North Wales

A recent trip to North Wales presented the opportunity for some botanical tourism. Firstly though I took a wander around my mother's garden in Rhiwlas. Over the years I have filled the garden with a range of ferns and in spring  they are at their best, their croziers unfurling in fresh greens. Though not in any way uncommon  Hart's Tongue, Asplenium scolopendrium has to be one of the most beautiful ferns of spring. 

Asplenium scolopendrium,
Hen Ardd, Rhiwlas, VC49, May 2013 

Around the small pond at the bottom of the garden Rough Horsetail, Equisetum hyemale was poking its cones through the mess of Juncus and Agrostis. Elsewhere my Asplenium septentrionale continues to be munched to the edge of existence by the larvae of the Psychoides micro-moth and Gymnocarpium dryopteris continues its determined invasion of any part of the garden it has not yet conquered.    

Equisetum hyemale, 
Hen Ardd, Rhiwlas, VC49, May 2013

Leaving the garden I visited the woods at Padarn Country Park near Llanberis. Tufts of Hairy Wood-rush, Luzula pilosa were flowering on the woodland floor and the delicate panicles of Wood Melick, Melica uniflora drooped from the slate walls beside the path .

Luzula pilosa,
Padarn Country Park, VC 49, May 2013

Melica uniflora, Padarn Country Park, VC 49, May 2013

Further into the woods I revisited an orchid that I first found a decade or more ago: the Narrow-leaved Helleborine, Cephalanthera longifolia. This rarity normally favours calcareous habitats and its occurrence in these highly acidic woods is explicable only with reference to the multitude of small slate and mortar buildings scattered through these woods. The mortar from these leftovers of the slate mining industry has, over the years, leached into the surrounding soil enriching its pH enough for Cephalanthera to tolerate. Unfortunately my visit was a couple of weeks too early for the flowering season so the picture below is far from exciting.     

Cephalanthera longifolia, Padarn Country Park, VC 49, May 2013

My next stop was Penrhyn Castle, a local National Trust property. This nineteenth century mock-castle was the home of the Pennant family, owners of the lucrative Penrhyn slate quarries a couple of miles further up the Ogwen. The grounds of the castle are the only North Wales site for Southern Wood-rush, Luzula forsteri. This species, as its vernacular name suggests, has a southerly distribution though it was first described from Cardiganshire. It is closely related to L. pilosa but differs from this species in having the branches of the panicle ascendant rather than divergent.

Luzula forsteri,
Penrhyn Castle grounds, VC 49, May 2013

Leaving the mainland I headed across Anglesey to the dunes at Aberffraw. My main purpose in visiting this famous botanical locale was to search for its most famous (botanically at least) resident: Early Sand-grass, Mibora minima. This diminutive winter annual is, apparently, the smallest grass in the world. A rarity in the UK it has its headquarters on Anglesey with a few scattered populations elsewhere on the west coast. I was quickly rewarded in my search and soon realised that at Aberffraw it is abundant wherever the sward is open enough for it to establish.

Mibora minima, Aberffraw, VC 52, May 2013

As well as my target species the bare sandy areas in the dunes supported a rich assemblage of other winter annuals. The dwafed culms and congested heads of (probable) Bromus hordeaceus subsp. thominei were just poking through and the very pretty Sand Cat's-tail, Phleum arenarium was abundant.  

(probable) Bromus hordeaceus subsp. thominei, Aberffraw, VC 52, May 2013

Phleum arenarium,
Aberffraw, VC 52, May 2013

A final wander along the low cliffs to the south of the dunes provided a smattering of flowers. The thrift and primroses of the steep rocks giving way to Spring Squill, Scilla verna in the tight sward atop the cliffs.

Scilla verna, Aberffraw, VC 52, May 2013

Wisley, Kew & Edinburgh

This post aims to zip through a few of the interesting plants from the remainder of my Botanic Garden tour. Spring being here I am rapidly amassing a backlog of material for this blog so I can't go into too great detail.

A couple of weeks ago I set off on my final set of lengthy train journeys and Travellodge nights. This was just as the cold weather finally departed making way for the delayed start of spring. This seemed to foreshorten the season meaning that when I arrived at RHS Wisely all the Magnolias, Rhododendrons and Camellias were all blooming together on Battleston Hill. 

Firstly a spider, Uloborus plumipes. This is the commonest member of a number of tramp spider species found in glasshouses (Wilson, 2011). Introduced by way of Holland and first recorded in the 1990's this species is now widespread in the UK as can be seen from this distribution map. This species was once thought to be parthenogenetic as very few males had been observed but this notion has since been dismissed  as males have been found in abundance higher up in glasshouses beyond the reach of most observers (Oxford, 2011).   

Uloborus plumipes, Tropical Propagation House, RHS Wisely, April 2013  

Outside scrambling among the mossy rockery I noticed a species that I have kept in mind while out in the mountains of Wales and Ireland. Epilobium pedunculare, Rockery Willowherb originates from New Zeeland and bears a strong resemblance to the now ubiquitous invasive E. brunnescens. E. pedunculare differs from E. brunnescens in having toothed margins to the leaves and is naturalised here and there in the UK hills.

Epilobium pedunculare,
The Rockery, RHS Wisely, April 2013

Moving rapidly on to Kew. One plant I noticed spreading profusely in the temperate house was the Yellow-flowered Strawberry, Potentilla indica. This species with its distinctive large green epicalyx is naturalised in a few places in the UK. Since returning from my trip I noticed a large patch of this species growing by a path I frequently walk in Aberystwyth.  

Potentilla indica, Temperate House, RBG Kew, April 2013 

A species that was rampant in a couple of the Edinburgh glasshouses was labbled Nertera balfouriana but according to the on-line Flora of New Zeeland is actually N. depressa. A name that is, in turn, a synonym of Nertera granadensis. This small creeping plant of the family Rubiaceae is a native of damp places scattered across the Southern Hemisphere. Vegetatively it is reminiscent of a small species of Stellaria though the multitude of small purple spots on the stems help make it distinctive. More robust forms of N. granadensis are grown as house plants for their impressive show of orange berries and it has been recorded as a garden escape in the UK.    

Nertera granadensis , RBG Edinburgh, May 2013 

Oxford, G. (2011). Death of an urban myth-parthenogenesis in Uloborus plumipes. Newsletter-British Arachnological Society, (121), 6-8.

Wilson, R. (2011). Some Tropical Spiders Recorded in Leeds, West Yorkshire and a Review of Non-Native Taxa Recorded in the UK. Newsletter-British Arachnological Society, (120), 1-5.

Eden Project

I recently returned from the second stage of botanical garden tour. The garden I visited is one unlike any other, The Eden Project. More a grand socio-architectural statement than a collection of plants Eden is without doubt very impressive even if the plants don't always take centre stage.

The Mediterranean Biome at Eden, April 2013 

From the lip of a disused china clay pit a steep track makes a zigzag descent to Eden. At the top of the slope I was distracted from my introductory wander by a stand of large rugose-leafed plants. These were Balm-leaved Figwort, Scrophularia scorodonia. This species has a very limited distribution in the UK, being confined to the south-west and I can not recollect having encountered it previously. However since my return I happened upon this species in my home town of Aberystwyth where it has escaped from the garden of the late Ceredigion botanist J. H. Salter (Chater, 2010).

Scrophularia scorodonia,
Eden Project, April 2013

Following my informative tour (with Tim Pettitt) I began surveying in the Mediterranean Biome. A couple of hours of crawling through the prickly arid scrub yielded a number of surprised looks and a wide range of weed species. These included the ubiquitous, the unidentified and the probable intentional introductions. One species in this latter category was Tall Rocket, Sisymbrium altissimum. A frequent weed in most of urban Britain it still presented a slight puzzle for a occidental botanist such as myself.        

Sisymbrium altissimum, Mediterranean Biome,
Eden Project, April 2013

Moving then to the Tropical Biome, a confusing situation for any attempt at the eternally complex question of defining 'what is a weed'. Many ground cover species had clearly been introduced for the express purpose of going 'wild' so, while they were self propagating, this was their intended purpose and, therefore, not a 'weedy' characteristic. Anyway, the most virulent coloniser was a species of a family with which I was not previously familiar; the Acanthaceae. This tropical family is well represented in UK tropical houses and seems very geared toward vegetative colonisation. The identity suggested for this by someone (I can't remember or find his name) at Eden was a species of the genus Nelsonia.              

Probable Nelsonia sp., 
Tropical Biome, Eden Project, 
April 2013

The Tropical Biome was also full of insect life. Particularly noticeable was the White-footed Ant, Technomyrmex albipes. This tropical tramp species, originally from the Indo-Australian region, has recently colonised western glasshouses and has rapidly become a significant pest at the expense of other tropical ant species. In at least one case it was purposely introduced to control another ant species. At this task it  excelled, but, as evidenced by many such examples, the biological control agent replaced  the problem rather than eradicating the problem (Boer, et al., 2008).  

Probable Technomyrmex albipes on a Strelitzia flower ,

Tropical Biome , Eden Project, April 2013

Leaving the Biomes I noticed a tiny red splash of colour among the gravel. This was the Mossy Stonecrop, Crassula tillaea. This species has a rather scattered distribution and seems to be spreading. Of the three records for North Wales shown on the BSBI map I know two of the sites are car parks at popular tourist destinations. I presume that it is being spread on car tires from one car park to the next on the wheels of unsuspecting holidaymakers.     

Crassula tillaea, Eden Project, April 2013

Wandering out through a wooded area I came across a planted glade of primroses and cowslips as well as two plants of their hybrid Primula x polyantha. This hybrid is frequent almost whenever the parents meet and probably arose in situ. This is also the parentage of a number of the showy horticultural Primula varieties.

Primula x polyantha,
Eden Project, April 2013

Boer, Peter, and Bert Vierbergen. "Exotic ants in the Netherlands (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)." Entomologische Berichten 68.2 (2008): 29.
Chater, A.O., 2010, Flora of Cardiganshire. Self published, Aberystwyth.

Irish Excursion

The week before last I made a multi-purpose trip across the Irish Sea beginning in Ulster with a weed survey at the Belfast Botanic Gardens.This small botanic garden is dominated by a curvilinear palm house, one of the earliest of its kind, dating to 1840.

'The Bulb Wing' of The Curvilinear House
at Belfast Botanic Gardens 

The weed flora of the Belfast Botanic Gardens was mostly unremarkable though one rather nondescript plant was abundant and eluded identification for some time. It turned out to be Artillery weed, Pilea microphylla. This small creeping plant of the family Urticaceae is native to the Southern United States and the Caribbean. It has not been recorded naturalised in the UK but is known to be a glasshouse weed elsewhere. An interesting feature of this plant that is not noted in the books I have read is the presence of transverse translucent stripes across the leaves.  

Pilea microphylla, Belfast Botanic Gardens, April 2013 

Pilea microphylla,
Belfast Botanic Gardens, April 2013

The main purpose of my visit to Ireland, The Ecological Genetics Group Conference took up a few days following my visit to the gardens. The only small bit of botany I managed to squeeze in during the conference was on a field trip to the Giant's Causeway. No species of great interest were observed but the swollen overwintering rootstocks of Sea Aster, Aster tripolium among the basalt boulders were not something I had previously noted.  

Aster tripolium, Giant's Causeway, April 2013

When the conference ended I, my supervisor (Dr Natasha De Vere, NBGW) and another student (Tracey Hamston, Exeter) headed south to The Republic. Our first stop was The National Botanic Gardens of Ireland at Glasnevin. Here we meet with the Garden's head of science, Colin Kelleher. Our first order of business was identifying potential sites to visit over the next few days with a view to collecting Saxifraga rosacea for genetic work being carried out at The National Botanic Gardens of Wales. My presence on the trip was as a guide as I know the location of the plant on one of our sites, Brandon Mountain. A quick flick through the herbarium sheets showed a large number of specimens from Black Head, Co Clare and Brandon Mountain, Co. Kerry. As Colin had already collected from the Black Head plants and I knew the location of the Brandon plants we needed other locations. This was provided in the form of specimens from the Galtee Mountains in Tipperary collected by the great Irish botanist Maura Scannell. A few specimens from various locations around Macgillicuddy's Reeks gave us a third site and completed our itinerary.

Saxifraga rosacea,
specimen from Black Head, Co Clare,
1892, in DBN

With the sites selected I left the others to collect material from the herbarium and went to survey the glasshouses around the gardens. The first weed of interest was shown to me by the horticultural staff. The fern ally Psilotum nudum occurs frequently as a weed in pots in the tropical propagation house. This species, the only representative of the division Psilophyta, is the most primitive extant vascular plant. Psilotum has been noted as a weed on previous occasions but I had not expected to encounter it in such a situation.

Psilotum nudum, National Botanic Gardens of Ireland,
April 2013

Across the yard in a run-down polytunnel a collection of Irish natives had gone wild. The most abundant colonist of other species' pots was Cornish Moneywort, Sibthorpia europaea. This species, a rare native inhabitant of damp places in the extreme south and west of the British Isles, is shown below invading a pot of seemingly dead pot of Seriphidium maritimum.  

Sibthorpia europaea, National Botanic Gardens of Ireland,
April 2013

Oxalis corniculata and O. exilis were, of course, abundant much to the consternation of the gardeners. The cracks in the floor of one of the glasshouses provided a nice example of the two species growing in proximity.

Oxalis corniculata (purple)
and O. exilis (green), National Botanic Gardens of Ireland,
April 2013

Inside and outside the purple form of Annual Meadow Grass, Poa annua f. purpurea grew in abundance. This form was described in a 2003 paper by M. L. Grant from the RHS gardens at Wisely. This is an interesting form in that, as Grant notes, it blends in very well when growing on bare soil and therefore possess a selective advantage over the more conspicuous green form in the weeded garden environment.      

Poa annua f. purpurea, National Botanic Gardens of Ireland,
April 2013

Poa annua f. purpurea, National Botanic Gardens of Ireland,
April 2013

Leaving the propagation area I conducted a mostly fruitless search of the very hygienic ornamental glasshouses. Around a water feature in the Rhododendron House I found mats of the amusingly named Mind-your-own-business, Soleirolia soleirolii. Its tiny flowers straining the ability of my lens.

   

Soleirolia soleirolii, National Botanic Gardens of Ireland,
April 2013

Leaving the city we headed across the centre of Ireland to Cashel where we stayed overnight in preparation for our trip up the Galtee Mountains. The morning saw us ascend a forestry track onto the sunny moors. Reaching the crags around Lough Borheen where Scannell's 1980's  for S. rosacea collection was made we began searching  the icy gulleys. Our search was not immediately rewarded but some pleasant upland species were observed. Firstly, Fir Clubmoss, Huperzia selago was found growing in rock cracks. The small upland moss Hedwigia stellata was seen growing on boulders its white-tipped leaves standing out from the pinkish red sandstone. 

Huperzia selago, near Lough Borheen, Co. Tipperary,
R 9037 2448, April 2013 

Hedwigia stellata, near Lough Borheen, Co. Tipperary, 
R 9017 2482, April 2013, VCH7 

After a few fruitless hours we discovered a small population of S. rosacea half covered by ice in a gulley on the slightly lower crags near the lough. As Natasha collected samples into silica gel for analysis back home Tracey and I found a number of extra plants some way further down the gulley. 

Saxifraga rosacea, near Lough Borheen, Co. Tipperary, 
R 8994 2450, April 2013, VCH7 

 

Continuing south the following day we ascended Mount Brandon on the Dingle Peninsular. The weather had turned windy and some flurries of snow greeted us as we reached the high ground. S. rosacea was found after a short search growing in runnels and, later, on rocks in a small stream. The weather closed in preventing us from concluding a search for Alpine Lady's-mantle, Alchemilla alpina. We did however find a large clump of Thrift, Armeria maritima, a species that is best know in its sea cliff habitat but also occurs on high mountain rocks and on heavy metal spoil heaps.  

Natasha De Vere, Colin Kelleher & Tracey Hamston, Brandon Mountain 

Saxifraga rosacea, Brandon Mountain, Co. Kerry, 
Q 4657 1273, April 2013 

Armeria maritima, Brandon Mountain, Co. Kerry, 
Q 4657 1273, April 2013 

The final day of our trip began with some botanical tourism around Killarney National Park. Our first stop was at a site where I had last seen the elusive Killarney Fern, Trichomanes speciosum in 2003. After a somewhat treacherous river crossing we found a large colony at the base of a small cliff.

Trichomanes speciosum, Near Killarney,
April 2013

Trichomanes speciosum, Near Killarney,
April 2013

A second stop was in a roadside lay-by serendipitously beside a couple of Strawberry Trees, Arbutus unendo. The boulders around were covered in lush growths of both filmy ferns (Hymenophyllum tunbrigense, H. wilsonii) as well as St. Patrick's cabbage, Saifraga spathularis.  

Arbutus unendo,
Killarney National Park, April 2013 

Hymenophyllum wilsonii & Saifraga spathularis,
Killarney National Park, April 2013

The final search for S. rosacea proved to be fruitless somewhat ruining our otherwise perfect record (of two). Our trip complete we retreated to Cork in the pouring rain.

Perry, Jesse P., and Lytton J. Musselman. "Psilotum nudum new to North Carolina." American Fern Journal 84.3 (1994): 102-104.      

Ynyslas

The sand dunes at Ynyslas were bleak and wintry when I visited yesterday. The easterly wind whipped across the flat plain of Cors Fochno and down the Afon Dyfi from the snow covered hills to the east. The bus dropped me at the concrete shack 'Ynyslas Turn' and I walked the remaining mile toward the dunes. A row of small grey bungalows interspersed with misplaced two-story goliaths protected me from the worst of the wind. These soon petered out giving way to an uninviting caravan site with a hopeful advertisement for Sunday dinner. The dune slacks were completely flooded condemning my plans to search for the minute dune slack liverwort Petalophyllum ralfsii. I headed toward the bare sand of the rabbit-scrapes to search for winter annuals. 

Among the russet patches of Syntrichia ruralis subsp. ruraliformis there were many plants of the Little Mouse-ear, Cerastium semidecandrum distinguished from the few plants of Sea Mouse-ear, Cerastium diffusum by the scarious tips to the bracts that are just visible in the picture below.             

Cerastium semidecandrum, Ynyslas, SN 60889401, March 2013

Moving deeper into the dunes I encountered an abundance of  Lesser Chickweed, Stellaria pallida crawling around on the bare sand. This small diploid relative of the Chickweed, Stellaria media is frequent on sandy ground around most of the British coasts as can be seen from the distribution map. This species is mostly cleistogamous meaning that each flower pollinates itself without opening. 

Stellaria pallida, Ynyslas, SN 60889401, March 2013

Moving back to the margins of the flooded slacks the creeping sand dune form of the Variegated Horsetail, Equisetum variegatum was abundant its tough, white banded stalks topped by small apiculate cones. 

Equisetum variegatum, Ynyslas,
SN 60889401, March 2013

Nearing the deserted visitor centre the signs of rabbit activity peaked on a small dune riddled with burrows. Among the mess of loose sandy warrens were the young leaves of Houndstongue, Cynoglossum officinale. This mainly southern species has its only Cardiganshire station at Ynyslas.

Cynoglossum officinale, Ynyslas,
SN 60889401, March 2013

I took a few steps out on to the estuarine sands but was rebuffed by clouds of airborne sand on its way to catch among the Marram. Defeated by sand and wind, I cut my visit short.   

Verkleij, J. A. C., AM de Boer, and T. F. Lugtenborg. "On the ecogenetics of Stellaria media(L.) Vill. and Stellaria pallida (Dum.) pire from abandoned arable field." Oecologia 46.3 (1980): 354-359.

Constitution Hill, Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth lies at the centre of Cardigan Bay and, therefore, also at the midpoint of the Welsh coastline. A small seaside town with a picturesque Victorian promenade Aberystwyth is populated mostly by students and aged holiday makers. It is bounded north and south by a pair of small hills with that to the north being  Constitution Hill. Composed of friable sedimentary rocks know as the Aberystwyth Grits this small hill is scaled by a short funicular railway and is topped by a run down café complex.

Loose shaley areas at the bottom of the cliffs just above the pebble beach support the fleshy maritime subspecies of Common Sorrel, Rumex acetosa subsp. biformis. Unusually for a subspecies this taxon has been granted a common name: Overlooked Sorrel. As can be seen for the BSBI distribution map this moniker is well deserved. The preponderance of Cardiganshire records is a frequent anomaly for critical taxa and is the result of one botanist. Arthur Chater lives in Aberystwyth and has, during his 35 years as county recorder made Cardiganshire one of the most thoroughly recorded counties in the UK. His recent book, Flora of Cardiganshire, is a heavy slab of detailed information on the flora and botanical history of the county that sets the standard for county floras.         

Rumex acetosa subsp. biformis Constitution Hill, Aberystwyth.
SN 58284 82617. 17/03/13  

Also among the shale are a few plants of the beautiful coastal species Yellow Horned-poppy, Glaucium flavum. The leaves of this species are coated in a thick growth of multicellular hairs giving them a hoary appearance. This coupled with the leaf's waxy surface makes the plants 'almost unwettable' (Scott, 1963) an important adaptation for a species that is often subject to salt spray or inundation. 

Glaucium flavum Constitution Hill, Aberystwyth.
SN 58284 82617. 17/03/13

Slightly further up the slope the bright little flowers of Coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara are already peaking trough the grey of the scree. This pioneer species produces flowers early in the spring before the leaves have developed.

Tussilago farfara Constitution Hill, Aberystwyth.
SN 58281 82636. 17/03/13

At the top of the hill an area of trampled ground with perforated rubber matting supports a diminutive community. As seen in the picture below the tiny plant Blinks, Montia fontana is in flower and Sea Mouse-ear, Cerastium diffusum is budding among the moss.

Montia fontana & Cerastium diffusum 
Constitution Hill, Aberystwyth.SN 58281 82636. 17/03/13

A frequent occurrence on the rocks of Constitution Hill is the moss Coscinodon cribrosus. This small moss is local in the British Isles mainly occurring on the western coasts. It forms small white tipped cushions on shaley rocks.

Coscinodon cribrosus Constitution Hill, Aberystwyth.SN 58281 82636. 17/03/13

Scott, G. A. M. "Glaucium flavum Crantz." Journal of Ecology 51.3 (1963): 743-754.