Micklefield Circular (VC64)

This Saturday finally promised a day of reliably dry weather, so I decided to make the most of it by exploring the limestone country to the east of Leeds. It is not a well botanised area as first impressions are of an intensively farmed landscape, which it is, but there are also extensive woodlands, relicts of limestone grassland, pretty villages where cottage gardens overspill their boundaries, and the arable fields themselves are not without surprises. Bravely, I ending up deciding on a 16km route from Micklefield to Sherburn in Elmet, South Milford, Lumby, Ledsham and back to Micklefield. But the walking was easy and relatively flat and, while I did not find any really good arable fields, I found lots of interest.

Things got off to a quick and excellent start in Micklefield when I found Green Nightshade (Solanum nitidibaccatum) next to the path past the new housing development. This species was virtually unknown in the county 5 years ago, but it has been turning up on light soils in the east of the county. I'm not sure if its a new colonist, or if it has just been missed. The plants here probably arrived with the sand used to construct the path. I found this species again later in an arable field in South Milford.

Heading away from Micklefield along the footpath towards Huddleston Hall I was surprised to find the wheat crop (an unusual awned form) over-topped by thousands of Rye (Secale cereale) plants. I assume it came in as a crop contaminant rather having been a crop in a previous year. I've never seen it grown at field scale locally, this being premium wheat and potato country.

Along the boundary of Huddleston Old Wood a bramble caught my eye. On first glance I thought I had found a pink-flowered Soft-haired Bramble (Rubus vestitus) (also, and more usually, available in white), one of the few bramble species that is relatively easy to both recognise and remember. This species has rather distinctive near-circular terminal leaflets with a thick fuzzy texture. However in this case, the leaves turned out to be rather thin and without the expected pubescence. Instead they were bright chalky white underneath. This and the vibrant pink-flowers indicated a hybrid with Elm-leaved Bramble (Rubus ulmifolius), another obligingly straightforward species. Hybrid status was also suggested by the poorly developed fruit, with only a few druplets swelling. A shame, as both parent species produce good fruit.

My journey down Laith Staid Lane towards Sherburn in Elmet rewarded my with one of my favourite plants, Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna), in two discrete locations. Just a shame that it was past flowering (just one tatty flower left). But there is no mistaking that large foliage. 

Heading further down the lane my eye was drawn to some typical limestone grassland species clinging on in rough grassland on a nutrient enriched bank. Looking more closely I was surprised to see several large plants of Cat-mint (Nepeta cataria), a real rarity and last reported for the county no more recently than the 1990's. As all previous locations and associated details are very vague (somewhere in a 2km grid square in a 20 year period is the best we have), it was good to get a detailed grid reference for this location. Its to be hoped that it still persists elsewhere; maybe someone else will get lucky and find it.

The final interesting find along this lane was this enormous hogweed, easily 2m tall and towering over the adjacent hedgerow. An impressive plant, with the leaf in the bottom right of the photo probably as tall as a normal Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) plant. This is the taxon given in Sell & Murrell as Heracleum branca-ursina, but with the comment that it needs further research. It almost certainly does not merit full species status, but for the time being its the only name we have. In reality it is probably just a very distinctive, and likely alien, variety or forma of Hogweed.

On the outskirts of South Milford I came across this unusual form of Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium f. breviradiatum).

And then further into the village in the roadside gutter of Woodside Close was Sea Campion (Silene uniflora). It must have escaped from a garden somewhere nearby.

But the best was yet to come, with an area of block paving on the High Street yielding a colony of American Cudweed (Gamochaeta purpurea). This seems to be the first record for Yorkshire.

Further unexpected aliens turned up at the end of Redhill Lane, Lumby where presumably the landowner dumps their garden waste. A search amongst the ruderals resulted in, in sequence, Thorn-apple (Datura stramonium), unfortunately not yet flowering, Common Millet (Panicum miliaceum), False Virginia-creeper (Parthenocissus inserta), and oddest of all a variegated Hosta (Hosta 'Undulata Albomarginata').

Crossing under the motorway to Selby Fork I was back to interesting native species, with a good stand of Juncus x diffusus, the hybrid between Soft Rush (Juncus effusus) and Hard Rush (Juncus inflexus).

By now I was starting to flag, but with Ledsham the next stop the end was almost in sight. Passing through the village a flash of colour in a ditch proved to be an attractive cultivar of Russian Comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum 'Variegatum').

And then in Ledston Park, another nice native that is quite rare in the county. I suspect in this instance this Dark Mullein (Verbascum nigrum) may be a garden escape. It was not in typical habitat and was growing near Balm (Melissa officinalis).

All in all not a bad haul for the day. Definitely worth the leg work.

The World's Smallest Centaurium pulchellum?

During my recent July 'botanise-athon' I popped into Fairburn Ings, I fancied seeing what the river had to offer and wanted to have a look at the dog-roses in the knowledge that Rosa canina is soon to be formally split (at least in terms of our standard literature) into three species (canina, corymbosa and squarrosa) rendering most records to-date to aggregate status.

Anyway, I went round to the boot of my car to put my walking boots on and there at my feet were lots of a tiny Centaurium. Of course I new Lesser Centaury (Centaurium pulchellum) was here as a dwarf form, as Phyl Abbott had found it a couple of years previous new to VC64. I just thought I would need to do a lot more looking to find it. It was associated with the narrow strip of gravel along the edge of the car park, so I assumed it had been introduced with this substrate. It is a very rare plant in Yorkshire and indeed this far north where it is mainly coastal.

However, this was not the last I saw of this little gem. Pottering round an area of acid grassland, where there were extensive bare patches where water stands in the winter, I was surprised to find 100's of plants. All tiny and predominantly single stemmed with just one flower on top. Clearly this is a dwarf race, breeding true and undoubtedly maintained by selfing, rather than just an environment induced phenotype. Being so small I doubt it is troubled by pollinators any more, so it has painted itself into a bit of a genetic deadend. But it seems quite happy at the moment and should persist as long as there are areas of bare ground with no competition from larger plants.

Elsewhere there some great stands of Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum var. periclymenum).

And a small colony of this garden favourite, Rose Campion (Silene coronaria).

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)