Moving tribute to John Sawyer by young naturalist

This is a very moving tribute to John Sawyer from Ryan Clark, one of the many young biological recorders and nature lovers who were inspired and personally encouraged by John. 

Sad news and a great loss

John Sawyer admiring a wild orchid.
Image courtesy of NBN Trust

BSBI was shocked and saddened to hear yesterday of the untimely death of John Sawyer, CEO of the National Biodiversity Network Trust. 

Ian Denholm, BSBI President said, "The sad news of John’s untimely death comes just as he was proving such a dynamic force in reshaping NBN and strengthening natural history recording in the UK. 

"We offer our deepest condolences to John's family and friends and extend our sympathy and support to all our NBN colleagues at this difficult time." ​

BSBI training grants help budding botanists. Part Two.

Great views during a coastal walk near the Centre
Image: D. Wallace

The second in an occasional series in which recipients of BSBI training grants in 2015 tell us about the course which the grant allowed them to attend, what they learned and what they have been able to achieve as a result of the course. 

Grants for 2016 will be advertised on the BSBI Training page - this usually happens on 1st January.

For now, here's Debbie's account of how the training grant helped her:

Sonchus arvensis
Image: D. Wallace

"Receiving a BSBI training grant this year enabled me to attend a Difficult Plants course at Slapton Ley Field Studies Centre (FSC). This course has opened new doors for me, improving my knowledge of some of the more difficult plant families and taking me a step forward in my study of botany. 

"Having had the pleasure of attending one of Ros Bennett's botany courses during 2014, I was really keen to progress by tackling some of the plants which I find challenging to identify. The FSC course description asked, "Are you a botanist who still shies away from the dandelion look-alikes? Have you tried and failed to sort out the willows or the docks for instance? Do you find yourself saying 'I don't do sedges, or ferns, or goosefoots'?"

"Having previously picked up, and hastily put down, numerous yellow flowered Asteraceae, having wondered about Willows, pondered upon Polygonums and on occasions found myself somewhat bewildered by the difference between Chenopodium and Atriplex, I was convinced that I needed to learn more about these plant groups. 

Serratula tinctoria
Image: D. Wallace

"The course description went on to say, "By the end of the course you should be inspired with confidence and enthusiasm to tackle 'new' and attractive plants and so discover yet more of our amazingly beautiful, intriguing and surprisingly diverse flora." Having decided that this course was for me, I am delighted to report that I was not disappointed.

"Although the participants came from quite different botanical backgrounds, attendees' previous experience and aspirations were well catered for by Ros and everyone had a really enjoyable and very educational three days. The time spent in the classroom, learning about the key features of the plant groups, was followed up by many enjoyable hours of field practice (in the sunshine). 

The yellow glandular hairs of Sonchus arvensis
Image: D. Wallace

"By observing features including pappus hairs, leaf hairs, the achene shapes and the arrangement of the involucral bracts, we were able to key out many members of the Asteraceae. I particularly liked the yellow glandular hairs of Sonchus arvensis; however, I think my favourite Asteraceae of the course has to be Serratula tinctoria (Saw-wort).

"Ros' own lateral key to native 'Dandelion look-alikes' really unlocked the mysteries of this group and a laminated copy of this key has a permanent place in my rucksack. I often produce this key at times when my non-botanising companions least expect it (e.g. the occasions when I have an overwhelming urge to have a 'quick look' at some Crepis capilaris growing out of a kerb in a supermarket car park).

The elongated oil-glands on 3-ribbed achenes of
Tripleurospermum maritimum
Image: D, Wallace

"Mayweeds were another group covered. On a stunningly beautiful coastal walk, we were tasked with finding specimens in order to observe their diagnostic characteristics. We found that members of the genus Tripleurospermum have 3-ribbed achenes, additionally, that Tripleurospermum maritimum has elongated oil glands on its achenes, whereas those of Tripleurospermum inodorum oil glands are rounded. A less pleasant revelation was discovering why Anthemis cotula is known as Stinking Camomile!

  

"In addition to moving the entire group's botanical knowledge forwards, Ros also had a great talent for finding the most beautiful spots for our lunch stops. Eating Slapton Leys' finest packed lunches, whilst surrounded by Lobelia urens (Heath Lobelia), is a rare pleasure.

Lobelia urens
Image: D. Wallace

"The course has been part of a botanical learning journey for me this year. Having attended other botanical courses, including a sedge identification course and also completing the on-line Identiplant course, I feel that I am now able to make a useful contribution to botanical recording. Participating in the Identiplant course was a really useful and rewarding experience and one that I can highly recommend.

"The combined knowledge gained from these courses was employed to good effect during a holiday in Plockton on the west coast of Scotland. Plockton has a small, un-manned airfield with beautiful, herb-rich grassland.

"An enjoyable morning exploring the site, recording every plant which I could identify, left me with not only a list of plants which have been submitted to the Vice County Recorder, but also with the immense satisfaction that I could confidently identify almost every vascular plant to species level. 

Species-rich grassland at Plockton Airfield
Image: D. Wallace

"The records were well received, several new hectad records were recorded and two voucher specimens are currently with BSBI Specialist Referees for determination. Chris Metherell kindly identified a Euphrasia species which was abundant at the site, as Euphrasia arctica x nemorosa; another new hectad record.

"In addition to my passion for vascular plants, I have a keen and developing interest in both bryophytes and lichens. A previous commitment to attend a lichen microscopy course (which I am really looking forward to), prevents me from attending this year's BSBI Annual Exhibition Meeting; however, I am looking forward to the Annual Summer Meeting, being held next May at FSC Blencathra".

Many thanks to Debbie for this report - sounds like she really got a lot out of her BSBI training grant! I think we should all go along to next year's Summer Meeting so she can show us how to ID those tricky Dandelion lookalikes :-)  

Afternoon talks at BSBI's Annual Exhibition Meeting

Exhibition Meeting 2013, Natural History Museum
Image: L. Marsh

If you haven't yet booked for this year's BSBI Annual Exhibition Meeting on 28th November, maybe seeing the final programme, and hearing about the three excellent talks we have lined up for the afternoon, will encourage you to take the plunge!

After a morning of talks about botanising at the northern, eastern, western and southern limits of BSBI's range, and once you have fitted in looking at all the exhibits and having a go at John Poland's plant ID quiz, or perhaps enjoying a behind-the-scenes tour of the Natural History Museum herbarium, and the society's AGM, and catching up with old friends and meeting new ones, and lunch... 

Exhibition Meeting 2014, University of Leicester
Image: L. Marsh

Then you can enjoy three talks aimed at anyone who wants to get started in botany and recording:

Brenda Harold will tell us about Identiplant, the on-line botanical training course for beginners.

Oli Pescott will be offering us an update on the first year of the National Plant Monitoring Scheme.

Ryan Clark will be telling us all about BSBI's annual New Year Plant Hunt - last year's runaway success and plans for 2016.

Puzzling over the plant quizzes;
Exhibition Meeting 2013
Image: J. Mitchley

Then we'll give you time for a cup of tea and a bun before our keynote speaker takes to the stage at 4pm. Prof Mick Crawley will be talking about Alien Plants - find out more here.

Many thanks to all of you who have already emailed us at meetings@bsbi.org to say that you plan to join us on 28th November, and to the 35 exhibitors so far who have been in touch to reserve a space. 

See what you'll be missing if you don't click here now and register for this amazing free event! 

BSBI training grants help budding botanists. Part One

In a few months, botanists planning to attend botanical training courses in 2016 will be keeping a particularly keen eye on the BSBI Training page. This is because our training grants are released early in January each year.

Applicants have to contact our Training Committee with details of the course, why they want to attend and how the course will help them. Then the committee puts all the applications through a rigorous selection process to help them decide where a grant should be awarded.

We have invited this year's grant recipients along to the BSBI Annual Exhibition Meeting next month to offer exhibits about the course they attended, what they learned and how the grant has helped them progress in botany. We also invited the recipients to offer a guest blogpost for News & Views, and here Zoe tells us about the course she attended this year - the images on this page are also hers: 

"I was very appreciative and grateful to learn that I was selected as a recipient for the BSBI training grant. I really enjoyed the Identifying Difficult Plant course at Preston Montford Field StudiesCentre. The course has supported my aspiration of working in the conservation sector and has boosted my botany identification skills.

"Having graduated from a BSc in Countryside and Environmental Management at Harper Adams University, I was eager to develop more identification skills with aspirations of working in consultancy. As part of the Identifying Difficult Plants course, I studied grasses, sedges, ferns and horsetails. The course made me more aware of difficult plant taxa, their importance in biological recording and transferring this knowledge. 

"The course was run by Sarah Whild and Mark Duffell involving classroom sessions and practical field trips including a visit to a local canal. My favourite part of the course was being out on site using guides such as Stace and Poland. Having had little experience in using flora identification keys, I feel more confident of their use and terminology.

"After completing the course, I was eager to use these skills. I have been completing volunteer surveys in my local area. One of the sites I like to visit is Silverdale Country Park, Staffordshire run by Groundwork West Midlands. The Park holds cultural and environmental value as a former mining area on the outskirts of Stoke on Trent. Several axiophytes have been recorded here. 

"I’ve also had the chance to take part in the National Plant Monitoring Scheme, this has been very enjoyable and I have built upon my use of vegetation keys in the process. I especially liked the option to survey at different levels: wildflower, indicator and inventory. It is exciting to know that the input of volunteers like me will help us to understand changes in our environment".

Thanks Zoe, we're delighted that the grant proved so helpful and that you are now taking part in the NPMS. Here's the link if you would like to book for this year's Annual Exhibition Meeting and find out more about BSBI training grants and the botanists who benefit from them.

Calling botanists in south-west Scotland

The distinctive galls ofDasineura harrisoni forming
aggregates on the leaf petiole.
Image courtesy of  S. Dunlop

Thanks to Stuart who got in touch with this message:

"Dr. Cliff Henry, Area Ranger at the Giant's Causeway, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland recently found galls of Dasineura harrisoni, a gall-maker on Filipendula ulmaria. This is the first verified record for the British Isles. There has been one record from Denmark this year. It is unlikely that this minute fly has flown from Denmark to Northern Ireland in one leap, so it's possible that there may be specimens in South-west Scotland, which is close to Giant's Causeway. 

"There are a few gall-causers on Filipendula, but the galls of Dasineura harrisoni are distinctive, forming aggregates on the leaf petiole, as shown in the image on the right. A quick survey of known Filipendula specimens might well yield a first Scottish record, so this is a call for botanists from Islay, Jura, perhaps even Ayrshire/Dumfries/Galloway to make a quick check on their local populations.

"Specimens will be required, since DNA sequencing has not yet been carried out.

"Contact: cipeen@hotmail.com for further information".

Fred to the Rescue!

We are happy to confirm that visitors to this year's Annual Exhibition Meeting will be able to enjoy a behind-the-scenes tour of the Herbarium at the Natural History Museum, thanks to the excellent Fred Rumsey. 

Fred (centre) and Ryan Clark (right) on the
BSBI stand at Big Nature Day,
Natural History Museum, May 2015.
Image: L. Marsh. 

When Mark Spencer, Senior Curator of the British & Irish Herbarium, informed us that sadly he would be out of the country on 28th November and unable to come to the AEM, we despaired! Bookings were flooding in from people keen to visit the world-famous Herbarium and we really didn't want to let any of you down.

Fortunately, fabulous Fred (who is a BSBI member as well as a NHM botanist) has come to our rescue and very kindly agreed to lead the tours so if you haven't booked yet, please do so quickly! We can fit in a maximum of three tours throughout the day and two of them are pretty much full already.

For more info about the AEM and to book for a herbarium tour, please head over to our Exhibition Meeting page here.