Caernarvonshire 2016

Next in the series of county reports - Wendy McCarthy writes: 

Recording is currently aimed at trying to update records for Atlas 2020 and Polly helpfully produced useful lists for each hectad of species recorded in the last date class which need re-finding. In early March I set off, with Mari Roberts and Lesley Ball, to search for Stellaria pallida (Lesser Chickweed) in SH24. Ann Conolly had recorded it in all 6 monads so it is curious that I had never found it as I have visited the delightful Porth Dinllaen area many times. Eventually Mari spotted a tiny patch of plants at the sandy edge of the golf course, proving to be the only sighting that day too. We were pleased also  to update Artemisia verlotiorum (Chinese Mugwort) as it apparently hadn’t been seen here since Ann  first found it in 1978, on a bank by the car park. We spent some time looking at Whitlow grasses (Erophila sp.) but could find only E. verna s/s. A few weeks later I visited a sandy hill known as the Vardre in Deganwy  SH77 and found a patch of plants along a grass bank which fitted perfectly the description of E. glabrescens, looking quite different to E. verna s/s which was plentiful nearby. Also here was Vicia lathyroides, (Spring Vetch) with much Aphanes arvensis (Parsley Piert)and Torilis nodosa (Knotted Bur-parsley).

Stellaria pallida (Lesser Chickweed)

Our first recording meeting of the year found us at Porth Ysgaden SH23 on the Lleyn peninsula. The best find here was a small colony of Inula crithmoides (Golden Samphire) on rocks above the sea.  Debbie Evans found a new site for Crassula tillea (Mossy Stonecrop) in gravel at the edge of a small lay-by.  A week earlier Martyn Stead, Mari and I had found a new site at Borth y Gest SH53, making these the 4^th and 5^th records of this tiny plant which is an alien in vc 49.

In May Martyn and I went to Pwllheli SH33 and managed to update records for several species. An unexpected find was a small patch of Convallaria majalis (Lily of the Valley) in dunes above the beach, undoubtedly a garden throw-out but very attractive none the less. Later that month we were pleased to find 100’s of fronds of Ophioglossum vulgatum (Adder’s Tongue) in three separate colonies on a grassy slope above the sea at Porth Llanllawen SH22. I had previously made several searches in Ann’s location at Porth Oer in this hectad without success. Another pleasing update was a small patch of Carex acuta (Slender Tufted-sedge) almost lost in a sea of Carex acutiformis (Lesser Pond-sedge) at Bont Newydd SH22, only the second currently known record for this species.

Ophyioglossum vulgatum (Adder's Tongue)

One of the aims of our recording meeting in May was to check up on Sanguisorba officinalis (Great Burnet) in SH85, where it grows on a damp shaded lane bank near Padog. We were pleased to see it thriving, with at least 60 plants counted, as this is one of only two sites in the county. An unexpected bonus on this meeting was a single Botrychium lunaria (Moonwort) just pushing through on a bank in the neighbouring square SH84, a new hectad record. All of the party were pleased with good views of a Cuckoo calling on a fence post.

Sedum forsterianum (Rock Stonecrop) and Vicia sylvatica (Wood Vetch) were two species which needed updating in SH75 and in June we scrambled up a couple of steep gulleys above Llyn Crafnant, finding the first in one gulley, along with Geum x intermedium (Geum rivale x urbanum) new to the hectad and Adoxa moschatellina (Moschatel) the latter also a good update, and the vetch flowering nicely on a high ledge in the second gulley. Further up the hillside, on a single basic rock in otherwise acidic ground, there was a fine display of Hieracium carneddorum (Carnedd Hawkweed) which proved to be another update on checking at home later. 

Hieracium carneddorum (Carnedd Hawkweed) above Llyn Crafnant

We are fortunate in Wales to have had some excellent training workshops with experts and these of course help us to produce new records with our new-found skills! Fumaria purpurea (Purple Ramping-fumitory) is now recorded in 11 monads, 4 of these found in 2016. Rubus records are slowly accumulating, although it should be said that, in my case at least, these are mostly of easily recognisable ones such as R. lentiginosus, R. nemoralis and R.incurvatus. The alien R. procera is turning up all over the place and could prove to be an invasive problem in the future. Two garden brambles were found this year, R. loganobaccus (Loganberry) and R. laciniatus, in different sites near Caernarfon SH46. Also at Caernarfon a pond below a derelict farm had Crassula helmsii (New Zealand Pygmyweed) and a nearby pool by a stream was full of Hydrocotyle ranunculoides (Floating Pennywort) an undesirable third county record. The Dryopteris training meeting with Fred Rumsey was a great help in learning the differences in the D. affinis group. Martyn, Mari and I were fortunate to follow this up a week later with a day out at Nant Gwrtheyrn with BPS local organiser David Hill. He showed us D. affinis, D. cambrensis and D. borreri, all good updates for SH34, and it was good to see these three again, helping to consolidate what we had learned from Fred. Another good Dryopteris find was that of D. aemula (Hay-scented Buckler) 9 plants amongst boulders on the shore of Llyn Cwm Silyn, which proved to be new for SH55.

In June I went to some species-rich grassland near Bangor and was delighted to discover 7 flowering spikes of Epipactis palustris (Marsh Helleborine) new to SH57 and bringing the total of orchid species at this site to 8. Juncus subnodulosus (Blunt-flowered Rush) and Galium uliginosum (Fen Bedstraw) were also present.

An excellent record of Neottia cordata (Lesser Twayblade) was sent from Ian & Linda Fraser, 88 plants in total, some flowering, from the slopes of Tryfan and, rather surprisingly, a new record for SH65. In August I received a message from Lesley to say that she had found ‘a huge blue spike’ which on checking turned out to be a magnificent specimen of Echium pininana (Giant Viper’s-bugloss) undoubtedly self-sown in the middle of brambles on a piece of waste ground near Ysbyty Gwynedd, needless to say a new record for SH57. Julian Driver sent a good list of mostly upland species with several updates, the best of these being Asplenium obovatum (Lanceolate Spleenwort) near Yr Eifl SH34, last seen there in 1988.

Our September meeting to explore the village of Llithfaen SH34 was hi-jacked by Iwan Edgar, with promises up a nearby hill of Hymenophyllum wilsonii (Wilson’s Filmy Fern), Phegopteris connectilis (Beech Fern) and Melampyrum pratense (Common Cow-wheat), how could we resist? We were pleased to find the first two, along with Cryptogramma crispa (Parsley Fern) but dismayed to find that a cairn had been erected at the summit eradicating the third.

My thanks go to everyone who have attended meetings, accompanied me in the field and sent me records.