0-19-286094-l)
I'he vegetationof ultramafic (serpenrine)soi1s.Edited by A.J.M. tsaker,J. Proctor & R.D. Reeves.
Pp.xx + 509;illustratedwith 7 colourandnumerousb/w plates.Intercept,Andover.1993.Price
'I f.41.50 h/b (ISBN 0-e46707-62-6)
he eternal.tev' T. Baxrer Pp. 192,ill The Self-Publishing
Association,
HanleySwan.1992.Price
whtspers.lliof,19 50 (ISBN l-85421-148-X)Jointlyreviewedwith lhe )'ev)tree.A tfuru.yurul
raphl'r1fa speciesH Hartzelljnr Pp.xvi + 320, ill. Hulogosi,Oregon.PriceUS$ 19.95([SBN
0-938493-14-0
o,&)
I'hylogenyond clas.syfication
of the Orchid.family. R.L. Dressler.Pp. 3i4; 96 colour & numerous
b/w ill. DioscoridesPress& CambridgeUniversityPress,Cambridge.1993 Price 135 (ISBN
0--s2I -45058-6)
Book notes
Kvetena CeskeRepbliky (I'lora of the CzechRepuhlic).Edited by S Hejny & B Slavik. Vol. 1.
- Urticaceae.1988.Pp. 557 with numerousline drawings.Vol. 2. FagaceaeHuperziaceae
- Malvaceae.
Pp.
Empetraceae.
Pp. 540 with numerousline drawings.1990.Vol. 3. Brassicaceae
542 wlth numerous line drawings. 1992 Academia, Praha Price not stated (ISBN
80-200-0256r ).
Nouvelleflore de la Belique,du nord de la lirance et desrdgronsvoisines.4thedition.J. Lambinon,
J.-E. De Langhe,L. Delvosalle& J Duvigneaud Pp cxx + 1092:ill Editions du Patrimoniedu
Jardin botaniquenational de Belgique,Meise. 1992 (rec. 1993). Price BEF 1,720 (ISBN
'fhe 90-72619-O'7-2)
quillworls and horselailsof the Rrilish Isles.
lern guide. A field guide to the.ferns,clubmo,sses,
J. Merryweather& M Hill. Pp. l0l-188, with numerousdrawingsand 29 colour plates AIDGAP, Field Studies Council, Preston Montford 1992. Price 15.25 incl. P&P (ISBN
l - 8 5 1 5 3 - 2l -r0 )
Supplementto h'lorq o/ (lheshire. A. Newton. Pp 52; privately published,LeamingtonSpa. l99l
Price15.75o/b No ISBN.
MarianneNorth qt Kev,Gardens.L. Ponsonbv.Pp. 128.with i28 colour and 4 b/w illustrations.
Webb& Bower,in association
with the RoyaltiotanicGardens.Kew. I 990 Pricef. i 5 95 ( ISBN
0-86350-309-8)
Stearn'sdtctionary of plant namesfor gardeners.W.T. Stearn.Cassell,London. 1992.Pp. [viii] +
363 Pricef.l6 99 (ISBN 0-304-34149-5)
Red data booksof Britain and lreland: Stonev'orts.N.F. Stewart& J.M. Church Pp. 144; l4 colour
photographs.Joint Nature ConservationCommittee,Peterborough,1992. Price t15 (ISBN
t-873701-24-t)
1'utin,N.A.Burges,
l"loraEuropaea,vol.l:PsilotaceaetoPlatanaceae.2ndedition.EditedbyT.G.
A O. Chater,J R. Edmondson,V.H Heywood,D.M. Moore, D.H. Valentine,S M. Walters&
D.A Webb,assisted
editedby R R Mill Pp xlvi
by J R Akeroyd& M.E Newton Appendices
+ 581, with 5 maps. CambridgeUniversityPress,Cambridge.1993 Price.tlOO (ISBN
0-52r -41007-x)
Origtn arul geographt,of cultivatedp/anls. N.l. Vavilov; translatedby D. Love. Pp. rrxiii + 498,28
line drawings.33 half+ones CambridgeUniversityPress,Cambridge 1992 Price 175 (ISBN
0-52t-40427-4)
The following publicationshavebeenreceivedrecently.Thosethat will not be reviewedin lilatrcnia
are markedwith an asterisk;unsignednotesare by J.E.
I4/ildorchids of Scotland.B. Allan & P.J.B. Woods; photographyby S Clarke. Pp [vii] + 135, ill.
H.M.SO, Edinburgh.
on the occasion
1993 Pricet24.95(ISBN0-ll-494246-3)[Published
of
guideto the speciesof
the World OrchidCongressin Glasgowin May 1993,this photographic
'l'heorchid which are nativeto Scotlandwas preparedat the Royal BotanicGarden,L,dinburgh.]
sanddune.s
ol the Seftoncodsl Editedby D. Atkinson& J. Houston.Pp. xiv + 194;l2 colour&
numerousb/w illustrations.National Museums& Gallerieson Mersevside.l-iveroool. 1993.
PriceIl9 75 [Thisis an accountofthe proceedings
held
ofthe SeftonCoast-Research
Seminar.
in Liverpoolin 1991.lt containschapterson the history,geomorphology,
soils,vegetation.
flora
and faunaof the Seftoncoastaldunes,whichconstitutethe largestareaof opendunelandscape
in England, and ends with a section on dune use and management.There is a 22-page
bibliography
l
(ireek wild /kwers and plant kre rn ancienl (jreece. H. Baumann;translated& augmentedby W.1'.
& E.R. Stearn.Pp.252;482 illustrations,most in colour. The HerbertPress,London. 1991.
(ISBN l-871569-57-5).
Price1,16.95
accountofthe economicbotany
[This is a pocket-sized
and ethnobotanyof Greece,ancientand modern.It will appealto a wide readershipon account
of its meticulousscholarshipand lavish colour photographs,the plate numbersof which are
'I'he
role ofplantsin Greekart, medicineandscienceis recountedin
cross-referenced
in the text.
considerable
detail,andthereis an excellentbibliography
andindex.l
Medilerraneanwrld.flov,ers.M. Blamey& C. Chey-Wilson.
Pp. 560, with 173pp of colour plates
illustrating1,500speciesHarper-Collins,
London 1993 Price f.25 (ISBN 0-00-219901-7)
[This attractivebook will give enormouspleasureto all interestedin the wild flowers of the
Mediterranean;
with over 2,500 speciesdescribed.
it is splendidlycompactand comprehensive
'Ihe
(but ill-advisedly
describedon the dustjacketas a "complete"guide).
definitionsofEastern
Book Notes/ Adrertrsements
and Westem Mediterraneanin the introduction and some of the speciesdistributionnotes are
somewhatconfusing,with Crete and the Aegeanlslandsbeing includedas WesternMediterra- Mary Briggs
nean.l
BritishPlantLife. a new seriesof bookletsDroducedbv the BotanvDeoartment
of the NationalMuseumof Wales The first two titlesare
*,Ulo,sse.s
qnd Livervrtrl.sof Woodland;a guide lo someof the atmmone,slspecies.A R Perry. Pp.
41;29 b/w photographs.
NM.W, Cardiff 1992.Pnce L295 (ISBN 0-7200-0362-8)
['A
simple,photographicguide to someof tbe more commonmossesand liverworts to be found in
woodlandsin the BritishIsles."- from Introduction.l
+AliensintheRritrshl-'l<tra:
anacc'ountofsomeofour'plantinvaders.
R.G.Ellis Pp.48,44colour
photographs.
N.M.W, Cardiff. 1993 Pricef3.50 (ISBN 0-7200-0374-l).[A selectionof some
of the more interestingexamplesof plant introductions,with short descriptiveparagraphsaccompaniedby high-qualitycolour photos,sketchmapsofdistribution and 1iequencyin the British Isles, and a world map showing area of origin. Inexpensive,and attractivelydesigned,this
bookletdeserves
to be widelydisseminated.]
*7he wild.flowering plants of Bahrain: an illustrated guide. M.D. & C.D. Cornes Pp.272; rll.
Immel, London 1992 (ISBN 0-907151-41-8).[A laushly illustratedfield guide, with colour
photographsof over 160 different species.A simple tabular key chart is provided to assist
identification,but the speciesdescriptionsare narrativerather than critical and containinformation on habitatand uses.It is notablefor includingphotographs
ofless photogenicspeciessuch
asgrasseswhich are often overlooked.The book endswith a glossaryand a shortbibtiography.l
IheFloruof Ditchley:wild.flowersofonOxfordshireestate.
A.J.Dunn.Pp xi +68, Imap, II
colour plates CatherineWills, SandfordSt. Martin. 1993.Price116.45(ISBN 0-9521110-0-5).
[This is a truly local flora, in the best tradition of suchpublications.Nine introductorychapters
and a bibliographyare followed by a list offlowering plants and ferns recordedbetween 1985
and 1992 totalling more than 400 species,severalof which are nationallyrare. The book has
beennicelyproducedby Alan SuttonofStroud.l
* h.ndemicwild plants of Norlh ('yprus. D E Viney OrmanDairesiMudiirlugii, Lefkosa, 1992(publ
l99l) Pp 54; 19 colour plates.Price 13 + P&P. [Environmental
educationin Mediterranean
countries,for visitors and residentsalike, is dependenton the availabilityof local guidesto the
specialplantsofthe region.Affordablebooksofthis type are seldomavailable.
One musttherefore welcome this first attempt to highlight the plants which are endemicto the Turkish-controlled northem part of Cyprus. This pamphlet,printed in Turkey, is in "Curtis's Botanical
Magazine" format. each speciesis coveredby a descriptionand habitat notes in English and
Turkishon the pagefacingthe colourplate.l
IOHN EDMONDSON, Botany Dept., NationalMuseums& Gallerieson Merseyside,Liverpool
Museum.WilliamBrown St. LIVERPOOLL3 8EN
ADVERTISEMENTS
PRESIDENTIAL PERAMBULATION ON MOUNT OLYMPUS
I would like to invite up to 20 membersto join me on a walking andwild flower holidayon Mt OIympus from I l-20 June,1994.Ifyou haveneverbeenbefore(or have- this will be my third visitl this
should be a wonderful opportunity to enjoy this magicalplace. At nearly 10,000ftit is the highest
mountainin Greece- and someI 700 speciesof floweringplantshavebeenrecordedand 6-700will
be seenduringthe excursion
If vou come on this holidayyou can be helpingto protectthe Mount OlympusNationa[Park.
Local inhabitantsneedto be constantlyremindedofthe importanceto their economyofgreen touristswho cometo enjoytheir heritage.Thereis now a threatofbuildinga 9,000-bedcomplexandski
centreon the mountain.The visit of a strong group liom the BSBI could help demonstratefurther the
importanceofconservingthe area.
Ad!crlisnrcnls
All profits from the holiday will be sharedby BSBI and RSNC. The Wildlife T'rustsPartnership
(seepage7) I would wish the BSBI portion to be put towardsour publications
As long as the partyis l6 or more the costwill be f650 (twin), f.745(singleroom) for all transport, bedandbreakfast.
For furtherdetailsanda BookingFornrwrite to me at the address
below.
FRANXI-YN PERRINGI 24 Glanthomnoad, Oundle,PETERBO8OUGH,PEa4JQ
FIELD STTJDIESCOUNCIL OVERSEAS COTJRSES- I994
FSC Overseascoursesoffer expert tuition in a wide rangeof subjectsincludingbotany, butterflies,
landscapes,
omithology,photographyand painting.Destinations
rangeltom the Scilly Islesand the
lsle ofMan to the Plrenees,Burren, CanaryIslands,Iceland,Polandand Switzerlandand asfar alield
Thailand,the U.S.A. and Ussuriland.The coursesare designedto suit all levelsof
as Seychelles,
experience,including some specificallyfor families Severalother coursesof a more generalnature
are also includedin the I 994 programnte.all with the aim of providing
I..NT7RONMI'.NT'A
I, I./NDI'R\I'A NDI NG I;OIt A I,I,
For a copyof our full programmecontact:
FSCOVERSEAS(BSBI) MontfordBridge,SHREWSBURY.SY4 lfIW Tel: (074.3)850164
I994 BOTANY TOURSAT HOME AND OVERSEAS
(Led by BSBI Members)
The following botanical tours and courseshave been orsanisedbv the Field StudiesCouncil
Overseas:
26 April - l0 May
28May-4June
I|-25June
25 June- 09 July
2 3 J u l y -l l A u g
July
3-10August
October
FlowersandBirdsof Andalucia
Exploringthe SouthernAegean.
Landscapes,
NaturalHistoryand
Paintingfor the Family
Butterflies,Flowersand Natural
History Photographyin the Swiss
Alps
Summerin Poland.Mountains,
Marshesand PrimevaiForesr
Wild Flowersoithe Olyrnpicsand
Cascades
Flowersof Ussuriland
Hieh Summerin the Pvrenees
FlowersandBunerf.lies
for the
Family
Down UnderandOutback.The
NaturalHistoryof SouthAustralia
RosandJohnBennett
Ros Bennett
Anne Bebbington
Ruth Dawes
ChrisGrey-Wilson
AnneStephens
Ros Bennett
AnneBebbington
Full detailsoftheseandotheroverseas
coursesrun by the FieldStudiesCouncilareavailable
from
(BSBI).MontfordBridge,SHREWSBURY
FSCOverseas
SY4 lfIW (tel 0743-850164)
27 May-3June
l2-19 August
Wild flowersof Devon
sedgesandrushes
Grasses,
AilsaBurns
AilsaBums
Lots ofgood plants,beginners
andthe erperienced
equallywelcome
Furtherdetailsfrom: SlaptonLey FieldCentre,Slapton,Kingsbridge,S DevonTQ7 2QP (rel.0548
s80466).
Adr ertrsntents
Tony and Helen'fitchen(both keenbotanists),will be organisingand leadingbotanicaltoursto the
lollowing destinations
March (one week)
April (two weeks)
Madeira
Crete
Mav (oneweek)
Juiy(1 week)
Turkey
Pyrenees
Sept /Oct. (i weeks)
C a n a r r e s( l / i j s l a n d s )
Tony &
Tony &
l ony &
Tony &
Tonv &
HelenTitchen
HelenTitchen
HelenTitchen
HelenTitchen
HelenTitchen
For moreinformationaboutdatesandcosts.etc., pleasecontact.
'IITCHEN,
TONY & IIELEN
29 Nore Road. Portishead,BRISTOL, Avon BS20 9HN
(tel 027s-84862e)
T'helollowingbotanicaltoursandcourseshavebeenorganised
by Cox andKings.
l4
2l
- 25 March
- 28 March
28 March - 8 Apnl
5 - 19April
21 Aprrl- ll May
22May-5June
l4 - 28 June
I6-l0June
25 Sept.- l5 Oct
NorthemCyprus
SouthemCyprus
Crele
- Peloponese
Cireece
Western'furkey
Spain- Berdun
Austria - Carinthia
- Weingen
Switzerland
WesternAustralia
Tony Kemp
Mary Briggs
Mary
'lony Briggs
Kemp
Mary Bnggs
PeterJepson
I'ony Kemp
Mary Briggs
Mary Briggs
Fuli details ofthese and all other tours run by Cox and Kings are availableliom:
Cox and Kings Travel Ltd , St JamesCourt, Buckingham Cate, LONDON SW I E 6AF
Tel 07l-834-14't2
WALKS AND WILDFLOWERS
in the CretanSpring
E,scorted
walksin late March,andthroughApril; intendedprimarilylbr thosenew to the Mediterraneanflora.
Furtherdetailsare availablefi-omme at the addressbelow:
JEFFCOLLMAN, 2l BeechwoodAvenue,Milber, NEWTON ABtsOT,DevonTQl2 4LJ
I N D I V I D I I A L O R S M A I , T ,G R O I - I PI - I E L D S T T ] D YV I S I T S T O T } I E F R E N C H
PYRENEES
PyreneanFieldStudyServicesis working closelywith the AriegeNaturalistsAssociation
to encourage amateurand professional
naturaliststo visit this seriouslyunder-researched,
and unspoihreservorrof European
wildlife.
The Ariege is the central region of the FrenchPyreneeswhere the Atlantic and Mediterranean
climatesoverlapto maintainhigh densitiesofforest and pasturevegetationbetween300 and 1,000
melresaltitude.
As a financiallypoor areathe uptakeof Agro-chemicals
hasbeenlow or non-existant
leaving
exlensiveareasofunimproved grasslandand an unbrokenfood chain.
65
Ad!ertisments
The Ariege NaturalistsAssociationwelcomesand supportsany field rvork in any way it can.
Thereis a real needfor discoveryand identificationofspeciesand their location.
PyreneanField Study Servicesidentifiesand providesaccessto sitesand expertiserelevantto a
visitors generalor specificinterests.Clients indicatetheir individual requirements,preferencesand
objectiveson which quotationscan be based At this point availabilityof local expertise,and activities
oflocal associationscanbe given.
For moreinformationpleasecontactme at the address
below.
NICK GOLDSIVOT.THY La Baguette,09?20,Lescure.NMO)I
France
NEED HELP?
Do you needhelp?I can helpwith drafting,word processing,
editing,polishing,proofing,indexing
(e.g. Health and Safety and
etc. Theses, papers for publication, dissertationsand assessments
If you do, contactme at the address
below.
COSHH) arestock-in-trade.
PETERJ.COOK, l5 ParkAvenue,Withernsea,
HULL, E YorkshireHUl92JX(te|0964614466)
The Editor Gwynn Ellis can be contactedby phone on 0222-397951ext 218 (NMW) or
0222-496042(home)
Articles can now be Faxedto the Editor on 0222-23t)829or 0222-373219
Alf text and illustrationsappearingin BSBI Nevs and its Supplements are copyright and no
reproductionin any form may be madewithout written permissionfrom the Editor.
Offers and specialterms apply only to membersof the Societyand copiesare not availableon an
exchange
basis.
RSRINews(ISSN 0309-910X)is publishedby the BotanicalSocietyof the BritishIsles
Enquiriesconcerning
the Society'sactivitiesandmembership
shouldbe addressed
to.
The Hon. GeneralSecretary,c/o Dept. of Botall,, The NaturalHistory Museum,CromwellRoad,
LondonSW7 5BD
Camera ready copy producedby Gwynn Ellis at the National Museunrof Walesand printed
by J. & P. Davison,3 JamesPlace,Treforest,Pontypridd, Nlid GlamorganCF37 2BT
(tel. 0443-400585)
66
Conlents
Contents(continuedlrom backcover)
N O T E SA N D A R T I C L E S
. ..
The Universityof Exeter herbarium.changesat Liverpool Museum
A guideto FieldMeetingship
BSBI membersin North and SouthCvorus . . . .
Englishnamesof wild flowers- a repiy( I )
Englishnamesof wild flowers- a reply(2)
Englishnamesof wild flowers - a reply (3)
.
More Orobancheraisedfrom seed
BeatriceSalkeld(1925-1993)- botanistandartist
A curefrom Sir HansSloane( 1660-1753)
..,
T h a n ky o u
... .
- ('hamoemelum
Chamomife
nohile
Thoughtson Mistletoe
A L I E N S. . . .
AlienNews
Foreigners
in our midst
(' oIuIa coronopifo Ii a established
in Yorkshire
Buttonweed(('otula coronopifolia L.). New to S Hants(v.c. I I )
St Andrewsandits linkswith aliens
Mt Etna Broom in W Kent
TRANSLOCATIONAND REINSTATEMENTOF PLANT SPECIES
Reinstatement
of rare olantsat Ben LawersNNR
Propagation
andTranslocation
of Orchids
Geneticdifferencesbetweenpopulationsofrare plants
N O | I C E S{ N O NB S B I }
Stace's1y'ew
liloro ol the Brrttsh I.;le.s
Rehabilitation
of Rivers
Dr A.N. Berkulenlo
Careersin the Environment
lloodbine - Flora Britannicanewsletter
Lichens.for
vegelable
dy,erng.....
REQUESTS
()rchts rrstulatu . .
Onfionche seedwanted
Stellqria medn andS. nesletta
- a lostbook
BettySwainson's
Plant-records
Symphoricarposa/Dlr.s,doesit spreadby seedin the British Isles
Butcher's-broom
RESEARCHAND TRAVEL GRAN] S
Financialsupportfbr smallprojects- Wilf NelsonRum Bursary
The Oleg PoluninMemorialFund
BOOK NOTES
ADVERTISL,MENTS
perambulation
Presidential
on Mounl Olympus
FieldStudiesCouncilOverseas
Courses- 1994
I 994 Botanytoursat homeandoverseas
FieldStudiesCouncilOlerseas
FieldCentre
'lSlaptonL.ey
ony andHelenTitchen . .
Cor andKings
Walksandrvildflowersin the CretanSpring
lndividualor smallgroupfield studyvisitsto the FrenchPyrenees
Needhelpi
67
-tl
) l
3l
33
-) -t
)q
35
35
-to
37
38
38
38
38
38
A1
+J
46
47
47
48
5l
54
5'7
J/
57
51
58
58
58
5S
59
59
-59
59
60
60
60
60
6l
ol
63
63
61
64
64
61
65
65
65
65
oo
f ontcnts
C ON T E N T S
. A D M I N I Sf R A I I O N
....2
Changeofaddress........
7
Deadline lbr contributions for RSRI Nev',s65 . . . .
2
DIARY
.....l
L , D II O R I A L . . .
J
, , . . .
P R O I . I L E S. . . . .
.4
New President- Dr lranklyn H. Perring
.4
N e w H o n o r a r y m e m b e r s- J o h n ( P . J . O . )T r i s t . . . . . .
..... b
Dick(RHlRobens
.....o
TFIE PARTNERSHIP CAKE
1
IMPORTA\T NOTICES .
8
Whither BSBIo
8
A Reminder . .
9
Scarce Plants Project .
q
RSRI Abstrau.s 23 (for I992)
REGIONALJOURNA-LS
....I()
J r i s hl * t u r r r c u l, \ e u :
......... l0
llSlll Wel.shllulletur
. ..
l0
'Ihe
S c < t t t i sNhe u , s l e t l c r
............ l0
HON. GENERAL SECRETARY'S NOI'ES
IO
Congratulations.D.H.Kent, Dr E Crackles,D.McClintock, Prof.J.Dickson, Ms V.Morgan l0
M e m o r i af lr e e . .
ll
In Memoriam Dick David, Aidan Brady
. . .. .. . .
II
RECORDERS AND RECORDING ,..
12
S u p p l e m e nn to . 2 t o L i s t o f R e c o r d e risn l 9 9 l Y e a rB o o k
............. 12
S u p p l e m e n t n o . 2 t o P a n eol f R e f ' e r e e s a nSdp e c i a l i s t s i ln9 9 l Y e a r B o o k
.......12
RedDataBookProject
.. . .... ll
Ludu'ign patu.srrl.!- first record in Sussexsince 1876 . ..
..... . il
OnonisreclinqtarelbundinAlderney
.......l4
T h e 1 9 9 2 C r o c k e n h i l lt r e e s u r v e y- a t e n y e a r u p d a t e .
.. . . ... .. 14
Lyme disease:some thoughts fiom the sharp end of a tick
............. I5
(
'
o
r
d
o
m
i
n
e
N e w Z e a l a n dB i t t e r c r e s s ,
corymbosa
............. 16
( ' e r a s l r u mb r a c h y p e t a l u mf a c i n g d e s t r u c t i o ni n S E E n g l a n d
...........
16
P r i m r o s ev a r i a t i o na n d d i s e a s e
.
.... ... 17
I ' y r o l c t r o u n t h J b l l a s u b s pn .a n t i m o i n E E , n g l a n d
.. .........17
Herbaria.towardsabetteruse
............. 18
A n o t h e r D a n i s h i n v a s i o. n
. .?. . . . . . .
.. ....l8
B a s t a r dC a b b a g ei n c h a l kg r a s s l a n d
........20
Translocationsagain .
l0
Intrinsically poor habitats
. .. 2l
( ' o r r y z a c a n a d e n s i s ( ' . s u m o t r e n s t si n t e r m e d i a t e s
......22
I s P o a i n / i r m a m o v i n ge a s t w a r d s ?
........... 22
P l a n t sf o u n di n a L e i c e s t e r s h o
i ruea r r y
............23
The spread ol lJruch)f xltnm piitrtttrim in Wales . . .
:5
S t i n g i n gn e t t l e I I m i d w i n t e r g r o w t h
....29
l,enrnamrnutalll-monocultures
.....29
LemnamrnutalV-greenroots
... ... l0
BeeOrchidsatlandbeacn
.....-lL)
H e n b a n eo n S e t - a s i d e
.... .. l0
l ' h e s e a r c h f b r W . P . L l i e m ' s J b r b z . rd e w n i e n s t . sr e c o r d s 1 8 6 , 1 - 1 9 2 2. . . . .
.. -ll
C o n t i n u e d o n i n s i d eb a c k c o v e r
6li