Freak Show

I had an interesting potter round the some woods near Aberford (VC64) yesterday, with additional colour added by some interesting mutants and hybrids of common plants.

First up was a variegated form of Water Figwort (Scrophularia auriculata). Not all of the plant was affected so it was presumably a mutation in the growing tip of a side-shoot. Very attractive but unlikely to persist over the long-term.

With a greater chance of persistence was this striking golden form of Hedge Woundwort (Stachys sylvatica). I am intrigued to see if this is a stable mutation, so I am growing a little rooted side shoot on to see what happens. Hopefully the parent plant will persist to intrigue others with a botanical interest.

Last find of the day was this Polyanthus (Primula x polyantha). A common garden hybrid, but the shape of the inflorescence caught the eye, with the morphology of a beefed up Cowslip (Primula veris). It did not look planted so I can only assume a bee transmitted pollen from a garden plant to a cowslip in the wood, no mean feat given the nearest garden must be getting on for 500 m away. It is redolent of the red and orange Cowslips that are increasingly seen naturalised (the cultivar 'Sunset Shades'), and which are believed to originate from back-crossing Polyanthus to Cowslip.

Drumsticks and Squills

I spent Good Friday in the sunshine of Wharfedale (VC64), primarily to have a look at snowdrops before they completely go over with the aim of finding some more locations for Hybrid Snowdrop (Galanthus x valentinei). This was achieved with ease, it really is very common and under-recorded, with some fine stands in and around Denton and in Ilkley cemetary. There were even a few double-flowered clumps. So that's another new hectad, and a dot for the BSBI Atlas 2020 project.

Heading down into Middleton, I was surprised to find a few plants of Drumstick Primrose (Primula denticulata) on some rough ground by a barn. They had not been planted and must have arisen from seeds or discarded plants spread with soil or spilt garden waste from a nearby garden. There was one pink flowered plant and two white flowered ones, and they looked like they had persisted for at least a couple of years.

Heading into Ilkley, on the way back to Ben Rhydding railway station, I took the opportunity to pop into the cemetery where I knew Siberian Squill (Scilla siberica) had been reported in the past. I found several fine stands with ease, naturalised over old graves and spreading in the adjacent grassland.