Muscari botryoides

Compact Grape-hyacinth (Muscari botryoides) looking fab in Oulton churchyard (VC63) today. One of the less common grape-hyacinth species. Note the distinctive broad leaves. 

Recent Highlights

Time for a catch-all post of recent finds, providing a selection of plants that have caught my eye for one reason or another on daily lockdown walks.

First up, Garden Peony (Paeonia officinalis 'Rubra Plena') the old fashioned and long grown 'female peony' of the apothecaries. While this plant is not always in flower when encountered, when it is it always seems to be this double-flowered stalwart. This photo is a bit washed out, the flowers are a more red in the reality. An attractive plant in an unattractive location near the Newsam Green landfill (VC64).

I was pleased to re-find my long known plant of Coralbells (Heuchera sanguinea) on an old stone retaining wall in Woodlesford (VC63). Every year I think its been lost to the ivy, only for it to reappear. This plant is a particularly fine red. There is a possibility that some naturalised populations are Heuchera x brizoides, and this probably needs further consideration, especially if the leaves are silvered. This plant appears to be the true species, but I might revisit this later.

I have a fondness for Crane's-bills, so it was nice to find this Dusky Crane's-bill (Geranium phaeum var. phaeum) on the margin of one of the local rhubarb fields in Woodlesford. It is also a good chance to contrast (second photo) with Munich Crane's-bill (Geranium x monacense nothovar. anglicum), a plant recorded a couple of weeks back in Swillington (VC64). Note the strongly reflexed petals. It also comes in a dark-flowered form (nothovar. monacense), and a reliable spot for this used to be (not checked recently) the Engine Fields, Yeadon (VC64).

Near Fishpond Lock, Woodlesford there is this large bush of a cultivar of Evergreen Spindle (Euonymus japonicus 'Mediopictus'). Very striking, but ...

... if it is not maintained it often reverts and now most of this bush is green. Unfortunately, some variegated cultivars are not particularly stable over time. So how to record? Chances are the cultivar won't be there to find in 5 years time, when the next observer will likely be confronted with a clearly unvariegated bush?

Finally, after blogging recently about Pale Pink-sorrel, another highlight of Oulton churchyard (VC63) is the well naturalised London-pride (Saxifraga x urbium). Nothing beats the froth of this charming little plant when seen en masse and thriving.

Senecio squalidus var. subinteger

This is a curious variety of Oxford Ragwort distinguished by its sinuate-dentate oblong to oblong-lanceolate leaves. There are scattered records for this variety locally, on my patch in Woodlesford and Oulton (VC63) and in wider Leeds and Bradford where it has been recorded by Jesse Tregale and/or Mike Wilcox. Other than one other record in the BSBI Distribution Database from VC37 there are no other mapped records, although Sell & Murrell cite records for Cambridge, Didcot and Exmouth.

I have never been certain if it is a periodic chance mutation or a true variety, but I have known it in the same location in Oulton for at least 5 years. Over most of this period it seemed to persist as a single plant, but this year I found a few more at its main site and a new plant a kilometre away. Hardly vigorous, but I am more satisfied now that it is capable of regenerating itself from seed.

Lockdown Surprises

I still continue to be amazed at being able to find new plants with regularity as I take lockdown walks around my home village of Oulton (VC63). Today's surprise was a large and spreading stand of Pale Pink-sorrel (Oxalis incarnata) in a churchyard I thought I had thoroughly recorded. I can only assume that in a normal May I am so busy running around with work and other things that I do not find time to walk through the churchyard. Here's hoping for a few more pleasant surprises as the current circumstances drag on through whats left of spring.

Double Trouble

Today's botanical highlight, on a brief but chilly walk round Oulton (VC63) to restore my sanity after a day chained to a laptop, was this gem. The double-flowered (but fully fertile) form of Greater Celandine (Chelidonium majus 'Flore Pleno'). Ok, I have loads in my garden, but even so its always a nice plant to find as an escape.

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Snowdrop Time

Its that time of year again when everyone should find some time to stop and enjoy the snowdrops. I had convinced myself they were late this year, but looking back to last year's post I see that they are about on track. Hopefully the cooler weather this year will keep them in bloom for as long as possible.

My regular spot for snowdrops is Oulton churchyard (VC63), and I've described the species present in more detail previously. So I'll stick to the photos this time.

Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis f. nivalis)

flore pleno Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis f. pleniflorus)

Green Snowdrop (Galanthus woronowii)

Elsewhere at Mickletown this charming dwarf (note sycamore leaf for scale) Snowdrop with tiny flowers was just coming into bloom.

Back in the churchyard there were a few plants of Crocus x luteus 'Golden Yellow' (syn 'Dutch Yellow') to add some zing to the late winter scene.

Hybrid Woundwort

Its that time of year when I need to delve back into the archives to keep the blog ticking over. Here is a nice find from back in July at Clumpcliffe (VC63). If only all hybrids were so satisfyingly intermediate.

Hybrid Woundwort (Stachys x ambigua) is the cross between Hedge Woundwort (Stachys sylvatica) and Marsh Woundwort (Stachys palustris) and can maintain itself through vegetative spread. This clone has the flowers of the former, and the foliage of the latter BUT with petioles of intermediate length. The foliage has some of the pungency of Hedge Woundwort, but this trait is much reduced,

It is a widespread hybrid (see BSBI Distribution Database) so is worth keeping an eye out for in damp places.

Recent Sightings (VC64)

Jonathan Shanklin, a regular contributor of records for VC31 and co-recorder for VC29, has spent some time around Aldborough and Lower Dunsforth recently and the county database is several hundred records the better for it. He made some interesting finds along the way, as follows:

Sweet-William Catchfly (Silene armeria), a rare garden escape (photo by Sphl from Wikimedia Commons)

Flowering-rush (Butomus umbellatus), uncommon along the River Ure and no recent records (photo by Christian Fischer from Wikimedia Commons)

Upright Spurge (Euphorbia stricta), a rare casual in this part of Britain (photo by Hermann Schachner from Wikimedia Commons)

Large-flowered Hemp-nettle (Galeopsis speciosa), a much declined archaeophyte of cultivated land (photo by Christian Fischer from Wikimedia Commons)

Procumbent Yellow-sorrel (Oxalis corniculata var. atropurpurea), a much under-recorded colour form of this non-native. I suspect it is much more common than the green-leaved form and seems to be an historic horticultural selection (although it would not be considered of garden merit these days) (photo my own, taken in Oulton, VC63)

Spatterdock in Oulton (VC63)

One of my regular local walks takes me past Oulton Hall ponds and its thriving population of the North American water-lily Spatterdock (Nuphar advena). So I thought it about time I shared some photos. Its related to our native Yellow Water-lily (Nuphar lutea) but some of the leaves are held above the water's surface and are more pointed.

Another post on water-lilies to follow soon.

Garden Star-of-Bethlehem at Royds Green (VC63)

One of my regular walks threw up a surprise this Sunday, adding Garden Star-of-Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum subsp. umbellatum) to my local list. It also seems to be a new hectad record and perhaps the first record of the subspecies for VC63.

I found a single small plant on a shaded road verge near the school at Royds Green, although other plants may be present in the woodland further back from the pavement. This subspecies has larger showier tepals than Star-of-Bethlehem (subsp. campestre), the form that is considered native in parts of Britain.

Round-leaved Crane's-bill

Following on from the previous post on Little Mouse-ear, I had another spot of luck yesterday and stumbled across a thriving colony of another West Yorkshire rarity - Round-leaved Crane's-bill (Geranium rotundifolium). This species is distinct from the other commonly encountered annual crane's-bill in that the petals are entire and not notched. Thirty-five plants were found at the base of a wall on Fleet Lane, Oulton (VC63).

Narcissus Part 2

A few more of the common hybrids illustrated below, again from Oulton churchyard (VC63).

The Head-to-head Daffodil Narcissus x cyclazetta 'Tete-a-Tete' (Narcissus tazetta x cyclamineus) is arguably the world's most popular daffodil, arising in the 1940's and with c. 70 million tons of bulbs produced annually. What's not to like, a blast of sunshine in the bleakest months, sturdy and reliable. The only difficulty for the botanist is that some books imply that it reliably has two flower heads per stem. Unfortunately 'Tete-a-Tete' has not read the books, it can produce two but it rarely bothers, particularly after its first year of planting.

Narcissus x cyclazetta 'Tete-a-Tete'

Next up is Reflexed Daffodil (Narcissus x monochromus), but I have no idea if the very common form photographed is the cultivar 'Jetfire' or 'Itzim', as both are very similar, or even if it should strictly be included under this hybrid. Strictly the corona should be yellow (monochromus being a big clue here) to reflect the N. pseudonarcissus bloodline, while the reflexed (but not always from day one of opening) perianth segments come from Narcissus cyclamineus. I include it here for convenience, and it gives a fair indication of what to expect (without the orange, its otherwise very similar to 'February Gold' the classic cultivar of this hybrid). Just be clear on the corona colour if recording this hybrid, as that way if the correct name get resolved then the records can be easily reassigned later. It definitely has N. cyclamineus as one parent, place your bets for the other(s).

Narcissus 'Jetfire' / 'Itzim'

The white and yellow version of the above is known as Bicoloured Daffodil (Narcissus x dichromus) and is reputedly Narcissus moschatus x cyclamineus. The cultivar here is 'Jenny', who can confuse as the corona starts pale yellow (which you need to know to key it out) and then ends up as cream.

Narcissus x dichromus 'Jenny'

Narcissus Part 1

It is a good season for looking at Daffodils (Narcissus agg.) as they all, with the exception of the late flowering Pheasant's-eye (Narcissus poeticus) seem to be flowering in synchrony, allowing good opportunity to compare and contrast. I'm going to put my hands up and say Narcissus nomenclature (whichever system you pick - taxa versus cultivar) requires more than its fair share of faith in the robustness of the available classification and information, particularly with regard to plants naturalised in Britain. The keys encourage plants to be aligned with taxa that in many cases only have passing similarity to their wild relatives (at best robust selections or cultivars and at worst multi-parent hybrids), or hybrids that may or may not relate to the putative parents and that may in all likelihood share genes with a fair few other taxa. What else can one expect from a group of species that are so inter fertile and that have been subject to intensive selection and hybridisation for at least 100 years. That said its all good fun, it does add to your appreciation of the diversity out there, and names linking plants of similar appearance are better than no names at all. The key caveat in all identifications is 'looks like' or 'close to'.

My current favourite bulb hunting ground - Oulton churchyard - has thrown up the goods this year, including some forms I have not seen in previous seasons. This includes some nice stands of some of the older selections of the Pheasant's-eye hybrids, note the short corona and the long perianth tube. I much prefer these delicate older cultivars, with more recent breeding moving towards more robust flowers through back-crosses away N. poeticus and towards the other parent. Perhaps more on those later, but for the time being here are a few from today.

White-and-Orange Daffodil (Narcissus x boutigyanus cf 'White Lady') - white perianth whorl and yellow corona (Narcissus moschatus x poeticus)

White-and-Orange Daffodil (Narcissus x boutigyanus cf 'White Lady') 

 Nonesuch Daffodil (Narcissus x incomparabilis) - pale yellow (very pale in this case) perianth whorl and yellow corona (Narcissus pseudonarcissus x poeticus)

Nonesuch Daffodil (Narcissus x incomparabilis)

Bernard's Daffodil (Narcissus x bernardii, could be an extreme Nonesuch but the closest I have seen to this hybrid) - +/- concolorous perianth whorl and corona (Narcissus hispanicus x poeticus)

 Bernard's Daffodil (Narcissus x bernardii)

To end with, one of the more blousy modern hybrids, but an extremely common one. This is Narcissus x boutigyanus 'Ice Follies'. Note the more intermediate perianth tube, the larger corona and broader perianth segements. Ice Follies is also notable because the corona gradually changes from lemony yellow (first photo) to cream (second photo) as the flower ages.

Narcissus x boutigyanus 'Ice Follies'

Narcissus x boutigyanus 'Ice Follies'

Double Daffodils

The double-flowered Wild Daffodil Narcissus pseudonarcissus f. pleniflorus ('Telamonius Plenus' aka '(Double) Van Sion' if you prefer) is just coming into flower in Oulton churchyard (VC63). It probably won't be in peak bloom for a few more weeks yet, so plenty of time to try and expand its known distribution. I have several records for VC64 but only one record for VC31 (Hamerton churchyard).

Two photos from the abandoned garden of a derelict cottage near Misson (VC56) in 2015

This odd daffodil did not appeal to me when I first saw it, but I find it growing on me in its intriguing and understated way, even if it is no good for the early flying bees. It is one of the oldest selected forms of daffodil in cultivation having arisen (or at least coming into circulation in England) in the 1620's. The relationship to Wild Daffodil is widely quoted but not always obvious in the flower colouration, it would be interesting to know if there is any molecular evidence that conclusively proves the relationship to this species. It certainly merits recording even if the parentage is not known with 100% confidence.

It is reputed to be highly variable in flower form,being strongly influenced by the environment and also with potential to vary from year to year. All the forms I have found, including those I revisit annually, seem reasonably consistent with a well defined perianth whorl and an amazingly convoluted corona, although as can be seen in the following photo the corona does sometimes burst at the seams (perhaps as the flower matures). Given the age of the cultivar, perhaps there is more than one strain in circulation and perhaps some are more consistent than others. Certainly there is evidence of this in the historic literature, and it might be better to treat it as a cultivar group rather than a single cultivar. In 1907 A.M. Kirby wrote in Daffodils, Narcissus and How to Grow Them 'Years ago when there was less demand for Double Van Sion, the growers of flowering bulbs propagated and disseminated their own types of ‘pedigree’ strains, and there was much rivalry among the growers as to the merits of their respective stocks, some having ‘rogued’ to the unburst double trumpet type, others to the ‘rose double’ form, i.e. trumpet burst, its petals curving backwards and intermingling with the perianth segments. Between these two extremes were several intermediate forms.' There is also evidence that it exists in diploid and tetraploid strains, which may add to the variation.

Oulton churchyard

It seems to be confused in certain corners of the internet with the (perhaps justifiably) rare double-flowered form of Tenby Daffodil (Narcissus obvallaris 'Thomas Virescent' (Derwydd Daffodil)) which is sketched and described in BSBI Welsh Bulletin 56. This strikes me as a very ugly daffodil, of which the Pacific Bulb Society photo seems credible (based on the description in the Bulletin) and reminiscent of the 'bunches of green bananas' description, and nothing like the various photos floating around elsewhere on the internet that look much closer to the far more appealing f. pleniflorus.

Sunshine and Snowdrops

There is nothing better for the February doldrums than a day off work, sunshine and snowdrops. My local snowdrop hotspot is Oulton churchyard (VC63) and rather unexpectedly the edge of the Toby Carvery car park - I suspect the latter was once part of the grounds of a large house or old estate.

Toby Carvery

Oulton Churchyard, mixed forms of Common Snowdrop

The churchyard supports extensive stands of long naturalised snowdrops.Five taxa were putting on a good show today, but it really needed a little more warmth from the sun to get the flowers opening up a little more. Based on my experience gradually getting to grips with the genus, the most important thing is to temporarily ignore the flowers and your pre-expectations (they are not all Common Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis)). What colour are the leaves (bright shiny green or glaucous)?, how wide are the leaves (same or less than the width of your little finger, or are some wider)?, and what is going on at the base of the leaves where they meet (this is the really important bit with the horrid terminology) - is the vernation supervolute (leaves overlap, see photo), applanate (leaves abut, like hands held in prayer) or explicative (leaf margin distinctly folded over towards the leaf undersurface)? Once all that is sussed, the flowers can be admired and scrutinised!

Supervolute vernation of the leaf bases, note the overlap

Common Snowdrop is abundant in the churchyard, and is present in two forms. Plants with single-flowers are f. nivalis and plants with double-flowers are f. pleniflorus (below). The cultivar of the latter is normally 'Flore Pleno' but there are other rare double forms best left to the Galanthophiles.

Galanthus nivalis f. pleniflorus

Equally abundant, and in fact a very common and frequently misidentified or overlooked snowdrop, is Galanthus x valentinei, a hybrid of Common Snowdrop and Pleated Snowdrop (Galanthus plicatus). It is common in churchyards, in some cases it may have arisen in situ but in most cases this is probably a naive assumption, as it is just as likely to have been planted in the past as the parents. This species typically has a good dose of hybrid vigour, and gets bigger still after flowering has peaked. Any particularly robust snowdrop is likely to be this species. It frequently (but not always) has the applanate vernation of Common Snowdrop, but the wider leaves (greater than your little finger) of Pleated Snowdrop. The photo below is of nothosubsp. valentinei, which only has a short apical mark on the inner tepals (as per Common Snowdrop). There are lots of cultivars and probably as many unnamed forms and self-sown segregates, so again in many cases it is best left to the Galanthophile to debate these. But in this instance I feel safe in saying almost all the plants in the churchyard are 'Magnet' or very close to it, given the shape of the apical mark and the nodding flowers on long pedicels.

Galanthus x valentinei nothosubsp. valentinei

The final two species are much rarer in the churchyard. Greater Snowdrop (Galanthus elwesii) has supervolute venation (as can be seen in the photo) and variably glaucous/glaucescent leaves. In this case the inner tepals only have a short apical green mark denoting it as var. monostictus.

Galanthus elwesii, note the leaves are glaucescent and some of the colour has been lost in the photo

In contrast to all of the above, Green Snowdrop (Galanthus woronowii) is unusual in that it has bright shiny light to mid-green leaves. It also has supervolute vernation. The form here was particularly robust (much better than my garden plant) with atypically large flowers (but within the published range of variation).

Galanthus woronowii