Friday 19 July 2019

New for Yorkshire

Just back from an enjoyable week at Malham for the BSBI Summer Meeting. More on this to follow soon, but also see the daily accounts on the main BSBI blog.

The first good find of the week didn't take very long. With a little time to kill on the first day, while I waited for everyone else to arrive, I had a stroll round the grounds of Malham Tarn House. Examining the rock cutting by the driveway I found what looked a very odd Caucasian-stonecrop (Sedum spurium - conscious use of the old name here as the database is yet to catch up with Stace 4). The plant looked far too delicate, and the leaves a little too petiolate. So into the pocket it went to look at later.


It didn't take too much effort later to get it to Lesser Caucasian-stonecrop (Sedum stolonifera). The obscurely* papillose leaf margins providing the final confirmation. A first for VC64 and Yorkshire. Surely a species to actively search for elsewhere, as it is probably overlooked.


*correction from original post, stolonifera is obscurely papillose i.e. small raised bumps. In comparison spurium is obviously papillose with long papillae (longer than wide). You can feel them with your finger towards the tip of the leaf.

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