BSBI Summer Meeting 2019: Day Six

Botanists assemble ready for  the day's excursions
Image: D. Morris

We're in the home stretch now of the week-long BSBI Annual Summer Meeting and the last report we heard was from Chris, reporting on Day Five. 

We haven't heard from David Morris, BSBI County Recorder for Oxfordshire, since Day Two but he's back today to give us his final report.

Over to David:

"We don’t get hills in Oxfordshire, so for the recording outings this week I have been making the most of being up here and getting up onto the fells. The rougher terrain has not been well recorded and my efforts have been rewarded so far, e.g. a long day’s recording on Tuesday gave us re-finds of Dryas octopetala (mountain avens) and Sorbus rupicola (rock whitebeam) in historically known sites and new sites for rare plants such as Polygala amarella (dwarf milkwort).

Purple saxifrage
Image: D. Barlow

"For the last full day of the meeting, Dave Barlow and I headed up the famous local hill Pen y Ghent, well known for rarities like Saxifraga oppositifolia (purple saxifrage). The rest of the flora of this fell has not been surveyed for the Atlas, and with four tetrads covering the summit plateau it provided the opportunity to collect lots of useful data.

"Dave and I slogged up the hill in good time, finding Saxifraga oppositifolia on the band of Carboniferous limestone that runs around the middle of the fell. There were also some good hawkweeds on the limestone cliffs, like the endemic Hieracium brigantum, and we found a few plants of Minuartia verna (spring sandwort) still in flower. 

"We spent a while recording the moorland on the top and the flanks of the hill, picking up typical montane plants like Carex bigelowii (stiff sedge) and Rubus chamaemorus (cloudberry), both growing in abundance.

Cloudberry
Image: D. Morris

"Records from the BSBI Distribution Database (DDb) directed some of our efforts, pointing us to a precarious area of fellside to look for Salix herbacea (dwarf willow). We looked but could not find it, and admired the grit of the botanist who originally found it there.

"Heading down from the fell the flora became more varied with decreasing altitude and increasing influence of the limestone. 

"A lovely gully had lots of hawkweeds, including Hieracium coniops. I’ve been enjoying learning more about Hieracium in the company of Dave and using the excellent book by Vincent Jones on the hawkweeds of Yorkshire. 

"With permission of the author, Dave has digitised the book to make it available to as many botanists as are interested in hawkweeds – if you would like a copy I’m sure Dave would be delighted to be contacted about it".

David Morris looking for hawkweeds
on Pen y Ghent
Image: D. Barlow

If you're keen to learn about northern hawkweeds, you could try Tim Rich's online key. For southern hawkweeds, you'll have to wait for Mike Shaw's BSBI Handbook to southern hawkweeds, due out next spring. 

For more news from this year's BSBI Summer Meeting, you could check out this blogpost by David Broughton, County Recorder for both mid-west Yorkshire and Huntingdonshire, and this blogpost by Colin who reported here on Day Three. Huge thanks to all the people who sent reports and photos over the past week so that everyone could follow the action from this year's Meeting!

For the final report, we'll have to wait for organiser Jonathan Shanklin to count up all the squares bashed and all the plants recorded for Atlas 2020. Watch this space for an overview of the entire week!

BSBI Summer Meeting 2019: Day Five

From left: Russell, Alison,
Hilary, Good King Henry & Kay
Image: C. Smith

After yesterday's blogpost by Kate, today we hand over to Chris who gives us his top ten tips for botanising in Litton, including a right royal tea-break, a Tunnock's tea-cake (always a good idea!) and a post-botany pint:

"Wednesday is the middle of the BSBI Annual Summer Meeting when initial energy levels may have dissipated, but enthusiasm sustains. Five of us - myself, Kay, Russell, Alison and Hilary - picked Littondale as a good midweek location for botanising in a Yorkshire Dale.  Here are our top ten tips for enjoyable botanising in Litton.

1. Many hands make light work
A BSBI meeting gives a chance to socialise and learn from other people. With five botanists to help the record card reached 100 species on the village's main street and verges, against the backdrop of some delightful gardens and the Queens Arms pub.

Marsh arrow-grass
Image: D. Morris

2. Old ways are the best

Litton has a lovely network of ancient footpaths and the byways of the village gave us more common species before arrival at the Skirfare Brook. 
The brook was completely and unexpectedly dry - a phenomenon known as a winterbourne in the south of England, where river water drains through the bed of the river during the low flow of the summer months. It also made access over the non-river very easy and safe - new species were Northern scurvy-grass (Cochlearia pyrenaica) and mossy saxifrage (Saxifraga hypnoides).

3. Make hay while the sun shines and record before the hay gets cut

There has been good weather in the Yorkshire Dales and the farmers were cutting hay meadows round Litton. A public footpath lead the group across the valley base and an upland hay meadow full of rich grass, clover, salad burnet, great burnet and the so-called "meadow-maker" the hemi-parasitic yellow rattle nearly ready for its cut. 

4. You'll always find two new species when you stop for cup of tea

Kay, Russell & the coppery monkey-flower
Image: C. Smith

A stop for a cup of tea and a Tunnock's teacake quickly proved the theory here, Bracken on the more acidic soils of the north side of the valley and Good King Henry (Chenopodium bonus-henricus) around an old mounting block in the lane. 
Good King Henry is a declining species in the UK, which seems relatively common around yards with old cattle barns in the Dales. 
It is a perennial species grown as an alternative to spinach and also known as poor-man's asparagus, but now only relatively rarely cultivated. 

5. Fresh air and companionship sustains an enjoyable day

After tea break the lanes northwards had stone walls and hedges. Wild gooseberries were ripe and small patches of calcaerous grassland had thyme (Thymus polytrichus), primrose (Primula vulgaris) and limestone bedstraw (Galium sterneri). 
The alternatives for the second half of the walk was a steep uphill walk or a walk back via the meadows. Hilary and Alison decided to enjoy their day by shortcut back to the village and a cup of afternoon coffee at the Queen's Head. Their pottering in the village gained an introduction to a proud local house owner and an offer to see her wild flower meadow.
Myself, Russell and Kay walked further up the valley, finding Good King Henry twice more and also coppery monkey-flower (Mimulus x burnetii).

Melancholy thistle
Image: C. Smith

6. You win some, you lose some
We had hoped for limestone pavement in the second visited monad above Nether Helseden, but the limestone was quite broken and few new species were found. Negative records from comprehensive surveys are good data for Atlas 2020, so knowing the diversity of the grassland in the tetrad was helpful. 
Springs were dry on the hillside, but the hollow spring heads still supported marsh arrow-grass (Triglochin palustris), yellow sedge (Carex lepidocarpa) and star sedge (Carex echinata), and made for a good lunch spot.

7. Always expect the unexpected
The lanes returning from Halton Gill had wide uncut verges filled with sweet cicely (Myrrhis odorata). Melancholy thistle (Cirsium heterophyllum) was a cheery Cirsium species to see, but more unexpected were the giant blooms of giant bellflower (Campanula latifolia) as well as peach-leaved (C. persicifolia) and nettle-leaved (C. trachelium). 

8. Binoculars are good for botanists as well as birdwatchers

Giant bellflower
Image: C. Smith

Binoculars are very helpful for identifying species when walking a tetrad and time or access don't permit a close view.

Heather was added on the hilltops and Carex acuta and a second Mimulus guttata by the river. We also say large flocks of post-breeding lapwings on the shingle spits of the still flowing upper reaches of the river.

9. A quick snip saves time

Woodland was a new habitat for the day and hairy brome (Bromopsis ramosa) reached over Kay's head from Springs Wood. 

Brambles and roses are not easy to identify confidently in the field. A quick snip with pair of secateurs gathered material from two roses and a bramble.

The fieldwork was nicely rounded off by a pint of Theakstons in the Queen's Head.

Russell with essential botanist's kit:
the map, the Weatherwriter, the smartphone, the
pint of Theakston's and the satisfied smile.
The beard is optional.
Image: C. Smith

10. A botanist's work is never done

One of the other pleasures of BSBI field meets has been evening identification work in the Malham Tarn FSC classrooms, where the bag of cuttings confirmed Rosa mollis, R x mollis/vosagiaca and Rubus lindebergii.

These extra species raised totals for the tetrads to 160 and 193 - not a huge number, but all valuable records for the BSBI's Atlas 2020 project".

Many thanks to Colin for sharing these top ten tips for any botanist visiting a BSBI Summer Meeting! 

The teacake and the pint are both optional but the great plants and the equally great company are mandatory.

The botanists are in the home stretch now but there are still two more days of botanising to come, so watch this space for further reports. 

BSBI Summer Meeting 2019: Day Four

Bellflowers and butterburs
Image: K. Tucker

Day Four of the BSBI Summer Meeting and after yesterday's hunt for rare plants in grykes today's report is by Kate. 

When I put out the call for people attending the Summer Meeting to help organiser Jon Shanklin by taking it in turns to write up the daily reports, Kate emailed me back "I'm happy to write a blogpost: I'm a novice so it would be a small way to reciprocate for all the brilliant support I get from Jon and all the other fabulous botanists!" 

What a great attitude and a tribute to how BSBI works: novices and old hands all pitching in together, sharing ID tips and having a great time! 

Rubus pruinosus
Image: K. Tucker

For the benefit of anyone just starting out with plant ID, I've inserted some links to ID resources from BSBI. 

But enough from me, over to Kate:    

"On Day Four, our first day of tetrad recording, our team of four visited Austwick, a small village on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. From there we walked through narrow paths and stone-walled lanes and across heavily grazed and improved fields to Austwick and Lawkland Mosses. The site is an SSSI and described as raised mire, birch woodland and herb-rich meadow. As a novice these are some of the things I loved about the day, in no particular order.

Sand Leek
Image: K. Tucker

"Stopping on the stone bridge across Auckland Beck and using the binoculars to identify a clump of showy, bright yellow Mimulus guttatus (Monkeyflower) one side of the bridge and Mimulus x robertsii (Hybrid Monkeyflower) on the other. The Mimulus guttatus had small red spots in the throat only, and the hybrid red spots both in the throat and on the petals.

"Having a Rubus fan, Ian, in our group and stopping in waist high rank vegetation to admire the distinctive deep red prickles on the Rubus pruinosus, found frequently in the Dales.

"Seeing my first Allium scorodoprasum (Sand Leek) in the lane from the village, with its purple bulbils, papery bracts and flat, rough-edged leaves.

"Watching the glossy Salix pentandra (Bay Willow), with its leaves like a bay tree, glisten in the sun at the entrance to the site where we had our lunch. According to the Woodland Trust they produce a yellow gum which smells like a bay leaf.

Bay Willow catkins
Image: K. Tucker

"Having a day of hybrids demonstrated excellently by David, our recorder for the day. They included: Cirsium x celakovskianum, a hybrid between Cirsium arvense (Creeping Thistle) and Cirsium palustre (Marsh Thistle), which had the appearance of Cirsium arvense plus the winged spines of Cirsium palustre on the stems; Crataegus (Hawthorn), using leaf shape and, later in the season, the sepals of the ripe fruit. I will need a refresher on this, but I have some leaves for reference! 

"Checking a Malus for hairs on the calex, pedicel and underside of the leaf. Even a few hairs rule out Malus sylvestris (Native Crab Apple). We did find a few scattered hairs.

Stinking Tutsan
Image: K. Tucker

"Bringing back a Dryopteris for a first attempt to key out a fern to find a dehisced sporangium is required, which I didn’t have. I will ask one of the fern experts here for help tomorrow. We did see other ferns identified in the field including Dryopteris filix-mas (Male Fern), Dryopteris dilatata (Broad Buckler-fern) and Dryopteris carthusiana (Narrow Buckler-fern). 

"Finding out later that Lawkland was the birthplace of seventeenth century botanist Thomas Lawson whose name has been given to a number of plants, including Hieracium lawsonii.

"Seeing a barn owl fly out of an old stone barn in the fields.

Tutsan (the non-stinky kind)
Image: K. Tucker

"Finding magnificent specimens of both Hypericum hircinum (Stinking Tutsan) and Hypericum androsaemum (Tutsan) and experiencing the pungent smell of the Stinking Tutsan.

"The tiny things - Roland spotting a delicate Veronica scutellata (Marsh Speedwell) with its fine grass-like leaves and finding a small Juncus bufonius (Toad Rush) in cattle trodden mud at a field gate.

"Although we were a bit short on sedges, they incuded Carex leporina (Oval Sedge), Carex echinata (Star Sedge), and Carex nigra (Black Sedge), all of which have names which helpfully describe their fruit.

Rosa mollis, smelling much nicer
than the Stinking Tutsan!
Image: K. Tucker

"David showing us the delicious Rosa mollis (Soft Downy Rose) which, when rubbed on the petiole and at the base of the hip, gives a sweet musky scent.

"Rounding off the day with a spectacular Yorkshire Dales assemblage of drystone wall, Campanula latifolia (Giant Bellflower) and Petasites hybridus (Butterbur).

Huge thanks to Kate for this report - but after a week in the field with her fellow botanists at the Summer Meeting, I think she's left her novice days well behind her!

You can see some more photos from Day Four of the Summer Meeting in this report by botanical trainer Judith Allinson. 

BSBI Summer Meeting 2019: Day Three

The group ready to start climbing
Image: C. Conroy

After yesterday's blogpost by David Morris about Day Two of the 2019 BSBI Annual Summer Meeting (ASM), today blogger Colin Conroy offers his report on Day Three.

Over to Colin reporting from Yorkshire:

"Today was the day for mini-bus excursions to some of the best local botanical sites. There was a choice of three Yorkshire Wildlife Trust nature reserves (from a longer list which had earlier been narrowed down by an email poll). 

"The choices were: Ashes Pasture – an upland hay meadow; Grass Wood – an Ash woodland; and Southerscales, a huge expanse of limestone pavement on the side of Ingleborough (the second highest mountain in the Yorkshire Dales). 

Northern Dock
Image: C. Conroy

"This last was the one I chose as I have only ever seen limestone pavement in the autumn, and not since I started getting more enthusiastic about botany.

"We had a beautiful day for the trip and we all gathered at 9.30 at the front of the Field Study Centre and went in our respective minibuses – all except two people from our group who unfortunately got left behind and had to drive to the drop off point at the bottom of Ingleborough. 

"The drive through the beautiful scenery of the dales was a bit bumpy but the sight of the amazing RIbblehead Viaduct took our minds off the bumps.

"Once out of the minibus almost the first plant we saw was Northern Dock, growing on the side of the road and a new species for several people in the group (myself included).

Two Frog Orchids
Image: C. Conroy

"Once in the nature reserve we were walking through sheep pasture with patches of exposed limestone and quickly started ticking off interesting lime-loving species such as Thalictrum minus (Lesser Meadow-rue), Scabiosa columbaria, Galium sterneri (Limestone Bedstraw) (with its backward pointing prickles on the leaf margins) and Asplenium viride (Green Spleenwort) (along with four other Asplenium species). 

"All of these had been seen on previous days and it wasn’t until we climbed a bit higher that we started coming across a lot of new plants. 

"The first really exciting thing for me was Coeloglossum viride (Frog Orchid) which I have seen once in the Alps but have never managed to track down in the UK. The first plants we saw were tiny little specimens that took some finding by the sharper-eyed members of the group (not me) but further up the hill someone found a group of twenty or more, including some quite large (large for a Frog Orchid anyway) plants.

Hairy rock-cress in a gryke
Image: C. Conroy

"The typical slow pace of botanists meant that by the time we got to the limestone pavement it was almost time for lunch which was of course punctuated by breaks to identify or photograph plants including Carex pallescens (Pale Sedge), Gymnocarpium robertianum (Limestone Fern) and  Arabis hirsuta (Hairy Rock-cress) which was quite common in the grykes [NOTE – grykes are the fissures that separate the blocks of limestone, known as clints, in limestone pavement habitat]. 

"After lunch we split into twos and threes and spread out across the pavement looking for plants.

"For those readers who have never visited limestone pavement – you really should, at the first opportunity. It is spectacular! If it wasn’t for all the plants (and the fact that limestone is a sedimentary rock which couldn’t form on the moon), you could be forgiven for thinking that it looks a bit like what a lunar landscape might look like. 

Group leader David B.
photographing Baneberry
Image: C. Conroy

"However, unlike the surface of the moon, it is a very species rich habitat, and surprisingly diverse, with patches dominated by plants more typical of peat moorland, such as Trichophorum germanicum (Deergrass).

"The really exciting species, however, are to be found in the grykes, and included many that were new plants for me – Actaea spicata (Baneberry), Dryopteris submontana (Rigid Buckler-fern) and Melica nutans (Mountain Melick) among them.

"I am a long way off starting to tackle Hieraciums but there were plenty to keep the Hawkweed enthusiasts among us occupied. I have also generally steered clear of Eyebrights  too but with only two species expected, I felt able to dip my toe in the water and was reasonably confident by the end of the day that I was correctly identifying Euphrasia confusa and E. nemorosa.

A great lunch spot on the BSBI 2019 Summer Meeting
Image: C. Conroy

"The journey back to the centre was broken by a stop for ice-creams and pictures of the Ribblehead Viaduct which inevitably included more botanising and several species added to the day’s list, including Saxifraga hypnoides (Mossy Saxifrage) and Vaccinium oxycoccos (Cranberry)".

Many thanks to Colin for his report. You can find a link to Colin's blog in the list on the right of Blogs by BSBI members - this post will also appear there.

You can see more photos from the BSBI Summer Meeting if you click here.

Another report to come tomorrow as we approach the halfway point in the week-long Summer Meeting.

BSBI Summer Meeting 2019: Day Two

Botanists at Great Close Scar
Image: David Morris

Yesterday we brought you a report by organiser Jonathan Shanklin about Day One of the BSBI Annual Summer Meeting (ASM) 2019. 

Now David Morris, botanical blogger, County Recorder for Oxfordshire and a regular contributor to these pages, brings you his report about Day Two. 

Over to David:  

Bird's-eye primrose
Image: Dave Barlow

"I have been looking forward to the ASM since I got the flyer last year, and as the week approached I’ve been mentally preparing myself for all the wonderful plants I was hoping to see. 

"I have been particularly looking forward to the wetland habitats for which the Malham Tarn area is internationally important and the stacks of rare plants these habitats support. 

"Would I get to see Bartsia alpina (alpine bartsia) or Carex flava (great yellow-sedge), for instance?

"The first day of the meeting promised a great deal, an ambitious six-mile circular walk to be led by Kevin Walker, BSBI Head of Science, to take in most of the habitats and a sample of the plants to be found around Malham Tarn. 

Dwarf milkwort
Image: David Morris

"There were so many of us that we had to split into three groups! Not wanting to miss a thing I followed Kevin, and we headed out onto the pastures around the Tarn.

"Many in our group were new to the vegetation of the area, and Kevin spent a while demonstrating the plants in the limestone grassland and calcareous mires around the Tarn. 

Baneberry
Image: Dave Barlow

"Grasses and sedges figured heavily, with species such as Sesleria caerulea (blue moor-grass) characterising the limestone grasslands and sedges such as Carex hostiana (tawny sedge) and Carex lepidocarpa (long-stalked yellow sedge) the calcareous mires. 

"Primula farinosa (bird’s-eye primrose), a special plant of the Carboniferous Limestone, was growing abundantly all over the calcareous mires, here and there still in flower.

"The mire with the rarities was to the east of the Tarn, in an area of springs called Great Close Mire. Here we were shown the super rare Bartsia alpina and Polygala amarella (dwarf milkwort) – two lifers for me and most people in the group. 

Angular Solomon's-seal
Image: David Morris

"There were also other local plants of calcareous mires such as Equisetum variegatum (variegated horsetail) and Eriophorum latifolium (broad-leaved cotton-grass), a favourite of mine.

"After exhausting the mires we marched south to botanise an area of limestone pavement where Kevin had previously found some nice plants. There we were shown the scarce Polygonatum odoratum (angular Solomon’s-seal) (another lifer) and Actaea spicata (baneberry), and some of the commoner plants of pavement such as Asplenium viride (green spleenwort).

"That was just the organised part of the day. The wonderful location of the ASM at the FSC centre means one can wander about during free time and continue the fabulous botanising. 

"This evening, a post-prandial walk around Tarn Moss, the complex of wet woodland, raised mire and alkaline fen adjoining the Tarn, yielded a list of sedges as long as your arm, including Carex flava, and other delights such as Calamagrostis stricta (narrow small-reed)!"

A bunch of happy botanists
Image: David Morris

Many thanks to David for sending this report. 

Some great plants there, some lovely friendly botanists and a chance to spend a day in the field learning about local plants and habitats with BSBI's Head of Science. Jealous, moi? Oh yes. 

Tomorrow, blogger Colin Conroy will be reporting from the Summer Meeting - watch this space!  

BSBI Summer Meeting 2019: Run-up and Day One

Botanists in the field at the 2019 Summer Meeting
Image: Kelli Imms

You know it's really summer when the week-long BSBI Annual Summer Meeting (ASM) kicks off! This year the ASM is based in FSC Malham Tarn in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and organiser Jonathan Shanklin has organised a week of excursions to sites in the area where interesting wild flowers are likely to be found. 

Jonathan set off from his home county of Cambridgeshire (where he's County Recorder) on Thursday, so he could be ready to greet early arrivals for the ASM, due to start on Saturday. Of course, expecting Jonathan to wear blinkers and not do any botanising en route is ever going to happen, so here is his account of his journey to Malham Tarn and a report of Day One of this year's Summer Meeting:   

House holly-fern Cyrtomium falcatum
One of the area's specialities
Image: Dave Barlow

"Despite threats of thunderstorms, the area south of Skipton remained dry all day, though by the time I finished black clouds hung over the Pennines. I took a walk around a couple of tetrads in south-west Yorkshire that needed coverage for Atlas 2020 - quite a leisurely day for me as I often manage four. Interesting species encountered included smooth lady's-mantle Alchemilla glabra in Sutton-in-Craven churchyard (I wonder how many species we will find around Malham?), sand spurrey Spergularia rubra in an open access area of old mine workings (the farm had a huge scrapyard of old farm vehicles which was worth a visit in its own right), creeping yellow-cress Rorippa sylvestris under a bridge over the River Aire and two-flowered everlasting pea Lathyrus grandiflorus in a couple of places living up to its name.  

"We have the threat of more showers tomorrow afternoon, so I am preparing back-up talks just in case. Clouds are forecast for tonight, so I won't be staying up late - last night there was a display of noctilucent clouds an hour or two after sunset - these clouds form about 80km up in the atmosphere and stay sunlit long after dark. They show a beautiful silvery blue colour due to ozone in the atmosphere - but that will be a subject for one of the back-up talks.

Botanists in the field at the 2019 Summer Meeting
Image: Jerry Clough

"Having stayed locally I had a morning to go out and about, so headed for Skipton Moor. This pretty much lived up to its name, so plenty of Calluna vulgaris, Nardus stricta, Juncus squarrosus and other such plants of acid ground. A beck head and associated flushes provided a bit more interest, with Stellaria alsine, Montia fontana (which sub-species still to be determined) and Ranunculus omiophyllus. Descending back to Skipton there was just time to do a quick circuit of a few urban streets in the tetrad to boost the total species count, before heading to Malham Tarn.

The hawkweed Hieracium eboracense
Another of the area's specialities
Image: Dave Barlow

 "The route through Skipton turned out to be log jammed, but a detour soon put me on the way. In Malham there was a sign saying diversion, but surely the road to Malham Tarn would be open - it wasn't so the diversion needed following, but I safely arrived at the idyllic setting of the Field Studies Council centre. 

"By 3pm sufficient numbers had gathered to start a walk, and we chose to head west, where an old quarry was thought to hold botanical interest. The way took us through a limestone chasm forged to make the road to the centre. Here David Broughton (botanical blogger and County Recorder for both mid-west Yorkshire and Huntingdonshire) noted Sedum stoloniferum, presumably a Victorian introduction. 

"We carried on past the entrance to Tarn Moss to leave that for others, and found the quarry - it did indeed have botanical highlights - Sesleria caerulea, several species of Alchemilla, Carex pulicaris, Helianthemum nummularium and Potentilla erecta growing together and many others. We just made it back to the centre for 6pm.

Botanists in the field at the 2019 Summer Meeting
Image: Kelli Imms

"After dinner Judith Allinson gave two groups a tour of the house from the historical perspective, then we had an introduction from Jim Wright the centre manager, a brief from me and then the evening's talk from Judith on the flowers around Malham Tarn, illustrated with beautiful images of plants that we hope to see over the next few days".

Huge thanks to Jonathan for this report and to Dave Barlow, Jerry Clough and Kelli Imms for very kindly sending through some photos taken on Day One. Jonathan is going to have his hands full in the coming days, organising and leading the various field trips, so we've invited some of the 50 or so botanists attending the meeting to share the load and write up some of the daily reports. Watch this space!