New Year's Plant Hunt on the radio

Steven, Tim & Gorse in flower
Image courtesy T. Rich

Tim Rich, Co-ordinator of the BSBI New Year Plant Hunt, was at Cardiff Bay this afternoon pre-recording an interview with BBC Radio Wales, to be broadcast on New Year's morning and then available here on iPlayer. 

Tim was able to tell journalist Steven Fairclough all about the Hunt, now in its fourth year, and some of the species we might find, based on last year's results. 

I bet they also addressed the issue of whether the plants we all recorded in flower last year indicated an early spring, or were species which flower all year round, or could be considered Autumn-flowering plants that were still going through the middle of winter. Here's Tim's analysis for last year. 

Blackstonia perfoliata in flower 22/12/2014
Image: T. Rich

Tim was able to show Steven a few wild plants in bloom today and reports finding Blackstonia perfoliata "flowering again in exactly the same spot in Cardiff Bay as it was last year. Unusual genotype or what?!" 

Apparently Tim found 28 plants in flower in about 30 minutes today. Depending on the weather, many of these could still be blooming at New Year for the Plant Hunt. Watch this space!