Hedera algeriensis 'Ravensholst'

A trip over to Temple Newsam (VC64) yesterday for a bit of daffodil spotting (beats dandelions for me at this time of year!) gave an opportunity to check back in with this ivy in North Plantation, where a large stand has established across the woodland floor and climbing trees.

This has to be the most impressive of the naturalised ivies, the leaves are absolutely enormous. But this does leave it a little vulnerable to our up and down climate. The last time I saw it a couple of years back it had been badly hit by a late frost. But this year it was in perfect condition.

Algerian Ivy (Hedera algeriensis), usually in its smaller leaved forms, is not uncommon as a garden escape but possibly remains overlooked. Perhaps in some cases it is passed over as 'Irish Ivy' (Hedera hibernica 'Hibernica'). The variegated 'Gloire de Marengo' is particularly frequent. 

More Ivies

The peak of the snowdrops is perhaps still two weeks off in my part of Yorkshire, meaning there is still not much of interest in local woods and hedge banks as we hit 'mud month' (that really is an old and very apt name for February). Thankfully, there is a little colour around here and there in the form of escaped cultivars of Common Ivy (Hedera helix).

Two golden forms caught my eye today as I slopped around Woodlesford (VC63).

'Goldchild' is a distinctive form with moderately large (for H. helix) thin leaves. It is a relatively modern cultivar coming into cultivation from the 1970's,

Not too far away was this smaller, glossier and more leathery leaved form. In comparison with the above, the gold patterning is much less extensive than the patches of green and grey-green. This seems to be 'Tricolor' which is a very old cultivar that originates before 1865. I can see why it has remained popular for so long. It is meant to develop a pink edge to the leaf in autumn but this is not apparent here.

Atlantic Ivy - Overlooked as a Garden Escape?

Atlantic Ivy (Hedera hibernica) is the dominant ivy along the western fringes of Britain, while further east and inland it is generally considered to be replaced by Common Ivy (Hedera helix).  The very robust cultivar 'Hibernica' (also known as 'Irish Ivy') being the exception to this, having been widely planted historically and subsequently has spread widely in suburban areas, railway banks and woodland. Despite this it still seems to be under-recorded. In part this is because in some counties it isn't recorded to cultivar level, instead being lumped under Atlantic Ivy. However, there do seem to be some genuine large gaps that are inconsistent with its ubiquity elsewhere. The BSBI database still lists it and maps it under Common Ivy, which also may confuse matters.

Images of Hedera hibernica 'Hibernica', Swillington Park (VC64)

But this is not the only form grown in gardens, and some cultivars are likely to have been grown for as long as 'Hibernica' and therefore are equally likely to have escaped. I was reminded of this recently, when walking through the woodland on the edge of Oulton Park (VC63). My eye was drawn to what at first glance was a carpet of ivy mixed with abundant tree seedlings, but closer inspection showed these 'seedlings' to be part of a very peculiar and heterophyllous ivy. A few young shoots were gathered to look at under the microscope later, and when I did I found the underside of the youngest leaves (the only reliable place to look, and ignoring the leaf margin and major veins) to have a cover of hairs (trichomes) flat to the leaf surface. So, it was a form of Atlantic Ivy, an identification kindly confirmed later by Hugh McAllister, author of the excellent recent monograph on the genus. Hugh also suggested that it looked like the cultivar 'Gavotte', which in itself is interesting as this cultivar is currently considered to be a form of Common Ivy and therefore would need to be reassigned to Atlantic Ivy.

Hedera hibernica cf. 'Gavotte'

This is the third type of Atlantic Ivy I have found in the woodlands around Oulton Park. 'Hibernica' is of course common throughout, but there is another large leaved form which seems to the old cultivar 'Lobatomajor' (and it may sit within a group of cultivars that comprise the Hibernica Group, as the distinguishing distinctively lobed large leaves only start to appear once it starts to climb).

Hedera hibernica 'Lobatomajor'

So inspired by 'Gavotte', and it being a good autumn project now that most plants have gone over for the year, I visited several woodlands in urban fringe locations this weekend to see if I could find more Atlantic Ivy. Something that turned out to be relatively easy, the trick being to focus on those plants with the largest juvenile foliage and/or leaves redolent of 'Hibernica' in shape. None of these plants was as distinctive as the above forms, and instead resemble more typical wild type Atlantic Ivy. But once you get your eye in they do have a distinctive jizz, and the hairs later confirmed these field identifications. It was by no means dominant within the woodlands concerned, but where it has colonised it generally forms dense stands. I'm recording all these finds as neophytes, as I am assuming that they have a garden or other introduced origin. I suspect focussed searching will find them to be relatively frequent in other suburban and urban edge locations.

Hedera hibernica in Hollinhurst Wood, Allerton Bywater (VC64)

Hedera hibernica in Peasecroft Wood, Great Preston (VC64)

Hedera hibernica near Astley Lane, Swillington to Great Preston (VC64)

Stylish Shrubs

Spring is nearly here so time to get back into this blogging lark. As a warm-up for me, I am going to start with a random assortment of attractive and/or quirky shrubs found over the last month or so in VC64.

Starting with a native, I can't really beat Howard Beck's find and photos of Mezereon (Daphne mezereum) near Selside.

Also from Howard was this unusual form of Yew (Taxus baccata Argentea Group) at Holden. The fastigiate form is common in churchyards, and sometimes you find the golden form, but I have not seen this cultivar before. Hopefully it will survive and grow into a fine tree.

Keeping with the variegated theme, but with added spines, was this curious Holly I found at Ilkley - Ilex aquifolium 'Ferox Argentea'. It appears to be a bird sown occurrence, as the location suggests a planted origin is unlikely.

Next a climber, this is the third most common ivy in VC64, rivalled for distribution only by Hedera helix f. helix and Hedera hibernica Hibernica Group. This is Hedera helix f. pedata (deliberately avoiding use of 'Pedata' given all the wild occurrences are bird sown and therefore not the true garden selection) which I found in two locations around Ilkley, one in Heber's Ghyll and one near Cow and Calf. Photos of both in that order.

Finally, the attractive red buds of Darwin's Barberry (Berberis darwinii) from The Tarn, Ilkley Moor.

Ilkley to Addingham Moorside

My trip over to Ilkley (VC64) at the weekend proved more eventful than I could have hoped. First slipping off a boulder and falling backwards into the beck at Heber's Ghyll and then, after salvaging my notebook from the water, regaining my composure and checking for broken bones, finding a particularly nice bramble in the wood.

Following advice from David Earl this seems to be Thornless Blackberry (Rubus canadensis), a native of North America. It has impressively tall, and typically biennial, arching canes with no prickles. In this case the flowers were particularly large and impressive, and from a distance I thought I was approaching a bush of Mock-orange (Philadelphus sp.) as it was so showy. This is the first record for VC64, and also seems to be the first for Yorkshire.

In a wooded ghyll in Ilkley proper there was a small colony of this enormous Lord's and Ladies. A problem for another day but looking too big to be Italian Lord's and Ladies (Arum italicum) proper, despite the veining on the leaves. For scale, the OS map in the photo is approximately 22cm tall.

At the Old Bridge it was nice to finally see the thriving Fairy Foxglove (Erinus alpinus) colony in flower. I had not appreciated that there was a mix of pink and white flowered plants here. Photo of the latter (var. albus) below.

Elsewhere as a street weed was a double-flowered (technically semi-double so fertile) form of Welsh Poppy (Meconopsis cambrica 'Flore Pleno') that I had read about but never seen before, despite the abundance of this species as a naturalised plant in the VC. Terrible photo but you get the idea.

In Panorama Woods there is an abundance of Persian Ivy (Hedera colchica). It is well known here but I don't think anyone before has noted this as being the original introduced form i.e. var. dentata or 'Dentata' (depending on preference). Note the small teeth on the leaf margins.

Over at Addingham Moorside I stumbled over some nice mire and species-rich grassland communities. Some of the highlights included Bulbous Rush (Juncus bulbosus subsp. kochii), Creeping Forget-me-not (Myosotis secunda) and (Pedicularis sylvatica subsp. sylvatica).

Skipton and Embsay

On Saturday I took a trip on the train out to Skipton (VC64) to start work on a couple of under-recorded hectads. I picked a circular route out to Embsay and the reservoir. It did not turn out to be the most inspiring countryside with intensive farmland in the lowland and a 'sheep-wrecked' upland edge. But needs must with the pressures of Atlas 2020 mounting, and it just means you have to look a little harder.

The first nice find was a good stand of Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) along Springs Canal, later to be seen again at the entrance to Skipton Wood. This attractive plant does not appear to have been recorded from this hectad previously.

Purple Loosestrife - I am cheating with this photo as it was taken at 

Lowther Lake a couple of weeks back

Walking up The Bailey I was able to look up onto the walls of Skipton Castle where there were naturalised colonies of Aubrieta (Aubrieta deltoidea) and Golden Alison (Aurinia saxatilis). The former had not been recorded here previously, and the only other record for the hectad was last century (pre-1999, details very vague as is the case for too many records). Golden Alison was new to the hectad.

Golden Alison (photo by Prazak from Wikimedia Commons)

After a dull walk down into Embsay things picked up again with a number of oddities along Brackenley Lane. First up was a couple of plants of Upright Spurge (Euphorbia stricta). This is a rare British native but it is a casual up here. I see it is listed by some seed suppliers as 'Golden Foam'. A nice plant but I am not sure I need to grow it my garden. Each to their own.

Old walls further along the lane had Caucasian Stonecrop (Sedum spurium) and Snow-in-summer (Cerastium tomentosum), and then this surprise by the steps up to the footpath across the fields. Yellow Oxeye (Telekia speciosa).

Emerging onto Pasture Road I found a nice stand of Dusky Crane's-bill (Geranium phaeum var. phaeum) where Embsay Beck passes under the road. Still a few flowers present despite the season.

Reaching the reservoir I couldn't wait to get down to the shore to look for drawdown flora. Unfortunately this is one of the reservoirs where this is very poorly developed and there were none of the specialities. The highlights being Tufted Forget-me-not (Myosotis laxa) and Marsh Yellow-cress (Rorippa palustris). The latter the first record for the hectad since pre-1969. I was then pleased to find a bush of Glandular Dog-rose (Rosa squarrosa), a hectad first, swiftly followed by yet another in the form of Musk (Mimulus moschatus). A single large clump was growing in the northern inflow.

Musk, photo taken last year at Fewston Reservoir

Heading up onto the Moor, there was only slim pickings but it allowed me to record the usual suspects. The nicest find was Climbing Corydalis (Ceratocapnos claviculata). I then dropped down back towards Embsay. A few useful records were made on route, mainly garden escapes and plantings. The biggest surprise was Algerian Ivy (Hedera algeriensis) established in plantation behind the roadside wall. I suspect this species may be overlooked elsewhere, being passed over for Irish Ivy (Hedera hibernica Hibernica Group). Look out for large leaves, ruby red petioles and young stems, and a pine scent.

An old wall in Embsay had a nice bush of Garden Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) growing out of it, no doubt self-seeded from a nearby garden.

Having a little time to kill before catching my train I wandered up to Skipton Woods. Not the most interesting of woods (especially at this time of year), too many feet and too much bare ground, but adding a few plants that had not been recorded previously. Including such obvious species as Branched Bur-reed (Sparganium erectum). It was also good to find the Herb-Paris (Paris quadrifolia) just about still in leaf, allowing me to collect a detailed grid reference. However justifying this brief diversion was the best find. A large plant of Indian-rhubarb (Darmera peltata) has somehow managed to establish in the bank of Eller Beck by the boardwalk. I'm not sure if this is the same plant last reported in 2004, the location details are too vague, but it seems likely.

Indian-rhubarb