Christmas card competition!

The AGM was also a chance to launch our new Christmas card competition; details are on the page at the side of this blog.

There are already two entries (but currently anonymous to allow blind judging - check back to find out the winners later). I think the standard has been set high and what is more we have some rather surprising candidates for a festive winter theme.

Please send more entries - all you need to do is to email your entries to me at welshofficer@bsbi.org.uk.

BSBI Welsh AGM

Last week was certainly a busy one for Welsh BSBI members with the Welsh AGM near Llangollen. Three days with field trips was a slightly daunting prospect given the weather forecast but as usual a good time was had despite the weather. 
On Wednesday I was persuaded at short notice to lead the walk along the canal to the basin at Trevor - not stunning botanically but we did find some interesting thistles - Carduus nutans, musk thistle, and Silybum marianum, milk thistle. And the weather was sunny enough for some members to buy icecreams at the canal basin. 

On Thursday I led a group around the Alyn Waters Country Park, which revealed some great displays of Orchis apifera, bee orchid and Listera ovata, twayblade. The weather was not dry, but mainly misty and drizzly, we had a good walk around much of the site (although there was still more to see) and the sun was trying to come out by the time we had to leave. 

The hotel seemed excellent (although I was not resident) and we enjoyed three-course dinners, plus on Thursday drinks at the expense of the late Commander John Topp, to whom we are most grateful! We also had a wonderful exhibition (and a workshop) on roses from Kate Thorne and were treated to a showing of the new exhibition on Inspirational Botanists (Welsh women) from the National Botanic Garden of Wales. 

Unfortunately I was not very active with my camera so no field pictures, but thanks to John Crellin for this of the exhibition.

Downy and dog roses - Photo John Crellin

In the rain in Breconshire...

On Saturday I joined John Crellin's walk near Hay-on-Wye. The weather forecast was not encouraging, and the day was spent in waterproofs although there were bright enough spells to at least undo the coats from time to time! 

Enjoying a short break at lunch-time (and the bare heads indicate a break in the rain) Photo: John Crellin 

However, the rain couldn't dampen the spirits of the botanists - we met in Hay and then split into two groups for long and short walks. The longer group covered around six miles and took in a few interesting sites for Neottia (previously Listera) ovata, common twayblade and Saxifraga granulata, meadow saxifrage (although we were a month too late for the flowers on this) en route to the main sites of interest. 

We visited two SSSIs - Caeau Cwmcaenant which is a beautiful hay meadow with good populations of several orchids including Dactylorhiza fuchsii, common spotted-orchid, Gymnadenia conopsea, fragrant-orchid and Platanthera chlorantha, greater butterfly-orchid (although we were probably a couple of weeks early for this) - there were large numbers of flowering spikes to the point where we were concerned not to step on them. 

Between the sites we also stopped to look at a bank with Helleborus viridis, green hellebore, growing on a bank. 

Green hellebore Helleborus viridis above Cilonw Brook. Photo: John Crellin 

The second SSSI was Hen-Allt Common which includes areas of grassland and woodland but especially interesting are the calcareous flushes where you can find Blysmus compressus, flat sedge - the only site in Wales. The site also holds an exceptional population of Colchicum autumnale, meadow saffron, which in June has large thick leaves and fruiting capsules (when it flowers in autumn it has no leaves). Due to the botanical interest resulting in many stops and the passage of time I ended up leaving the group after this point but I understand they also found Trollius europaeus, globeflower and Neottia nidus-avis, bird's nest orchid before leaving the site. 


Despite the dampness I think the group all enjoyed the day greatly - the rain was not too continuous and there were plenty of botanical treats to keep the interest up - and an interesting mix of botanists from new to old BSBI members including neighbouring vice-county recorders and CCW staff who were able to provide information on the species seen and the management of the sites. 

Monitoring spotted rock rose (Tuberaria guttata)

Our field visit yesterday included representatives from the Countryside Council for Wales, North Wales Wildlife Trust, RSPB and BSBI as well as interested local botanists. The spotted rock rose (Tuberaria guttata) is Anglesey's county flower and very restricted on a few sites (it is also found in Wales on one site on the Lleyn peninsula, and a few scattered sites in Ireland and the Channel Isles).  Organisations like the RSPB and the Wildlife Trust, which own some of the sites, have been carrying out regular counts for some years, while other sites in private ownership are less often visited. While meeting on a site, we aimed to carry out some survey and also agree a consistent method to be applied at all the sites, by a range of different people. The discussion was fairly wide-ranging including questions of whether counting colonies or populations is useful (it probably depends upon the number - with large numbers estimates are necessary); whether tiny plants should be counted equally with large ones, and how to draw a sketch map or take a useful photograph. 

Discussion around a patch of Tuberaria

The management and monitoring of an annual species which can be subject to large natural fluctuations in population size causes some difficulties. As does the counting. In the photograph below the two plants with flowers on are obvious. What about the 30+ other plants? All of these will also produce flowers although each flower only lasts a few hours. Around lunch time one can watch as a flower suddenly loses all its petals within seconds.

Two flowers, and over 30 non-flowering plants

 Another Anglesey speciality was Viola lactea - pale dog violet - identified in Anglesey by its truncate to cuneate leaf bases (never cordate as in Viola riviniana).

Viola lactea

Spignel in Merionethshire

I went  with Sarah Stille to monitor a population of Meum athamanticum - spignel. This site has been 

Flowering head with pink-tinged petals 

known for a while and the population seems to be growing happily around the margins of a field of fertilised and grazed grassland. Perhaps it favours the well-drained banks, or could it be that there is less nutrient enrichment around these margins (the farmer was spreading muck on the day that we visited, but little reached the Meum areas). The farmer thought we were a month early but there were plenty in flower at some patches - and even the vegetative plants were a distinctive yellowish green and easily distinguished from the grass. 


Looking at other photos on the web, however, I now wonder if these are rather small specimens - certainly compared to John Crellin's photos from Ben Lawers, on his site Floralimages.co.uk. 

Sarah is also starting a blog to share her activities in Merionethshire (VC48). Last week there was a field trip to Cwm Hesgyn, which may have been relatively species-poor but still turned up some new species for the hectad. 

Dense flowering patches of Meum athamanticum

Another patch with few flowers (we should have gone later)

Antennaria dioica - sex ratios

Female flower heads

Male flower heads

Just over a week ago I visited one of Anglesey's sites for Antennaria dioica - mountain everlasting. I went with Ian Bonner, the vice-county recorder, who has been recording the sex of the flowers that he counts there. He said that at that point all the populations he had visited had been exclusively female. However, at this population on Cors Goch SSSI we found roughly 50% of each sex. Hopefully this is shown in my slightly blurry pictures.

The larger picture shows a number of flower heads and also the leaves with their distinctive silver felted undersides.

Recorders' Conference

Last weekend was the BSBI's Recorders'  Conference, held in Shrewsbury. The Welsh recorders were particularly well represented, although it was good for me to meet some of the recorders from the other countries, who I haven't yet met. There were some very interesting and useful workshops including one on conifers, focusing on the scaly-leaved species (Cupressus, Thuja, Chaemocyparis), one on Erophila Whitlowgrass, which is a good group to record at present, along with other early annuals. Erophila verna,  E. majuscula and E. glabrescens are all found in Britain, widespread although not necessarily common. There is a good drawing in the BSBI Crucifer handbook, and information in the Plant Crib, although some of the characters are subtle and determination by a referee may be preferable if you are not confident. Other workshops were on Betula and on vegetative ID, as well as on the BSBI's Distributional Database (DDb) and Herbaria at Home.

As expected, it was a good chance to hear what other botanists are doing; there was a fascinating talk by Paul Smith on his work in the Outer Hebrides - a truly challenging county, let any one else dare to complain about theirs. Paul seems to have a very organised approach to recording, but is also adding extra challenges, such as snorkelling in lakes for macrophytes.

For those who might be disappointed to have missed out, its probably time to make sure you have booked some of the other BSBI events - the national AGM in Reading on 12-13th May; the Welsh AGM near Llangollen on 20-22nd May, and a very exciting conference coming up in Edinburgh on 20-21st September.