Toothed Fireweed: a glimmer of light in a devastating year

Irish botanist Zoe Devlin, author of best-selling titles such as The Wildflowers of Ireland: a field guide and Wildflowers of Ireland: a personal record has been in touch to tell us about a botanical discovery which piqued her interest during a very difficult year. 

Over to Zoe to tell us more: 

"The year 2020 took so much and gave very little in return. There were many negatives, very few positives and it will be long remembered as a year of devastation to the many who lost loved ones. A tiny glimmer of light that I will recall was what happened, botanically-speaking, within my home place.

My first sighting of Toothed Fireweed Senecio minimus had been on St Stephen’s Day, 26th December 2019, when I took a short wander from my home in Dalkey, Co Dublin, to walk off some of the previous day’s excesses. It was growing on the top of an old granite wall at the top of a steep embankment, the DART railway tracks some 50ft below and I knew I had never seen the leaves of this plant before. All I could see that remained of its flowering was a few straggly bits of dead pappus. So at least it was probably a member of the Asteraceae family, I thought. It seemed like a good time to wish my friend, Paul Green, the season’s greetings and also to show him my photograph of those leaves. Within a very short while, my curiosity was satisfied by an identification. But what, I wondered, would the flowers look like? Where had the plant come from and how did it get there? I had no idea when it would flower and I hoped it wouldn’t be in summer as I usually desert Dalkey, at that time, for diverse parts of the country. However, other events took over.

With the devastating arrival of the coronavirus to our shores, and the threat to the health of the nation, a tight lockdown was imposed. Initially, being of an age I’d rather forget, myself and my husband, Pete, were instructed to remain firmly within our home and garden. Our garden being tiny, this was very tough but we obeyed. We had already experienced the loss of our son, Nik, who fell foul of the virus in the UK in March. We would do our best to minimize any further distress to our family.

Within a few weeks, the restrictions eased slightly and we were permitted to take exercise within a radius of 2 km of our home. I got to know every crack in every pavement within those 2kms. In fact, we didn’t have the benefit of a full 2km because with Dalkey being a coastal town, half of our radius was in the Irish Sea! But those cracks in pavements generated a form of manna from heaven. With the local council also locked down, no street cleaning was taking place so the streets became fringed in green, apart from a couple of areas where ‘neat-freak’ neighbours had dosed their bit of pavement with herbicide and a horrible, dead, brown fringe betrayed their distaste for nature. Fumitories, Sow-thistles, Long-headed Poppies, Common Mallow, Ivy-leaved Toadflax, Welsh Poppies, Chickweed, Speedwells, Forget-me-nots and Purple Toadflax were among the many ‘weeds’ which were left in peace for several months.

However, my exercise route on most days took me past the Toothed Fireweed and I watched closely as its stems emerged from its lower leaves. Eventually I got to see the flowers. Miniscule, tight, cylindrical bundles of yellow disc florets with short, thread-like outer florets were held in abundant panicles on tough green-dark purple stems. I also found one other plant growing at the same site and even spotted a few small specimens in some pavement cracks at least 100m away. I wondered if ‘my’ plant would survive or would I never see that species again. Coming to this country from New Zealand and Australia where it flowers throughout the year and is predominantly coastal, it is also established on the Pacific coast of the USA. 

Our lockdown was lifted in July and we left Dalkey for some months but returned in November as the weather was cooling. I couldn’t find ‘my’ plant as the entire area had been overwhelmed by Russian-vine, but I walked further and took myself into Sorrento Park. This public space had been upgraded and landscaped in the time we were away. I was glad to see that although flowerbeds had been created and garden plants installed, large patches of wild vegetation had been left alone. I had previously found White Comfrey, White Ramping-fumitory, Heath Groundsel and Hedgerow Crane’s-bill thriving among many other species. But I was absolutely amazed to see how many plants of Toothed Ragweed were spread across the wild patch. I lost count at forty.

My botanical knowledge was further increased – again with the help of Paul Green – when I found that what I had taken to be Common Ramping Fumitory growing in the grounds of a nearby convent was, in fact, Common Fumitory. Paul asked for further photographs in order to confirm the identification and eventually he discovered that not only were those two species growing in the convent grounds but there was also quite a lot of Purple Ramping-fumitory and Tall Ramping-fumitory present. If I had not been obliged to spend so much time in such a small area, I doubt I would have ever seen any of these species".

Many thanks to Zoe for telling us about her botanical discoveries and for sharing the images on this page, all taken by her.

BSBI News: January issue published

The latest issue of BSBI News has been mailed out to more than 3,200 members and should be dropping through letterboxes in the next day or two. 

The 2021 BSBI Yearbook will also be in the mailing - I can't tell you anything more about the Yearbook, it's strictly members-only, but I can give you a taster of what's in BSBI News #146! 

The opening story, about the astonishing appearance of Creeping Marshwort at a site in West Suffolk, most probably arising from the seed bank following disturbance as a result of conservation management, has already been covered on this blog and in a poster at the BSBI Exhibition Meeting.

Frankly the discovery, made last summer, was too jaw-dropping to sit on for months! 

But the second feature, about the first British or Irish record of Long-lipped Tongue-orchid, was news to me and very exciting - vehicle-assisted dispersal is believed to be the vector here. 

Three cheers for sharp-eyed Daphne Mills of the Kent Botanical Recording Group who spotted the Tongue-orchid and took the image on the left.

A third surprising find is reported by Carl Sayer and Jo Parmenter who write about the work of the Norfolk Ponds Project and the first confirmed county record in over a century of Grass-poly at a pond restoration site in East Norfolk. 

A fourth surprising find - there's a definite theme to this latest issue! - comes from Robbie Blackhall-Miles who reports on the discovery of a second extant plant of the Catacol Whitebeam Sorbus pseudomeinichii, one of the Isle of Arran's ultra-rare whitebeams and arguably one of the rarest trees in the world (there is one further up the glen but no others anywhere on the planet!). 

To complete the quintet of surprising finds, Melinda Lyons reports on the second record for Ireland of Mibora minima, a tiny grass species found on North Bull Island in Dublin Bay, whose only previous Irish record was in dunes in West Cork. 

There are four other featured articles but I'll just mention two of them: Alla Mashanova's fascinating article about using dash cams for recording plants on road verges and Ivor Rees's piece on Large Sea-lavender (image on right) which has managed to resist the impacts of some very stormy weather: Ivor considers why this might be the case. 

I'm still less than halfway through the 88-page issue so time to summarise a bit more: the regular 'Introducing my vice-county' page is an account by County Recorder Paul Smith about the Outer Hebrides. 

Type Outer Hebrides into the search box on the right to read some of the many reports, such as this or this, about Paul's recording trips to various Outer Hebridean islands. 

And if you follow BSBI on Twitter, you'll recognise Paul's photo of Starry Saxifrage: it's our header!

The eight-page 'Aliens and Adventives' section includes some of the surprising alien plants that have turned up across Britain and Ireland, such as this peanut (image on left, taken by Graham Clark) flowering in North Essex. 

Richard Milne reports on the problem of naming British Rhododendrons, including that scourge of conservation managers, the colourful but highly invasive Rhododendron ponticum. 

There's an eight-page round-up, curated by Pete Stroh, of botanical news from across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales; readers' letters; five pages of book reviews compiled by Clive Stace... not to mention various inserts, including a flyer telling you how to claim almost a third off the price of the latest BSBI Handbook. 

You can now download a sample issue of BSBI News for January and there's one free article in full, both aimed at showing non-members just what they are missing. 

Head over to this page for those  sample issues and free articles or, if you've already decided you'd like three copies each year of BSBI News plus exclusive access to 100+ expert plant referees and a whole host of other membership benefits, then head over here and join us now: we'd love to welcome you as a member! 

For now we'll leave you with this lovely photo (above right), taken by Rob Peacock, of the Grass-poly from Norfolk.

New Year Plant Hunt in the media

Since the analysis of the BSBI 2021 New Year Plant Hunt was published a few days ago, we've had a gratifying amount of media interest!

The story was covered in the print editions of two national newspapers, The Times and the Daily Express. We've scanned both articles and they can be seen on this page. Click on the images to view them at a larger size. 

Two specialist periodicals, Horticulture Week and The Landscaper, both covered the story and it was also picked up by regional newspapers from Guernsey to Ilkley.

Ellen Goddard, who carried out the analysis of results this year, was interviewed on BBC Radio Leicester on Wednesday (starts at 1:54:26) and University of Loughborough where she is in the final year of a PhD also covered the story on their website. 

Several journalists have been in touch to discuss doing features on the New Year Plant Hunt and other BSBI activities, so we'll share links on this page once those features appear in print. 

Record number of wild flowers in bloom at midwinter: did Covid-19 play a part?

Ryan & Charlotte: ready to
start their Hunt! 

The results are in for BSBI’s tenth New Year Plant Hunt, when plant-lovers across Britain and Ireland head out to see what is flowering in their local patch. 1,811 people took part this year – more than ever before – but restrictions around Covid-19 had surprising impacts on the wild flowers they spotted in bloom. They hunted for up to three hours over the New Year period and recorded more species in bloom than ever before. Here’s what they found:

• 710 different plant species were recorded in bloom across Britain and Ireland compared to 615 last year and 627 in 2019.
• A total of 21,419 records were submitted: almost 50% more than last year.
• 1,195 lists were submitted, compared to 798 in 2020 and 712 in 2019.
• 1,811 people participated, either individually or as part of small family groups and support bubbles – our usual large group Hunts were all cancelled due to Covid-19.
• Plant hunters joined in from Orkney to Guernsey, from Anglesey to Norfolk, and from Donegal to south west Cork.

Field Pansy blooming in Cornwall
Image: D. Ryan

As expected, the milder south and west of Britain and Ireland had the highest numbers of species in flower – 86 on Jersey. This is less than the 2020 total of 115 species in Swanage and almost half the 2016 top total of 162 species recorded in Berkshire.

Ellen Goddard of BSBI’s Events & Communications Committee has analysed this year’s results and compared them with those from previous years. She said “2021 has been a record-breaking year, with more species recorded in bloom and more lists submitted than ever before, but we are still seeing the same split of native vs non-native plants. We have also seen a change in the way people took part in the Hunt this year: with organised group hunts cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions, people have been going out on their own or in small family groups and support bubbles. This has led to a small increase (c5%) in the number of participants but a marked increase (45-50%) in total lists and records submitted. This is likely to have played a large part in the higher number of species recorded this year, but there was also a higher temperature anomaly than we saw in 2020. So, the Covid-19 restrictions may have influenced how people took part in the Hunt but the warmer weather in the period leading up to the Hunt could also have influenced the total number of species and the number of records we received.”

Three-cornered leek:
an invasive alien
blooming in Leicestershire
2nd January 2021
Image: L. Marsh

The main findings from this year’s data were:

• 53% of the flowering species reported were of plants which normally flower after midsummer and had managed to carry on flowering. These include ‘Autumn Stragglers’ such as Yarrow, Ragwort and Hogweed. This proportion is very similar to previous years.
• Only 24% were ‘Springtime Specialists’ like Primrose and Lesser Celandine, so there is no indication of an early spring. This proportion is similar to previous years. 
• 23% of the records submitted were of species we might reasonably expect to flower at New Year, or species which we cannot easily be categorised as either ‘early’ or ‘late’. These include typical ‘All Year Rounders’ such as Shepherd’s-purse as well as ‘Winter Specialists’ such as Winter Heliotrope.
• The top four most frequently seen species were Daisy, Groundsel, Dandelion and Annual Meadow-grass – this was identical to last year’s list and all (native) plants that we would expect to be flowering at this time of year.
• Smooth Sow-thistle moved into fifth position on the Top Twenty list of most frequent plants, replacing Common Chickweed which moved to number 14 on the list.
• Bramble and Nipplewort entered the Top Twenty replacing Winter Heliotrope and Ivy.

Mirid bug on Common Ragwort: how will
changes to flowering times impact 
on invertebrates and other wildlife?
Image: L. Stinson

36% of species recorded were non-natives (aliens). This includes plants from warmer climates that have escaped from gardens or cultivation, become naturalised in the wild and were able to extend their flowering into the winter months.

As in previous years, urban areas tended to have more non-native species in flower than rural areas, as there are more sheltered and disturbed places with warm microclimates where alien plants can thrive.

Kevin Walker, BSBI Head of Science said “As Ellen’s analysis of the New Year Plant Hunt data shows, our plants are responding to changing weather patterns, with more flowers being recorded during the past decade as we experience autumns and winters with warmer temperatures and fewer frosts. We cannot, however, prove conclusively that more species are flowering nowadays in mid-winter compared to in past years. We can’t say for sure yet what impacts these changes in flowering times will have on associated wildlife - but we can see that weather patterns are changing and our plants, both native and non-native, are responding.”

Now is the time to start looking for orchids: interview with Sean Cole

In September last year, we were delighted to tell you about a new addition to the bookshelves of orchid-lovers across Britain and Ireland. Britain’s Orchids, written by Sean Cole and Mike Waller, published by Princeton University Press/ WildGuides, and featuring BSBI distribution maps, has been selling steadily and the book has attracted very favourable reviews. So you may be wondering why on earth, having interviewed Mike last autumn, I’m now back interviewing Sean! 

Well, you may be thinking of a field guide to orchids as something that you take down from the bookshelves in late spring just as the Early Purple Orchids come into flower, and put away again a few months later just as the Autumn Lady’s-tresses go to seed. But you’d be wrong, as many midwinter plant-hunters have been discovering recently! Before Sean explains why, I asked him to tell us if there is one orchid in particular that he’d like to see this year. 

SC: Well, as regular readers of this blog will probably know from our previous chat in 2014, when my Ghost Orchid paper was published in New Journal of Botany, that it is the only species I’ve yet to see in Britain or Ireland, so until that day, it is always that one! But more realistically, Covid allowing, I am planning trips to Donegal and the Western Isles, two absolutely stunning orchid locations. 

Ghost Orchid at Marlow 1953
Image courtesy of
National Museum, Wales

LM: Ah, the entry in Britain’s Orchids for the Ghost Orchid always gives me a lump in the throat! It shows the BSBI distribution map with one solitary post-2000 dot showing where the Ghost was last recorded, in 2009, and those photos from Buckinghamshire where a few plants were seen in the 1980s… I know you’ve seen the Ghost on the Continent but not (yet) in Britain – maybe 2021 will be the year?

SC: Every year I say that, in a demonstration of hope overcoming experience, but last autumn, and this winter so far, have provided favourable conditions for an appearance of Ghost this year – in the west at least. We have had seemingly continual rain throughout the autumn and winter (after record flooding back in March 2020), and then, from Boxing Day, a hard freeze, which only ended this week. We now have saturated ground. If only we can have rain throughout March and April, then again from August to October, and we might really be talking turkey! I appreciate that if it happens, I may not be very popular for wishing it! 

LM: Blimey Sean that doesn’t sound like much fun for plant hunters! Why would that kind of weather be good for the Ghost? 

SC: There are two things the Ghost likes the most – permanently wet soil and no trampling. Research has proven that heavy footfall ruins populations, as the stolons and underground parts are present so close to the surface, and footfall destroys them in soft soil. So the likelihood is that even if the impossible happens, it won’t be a public event. 

Sean finds and photographs his quarry!
Image M. Waller

LM Ok so that’s for later in the year, weather permitting, but right now – and this is why we are talking today Sean – in the past few weeks people have been posting photos of what they think are orchid rosettes on social media. Many of the c2,000 people who took part in the BSBI New Year Plant Hunt, where people look for plants in bloom at midwinter, also emailed us to enquire if the rosettes they noticed while scanning lawns and road verges might be Bee Orchids. Could your book help them or will they have to wait for the flowers to appear? 

SC: It’s great to see people searching out rosettes as well as flowering examples. It’s pretty much a  new discipline, probably begun by Mike when he wrote the British orchids vegetative ID guide for the NHM back in 2016, building on the approach taken by John Poland’s Vegetative Key to the British Flora. Our intention was always to make Britain’s Orchids a book that you could use all year round, and the rosette section was a key part of that.

Bee orchid rosette, Jan 2021, NHM garden
Image: S Cole

If you think about it, this is the time of year that orchids are easiest to spot, because there is barely any surrounding vegetation to hide them. Luckily, Bee Orchids often grow close to habitation – roadside verges, traffic islands, village greens, sports pitches, industrial estates and gardens - as well as old gravel pits and other man-made habitats. They don’t like competition, so they grow where the ground is bare or the surrounding vegetation doesn't compete.

Finding them in winter can be vital to their survival too: if you know they are present in an area that usually gets mown later on in the year then you can take action promptly, engage landowners, contractors and locals to protect them – and everything else that grows alongside - as well as the invertebrates that rely on the plants.

LM: Good advice Sean and here's the tweet you spotted from one happy person who found Bee Orchid rosettes in their garden the other day! So which other orchid rosettes should people be looking for in the next few months? And which habitats and locations should they be looking in?  

Burnt Orchid
Image: M. Waller  

SC: Fifteen of our native species can be found during January, with the most obvious being Bee, Early Purple, Pyramidal and Green-winged. But if you are able to visit sites with other Ophrys or Orchis species, they are around too. You could even set yourself the trickiest challenge of all and try to find an overwintering Burnt Orchid!!

LM: If anyone can find an over-wintering Burnt Orchid I’d like to hear about it! So once orchids start coming into bud – I see there are several pages in the book showing what those buds will look like – could you give us an idea of an orchid hunter’s calendar and itinerary through the year? 

SC: Given the uncertainty around travel at the moment, I’d suggest that people stay local and look for new places in their area. The winter rosettes are soon joined by the annual ones, with my local Common Spotted Orchid rosettes first appearing at the end of February last year. I’ve just found out about a site less than a mile from my house with 200 Southern Marsh Orchids, and I’ve lived here for eight years! So there is always something to discover. Look for orchid places and visit at a time of year you wouldn’t usually go – there could be some real surprises. 

LM: Good advice, an opportunity to hunt for orchid sites while staying safe under lockdown. There’s a question that I asked Mike and I’d like to ask you too: You must have visited a lot of locations across Britain and Ireland in the course of your research. Are there any that particularly stand out in your memory? 

SC: For me it is wider areas rather than specific sites (although I have a real soft spot for the Oxfordshire Military Orchid site). County Donegal is so beautiful and full of orchids, it is truly magical. A little-known fact is, it has more species than anywhere else in Ireland. Also, the Scottish machair is mind-blowingly stunning – north west mainland and the Hebrides - full of wildlife, especially orchids of course. 

Dune Helleborine in a
Harrogate planter (close-up)
Image: K. Walker 

LM: Machair is one of my favourite habitats too! When I interviewed Mike, he also said that while the two of you worked together on many of the sections, you were sole author on the Identifying Epipactis (helleborines) section. It has always fascinated me how Broad-leaved helleborines can grow quite happily in some very urban environments. I’ve seen them in car parks in Glasgow Southside, looking quite happy next to cigarette ends and dog poo – not where you might expect to see orchids! How is it that they can survive so happily in such unexpected places? 

SC: One of my favourite photos in Britain’s Orchids is Isabel Hardman’s photo of a Broad-leaved Helleborine growing out of a drain cover in an urban Glasgow street. This species can grow in almost any soil type, although it prefers calcareous substrates, and it is also tolerant of almost any light or shade conditions. Similarly, the soil doesn’t have to be particularly wet or dry. Whilst little is known about its mycorrhizal host partners, the likelihood is that it uses species that are common and widespread. It is pollinated primarily by common wasps, and has a high pollination success. This has caused problems in places where it has been introduced out of its normal range, as it can out-compete native species. 

LM: I love that there’s still so much to discover about our wild plants! And Dune Helleborines – they seem to be turning up in places that cannot by any stretch of the imagination be considered to be dunes! How come? 

The Harrogate planter where
Dune Helleborines grow
Image: K. Walker 

SC: Dune Helleborine is a story unfolding as we watch, and we have much to learn about it. Part of its range expansion is undoubtedly due to increased awareness of its identification – it is a subtle species that looks ostensibly like Broad-leaved Helleborine. But it is spreading into other habitats, primarily man-made ones such as reclaimed or disused gravel pits and spoil heaps. Records on roadside verges, or like Kevin Walker’s planters in urban Harrogate where they presumably arise from seed in soil placed in these locations. Like Broad-Leaved Helleborine, Dune Helleborine isn’t massively fussy about soil conditions, and it also chooses dual pollination methods, so if insects aren’t present, it will self-pollinate – again giving high rate of seed set. One curious thing about this species is that it can flower when very small (i.e. when it’s young) so I wonder if this means populations can get going much more quickly? 

Spread of rosette images from Britain's Orchids

LM: Fascinating stuff! So the moral seems to be that wherever you are and whatever time of year it is, you may find orchids if you just keep your eyes peeled and arm yourself with a suitable book! Sean, is this a good time to remind people of where they can buy a copy of Britain’s Orchids, how much it costs, how many pages, how many colour photos…. Go on, you’ve got five minutes to do the sales pitch! 

SC: The best sales pitch for a book is its readers’ reviews, and so far they have all been very positive. The main reason people seem to like it is that the illustrations by Sarah Stribbling are so stunning; we show all the variation within all the species, side-by-side, we’ve included all the hybrids with their parents on either side, and we show orchids at all stages of development – so if you get to a site too early or late, you can still identify what you see. All in a mere 286 pages and for less than £20! Summerfield Books are still cheapest I believe, but all the natural history booksellers have it.

Ghost Orchid photographed
in beech wood in Germany
Image: S Cole

One recent review pointed out that there are so many orchid books already available, and therefore what was the point of another one coming out. We were well aware of the plethora of existing literature, much of it very good, so knew we had to produce something unique, beautiful and eminently useful, otherwise nobody would bother. The reviewer concluded we had, and that Britain’s Orchids was a necessary addition to the subject, so that was a relief! 

LM: Phew! But to be even-handed, I’ll just remind readers that the Orchid ID page on the BSBI website has links to some free ID tips and resources as well as suggestions of some of the other orchid books on the market. If you have questions about orchids, you can contact both Mike and Sean via social media and share your orchid photos with them. You can also follow the Britain’s Orchids Twitter account or email them direct at britainsorchids@gmail.com

Many thanks for talking to me Sean and will you promise me something please? If one day you find a Ghost Orchid in Britain, will you come back and tell us all about it? 

SC: Believe me, I will be telling EVERYONE about that!! But you might have to come to me, as I may be in an old folks’ home by then.

LM: Deal! 

Midwinter report from BSBI President

Lynne spots a frozen primrose on the bank

November and December saw BSBI President Lynne Farrell looking at fungi after several very busy weeks attending – albeit virtually - BSBI’s autumn programme of big events such as the Annual Exhibition Meeting where she welcomed delegates. As 2020 drew to a close, Christmas saw her making mince pies for her neighbours and praising the efforts of NHS workers. 

So how did our President welcome in the New Year? She and almost 2000 other plant-lovers kicked off 2021 by taking part in BSBI’s New Year Plant Hunt. 

Over to Lynne to tell us more: 

“We just managed to fit in the New Year Plant Hunt before we were locked down again on the 5th of January. Over the four days of the Hunt, more than 1,100 lists were made, over 21,000 records contributed and more than 700 different species observed. 

"Clearly people were enjoying being out and about, even though some of us had to abandon one day owing to snowfall and not being able to see any plants in flower. Some people wished for proper winter conditions and this year they arrived. It may help control parasites on both plants and insects, but that remains to be seen later on.

Lynne's friend Sue photographing
a fern she spotted

“In Cumbria, where I live, there were 43 participants, who found 109 species, for example. I strayed into North Lancashire, three miles away, on New Year’s Day and recorded 48 species including a frozen primrose (photo above). On the 2nd of January I had to give up due to snow, which is unusual on the coast here at Arnside, and the next day I found 34 species around the village, fewer than in 2019. Frost and cold temperatures had ‘zapped’ several species.

“In the New Year’s Honours List two long-standing BSBI members were honoured: Oxfordshire botanist Dr Judy Webb was awarded the British Empire Medal, while Dr Steph Tyler, Chair of the Committee for Wales and joint County Recorder for Monmouthshire, was awarded OBE. Congratulations to Judy and Steph”.

New Year Plant Hunt 2021 Days Three & Four

Flowers spotted by Rebecca Wheeler
Image: R. Wheeler

As the sun set on the final day of the 2021 New Year Plant Hunt, records of wild and naturalised plants spotted in bloom continued to flood in from across Britain and Ireland. 

Volunteers who have been working in shifts on the help desk were doing a superb job processing those records. 

More than 1,100 lists have been submitted so far, comprising more than 19,000 unique records, and a total of 690 species had been recorded. 

All those totals are higher than in any of the previous ten years of the Hunt, and we expect that more records will be submitted before the deadline of midnight on Friday 8th January.

Gorse blooming in the snow
in central Scotland
Image: Barry @scyrene 

 The total number of species may go down or up once the verification process is complete.

As the Results map shows, plant hunters were out across these islands, from North Ronaldsay where just one species, Daisy, was recorded in bloom to Jersey where there are no restrictions on meeting up in large groups and a total of 86 species was recorded, including coastal species such as Thrift, Sea Campion, Rock Samphire and Sea-purslane. 

That total will go down to 83 once three inadvertently added ferns are removed: ferns do not have flowers so cannot be included. 

At Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire, John and Sally notched up 25 species including Navelwort, a plant with a distinctly western distribution, while a list of 40 species from Hastings included plants such as Deptford Pink, Seaside Daisy and Rosemary

Rory's "dandelion with notions"
Image: R. Hodd

None of those species would be likely to be seen in bloom in central Scotland where icy weather stopped play for Lesley in Edinburgh and Barry found that only three of the 20-30 species he was seeing before Christmas had survived recent snow and ice; Windy Hollow Farm had also endured "very frosty" weather and not even Herb-Robert, usually a reliable New Year bloomer on the farm, was spotted this year. 

Recorders across England - in Shropshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire also reported much less Herb-Robert in bloom during this year's Hunt. 

In Fort William, BSBI Scottish Officer Jim McIntosh reported "about a third as many species in flower" compared to last year, while across the Irish Sea, Simeon hunted at White Park Bay near Coleraine in Northern Ireland - a location made famous by Game of Thrones - and notched up 19 species. 

In southwest Ireland, Jean found 28 species in bloom near Kinsale and Rory found 36 species in Killarney National Park, the same location where in 2019, he found Europe's newest, rarest fern. One of those 36 species was, Rory tells us, "a dandelion with notions!"  

As in previous years, New Year Plant hunters of all ages and skill levels enjoyed the Hunt: Hobie's mum told us that Hobie "really enjoyed photographing his finds and logging them into the app" (image on left).

Sweet violet
Image: J. Fenely

Taking part in the Hunt helped lots of people strengthen their plant ID skills, with the help of some of the wild flower ID resources available on the BSBI website. Crib sheets for violets, strawberries, buttercups and speedwells, commissioned by Rebecca Wheeler for Wild Flower Hour and produced by Moira O'Donnell, proved invaluable for first time plant hunters such as John Feneley. 

John spotted a violet in bloom and the rounded tips to the sepals, seen clearly in his photograph, confirmed it as sweet violet. 

We were delighted that Moira, Rebecca and Leif from the Wild Flower Hour team joined the New Year Plant Hunt support team this year. Over the four days of the Hunt, Rebecca tweeted encouraging participation, thanking hunters and also told us about her own Hunt; Moira put in multiple shifts on the help desk answering enquiries and inputting data; while Leif's video and Instagram posts helped spread the word about the Hunt to new audiences, as did our article for BBC Wildlife. 

Treacle mustard
Image: I. Senior

 Joshua Ajowele, who also joined the support team this year, produced a short video encouraging people to join the Hunt and over the course of the four days he retweeted plant hunters and tweeted thanks, encouragement and reminders of how to take part. 

He also found time to do a hunt of his own and notched up 17 species in less than an hour in Reading, where he has been studying for a MSc in Plant Diversity. Great work Joshua! 

As in previous years, urban sites and allotments often yielded interesting Plant Hunt records:  Ian Senior found the deliciously named Treacle Mustard on a local allotment in Norwich while Alex Prendergast spotted Pleasant's Eye blooming on a Norfolk allotment. 

Plant Alert intern April Webb has spent a lot of time on allotments this year - read about her research here - and she managed to fit in several Hunts in Warwickshire, including one on an allotment site, in between shifts on the help desk. 

Pheasant's Eye
Image: A. Prendergast

She was joined on the Plant Hunt support team this year by Isobel Girvan from Sussex Wildlife Trust and plant hunter Conchita tweeted how grateful she was for Isobel's help.  

Leif told you on Day Two about the Hunts carried out by Ryan, a regular on the Plant Hunt support team, and his partner Charlotte: by the end of Day Four they had notched up four Hunts together (including one by torchlight - image below!) and Charlotte notched up a fifth one on her own while Ryan was back on the help desk. 

Great work from both of them and from support team regulars Ciara and Ellen. 

Technical problems with the app this year caused problems for recorders for which we can only apologise - they also caused a lot more work for the support team and especially for BSBI Database Officer Tom Humphrey. 

Without the 13 volunteers who worked alongside Tom and other staff members behind the scenes, the Hunt could not have gone ahead and we owe them all our thanks, but we would also like to say a huge THANK YOU to all of you who took part! 

So to end, a reminder to please submit all records before the deadline - midnight on Friday 8th January - so Ellen can start work on the analysis. 

We will share her analysis here and on the New Year Plant Hunt webpage later this month but for now we'll leave you with this collage (below) by Dan Ryan of the plants he spotted during his Hunt in Cornwall. 

Thanks again everyone!