Spring: Hectic Catch Up

Spring has passed and I have not produced a single post. So here, cobbled together without any real narrative, are some of the pictures I've amassed over the past months. 

For continuity we return where winter left us in the Aberystywth University Vice-Chancellor's garden where, in March, a strange parasite pokes artificial looking purple and white buds through the leaf-litter. Lathraea clandestina is an alien that mostly occurs in gardens and is scattered across the UK. In Aberystwyth it grows at the base of a Metasequoia glyptostroboides a species that is not thought to be a host though the population is not far from its more generally favoured Salicaceous hosts. 

Lathraea clandestina, buds,
SN 59354 82044, March 2014

Lathraea clandestina, flower,
SN 59354 82044, March 2014

And so spring continued and I briefly left the safety of Aberystwyth for a trip north-east to The Ecological Genetics Group Conference in Newcastle. The second day of the conference saw us escape the confines of the hotel and head out to the remains of an old open cast coal mine near Hauxley. It had, as is often the case with old mine workings, been turned into a nature reserve featuring scrapes and hides. The botany was limited and despite the visit being lead by John Richards (of which more later) not a single Taraxacum was investigated. One very large species that was new to me and admired by all for its architectural qualities was Dipsacus laciniatus an uncommon alien of waste places.     

Dipsacus laciniatus, Spring rosette, 
NU 28323 02379, 14/04/2014

Dipsacus laciniatus, Old heads, 
NU 28323 02379, 14/04/2014

Shortly after returning from Newcastle I travelled to North Wales with Andy Jones for the BSBI Taraxacum Workshop. With events like this somewhere after the fifth or sixth micro-species and its accompanying explanation you begin to realise that you're fighting a loosing battle, characters and names blur, until, eventually, most that remains is an mental soup of undifferentiated Taraxacum. However John Richards descriptions were informative and often amusing. A favourite statement, acquired from the Danish Taraxacologist Hans Øllgaard, being 'ah, lovely, pedagogic material'. Pedagogic in this sense apparently meaning 'exemplary'. The etymology of which I presume is related to the specimen being perfect for demonstrating the characters of the species. Anyway despite the information overload I did pick up a few species. Taraxacum britannicum a section Celtica species with small involucres with dark tips and erect or adpressed bracts in bud. Taraxacum argutum a section Erythrosperma species with closed capitula and inrolled reddish ligules. Taraxacum insigne a section Ruderalia species with long spoke-like bracts held at right angles to the bud. So three of the 230 or so UK Taraxacum species are now part of my botanical repertoire which is a start I suppose...

Taraxacum britannicum, Treborth, VC49, 24/04/2014

Taraxacum insigne, Aberffraw,
VC52, 25/04/2014

The second Taraxacum day began with a visit to Newborough Warren. Some amusement was had when John Richards initially misidentified what he soon realised to be 'his dandelion' Taraxacum richardsianum. A few plants of this section Nervosa species with its spotted leaves grew in a sandy scrape beside the path. As we picked our way through a minefield of dog poo that spreads out from the car park our Taraxacum list grew with most species turning out to be new county records.

Huddling Taraxcicologists, Newborough Warren, VC52, 25/04/2014

Taraxacum richardsianum, Newborough Warren, VC52, 25/04/2014

As we eventually left the path and headed onto the dunes it began to rain and with lunch time fast approaching it was decided that retreat was the wisest option. Before we turned back we added a few delicate Taraxacum sect. Erythrosperma species including the widespread T. oxoniense with its pale bordered bracts. Other spring sand dune flowers were also in abundance including Vicia lathyroides and the dwarf Valerianella locusta var. dunensis. 

Taraxacum oxoniense, Newborough Warren, VC52, 25/04/2014

Vicia lathyroides, Newborough Warren, VC52, 25/04/2014

As we headed back I made a last effort to find one of the target species for our visit to Newborough. Taraxacum palustre a member of section Palustre and one of the more easily identified Taraxacum species. Local and closely associated with damp calcareous situations Anglesey is one of its strongholds and there were old records for Newborough. Searches in the tall vegetation during the morning had failed to reveal anything but in eventually in short grazed turf I and another member of the party found two small populations. The majority of the plants were clinging to tussocks of Schoenus nigricans. A particullary picturesque one of these showed nicely the closely appressed bracts and undivided leaves that make section Palustre 'unmistakable' in dandelion terms. 

Taraxacum palustre, Newborough Warren, VC52, 25/04/2014

Our last stop was a seemingly unremarkable lane leading up from the edge of the Menai Straits at Foel Farm. By this point I had seen far too many Taraxacums to assimilate any related information. As we were about to leave Richard Price spotted a single plant of Fumaria purpurea in the hedge bank. It turned out to be a noteworthy end to the day as the species had not been recorded from the county for many years.

Fumaria purpurea, Lane near Foel Farm, 
VC52, 25/04/2014

The day after I returned from North Wales and with Taraxacums still plaguing my every waking thought I shipped out to Preston Montford in Shropshire to assist on a University field course. It was a busy week of varied tutorials covering ecology, geology and land-use with eighty undergraduates. Plants had their place and even took centre stage on a few of the days and we saw a few interesting species along the way.

John Warren demonstrates Equisetum spore movement,
The Ercall,  SJ 64425 09556, 29/04/2014

The first afternoon was spent in Ashes Hollow, in a small stream that flows down the east flank of Long Mynd into Little Stretton. While not strictly botanical I did get to indulge my intermittent interest in Coleoptera when a large and distinctive looking Staphylinid with a fine golden pubescence flew into the side of my head. Later research revealed it to be Ontholestes tessellatus a widespread but not common species associated with dung and carrion.  

Ontholestes tessellatus, Ashes Hollow,
Shropshire, SO 42625 93068,
Coll: 27/04/2014

Emperor Moth (Saturnia pavonia),
Barrister's Plain, Shropshire, SO 42600 92750, 27/04/2014

Returning to the minibuses atop Pole Bank John found Teesdalia nudicaulis growing on a knoll by the car-park. This diminutive Crucifer with its neat little spathulate leaves grows in very dry nutrient poor places and is uncommon in the West.  

Teesdalia nudicaulis, Pole Bank,
Shropshire, SO 41741 94305, 27/04/2014

Later days of the trip included visits to a number of other small hills south though Shropshire as well as the Fens to the north. On the penultimate day we visited the Iron Age fort of Nordy Bank in the Brown Clee Hills. The impressive earthworks atop the small hill supported some nice species including Moenchia erecta, Trifolium micranthum and many little Taraxacum sect. Erythrosperma that were still a mystery to me. 

Moenchia erecta, Nordy Bank,
Shropshire, SO 57469 84752, 30/04/2014

On the last day we climbed the Stiperstones to look at heather cycles and moorland management for grouse. We passed through some nice fields of upland acid grassland dotted with dewy Viola lutea. In the patchwork of managed heather we stopped to set up basic quadrats and record the handful of species present among which were flowering Vaccinium vitis-idaea and the bronze shoots of  Melampyrum pratense.   

Viola lutea, Stiperstones,
Shropshire, SO 36285 98816, 01/05/2014

Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Stiperstones,
Shropshire, SO 36298 99357, 01/05/2014

So that's spring. Hopefully I'll manage more regular updates for the remainder of the season...

The Vice Chancellor's Shrubs

I started this post a few months back, before the rush of my MPhil write-up, now I come back to it and find it to be somewhat unseasonal but given that I have little else to post I may as well complete it.

Around the end of October, a few weeks after my stipend came through, I treated myself to a few of the books I'd ogled on Summerfield Books in the months prior. Among these was the (relatively) recent Cotoneaster monograph by Fryer and Hylmö. An impressive book, designed for gardeners but including keys, comprehensive descriptions and lots of photos. The Saturday after it arrived I wandered up the steepest road in Aberystwyth and into Penglais woods. Passing a few bushes of the frequently naturalised  Cotoneaster simonsii scattered along the path-side I dropped down a zigzag path into the Vice-Chancellor's garden.

The gardens sits between the woods and a small stream, protected from the road and the woodland path by thick growths of Cherry Laurel. Little evidence of its origins as a formal garden organised by plant family remains. An unkempt shrubbery separates the small lawn in front of the house from the bulk of the garden, completely hiding it and creating a nice spot for an summer afternoon's wine picnic or an autumn Cotoneaster hunt.

Before diving into the Cotoneasters I pushed through a flowering female bush of Ilex × altaclerensis a frequently cultivated hybrid between the native I. aquifolium and I. perado, a species from The Azores.

Ilex × altaclerensis, SN 59281 82100

Having not taken my shiny new book out into the field (or garden) I was simply equipped with a knife and a crumpled Lidl bag. This I rapidly filled with a wealth of berry-laden branches. The first of these turned out to belong to Cotoneaster gamblei, its dirty pink berries already having suffered considerable thrush damage. This is a member of the subgenus Chaenopetalum characterised by simultaneous flowering across the whole plant, spreading petals and having the style remnant attached at the tip of the nut. Most of these species are larger than those in subgenus Cotoneaster with some such as C. strictus, the second species I collected growing into medium sized trees with impressive curved trunks.

Cotoneaster gamblei, SN 59333 82073

Cotoneaster frigidus, SN 59333 82073

These two large species were followed by myriad confusing smaller species many of which defied identification either through careful keying or casual flicking through pictures. A few however were more considerate among these were C. capsicinus a species with mucronate tips to the leaves and sparse, singly produced berries.

Cotoneaster capsicinus, SN 59567 82094

Cotoneaster capsicinus, SN 59567 82094

A tall, long-leaved and somewhat scratty bush with single, long, almost black berries turned out to be C. otto-schwarzii & while a bush with deeply-veined uppersides to its leaves and strikingly white-floccose undersides was C. sternianus.

Cotoneaster otto-schwarzii, SN 59583 82069

Cotoneaster sternianus, SN 59347 82139

Cotoneaster sternianus, SN 59347 82139

Crossing the road onto the campus proper my bag was beginning to overflow. Among the few remaining species for which I established a satisfactory determination were the long-leaved C. salicifolius and its very common and variable horticultural hybrid with C. frigidus; C. × watereri.

  

Cotoneaster salicifolius, SN 59444 81875

Cotoneaster × watereri, SN 59444 81875

All in all there was a huge variety of Cotoneaster taxa present in the small corner of campus that I collected from of which only a handful yielded to my (admittedly novice) identification attempts. In my wanders around other parts of the campus and town in the intervening months I've noticed still more species in various states of denudation. Over the next few years I'll hopefully have the chance to tackle some more of these both in flower and fruit and perhaps, gradually, come to terms with this complex genus. 

National Botanic Gardens Autumn '13

I've been based at The NBGW for the last month as my MPhil deadline is fast approaching and it helps to be far from the myriad lights of Aberystywth. Most of my time has been spent in front of a computer or with a pipette in hand desperately making up for lost time. However I have been out into the world as the old farm house that serves as accommodation for myself and a few other students is a short walk across the gardens and through some damp cattle fields. On these twice-daily trips I've noticed a few plants beyond those planted by horticulture.

The first of these grows in the slate beds where the path enters the gardens. Veronica peregrina is a small speedwell introduced from North America. Its tiny whitish flowers subtended by long bracts don't leap out but once I'd noticed it I found it to be abundant in a small area but absent elsewhere, perhaps suggesting it to be a recent arrival. The picture below shows a particularly large individual the majority being so small as to remind one of Montia fontana at first glance. It is scattered about the UK with a few centres of abundance (or recoding awareness) including Liverpool and Northern Ireland and is mostly associated with gardens. Only one previous record exists from Carmarthenshire.       

Veronica peregrina,
Slate Beds, NBGW, Sept 2013

Between the gardens and the fields is a long artificial lake with Little Grebes and Teal feeding among a sea of duckweed. One morning I finally got round to fishing out a handful and found three species to be present. Spirodela polyrhiza made up the vast majority but a few fronds of Lemna minor and Lemna trisulca were also present. Lemna minor is, of course, abundant throughout the British Isles but the other two are relatively uncommon in the west of Wales. 

Spirodela polyrhiza, Habit,
Lake, NBGW, Sept 2013

I've been trying to pay more attention to duckweeds as there are a number of species of interest and they often don't get much of a look in. One introduced species, Lemna turionifera, was added to the British list in 2007 in this paper by Richard Lansdown and has since been found in a few places scattered across the south of Britain. Another species, Landoltia punctata, is also mentioned by Lansdown as having been found in aquatic nurseries in the UK but is not yet known from the wild. This very impressive duckweed website has a lot of information on these species and others as well as useful pictures, keys and introductory duckweed material.  

Spirodela polyrhiza, Underside of frond, Lake, NBGW, Sept 2013

Fringing the lake are tall herbs and bulrush. Almost certainly planted but rather pretty none the less is Typha angustifolia. The smaller and thinner of the two British bulrushes this species is uncommon and mostly introduced in the west. It hybridises with the commoner T. latifolia though I could find no evidence of this having happened at the Gardens despite both species growing adjacent.

Typha angustifolia, Lake, NBGW, Sept 2013

Glasshouse Aliens

I've been sorting through my specimens from my early summer survey of botanical garden glasshouses. Among the many unidentifiable seedlings there have been a few species of interest that I have managed to identify. There is a particular satisfaction using a range of piecemeal sources to determine the identity of a plant not included in Stace though it is often impossible to be certain of a determination at the species level of a plant that could have originated anywhere in the world. Below are a selection of taxa that I have at least determined to genus.

Firstly an easy determination, Solanum chenopodioides, which I found growing in a disused propagation glasshouse at RHS Wisely. The vernacular name for this species is Tall Nightshade and it was large forming a messy bush with tough, woody stems. A dense covering of retrose hairs all over is another character of this species. Originating in South America this species is a very local casual in the UK.              

Solanum chenopodioides, Fruits,
RHS Wisely, TQ 06498 57977, April 2013

Parietaria officinalis grew in abundance in many of the Edinburgh glasshouses. This larger relative of the common P. judaica has longer leaves and also differers in characters of the flower and fruit. Very locally naturalised in the UK this species originates from eastern Europe.   

Parietaria officinalis, Edinburgh Botanic Gardens, May 2013

Growing amongst moss intended for orchids and cycads was a small glandular plant with a pocket shaped yellow flower. Research revealed it to be Calceolaria tripartita a South American weed of damp mossy habitats. This species is not listed in Stace but is mentioned in Clement & Foster's 'Alien Plants of the British Isles' as having occurred in the UK a couple of times.    

Calceolaria tripartita,
Edinburgh Botanic Gardens, May 2013

A frequent weed in the public glasshouses at Edinburgh was Fuchsia procumbens. Very different to the large Fuchsia magellanica familiar from hedges and gardens this species revealed itself as a Fuchsia by way of its succulent, barrel-shaped fruits quite similar to those of the familiar species.  

Fuchsia procumbens,  Edinburgh Botanic Gardens, May 2013

In a wet patch at the edge of the Eden Mediterranean Biome there was plentiful Polypogon viridis. I have only recently become acquainted with this grass which, according to the floras, is very similar to Agrostis stolonifera but looks subtly different in practice. I found it growing near Holyhead Port (VC52) and it has recently colonised Bangor (VC49) where it is now abundant along the edges of some streets.

N.B. I've just found this at the NBGW growing beside a track and also in a disused glasshouse. I've taken the opportunity to compare it with Agrostis stolonifera under the microscope. The key difference is in the comparative lengths of the lemma and the paella, equal in P. viridis and with the paella shorter in A. stolonifera. The glumes of P. viridis are hispid all over while those of A. stolonifera just have a few relatively large bristles toward the end of the keel. The pedicels of P. viridis are also hispid while those of A. stolonifera are smooth. John Poland's vegetative key notes the ciliolate margin to the end of the ligule and this shows up nicely on the P. viridis while the ligule of A. stolonifera is smooth. These notes are based on a couple of plants from one population so may not apply to all plants particularly given the variability of A. stolonifera. Now to find the hybrid...

Polypogon viridis,
Med Biome, Eden Project, April 2013

As mentioned in a previous post the flora of the Tropical Biome at Eden was rather confusing. One relatively easy species to determine was Digitaria ciliaris. This, the most tropical of the three Digitaria species naturalised in the UK, is distinguished on characters of the glume and lemma.

Digitaria ciliaris,
Tropical Biome, Eden Project, April 2013

A final plant also from the Tropical Biome at Eden, this time one that has eluded final determination. Clearly a member of the Urticaceae it was also present in the tropical house at RHS Wisely. My best guess as to its identity is the genus Boehmeria but trawling the internet has failed to help choose from the 100 or so species within this genus. So, if you happen to know its identity please do comment.

N.b.- Having DNA barcoded my specimen of this plant I can now say I was barking up the wrong tree looking in the Urticaceae as it came back as a species of Acalypha in the Euphorbiaceae. This large pan-tropical genus derives its name from the Greek word for nettle (akalephes) in reference to its often nettle like leaves making my previous misidentification a little less embarrassing.

Acalypha sp.,
Tropical Biome, Eden Project, April 2013

Coastal Walk, Aberystwyth to Borth

On a sunny Sunday at the end of August I decided to be active for once and walk along the cliffs to Borth. After Constitution Hill and the holiday atmosphere of Clarach I found a heap of waste from the caravan site with a nice assemblage of ruderal weeds. The most noticeable of which were a variety of large 'Chenopodiaceae'. Most of these turned out to be Chenopodium ficifolium mixed with C. rubrum, C. album and Atriplex patula. C. ficifolium is not a very common species in the west of Wales and I had previously only seen it once in the area, in municipal planters on the Aberystwyth promenade earlier this year. Those plants had been diligently weeded before they had a chance to mature so it was nice to see some fully grown specimens.    

Chenopodium ficifolium,
Clarach Bay, SN 58631 84392, August 2013

Chenopodium rubrum,
Clarach Bay, SN 58631 84392, August 2013

A little further on I scraped around on a parched area of short grass in the hope of finding Trifolium subterraneum. I quickly found a large number of recently germinated small Trifolium plants with small hairy leaves. I'm still not sure as to their identity as I'm unclear on the phenology of T. subterraneum. Hopefully a revisit in a month or so should reveal their true identity. 

(Probable) Trifolium subterraneum,
Coastal hillside N. of Clarach Bay,
SN 58773 84733, August 2013

Returning to the coastal path large stands of Lathyrus sylvestris were showing their last few flowers and an abundance of chunky pods. This mostly coastal species is particularly fond of soft cliffs in the west. Also scrambling around on the cliffs were a few old plants of the invasive Lycium barbarum. This oriental species is the source of the goji berry a recent 'wonder food' craze.  

Lathyrus sylvestris,
Cliffs S. of Wallog,
SN 58917 85514, August 2013

Lycium barbarum,
Wallog, SN 59021 85720, August 2013

Arriving in Borth I had an hour or so before my train back to Aberystywth so spent a while peering into gardens and bits of waste ground along Borth's only street. Not much of note was apparent but a I took a final photo for the day of the small pallid flowers of Malva neglecta growing in someone's front garden.

Malva neglecta,
Borth Main Street, SN 60 89, August 2013 

Western Scotland

At the end of July my girlfriend and I set off on an ill-fated holiday to the Isle of Skye. We'd hired a car and the plan was to drive up at a leisurely pace and camp wherever we fancied. As it turned out the weather was not in our favour and we soon ran out of both steam and money and retreated south. As a result there wasn't much opportunity for botany.

Our first stop on the route north was the shores of Loch Lomond. A large patch of the common hybrid Stachys x ambigua was in full flower. Though not visible in the picture below the slightly stalked lanceolate leaves distinguish it from either parent. The delicate heads of Carum verticillatum were scattered about by the water with their distinctive whorled leaves.

Stachys x ambigua, 
W shore Loch Lomond, July 2013,
VC99

Carum verticillatum, 
W shore Loch Lomond, July 2013,
VC99

A little further north we stopped on the expanse of Rannoch Moor to poke about in the stony tarns. Lobelia dortmanna was flowering, its heads swaying about in the breeze. I puzzled over some very small Ranunculus flammula type plants in the hope of R. reptans or at least the hybrid but eventually gave up on them completely. Back by the car there were a few plants of Rumex longifolius. A common species in Scotland but one I'd only seen a couple of times before.

Lobelia dortmanna,
Loch Ba, NN 31 49, July 2013,
VC98

Rumex longifolius,
Near Loch Ba, NN 31 49, July 2013,
VC98

A short stop for lunch on the way down toward Glencoe provided the last of the dry weather and a nice sighting of a couple of Scotch Argus butterflies flitting about in a boggy patch by the river.

.

Scotch Argus (Erebia aethiops),
Near Glencoe, July 2013

The one full day we spent on Skye was so grim that we hardly dared leave the car. The one Skye 'speciality' that can be seen almost without leaving the car is the hybrid horsetail Equisetum x font-queri at its first know UK locality in a roadside ditch below the glowering cliffs and stacks of the Storr. This hybrid between E. palustre and E. telmateia has since been found in a number of other places in the UK. 

Equisetum x font-queri,
Rigg, Skye, July 2013

Equisetum x font-queri,
Rigg, Skye, July 2013

Aberystwyth

Time now for a few pictures of plants I've seen while going about my daily business in and around Aberystwyth. Firstly an alien that I originally noticed this spring. Tall with linear leaves it was scattered around a car park near the railway station. When it came into flower and was immediately recognisable as Narrow-leaved Ragwort, Senecio inaequidens. This species originates in South Africa and is thought to have arrived in Europe as a hitch-hiker in soil on military equipment during the Second World War (1). It is now spreading in the UK seemingly associated with railways with the only  previous Cardiganshire record from the Borth area. It seems well established in the car park where this picture was taken but must have only arrived last year and may well spread through the town over years to come.         

Senecio inaequidens, Aberystwyth,
SN 58561 81570, June 2013 

Aberystwyth Castle sits on a small promontory at the centre of the Aberystwyth seafront. The crumbling walls are covered in flowers including Spergularia rupicola and Ononis repens but the most interesting plant is in my opinion is Asplenium marinum. Usually a species of natural sea-cliff crevices this is the only site where I have seen it growing on mortared walls.  

Asplenium marinum, Aberystwyth Castle,
June 2013 

On gravelly ground inside the castle walls Trifolium scabrum grows in abundance. This species is one of the more local clovers growing mainly on dry, rocky ground near the sea in the south of the British Isles.

Trifolium scabrum, Aberystwyth Castle,
June 2013 

Back again to the carpark near the station. I had been keeping an eye on a single large grass plant growing in  a municipal bed along with a few plants of Senecio inaequidens. A few weeks ago it began flowering revealing itself to be the relatively common casual Echinochloa crus-galli.

Echinochloa crus-galli, Aberystwyth,
 SN 58590 81637, Sept 2013

(1) - European Commission. (2004). Alien species and nature conservation in the EU. The role of the LIFE program. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg.