A bit of zing on wasteground at Methley Lanes (VC63) this week in the form of this attractive cultivar of Reflexed Stonecrop. A nice find given it joins a select few records in the BSBI database attributable to Mick Crawley, and also because it is the only record for Northern England. One to look out for.
I'm pretty sure that's the correct collective noun, although perhaps it should be confusion or conundrum. As acknowledged in Stace, and as obvious to anyone who has ever looked closely, this is a notoriously 'plastic' group of plants, with Fat-hen (Chenopodium album) particularly so and in all honesty a dumping ground for anything that can not be placed within the other accepted species. How many of us have felt unhappy recording the latter once we have appreciated its extreme variation? I know I have.
So the question is then, can any variants be recognised that are consistent and more than just oddities of local occurrence? That is where Sell & Murrell's recent classification comes in. I don't think anyone, Sell included, would expect this to be the definitive statement on the genus. Sell acknowledged that the genus has suffered from a lack of serious attention, probably more so than any other element of the British flora. But there are historic collections of the genus available for reference that at least allow us to come back at this group with a fresh pair of eyes. That is really what the Sell & Murrell classification is setting out, a first draft classification to be tested further, and ideally tested in the field rather than via the herbarium sheet.
I've been pondering this since 2018. Not rushing to record, just getting a feel for the variation. This year has given more time to look and collect photographs to go with initial identifications. This was assisted by a warm start to the year meaning that my local populations developed early and developed their stem colour (which is not a given this far north, stem colour is almost certainly not to be relied on), and a delayed harvest due to the wet summer that gave more time than usual to look.
Based on this, I am more and more confident that there are some distinctive entities that are worth recognition, certainly no less so than accepted species such as Probst's Goosefoot (Chenopodium probstii). It is these taxa I focus on in this post (as I understand them, feedback welcome). They are all relatively tall species that occur widely and seem relatively straightforward, especially when encountered as populations. They are species that are hard to define on paper (like so many species), but once seen in the field make sense. Hopefully others will have a look at their local populations and share details so understanding of this challenging group can solidify further.
Druce's Fat-hen (Chenopodium drucei)
Named of course for the eminent botanist George Claridge Druce. This is a distinctive species with ovate or rhombic lower leaves (sometimes irregularly dentate - these teeth are small), and typically comparatively long lanceolate obtuse to acute leaves in the upper part of the plant. The foliage is a rather dark dull green. The inflorescence is also distinctive (relative to some other species) being widely branching and drooping at the tip. Sell describes this species as 60cm tall based on apparently limited field experience of this species. Some populations I have found were taller than this, no doubt dependent on weather and growing conditions (and probably when it first germinated i.e. early or late season).
Only slightly less exciting than the Bermuda Triangle, and with marginally less planes and boats disappearing, my little patch of the Rhubarb Triangle still continues to turn up botanical interest.
The rhubarb fields are perhaps one of the few places shoddy is still used, and I live in hope of unusual weeds. But I suspect most shoddy is of British origin these days, so that is unlikely. However, a relict of former days and still doing well is White Rocket (Diplotaxis erucoides). It is not a common plant, except perhaps in Lincolnshire, but it may be overlooked elsewhere in south Leeds and Wakefield. One to look out for at this time of year.
Lockdown has taken me in all sorts of interesting botanical directions this year. It has given me time to look at certain groups more closely, and resolve past problems. Of course, the end of recording like a mad thing for the New Atlas has also helped with this!
Everyone knows Oraches (Atriplex) can be very variable, and this is most regularly commented on in relation to the coastal species. Especially comments and opinions around whether or not intermediate forms are hybrids or distinct defensible taxa. Much less is said about the inland forms and, until the last volume of Sell & Murrell came out, there was little in print (at least easily accessible print) to help with this.
I've tried to get to grips with these taxa previously but have struggled with the key, but finally things have clicked and I hope my experience can help others look more closely. I suspect there is something very interesting going on (at least in terms of differences between the first two forms illustrated below), but more records are needed to confirm this. This was brought home to me solidly this weekend, when botanising around Swillington (VC64). An arable field there had swathes of Common Orache (Atriplex patula), with 100's of var. erecta growing with abundant var. patula. Clearly very different from each other, and the latter well into fruit while the former was some weeks behind. They may hybridise, but clearly they are more than capable of maintaining themselves.
Atriplex patula var. erecta
This seems to be the commonest variant, matching Peter Sell's opinion. A stiffly erect plant that is markedly heterophyllous (lobed broad leaves, and linear to lanceolate ones with no lobes). Some leaves can also be more or less dentate, with this varying between plants. This plant finally made sense when I thought to look at some sheets in Herbaria@Home, and found some reliable ones collected by the Rev. Augustin Ley in the late 1800's. Historically this plant was treated as a species (Atriplex erecta) and in my humble opinion I think they had a point. It would be interesting to know what the genetics tell us.
Atriplex patula var. patula
Common in arable fields. The leaves are redolent of 'baby spinach' (if you don't know what that is then try the salad aisle the next time you are in the shops) i.e. dark green, thick and succulent. Leaves grade along a common theme, and are clearly not of two distinct types. Most keys do not work well for this variant (were they built with reference to var. erecta?) as the bracteole character could take you to Spear-leaved Orache (Atriplex prostrata), but the bracteoles are far too large for that species.
Atriplex patula var. linearis
I only found a few plants of this delicate, diffuse and spindly variety (there are a couple more varieties also to be found, one of which forms prostrate circular plants). Compared with the above varieties it is more delicate with much more uniformly narrow leaves (to 15mm, rarely a little wider). The leaves can have a basal pair of lobes but, unlike the first two, are never toothed. My memory of my childhood on the farm in Oxfordshire is that it was common in arable fields down south ( I knew 2 to 3 forms of Common Orache even if I could not name the varieties concerned).
