BSBI Species Accounts 1-22

Camomile (Chamaemelum nobile)
Image: B. Gibbons

Have you seen what Pete and Kevin have just gone and done?

If you don't know BSBI's Head of Science Dr Kevin Walker and our Scientific Officer Dr Pete Stroh, you may imagine slightly remote and forbidding chaps in lab coats peering down microscopes who hold forth intermittently on BSBI research projects. 

If you do know them, you will be cackling right now at any suggestion of Pete & Kevin as remote or forbidding, and are probably picturing Kev monitoring plants and trialling survey methods in the field, planning great scientific projects and activities for BSBI members to get involved in, writing articles for publications like British Wildlife and New Journal of Botany, tapping into local contacts and local Floras to build a clearer picture about the current state of our wild flowers, and working alongside colleagues in agencies and partner organisations to help shape government policy on nature conservation in Britain & Ireland... 

Basil Thyme (Clinopodium acinos)
Image: P. Stroh

Or you may be smiling, thinking of a shy, modest and slightly nervous Pete, after two years of work leading a team of top British botanists, about to unveil the England Red List to an assembly of scientists and journalists at Kew last year. As soon as he started talking about plants, any shyness evaporated, and both Pete's presentation, and the England Red List itself, proved a resounding success!

So, what have Pete and Kevin done now? This. They've produced 22 brand new in-depth Species Accounts of British plants. Each one is illustrated by gorgeous images, many taken by Pete and Kevin, some by old friends like Lliam Rooney and Bob Gibbons. Each Species Account tells you how to ID the plant, whereabouts it grows in the wild, what kind of conditions it likes, which other plants it grows with, any threats it's currently facing and how we can manage its habitat effectively. 

Fine-leaved Sandwort (Minuartia hybrida)
Image: L. Rooney

My favourite thing here is seeing the various conservation statuses for these plants. As well as being a useful practical tool, they help paint a picture of how a plant is doing (literally) on the ground! So, although the beautifully-named Melancholy Thistle Cirsium heterophyllum is still widespread across Scotland and northern England, and is assessed as being of Least Concern in Britain, the Species Account points out that it is Endangered in Wales and Near Threatened in England. Or how about the tiny but elegant Fine-leaved Sandwort Minuartia hybrida, found mostly on open, chalky substrates in Southern England, extinct in Scotland, a neophyte in Ireland and Wales; this species has suffered substantial declines, so is assessed as Endangered in Great Britain.

These 22 species are just the start - Pete and Kevin plan to publish 80 Species Accounts this year. And how much is BSBI charging you for these amazing resources? Nothing - they are all available here as pdfs for you to download free of charge any time you like. Shall I pass on your thanks to Pete and Kevin and leave you to get on with reading these fabulous Species Accounts? Just try not to drool too much over the images, it's very bad for your keyboard...

Botanical Book at Bedtime: Part Two

Last week, in Part One of our Botanical Book at Bedtime, Peter Llewellyn told us about the plan he and his friends hatched to try and find the elusive Diapensia lapponica. It grows on one particularly inaccessible mountaintop and when we left our intrepid team last week, they were about to start the ascent. And just beginning to realise how difficult this particular plant hunt was going to be. 

So, if you're all sitting comfortably, then Peter will begin the next installment...  

Treasure hunting in the Wester Ross uplands.

Part 2: The Ascent

Huperzia selago (Fir Clubmoss)
Image: P. Llewellyn

"We had details of where to start and how to approach the climb from someone who had successfully done the trip a few years before. This included the essential GPS references for the plant. Sometimes GPS references are dismissed as new-fangled nonsense by those who prefer traditional methods of navigation, but we felt we needed every little bit of help we could get. Moreover we were aware that only a short while before our attempt, the Inverness Naturalists group had failed to find Diapensia when armed with maps, compasses, correct grid references but no GPS.

For those unfamiliar with hand held GPS equipment you should know that there is only a little screen with information about your height and a 10 figure grid reference which, with skill, you can relate directly to your OS map. Unlike the ones in a car, no soothing voice tells you to turn left at the Diphasiastrum alpinum (Alpine clubmoss), keep straight on for 400 metres past the Minuartia sedoides (Cyphel), then left by the large rock which looks like Mick Jagger's nose. Good job too, because we didn’t find either of those two plants or anything resembling ageing rock stars

Fraoch Bheinn: the ascent
Image: P. Llewellyn

We had carefully printed out the detailed ascent guidance given to us by a successful expedition. This was totally ignored by our leader who decided to invent his own way up. We started at the splendid Glenfinnan railway viaduct, over a stile and straight into a bog.

At first there was a slight track and a few interesting plants such as Vacciumium vitis-idaea (Cowberry), Huperzia selago (Fir Clubmoss) and Vaccinium uliginosum (Bog Bilberry) here and there, but very shortly the path disappeared and we started the main ascent over tussocks of tripping grass, through boot-clogging mires and ankle-twisting rocks. While the view towards Glenfinnan was impressive, the clouds at the summit seemed to remain in place. Fortunately a slight breeze helped what was becoming, for me anyway, quite a tough climb.

Vaccinium uliginosum (Bog Bilberry)
Image: P. Llewellyn

Those of you who climb to summits of high mountains will be aware that it is the difference in height which counts when estimating the energy expenditure. Quite a few mountains such as Ben Lawers or Cairngorm which are nearly 4,000 feet or more have car parks at around 1,000 feet or higher so the actual ascent isn't as bad as it first sounds.

The ascent of this particular mountain however starts at sea level and ends at 2,815 feet, and so the total climb is greater than that required for many Munros. Being led by a walker rather than a botanist is a blessing and a curse. Experienced hill walkers read maps well, can find the route easier than we novices but they gallop up hills and look disdainfully down at those who are pretending to look at the flowers while really gasping for breath.

Bridie the Lurcher made us feel even more inferior. At every new crag she would bound easily to the top striking a pose for any passing artist who happened by with paints and easel. One unexpected reward - for me anyway - was the sight, circling overhead, of the first Golden Eagle I've ever seen. This was a reminder that this is good bird country and a birder had first found what we were now looking for. 

Vacciumium vitis-idaea (Cowberry)
Image: P. Llewellyn

As usual we were treated to at least twenty five false peaks before a large grey one, towering over the others began to be discernible through mist. That, our leader told us, was our destination. Using my finely honed judgment based on years of getting lost and wet, I estimated it was about 40 miles away.

We took lunch near a rock and contemplated forming an SAS branch of the BSBI dedicated to finding the most tiring way of seeking plants which might not be there anyway. Incidentally have you noticed how utterly delicious cheese and tomato sandwiches are when you've climbed 2,000 feet? 

Looking up, we could see that the cloud base was definitely higher, which was encouraging, but the peak still appeared to be in mist or cloud, which is exactly where Diapensia was supposed to be. In which case the flowers wouldn't be open.

Things didn't look too good..."

And at that point, we have to leave our intrepid treasure-hunters for another week. Will the weather close in and drive them back down the mountain? Will they give up and head for the nearest pub, like sensible people? Should the Mountain Rescue Team be lacing their boots up and zipping their waterproof jackets? 

Tune in next week for the third part of our Botanical Book at Bedtime.

BSBI Field Meetings Programme now out

BSBI national field meeting to Rutland Water (VC55) 2012
Image: M. Crittenden

A reminder that BSBI's annual programme of Field Meetings is now available. Click here to see the list. Meetings are coded R (for recording meetings), G (for general meetings) and T/E (for training/educational meetings). 

You don't always have to be a BSBI member to attend one of our meetings, but many organisers give preference to BSBI members - check with the leader if you are in any doubt. 

If you are interested in attending a meeting, you will need to book quickly - meetings fill up quickly. Martin Rand has already been in touch to say that his Taraxacum workshop in April is now fully booked, but you can email Martin and ask him to put your name on the reserve list.   

Plant recording in the Cairngorms

Tetrad map: botanical recording in the Cairngorms 2014
Courtesy of Andy Amphlett

Thanks to a partnership between BSBI and Cairngorms National Park Authority, thousands of wildflowers growing across the 4528 square kilometres of the Park have been recorded and mapped. 

Knowing what grows where is incredibly useful, whether you are one of the many visitors who come to the Park each year hoping to see some of the UK’s threatened wildlife species (25% make their home here) or one of the Park’s conservation managers, charged with maintaining the nature conservation value of the site. 

Andy & co carried out fine-scale recording
of plants like Teesdalia nudicaulis
Image: A. Amphlett

The Park stretches across five Local Authority areas from Laggan to Ballater, and Grantown to Killiecrankie, so Andy Amphlett, BSBI's County Recorder for Banffshire (vc94), recruited a crack team of seventeen botanists from across the region and in 2014 they spent a total of more than 80 days in the field.

Andy said “We managed to add more than 19,000 plant records to the Botanical Society’s Distribution Database, which now holds over 300,000 plant records for the Cairngorms area.  For each plant species, there are maps showing where that plant grows now and how its distribution has changed over the years. We make versions of these maps available free to view here and more detailed maps are available to policy-makers and conservation managers”.

BSBI is one of the world’s biggest contributors of biological records (almost 37 million at the last count), but we are always collecting more records to help us build up a clearer picture of what is happening to our wild flowers. Andy gratefully acknowledged both the contribution of his fellow botanical recorders and also the funding from Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA), which facilitated “much more recording than could have been achieved otherwise”.

Recent tetrad map, courtesy of Andy Amphlett

Andy Ford, CNPA, said “This is an outstanding piece of work. 19,000 new records is an extraordinary effort from the BSBI volunteers and the contribution to our collective understanding of the Park is phenomenal. I cannot over-emphasise how delighted we are with the outcome of this partnership”.

Cairngorms National Park boasts five of the six highest mountains in Britain, as well as being home to 25% of the UK’s threatened wildlife species. Hopefully the wildlife, the staff and the thousands of visitors who visit the Park each year will all benefit from this greater understanding of the Park’s wildflowers, made possible by BSBI working in partnership with Cairngorms National Park Authority. 

Prof Oliver Rackham 1939-2015

Paris quadrifolia - an iconic woodland plant
Image: K. Walker

Very sad to hear reports from Cambridge that Prof Oliver Rackham died yesterday. His books include The History of the Countryside, published in 1986, just 6 years after he joined the BSBI. Richard Mabey described this work as "A classic of scholarship and imagination... written with humanity, dignity, concern and a great deal of humour" and the journal New Scientist said "As an aid to understanding the landscape, I haven't found its equal".

Prof Rackham was outspoken in his support of our woodlands, often ruffling feathers, as when he commented that mass tree-planting schemes were "not conservation, but an admission that conservation has failed." He also added his voice to discussions last winter about plans for biodiversity offsetting and ancient woodlands, and his book Ancient Woodland is considered a classic. 

Prof Rackham will be greatly missed, and BSBI would like to extend its sympathies to his friends, colleagues and family. 

Data sharing: tell us what you think

Paul Smith recording in the Outer Hebrides;
Paul chairs BSBI Records & Research
Committee
Image: L. Marsh

Quentin Groom has been in touch about data sharing and he wants to hear your opinions.

Quentin said "Now that biological records are digital, there are all sorts of advantages for the presentation, exchange and analysis of data. Digitisation has allowed us to collect more and better quality data at finer resolutions. 

"Many different groups of people want to use our observations, from people writing books on plants to people researching the disappearance of bees from the countryside. Yet it is not always easy to balance the demands for data with the need for data collectors to get recognition for their contribution.

"In April I will give a talk on data management at the conference of the National Forum for Biological Recording. I’d like to be able to present some of the opinions of botanical recorders on data sharing and what they want their records used for. For this reason, I’ve written a short questionnaire related to some of the issues. You can find it here. 

Paul and Oli Pescott examining plants  in the Outer Hebrides;
Oli also sits on Records & Research Committee
Image: L. Marsh

"Please make sure that your opinion is counted and thank you to all those who complete the questionnaire. When I have sufficient responses, I’ll post a summary of the results, so that even if you’re not attending the conference you can still see what people thought".

As well as contributing to Quentin's survey, you can read his paper here on how herbarium records can be used to reveal a network of historic botanists who were exchanging specimens between 1856 and 1932. 

Botanical Book at Bedtime: Part One

Ok botanists, grab your mugs of cocoa and gather round the fire - it's time for the first installment in Peter Llewellyn's Botanical Book at Bedtime. Are you sitting comfortably? Then he'll begin:

Pedicularis sylvatica
Image: P. Llewellyn

Treasure hunting in the Wester Ross uplands.

Part 1: The Plan

"One of my botanical friends when asked if he would like to go on a botanical jaunt will usually ask:

“Is it really stupid and hopeless?”

If the answer is “Yes” he always says “Let’s go then”. I don’t know if there’s a Royal Society for Outrageous Botanical Optimism but if there is, he should be president.

On a meeting to see the Teesdale flora, three amateur botanists, Peter, Janet and myself were chatting about the stories of a rare plant only to be found above the arctic circle in such places as Northern Norway yet apparently also known from one relatively obscure Scottish mountain. The stories from those who claimed to have found Diapensia lapponica (Diapensia) always had a mythical quality about them. The plant is to be found not near the top but at the very top of this mountain growing on bare rock. 

Empetrum nigrum
Image: P. Llewellyn

There is, according to legend, one clump which you find by going to the trigpoint, and taking eleven steps towards Greenland and finding the large rock. It’s on the north face. It just would have to be on the north face wouldn’t it? Finding this plant at its best is complicated by the fact that it grows at the top of a western Corbett (mountains above 2,500 feet but below 3,000 feet in height) where the summit is more often shrouded in mist than not. 

It doesn’t flower except in full sun and the flowering period is short: only from mid May to mid-June. Bearing in mind that at the summit of Munros and Corbetts the snow will quite often remain beyond the first of May, you have the perfect conditions for a stupid and quite hopeless botanical expedition.

So we just had to do it.

Discovered as late as 1951, the UK population of Diapensia fascinates many botanists because of the remoteness and inaccessibility of its habitat and the fact that it was found relatively recently not by a botanist but by a bird watcher: C.F. Tebutt. It is still only known from the summit ridge of a single mountain at 2,815 feet near Glenfinnan a small settlement at the head of Loch Shiel.

Viola riviniana
Image: P. Llewellyn

It's always better to travel in company in the hills than alone and soon the party planning the most hopeless venture of the year had become three elderly Wild Flower Society and BSBI members with five other interested Scottish friends together with Bridie the Lurcher. So for success we needed a morning of good climbing weather, the right time of year, good navigation skills, an exact location for this one clump, plenty of energy and an afternoon of summer sunshine on top of a remote Scottish mountain in early June.

Easy peasy.

Our group was led by Janet's husband Neil, an experienced mountain walker who, by way of a warm-up, had strolled 15 miles with friends in the Cairngorms the day before.

Vaccinium myrtillus
Image: P. Llewellyn

When we arrived at the Glenfinnan car park the cloud base was well below 2,000 feet so if it stayed at that height there was no chance of seeing open flowers even if we found the one and only clump - assuming we'd guessed correctly about the flowering period. The leaves of Diapensia lapponica are also easily confused with other plants, so we really did need to see the plant in flower. At first we found some predictable sub-montane and lowland plants such as Viola riviniana (Common Dog-violet), Empetrum nigrum (Crowberry), Pedicularis sylvatica (Lousewort) and Vaccinium myrtillus (Blaeberry) but really the ascent had barely started..."

Will Peter and his intrepid companions make it up to the mountaintop? Have they got the flowering period right? And are they - not to mention Bridie the Lurcher - actually completely barking? 

Tune in next Sunday evening for part two of the Hunt for the Elusive Diapensia!