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.

Hollinhurst Wood to Swillington Park

I made good use of the extra day this month to walk over to Great Preston (VC64) in the last of the sunshine before the rains return. Hollinhurst Wood turned up a few new species that I had not had previously for the site and/or the hectad. These included naturalised Box-leaved Honeysuckle (Lonicera pileata) and Highclere Holly (Ilex x altaclerensis). The latter is widely naturalised in Yorkshire, and I include a photo below in case it helps others get to grips with this species. It is very variable, merging into the parent species at the extreme ends of variation, but this example is pretty representative. Note the relatively matt mid-green leaves and the relatively large and broad leaf shape, which help distinguish it from our more attractive native Holly (Ilex aquifolium).

There was also a small tree of Cherry Plum (Prunus cerasifera) struggling to grow in the dim light of the woodland.

A small area at the northern end had clearly been the targeted by some misguided soul who felt it necessary to introduce garden plants into native woodland. The plants present included Hybrid Snowdrop (Galanthus x valentinei nothosubsp. valentinei) - of which more later in this post - and some well established clumps of Spring Starflower (Tristagma (Ipheion to the gardeners) uniflorum). The latter was not in flower yet and all that was present was these grassy tufts of garlic scented foliage (see below).

In contrast, the Eastern Sowbread (Cyclamen coum) was not very happy (the soil is a bit wet for this species) and is unlikely to persist.

Finally, my walk back took me past Swillington Park where a hedgebank supported a thriving colony of Hybrid Snowdrop. Again, this seems to be the cultivar 'Magnet', which, given it was first found in 1888, has had nearly 130 years to achieve a wide distribution.

Blue Holly

Working through plant material collected over the last 12 months or so, for distribution to referees and Herbaria, I came across my collection of Blue Holly (Ilex x meserveae) from Fleakingley Bridge, Swillington (VC64) where there are at least 11 bushes amongst scrub on the embankment of a drainage ditch. These bushes are undoubtedly of planted origin but as they are in a rural location distant from habitation they merit recording.

Blue Holly covers a suite of cultivars arising from crosses between our native Holly (Ilex aquifolium) and Ilex rugosa. It is typically a small, dense bushy species that rarely attains a height any greater than 8 feet. This may be the first record for Britain and Ireland. My pressed material has been sent to the Herbarium at the Natural History Museum.