(Slightly Less) Rare Spring-Sedge

Rare Spring Sedge (Carex ericetorum) is an early flowering and easily overlooked sedge of short, species-rich calcareous grassland, often growing with the similar looking Spring Sedge (C. caryophyllea). In Britain it is mainly confined to East Anglia (Breckland), limestones around Morecambe Bay and the ‘upland’ limestones of Westmorland and Teesdale (Walker and Stroh, 2015).

Photo by Anna Kuzemko (Wikimedia Commons)

There are a scatter of records for this species from relicts of species-rich grassland along the ridge of magnesian limestone that passes through Yorkshire to the east of Leeds. Many of these records are old and even the more recent ones have relatively poor grid references (quite hopeless really for informing searches for this little species). So it has been great that Kevin Walker has been working his way around many of these sites over the last 10 years or so, doing much to improve the records in the BSBI database. His latest find, made last year but only just reported, is from Hetchell Wood Nature Reserve where it was last seen in 1959. Kevin has searched here several times before, underlying the challenge in finding this plant when you don't know exactly where to look.

Breaking News - and adding to the above Kevin and Kay McDowell found 130 plants of 5th May at Ledsham Banks. A great count.

Daffodils

This is becoming an annual spring obsession now but its amazing how many you can clock up over the period March to May (none are in flower in February in Leeds, not even 'February Gold'). I only concern myself with those found in woods, on river banks, areas of waste ground, unmanaged churchyards and similar situations, deliberately steering clear of urban road verge plantings. Accordingly, I tend to find mainly the old tried and true cultivars that are tough as old boots, so largely pre-1940's or exceptionally pre-1970's. 'Oxford Gold' with a registration date of 2007 was a complete surprise this year, popping up in an obscure part of the churchyard after last years clearance of brambles.

Highlights from this years haul (with date of registration) include:

Actaea (<1919)                                            Aranjuez (1932)

                                                                                             Barrett Browning (1945)                           Bath's Flame (1913)

Beersheba (1923)                                        Dick Wilden (1962)

Carlton (1927)                                            Conspicuus (1869)

Delibes (1950)                                            Double Sir Watkin (1916)

Dutch Master (1948)                                   Emperor (1869)

Empress (1869)                                           Feu de Joie (1927)

Flower Drift (1966)                                    Flower Record (1943)

Fortissimo (1964)                                       Glenfarclas (1976)

Golden Harvest (1920)                               Gulliver (1927)

Ice Follies (1953)                                        Itzim (1982)

Jenny (1943)                                               Jetfire (1966)

Magnet (1931)                                            Maximus (1576)

Mount Hood (1938)                                    Oxford Gold (2007)

Pomona (1930)                                           Princeps (<1830)

Ptolemy (1921)                                           Sempre Avanti (1938)

Sir Watkin (<1868)                                     Spellbinder (1944)

Stella (<1869)                                             Sulphur Star (<1869)

White Lady (<1897)                                   White Lion (<1949)