Meeting up with fellow botanists - at last! June report by BSBI President Lynne Farrell

Last month saw BSBI President Lynne Farrell enjoying bluebells, orchids and bird's-eye primrose in Cumbria, where she is based. 

Then last week, at long last, our first face-to-face post-Covid national field meeting was held and Lynne was there to enjoy it. 

Over to Lynne to tell us more:  

"It has taken a long time, but it has now begun to warm up and, more importantly to me, I have been able to get out into the field and meet botanists again. 

The Wales Annual Meeting and AGM, held at Bangor, Caernarvonshire from 10th to 12th June, had a good attendance, and it was a delight to be able to share plants and visit places with others. 

"We explored a variety of habitats from botanic gardens, to mountains, saltmarsh, dunes, meadows and wet patches.  

"Treborth Botanic Garden, situated on the coast near the Menai Bridge, is being restored by a group of enthusiastic people following on from the retirement of Nigel Brown, who cared for the Garden for many years and who is now continuing to enjoy life as joint BSBI County Recorder for Anglesey.

"The images this month are from a recent coastal visit in Cumbria, where some species such as Sea Bindweed Calystegia soldnalella (image above right), are easy to identify but we needed to get down on our hands and knees with the books (image above left) to be sure of Variegated Horsetail Equisetum variegatum. Fortunately, we had Mike Porter, co-author of the BSBI Handbook on Violas, with us to pronounce on the coastal ecotype of Wild Pansy Viola tricolor coastal ecotype (image below).