Bottom Boat and Back

I made the most of the good weather on Tuesday to walkover over to Bottom Boat (VC63). Its not a route I do often, as it requires a bit of a slog up and over the ridge that separates the Aire Valley from the Calder Valley, but it does offer potential for interesting casuals and escapes and usually provides something of interest.

The day started well before I had even left Oulton with some particularly robust Cockspur (Echinochloa crusgalli) on an arable margin. This seems to have sprung from nowhere given I walk pass this field regularly.

Reaching my target destination I stumbled on a patch of derelict hardstanding with a variety of interesting garden throwouts. This is where I met 'Angelina' (see previous post). Other highlights included:

The golden form of Wilson's Honeysuckle (Lonicera nitida 'Baggesen's Gold').

Pink-sorrel (Oxalis articulata), in association with Stinking Hellebore (Helleborus foetidus) and surprisingly, as I did not know that it can throw up leaves in autumn, Garden Grape-hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum).

Stinking Tutsan (Hypericum hircinum).

Slightly further on, this attractive bi-coloured cultivar of Broad-leaved Everlasting-pea (Lathyrus latifolius 'Blushing Bride') was still going strong.

While an arable margin nearby had the winged form of Black-bindweed (Fallopia convolvulus var. subalatus). Supposedly less common than the nominate form, but that is not my experience.

Working my way down towards the River Calder I moved into abandoned former colliery land. Not the richest of habitats, it needs a few more decades yet, but still with interest and its great that no one has tried to 'restore' it. 

By the farm track on route was a young and apparently self-established tree of Cherry Crab (Malus x robusta), a variable group that perhaps includes plants of other origin. One of the characteristics of this species is that the individual apples are variable in terms of whether or not they retain their sepals. I think it likely that the fruit will colour further, they were in shade so a little behind.

Heather (Calluna vulgaris) is already starting to move in amongst the secondary birch woodland, a species that is very uncommon in the lowlands of Leeds and Wakefield.

But keeping with the theme of unusual non-natives there is also a thicket of sapling Broad-leaved Cockspurthorn (Crataegus persimilis 'Prunifolia'). No idea how that arrived, but it does not look planted. It proved the first of several interesting (at least to me) hawthorns.

Further on, the landscape architects had been in at some point in the last 30 years 'restoring' the landscape and creating 'native woodland'. Of course its nothing of the sort, rank MG1 grassland and the usual mix of false natives and lookalikes. Among these was a tree currently going by the name of Miyabe's Maple (Acer miyabei). The true species is of Japanese origin and, like Alan Leslie notes in Flora of Cambridgeshire, I think our plants are probably something else. The question is what? Potentially it is an unnamed alien form of Field Maple (Acer campestre), but possibly as with many planted 'native' hawthorns, dogwoods, Viburnums and hazels it could be of hybrid origin. Its a striking tree though, with large leaves, long petioles and large keys (glabrous in this case but they can be hairy). The second photo below contrasts it with typical field maple (var. campestre).

There was also Coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus) and  the hybrid hawthorn Crataegus x subsphaerica. The latter in this case had foliage closer to Common Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) but with clear hybrid vigour, but those elongate erect sepals give the game away.

One final hawthorn brightened the walk home. Check out the haws on this Common Hawthorn, c. 13mm long by nearly that wide. Living up to its name of var. splendens. These large fruited bushes occur here and there amongst more typical plants. I'm not quite sure what to make of them (valid variety or just chance?), but they make a stunning sight in the autumn sunshine. The bottom photograph compares it with more typically sized haws from a neighbouring bush.

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.

Holywell and Houghton (VC31)

May is always a frenetic month, as spring races on it becomes more and more of a challenge to keep pace. There is lots to report but too little time to post news, as well as keeping on top of the record keeping. But this weekends trip down to Huntingdonshire provides an easy post while I take stock.

The first good find of the day was tens of thousands of Common Cornsalad (Valerianella locusta) in Parsons Green industrial estate, St Ives. The plants were going over but at least that meant that seeds were present to allow confirmation of the species ID.

photo by J.F. Gaffard (Wikimedia Commons)

New to the county was this surprise - Corsican Hellebore (Helleborus argutifolius). I caught a hint of yellow-green out the corner of my eye and instantly knew I was onto something good. Its not a colour I expect for a native plant, and so much of plant hunting is keeping half an eye open for subtle changes in colour and texture. On closer inspection I found nine plants in rough grassland by the Park and Ride at St Ives. Past their best, but with signs of lots of seed to come.

Further along Meadow Lane, the next find was Pink-sorrel (Oxalis articulata) (photo), with Large-flowered Pink-sorrel (Oxalis debilis) later in Holywell churchyard,

In Holywell churchyard there was also Dusky Crane's-bill (Geranium phaeum var. phaeum) self sown on a grave. This was also new to the county.

photo by Michal Smoczyk (Wikimedia Commons)

To round off a productive day, I joined the HFFS for the visit to Houghton Meadows. The meadows were in full bloom, with one of the highlights of the site being its population of Green-winged Orchid (Anacamptis morio).

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)

Great Gransden and Abbotsley (VC31)

Last weekend while the HFFS were busy in Averseley Wood and being rewarded with orchids, I spent Sunday in the far south of the county plugging gaps for the BSBI Atlas 2020 project. It turned out to be a wise choice and turned up a lot of interest, including species that might have been missed if I had been only a few weeks earlier or later or taken a slightly different route. A lot of the time botanical recording does seem to be as much, if not more, about serendipity as it is about planning, something that can be lost when targets and recording plans are allowed too much sway in decision making.

Within ten minutes of parking the car and walking up Hardwicke Road, I came across the first big find of the day. A large and previously unrecorded colony of Crosswort (Cruciata laevipes) - for those outside the county this may not sound that interesting but it is a mega rarity in this part of the world.

Further along the lane, and the first of several sightings that day, was Rough Hawk's-beard (Crepis biennis). There are few historical records for this species and, given it is easily overlooked as yet another "yellow compositae" and can go over early, I suspect (based on the number of records made on one day) that it is under-recorded in the south of the VC.

Wikimedia Commons image by Enrico Blasutto

Sands Lane gave Rock Crane's-bill (Geranium macrorrhizum 'Bevan's Variety') in the corner of a plantation, only the 3rd record of the species.

A tour of the lanes provided a range of other notable finds, including Spotted Medick (Medicago arabica), Grey Sedge (Carex divulsa subsp. divulsa), Spurge-laurel (Daphne laureola) and Chinese Teaplant (Lycium chinense). The identification of the latter has been clarified in recent years and I am starting to suspect that the truism that it is much less common than Duke of Argyll's Teaplant (Lycium barbarum) is premature, at least in this part of Britain.

Chinese Teaplant (Lycium chinense)

Moving on to Abbotsley, which also had Rough Hawk's-beard, the best find was a new species of pink-sorrell for the VC. Large-flowered Pink-Sorrell (Oxalis debilis) was found naturalised in the grassland of the churchyard.

Thorp Arch and Boston Spa

I had a productive day today working to increase the number of records for this VC64 hectad, in support of the Atlas 2020 project.

The top find for me had to be Pale Pink-sorrel (Oxalis incarnata), as I had not come across this before. A few plants of this introduced annual were found by the riverside path in Boston Spa.

Thorp Arch churchyard provided the yellow-flowered form of Gladdon or (rather unfairly) Stinking Iris (Iris foetidissima var. citrina)

Several locations provided Lesser Burdock (Arctium minus ssp. pubens). This subspecies is thought to be of hybrid origin and it is relatively widespread in VC64 despite the general absence of one of its putative parents -  Greater Burdock (Arctium lappa).

I then took a trip over to Thorp Arch Trading Estate where I knew there were some small relict areas of species-rich calcareous grassland. This proved well worth the trip with the grassland in peak bloom.

Some of the plants seen include Dark Mullein (Verbascum nigrum), Tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum) and Clustered Bellflower (Campanula glomerata).