British & Irish Botany: issue 7.1 published

Open limestone pavement  at Ingleborough,
Yorkshire, showing the clint and grike structure
 Image: C.Stevens

We've just published the latest issue of British & Irish Botany, the Botanical Society's online Open Access scientific journal. This issue contains six papers which we think will be of interest to botanists across Britain and Ireland.

First up is a paper by Carly Stevens called 'More evidence gaps than grikes: how limestone pavements have fallen through the cracks of British conservation' in which the author considers the various factors which may have contributed to the poor condition of British limestone pavements. This paper will be essential reading for anyone involved in the conservation of this internationally important habitat, which can support such a rich array of wild flowers.

Charlotte Grace O’Brien in 1894.
Image: Anthony O'Brien

From Ireland, Sylvia Reynolds (until recently, BSBI County Recorder for Co. Limerick) offers a fascinating account of the botanical interests and the many and various achievements of her great-grandaunt Charlotte Grace O'Brien. It's always a delight to read about eminent C19th female botanists, who managed to achieve great things - often in the face of adversity - and Sylvia's engaging writing style makes this a particularly enjoyable read.

Our third paper sees Tim Rich and Libby Houston, two of the authors of the BSBI Handbook on Whitebeams, Rowans and Service Trees of Britain and Ireland, make a number of new combinations in Sorbus, in preparation for the highly anticipated second edition. The first edition is currently out of print, although it is available as an eBook (as are all our BSBI Handbooks and a selection of other titles too).

Next up, a paper by the aptly named Caroline Plant et al. considers new records of New Zealand Pigmyweed Crassula helmsii in two Irish lakes; these records indicate a continued spread from east to west on the island of Ireland, since the first records of this invasive non-native plant in 1984.

Oxalis corniculata depicted by L’Obel (1576)
Image courtesy of the Linnean Society

From Chris Preston and David Pearman - two very well-known names in botanical circles, and frequent contributors to British & Irish Botany - we have an account of the first British record of Procumbent Yellow-Sorrel Oxalis corniculata in the late C15th. This plant has gone on to attain worldwide distribution, and Preston & Pearman tell the story of the British botanists who first described it in Britain and observed the explosive method of seed dispersal which helped it proliferate.

Finally, we have an account from Tim Rich of a new Lake District endemic, Lesser-leaved hawkweed Hieracium subangustatum, which was formerly treated as the Norwegian H. angustatum. This latest paper by Tim, author of many such contributions to this journal and several BSBI Handbooks, adds to the already considerable BSBI resources on hawkweeds. 

We hope you enjoy reading this latest issue of British & Irish Botany and as always, if you have an idea for a submission, do feel free to get in touch with us to talk through your idea. If it's about the vascular plants of Britain and Ireland, we'll be keen to hear from you.