Drawdown

The silver lining to this year's prolonged dry spell is that it is a great year for looking at the flora of the drawdown zone around Skelton Lake (VC63 and 64). Most years, summer rain raises water levels again before things have had long enough to develop to their full potential.

Of course, my first port of call was to have the annual check on Grass-poly (Lythrum hyssopifolium). I could only find one, perhaps too dry for germination, but it might have a late flush with a bit of rain.

Grass-poly

It seems to be a really good year for Golden Dock (Rumex maritimus), and their are carpets of thousands of Mudwort (Limosella aquatica). Both present in the same corner of the lake as the Grass-poly as well as along the eastern shoreline.

Golden Dock

Carpet of Mudwort

Moving on, there was a cobble bar exposed in the river. In the absence of the usual dog walkers and swans it was worth an explore, and proved very rewarding. There were a surprising number of Tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum), at least until considering the location downstream of the outfall for the Knostrop sewage works. Also, large numbers of Fig-leaved Goosefoot (Chenopodium ficifolium) growing with Red Goosefoot (Oxybasis rubra) and the best find Striped Goosefoot (Chenopodium strictum agg. - this would key to C. striatum using Sell & Murrell and is the prevailing form locally). Like most goosefoots, the development of the stripes and red coloration on the latter species seems a bit hit and miss in Yorkshire, I suspect we just don't get enough heat for long enough.

Tomato

Striped Goosefoot

Another good find in the river was the riparian form of Pale Persicaria (Persicaria lapathifolia subsp. lapathifolia) - easily mistaken for a more exotic species if not aware of how different it looks from the typical arable field form (subsp. pallida). It comes up around Skelton Lake most years and it is always nice to meet this graceful plant again, with its drooping flower heads, spotty stems and 'knobbly knees'. Nearby there was an unusually pale form of Linseed (Linum usitatissimum), also well as a few Marsh Dock (Rumex palustris).

Pale Persicaria

Linseed

Back over to the lake, there were two final treats. Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and Grey Fat-hen (Chenopodium pseudoborbasii). The latter is a controversial Sell & Murrell segregate, but I've seen this small species a lot this year and it seems to be widespread, distinct/distinctive (more so than the widely accepted Swedish Fat-hen, Chenopodium suecicum) with its grey colouration and leaf shape, and relatively uniform in morphology. Albeit, in the latter case, its worth noting there are two forms - single stem (f. pseudoborbasii) and branching from the base (f. ramosa). The two forms often occur in isolation, but sometimes they can be found together.

Sunflower

Grey Fat-hen

Where there's muck,

there's goosefoots. Perhaps a bit harsh, but there is a fair chance of finding something interesting if you poke around the fringes of a muck heap. As was the case this week when I was rewarded with a strong colony of Grey Goosefoot (Chenopodium opulifolium) near the stables at Royds Green (VC63). Its one of those species that is relatively distinctive once known but very difficult to identify with confidence using a key. Handily, it is also a species that seems to have been collected widely in the past, so there are lots of good quality herbarium specimens to be found online (photographs on the other hand seem far less reliable).

Its seems to be a relatively short (to 30cm tall) and well-branched plant with small distinctively shaped leaves (with most about as wide as they are long). It was recorded widely in the past, but there are virtually no contemporary records. Lost or just overlooked?

A number of the plants had this yellow marbling to the leaves, contrasting with other species nearby. I'm not sure if its viral or a nutritional problem, but not something to otherwise pay too much regard to.

A Gaggle of Goosefoots

I'm pretty sure that's the correct collective noun, although perhaps it should be confusion or conundrum. As acknowledged in Stace, and as obvious to anyone who has ever looked closely, this is a notoriously 'plastic' group of plants, with Fat-hen (Chenopodium album) particularly so and in all honesty a dumping ground for anything that can not be placed within the other accepted species. How many of us have felt unhappy recording the latter once we have appreciated its extreme variation? I know I have.

So the question is then, can any variants be recognised that are consistent and more than just oddities of local occurrence? That is where Sell & Murrell's recent classification comes in. I don't think anyone, Sell included, would expect this to be the definitive statement on the genus. Sell acknowledged that the genus has suffered from a lack of serious attention, probably more so than any other element of the British flora. But there are historic collections of the genus available for reference that at least allow us to come back at this group with a fresh pair of eyes. That is really what the Sell & Murrell classification is setting out, a first draft classification to be tested further, and ideally tested in the field rather than via the herbarium sheet.

I've been pondering this since 2018. Not rushing to record, just getting a feel for the variation. This year has given more time to look and collect photographs to go with initial identifications. This was assisted by a warm start to the year meaning that my local populations developed early and developed their stem colour (which is not a given this far north, stem colour is almost certainly not to be relied on), and a delayed harvest due to the wet summer that gave more time than usual to look. 

Based on this, I am more and more confident that there are some distinctive entities that are worth recognition, certainly no less so than accepted species such as Probst's Goosefoot (Chenopodium probstii). It is these taxa I focus on in this post (as I understand them, feedback welcome). They are all relatively tall species that occur widely and seem relatively straightforward, especially when encountered as populations. They are species that are hard to define on paper (like so many species), but once seen in the field make sense. Hopefully others will have a look at their local populations and share details so understanding of this challenging group can solidify further.

Druce's Fat-hen (Chenopodium drucei)

Named of course for the eminent botanist George Claridge Druce. This is a distinctive species with ovate or rhombic lower leaves (sometimes irregularly dentate - these teeth are small), and typically comparatively long lanceolate obtuse to acute leaves in the upper part of the plant. The foliage is a rather dark dull green. The inflorescence is also distinctive (relative to some other species) being widely branching and drooping at the tip. Sell describes this species as 60cm tall based on apparently limited field experience of this species. Some populations I have found were taller than this, no doubt dependent on weather and growing conditions (and probably when it first germinated i.e. early or late season).

Lower leaves, note some have small teeth

Note that the upper foliage becomes more elongate (lanceolate)

Typical mature inflorescence

I have been finding this species widely scattered in arable districts south-east of Leeds (VC63 and 64) within walking distance from home (the limit of most of my botanical excursions this year). But still a reasonable geographic spread (red dots) covering more than one farm. Each grid square is a monad

Fallacious Goosefoot (Chenopodium fallax)

I found this medium to tall species in its 100's at the edge of a potato crop. Faced with such a large uniform population it seems inarguable. But it occurs more widely and seems relatively common. It has distinctive dark green foliage, of relatively large size and held in a characteristically drooping way such that the foliage looks dense. The distinctive leaves have a triangular central lobe and typically a pair of lobes at the base (perhaps better described as lobe-like teeth). The inflorescence is relatively lax (compared with other species) but not as lax as Druce's Fat-hen. The only similar (and more widely accepted) species in Sell & Murrell is Maple-leaved Goosefoot (C. acerifolium), but I am not convinced that the definition of that species matches the understanding of this species in other countries.

Typical foliage from bottom of plant to top (left to right)

Foliage

Arrangement of the inflorescence (upper plant is paler as it has set seed and is going over)

Eastern Fat-hen (Chenopodium pseudostriatum)

Another medium to tall species, and perhaps the most common. When this plant loses its larger leaves, as most fat-hen species do later in the season, it would be easily mistaken for Striped Goosefoot (Chenopdium striatum). That may explain its name. The latter species never has the large and obviously toothed leaves of this species, but you could easily envisage it as one of the potential parents of Eastern Fat-hen, and something like Fallacious or Probst's Goosefoot as the other parent.

The best jizz for this species is the pale green foliage, oblong to ovate and denticulate on the lower plant (but no basal lobes), and untoothed and linear to lanceolate towards the top of the plant. It is usually quite a narrow plant. The stem can develop prominent red striping (in a good year, this seems unreliable in Yorkshire where I have known this species for several years). The inflorescence is much more dense than in the above species.

Typical growth form and inflorescence

Typical foliage from bottom to top of plant, affinities with other species but the plant as a whole is very different

Probst's Goosefoot (Chenopodium probstii)

So having looked at the above, what about an 'accepted' species. Some might describe it as nondescript in comparison.

It seems genuinely rare so is probably only a casual. I have found it by a muck heap and on land disturbed for construction of a motorway service station. I would be far less confident in my ID if there was not some good herbarium material online to compare against. See here.

This can be a tall species, but I don't think this should be relied. The foliage is a relatively pale green and has a very blunt (rounded obtuse) apex. All leaves are toothed, can develop a red margin, and the lower ones hang on relatively long petioles.

Lower leaves

Upper leaves

Rhubarb Triangle

Only slightly less exciting than the Bermuda Triangle, and with marginally less planes and boats disappearing, my little patch of the Rhubarb Triangle still continues to turn up botanical interest. 

The rhubarb fields are perhaps one of the few places shoddy is still used, and I live in hope of unusual weeds. But I suspect most shoddy is of British origin these days, so that is unlikely. However, a relict of former days and still doing well is White Rocket (Diplotaxis erucoides). It is not a common plant, except perhaps in Lincolnshire, but it may be overlooked elsewhere in south Leeds and Wakefield. One to look out for at this time of year.

A group of plants that has been interesting me recently are the Sell & Murrell segregates of Fat-hen (Chenopodium album agg.). These deserve a specific post, but one of the distinctive ones that seems to have merit is Druce's Fat-hen (Chenopodium drucei). A relatively tall species with ovate lower leaves and long lanceolate upper leaves. The shape of the inflorescence is also distinctive,

A few fumitories are still flowering, and this one is a subspecies of Common Fumitory (Fumaria officinalis subsp. wirtgenii var. wirtgenii). Please someone coin it a specific common name!

Believe it or not, this one is different (too many flowers) and is Fumaria officinalis subsp. officinalis var. elegans.

Not particularly notable, but surprising to see in the corner of an arable field was Russian-vine (Fallopia baldschuanica).

A pavement crack in the village on the way home ended the day well by providing Cape-jewel (Nemesia strumosa), one of the less common escapes from bedding schemes. This looks to be only the third record for VC63.

Chenopodium striatiforme

Back in September I was poking along an arable field margin looking for Knotgrasses (Polygonum spp.), when I spotted a Fat-hen species that looked a bit unusual. It wasn't one of the typical variants of Fat-hen, being dwarf with a short leading stem, and multiple branches arising near the rootstock and spreading horizontally before ascending. The leaves were also very small, rather sparse and with no teeth or lobes on the margin.

I vaguely remembered an image of something that looked similar in Flora Nordica, and this along with the interesting new account of the genus in Sell & Murrell encouraged me to take it home for a closer look.

After a bit of background reading and looking at images online, I was reasonably satisfied that this was Small-leaved Fat-hen (Chenopodium striatiforme). Confirmed subsequently with the help of Dr John Akeroyd. This is a species that Continental botanists have been satisfied with for sometime, but until Sell & Murrell it was probably not a species most British and Irish Botanists were aware of. It is a distinct little species, rarely more than 40cm tall, and in this case less than 30cm.

Of course I was so desperate to get to my books that I forgot to photograph it in situ, and by the time I had finished looking at it the light was fading. But the following photograph should be adequate to give a flavour of the species and its distinctive form and foliage. I've propped it up with some of those pottery feet used to support plant pots, which indicates the small size of the plant.

Rather better are these photographs sourced online. See here and here.

Chenopodium rubrum var. pseudobotryoides

It really has been an exceptional year for investigating the drawdown zones of my local lakes (Skelton and St Aidan's, VC64) in south Leeds. Even now, at mid-September, they have been continuing to throw interest with the best numbers for several years of Golden Dock (Rumex maritimus) and Nodding Bur-marigold (Bidens cernua).

The latest surprise, as of last weekend, was the abundance of the dwarf decumbent form of Red Goosefoot (Chenopodium rubrum var. pseudobotryoides) at St Aidan's. September really is its season. I've blogged about this plant before when I found it at Eccup Reservoir, and this is the first time I have seen it since then. I believe this may be its first appearance at St Aidan's, certainly I have not noticed it in previous years.

While the evidence is slim there does seem be some indication that this variety has a genetic basis, and that it is not just a response to environment and season. Certainly it is hard to believe it could suddenly turn into the typical plant. I think points in its favour are that when it occurs it does so with great uniformity and often in its 100's, and it coexists with late germinating plants of the typical form which are very small but otherwise perfectly typical.

The stem is characteristically a vivid red, but the leaves are not always this yellow, I think these plants have either been hit by recent cool nights or are running to seed. Given it leaves it so late into the season to appear, it probably lives fast and dies young.

Finally, I can't really mention Golden Dock without including a photograph. So ...