Ice and snow but lots to read! February report from BSBI President

In the last blogpost by BSBI President Lynne Farrell, we heard about her New Year Plant Hunts in Cumbria and over the border in North Lancashire. 

Now Lynne tells us what she’s been up to in the last few weeks:

“It has been cold, frosty, icy and with some snow, so we have all been feeling ‘under the weather’. 

Fortunately, there are local places of interest, which I have been able to visit and cheer myself up.

The heartfelt message in a carved wooden heart (image above right) put up by some caring locals has been much appreciated.

Down on the promenade one of the few sites for Maidenhair fern has been temporarily encased in ice (image below left), but although this species prefers shady, moisture-filled air and relatively warm niches, it seems to survive this treatment and is one of our BOOM targets (Back On Our Map).

Meathop Moss, a Cumbria Wildlife Trust reserve, is on the other side of the bay, and you can see how many visitors there were recently by the tracks in the snow (image below right).

The colourful January issue of BSBI News has been delivered, and there are many interesting discoveries throughout Britain and Ireland to read about. Members certainly made the most of spending more time in their local patches.

The new issue of British and Irish Botany, Volume 3 number 1, is now on-line and also provides a good read.

The results of the BSBI’s New Year Plant Hunt have been analysed by Ellen Goddard, a member of our Events & Communications Committee, and a PhD student, and can be viewed on the website.

I’m not going to attempt to summarise them, so please take advantage of the links and investigate the various resources which are available to you all".