Shropshire Botanical Society Newsletter Autumn 2021, No 43

Shropshire Botanical Society Newsletter

Autumn 2021

Shropshire Botanical Society Newsletter No. 43 Contacts

Contents Society News – notes from the Editor

Andrew Perry..................................................................3

Newsletter Commissioning Editor: Andrew Perry email: andrew.perrynt@gmail.com

Finally, from face masks to field trips, hooray!

Database update

John Handley...................................................................7

Secretary: Penny Wysome, 2 Christine Ave., Wellington, Telford, TF1 2DX. Tel. 01952 242617, email: pennywysome@yahoo.com

Marches Mosses BogLIFE project nears ‘completion’ at Fenn’s, Whixall, Bettisfield, Wem and Cadney Mosses SSSI/NNR,

Membership Secretary: Martin Godfrey Enquiries to: mfgodfrey49@gmail.com

Mags Cousins..................................................................8

Mires of the Long Mynd: Part 2

Vice-county Recorder: Sarah Whild, 9 Albert Street, Shrewsbury, SY1 2HT. Email: sarah.whild@bsbi.org

Andrew Perry................................................................12

A summer spent Shanklin surveying

Jane Ing, Margaret Markland and Pat Parker............15

Philip Harrison Oswald, 13th April 1933 – 5th May 2021

Past copies of the newsletter are available as pdfs from the Shropshire Botanical Society website: http://www.shropshirebotany.org.uk

Mags Cousins................................................................17

The Ferns – an Identification Guide: Part 4

Any opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the various authors, and are not necessarily those of the Society. Ordnance Survey maps reproduced under licence No. 100040428.

Martin Godfrey.............................................................18

Front Cover: Succisa pratensis Devil’s-bit Scabious (Peter and Jane Howsam)

Our thanks to the Shropshire Wildlife Trust and the Field Studies Council for their generous support of our society.

Both organisations support the work of the society in recognition of the importance of the contribution we make to understanding Shropshire botany.

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Society News – notes from the Editor Andrew Perry A note from Martin Godfrey on Membership Subscriptions:

For many of us it started to feel like a return to normal this year, and it was great to see so many people attending field meetings, including some new faces. Prior to our site visits, we met online for our spring meeting where we were joined

by Josh Styles who gave an engaging talk on the North West Rare Plants Initiative. It’s hard not to be inspired by Josh’s enthusiasm for rare plant conservation, and it was refreshing to hear some conservation success stories in a time when biodiversity loss is so prevalent.

After our COVID “subscriptions holiday”, this is a reminder that we will be resuming membership subscriptions from January 2022. The amounts have not changed; it is £15 for an annual subscription or £30 if you subscribe for three years.

Unfortunately the General Data Protection Regulations no longer allow us to publish personal information, such as your names with your subscription renewal dates as we used to, but if you have forgotten when your subs are next due please email me at shropbotsoc@gmail.com and I will let you know.

With restrictions easing through the year, we were able to start botanising further afield again. I hope you were able to get out– if so, please don’t forgot to submit your records! As you may have read in the spring newsletter, we are now in a new ‘date class’ for recording (2020-2029) and so your current findings will help update the status of plants across the county. If you are feeling extra ambitious, perhaps consider tackling a ‘Shanklin’ next year?

These are the monads (1km grid squares) that have no records associated with them. Read more about the experience of recording Shanklins from some of our members in this newsletter.

Upcoming meetings: We are excited to announce the details of our winter meeting when Dr Fred Rumsey will be talking to us about Orobanche – the Broomrapes.

The meeting will be held on Saturday 15th January, hopefully in-person at Preston Montford, with an online meeting as a contingency option if needs be.

Another date for the calendar is our spring meeting, which will be held on Saturday 9th April when we’ll be welcoming John Martin to talk about mountain plants. As above, we hope to hold the meeting at Preston Montford.

POSTPONED: Microscopy Workshop at Preston Montford, previously 20th November 2020, will be held next year, date to be confirmed.

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Finally, from face masks to field trips, hooray!

Firstly, a walk through a fairly species-poor pasture where some significant ground works had taken place. The former route of the small brook coming off the eastern flank of the Stiperstones was being reinstated and complemented by a series of instream pools. We missed the re-connection of this watercourse by just a week.

Spring ephemerals at Earl’s Hill – Mags Cousins and Andrew Perry We were very happy to be back outside enjoying some botany and fine views together this year, and a group of us assembled at Earl’s Hill in early May to catch some spring ephemerals and woodland flora. Earl’s Hill is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and also a Shropshire Wildlife Trust reserve. We timed it just about right as the Teesdalia nudicaulis Shepherd’s-cress was still evident and abundant on the open grassland at the top of the hill, accompanied by Moenchia erecta Upright Chickweed and Aira praecox Early Hairgrass. These diminutive species thrive on very shallow parched soils, and were thriving on the southern side of the hill.

The woodland flora was also showing well in the mixed broadleaved woodland clothing the flanks, and grassland with anthills on the lower slopes added further variety. Not only that, the weather was also kind, ending bright and sunny!

It was a good start to a full and well attended field programme throughout the rest of the summer.

Exploring Brook Vessons Farm (Dan Wrench)

On the grassy bank above this field were a few large oaks and some fine-leaved grassland with Hypericum humifusum Trailing St John’s-wort, Veronica officinalis Heath Speedwell and a lawn dominated by Vulpia bromoides Squirreltail Fescue.

A track through woodland led to more upland pastures. The woodland had lots of ancient woodland indicators to see despite much of it being dominated by conifers. We did well to ignore the fact that much of this track was just about in a different 1km square to the two main 1km squares we were recording that day!

Earl’s Hill - Aira praecox and Asplenium trichomanes subsp. quadrivalens (Mags Cousins)

Ophioglossum vulgatum Adder’s-tongue fern was fairly common in the pastures but hard to spot as usual. Also in the pastures, were occasional patches of Montia fontana subsp. chondrosperma - the most common sub-species of Blinks (close examination of the seeds was needed to get to subspecies level).

Brook Vessons Farm – Dan Wrench For the next field meeting Dan Wrench took us to Brook Vessons Farm at the end of May. Sandwiched between the Long Mynd and the Stiperstones, this area is a pretty special and tranquil place with varied habitats and a beautiful landscape. The 13-strong group first met the owner, Tim, who gave an introduction to the farm and his plans to encourage wildlife onto the whole area.

On the route back delights such as Myosotis discolor Changing Forget-me-not, were spotted; so named because the flowers change from pale yellow to blue. Another lovely find was Equisetum 4

sylvaticum Wood Horsetail, one of the most beautiful of this ancient group of plants. The delicate drooping ‘branches’ are divided again into more branches giving it a distinctive feathery look. It was last recorded at this location in 1984 when Prof. Ian Trueman and was in exactly the same place.

responded well to being issued with recording sheets and clipboards and a full species list was compiled by John Martin as well as quadrats being recorded for the dry meadow and the wetland.

All this information was reported to Shropshire Wildlife Trust who manage the site with the assistance of Wrekin and Telford Authority and the Friends of Granville. The conclusion was that the work done to remove willow is helping sustain the notable wetland flora of the SSSI. The adjacent dry meadow is also well on the way to becoming an MG5 community.

Myosotis discolor Changing Forget-me-not (Dan Wrench)

Muxton Marsh – Penny Wysome

Wetland habitat at Muxton Marsh (Mags Cousins)

On 6 June overnight rain stopped just in time for a dozen botanists to enjoy exploring the SSSI site of Muxton Marsh in Telford. It was obvious that society members were delighted to be out and about again and prepared to brave the very wet grass. A short observation in May had suggested that extensive use of the site during two lockdowns might have damaged the SSSI section of the marsh, and the aim of the visit was to examine the species present and note any issues. It was very pleasing to see that the site was holding up well under the pressure of visitors, and the wet weather and slightly warmer temperatures had brought on a flush of growth. th

Smiling Tree Farm, near Chapel Lawn – Mags Cousins The end of June was very warm and a small farm in south Shropshire was buzzing with insects where the new landowner has embraced regenerative agriculture and extensively farms a small herd of cattle. The relaxation of grazing pressure and restoration of hedges was supporting a rich variety of insects, the highlight being Trichius fasciatus the Bee Beetle, which is associated with hedgerows and visits flowers, often roses, although the one we saw was on Leucanthemum vulgare Ox-eye Daisy.

The group moved slowly across the site, spending most time in the SSSI area where they found several Carex sedge species. A new sedge for the site, Carex disticha Brown Sedge, was also identified this year. There was a great display of orchids including Dactylorhiza incarnata Early Marsh-orchid, D. praetermissa Southern Marshorchid and some large hybrids. Two axiophytes recorded previously, Triglochin palustris Marsh Arrowgrass and Isolepis setacea Bristle Club-rush, remained elusive.

This is a small site and it seemed worth putting the group to work to assess the condition. Members

Smiling Tree Farm - Trichius fasciatus Bee Beetle on Leucanthemum vulgare Ox-eye Daisy (John Lyden)

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the present time, although we didn’t see it on the day as it had died back. The species list has no doubt increased over time (although no thorough baseline list exists) by natural recolonisation and probable introductions such as Geranium pratense Meadow Crane’s-bill which was abundant in places.

Clive Churchyard and Grinshill – Andrew Perry In July, SBS members were joined by the volunteers of Clive Churchyard to form a survey team of more than twenty! Luckily our committee members were also out in force and so we split up with Andrew, Sue and Dan each taking a group around the churchyard. The Clive Church volunteers have been managing the site to benefit wildlife and were keen to learn more about the flora there. The grassland had a good diversity of species including Teucrium scorodonia Wood Sage and Galium verum Lady’s Bedstraw.

Apparently, the ponds were initially superb for dragonflies, and there were some nice aquatic plants showing including Ranunculus peltatus Pond Water-crowfoot and in the margins Carex riparia Greater Pond-sedge. An influx of flood water from the River Onny last year introduced native fish from the river into the ponds and predation has significantly reduced the abundance of dragonflies. The fish are currently trapped in the ponds until flooding reconnects the water bodies, and meanwhile they will no doubt become food for others such as herons.

Once we had covered the churchyard, a group of us continued botanising on a walk up the adjacent Grinshill. Whilst the hill is largely covered by young woodland and bracken, there is an open area on the plateau with excellent views that made a great spot for lunch. Calluna vulgaris Common Heather, Rumex acetosella Sheep’s Sorrel and Umbilicus rupestris Navelwort were growing amongst the exposed Triassic sandstone. I’m told that the lintel of 10 Downing Street is made from stone quarried at Grinshill! We searched in vain for some Ornithopus perpusillus Bird’s-foot and debated the identification of some Polygonum Knotgrass before descending the hill. To our surprise, we found a young Osmunda regalis Royal Fern growing from the damp stone forming a wall to the holloway near the church, and could only assume it had escaped from a nearby garden.

Dragonfly pond at Secret Hills Discovery Centre (Mags Cousins)

Secret Hills Discovery Centre – Mags Cousins Later in July, there was a botanical walk and training day for volunteers and visitors to discover common meadow, woodland and wetland species found at the Centre. There are 30 acres to explore alongside the gorgeous River Onny, with flowery hay meadows, ponds, riverside damp woodland, hedgerows and mature trees; though it has to be said we didn’t get far! Penny and Mags led the group, which moved at a slow pace, practising identification and pausing in the shade as it was a very hot day. The highlight was the discovery

by John Clayfield of a large number of Epipactis helleborine Broad-leaved Helleborine, which have colonised some of the secondary woodland developing around the ponds. The whole site was a conventional south Shropshire farm until 20 years ago when the Centre was established and ponds were created. Saxifraga granulata Meadow Saxifrage, was extant then and has persisted to 6

Database update John Handley Progress continues on the development of an online tool to interrogate the botanical records held in the Shropshire Ecological Data Network via the National Biodiversity Network Atlas. Concerns were raised by several members of the committee regarding the stability and performance of the NBN’s Atlas. This has been acknowledged by the NBN who employed a specialist to try and resolve these performance issues which appears to have been very successful. James Drever, of Careful Digital - the company we are using to create the online tool, recently commented that there was still some intermittent downtime but generally it was faster and more reliable, he is finding the periods of downtime are brief now, much better than before.

Committee members are now in the first stages of testing the online tool to ensure that the design meets the detailed specification that was created

by Joe Collins. The project was broken down into sections to help ensure that we remained within budget and were able to effectively provide an innovative database; we are hoping to be able to provide some exciting news shortly after the initial test has been completed in October.

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Marches Mosses BogLIFE project nears ‘completion’ at Fenn’s, Whixall, Bettisfield, Wem and Cadney Mosses SSSI/NNR, Mags Cousins How time flies - it was Autumn 2016 when I wrote an article for the Shropshire Botanical Society newsletter (Cousins, 2016) on the successful £4.9 million bid to the EU LIFE fund for the ongoing restoration of the degraded bog at Fenn’s National Nature Reserve (NNR). The injection of this money has enabled a huge amount of work to be done and it is now time for an update as the project is nearing ‘completion’. Of course, the restoration work that started 30 years ago, will continue for many decades more but the BogLIFE project was set to run for five years and ends in 2022.

spraying; • Improving water quality by diverting the poorquality water of Bronnington Manor Drain to the edge of the bog; (see Fig. 9) • Removal of 150,000 tyres from Furber’s scrapyard and rehabilitation to semi-natural habitat; • Construction of a viewing tower (see Fig. 10).

Fantastic progress has been made by the hardworking NNR team, including the following:

The cell bunding technique has proven effective at other peatland restoration sites in reducing water loss through degraded peat, and certainly seems to have been successful at Fenn’s. Fig. 1 shows all the areas where cell bunding has taken place with the location of the actual bunds digitised by volunteers.

Some of the works are described and illustrated in more detail below.

Cell bunding

• 50ha of coniferous and 40ha of broadleaved trees removed; • 290ha cell bunded and 58ha contour bunded to raise water levels; • Experimental remedial works on 3ha of improved areas of lagg including turf stripping and Sphagnum plug planting and Sphagnum gel

The cell bunding technique utilises an excavator to lift the surface layer and pack it into bunds in a honeycomb-like arrangement (Fig. 2). This disrupts the peat “pipes”, or holes in the shrunken oxidised layer which, unseen below the surface, shed water rapidly from degraded peat sites. Fig. 3 shows how well the cell bunding held surface water on the felled conifer plantation. The longterm hydrological monitoring data for the last 30 years of restoration at Fenn’s was analysed by a hydrologist (Leader, 2020) and showed clearly that restoration works had been successful in raising water levels, with a significant jump in relation to cell bunding in all areas, which was not attributable to rainfall effects. Eriophorum vaginatum Hare’stail Cottongrass was certainly flowering profusely at Wem Moss this year, see Figs. 4 and 5.

The cell bunding makes traversing the sites even more complicated than before, with routes having to follow the bunds, but staff and volunteers are well accustomed to this. Revegetation is rapid with Calluna vulgaris Common Heather, Vaccinium myrtillus Bilberry and Molinia caerulea Purple Moor-grass on the bunds and Sphagnum cuspidatum Feathery Bog-moss in the wet hollows; not dissimilar to the old hand-cut peat cuttings.

Fig. 1 Location of major bunding areas

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Fig. 5 Eriophorum vaginatum Hare’s-tail Cottongrass, Wem Moss, May 2021 (Robert Duff)

Lagg restoration At Fenn’s, pretty much all of what would have been semi-natural lagg vegetation (wetland with a groundwater influence surrounding the peat dome) was destroyed by agricultural improvement to drained grassland. The grassland has been fertilised and sometimes reseeded for livestock grazing and hay making by the small farms around the site. Remedial works, other than just raising water levels by ditch blocking, were considered necessary for habitat restoration and a technique involving turf stripping is being trialled. The technique has been used on other habitats to remove nutrient-rich top soil but this is a novel method for lagg restoration and is being monitored with interest.

Fig. 2 Aerial view of cell bunding at Wem Moss April 2021 (Natural England Earth Observation Team).

In various areas around the bog, an excavator scraped off the surface layers to hasten the lagg restoration, such as on a nutrient rich and disturbed field previously owned by Furber. In 2017 the field comprised tall ruderal herbs with Urtica dioica Common Nettle dominant, also Pteridium aquilinum Bracken, Filipendula ulmaria Meadowsweet, Galium aparine Cleavers, Holcus lanatus Yorkshire Fog and Arrhenatherum elatius False Oat-grass (see Fig. 6a).

Fig. 3 Surface water on felled forestry area following bunding (Pete Bowyer)

The scraping results in the exposure of more intact peat, and some areas were rewetted by piping water from elsewhere on the site when necessary (Fig. 6b). The spoil is being put to good use at the cleared scrapyard site to cover the concrete (which is best left undisturbed due to chemical contamination) and encourage natural revegetation.

Sphagnum plug planting and gel spraying were

Fig. 4 Wem Moss post-bunding May 2021 (Robert Duff)

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Fig. 7 A Sphagnum plug several months after planting, Aug 2021 (Mags Cousins)

The Sphagnum plugs are called BeadaHumok™ and comprise a mix of species, and the gel contains Sphagnum propagules, of the same species mix.

So far 1500 litres of gel has been sprayed over the bare peat. 116,000 Sphagnum plugs (see Fig. 7) have been planted by staff, contractors and volunteers using the following mixes: Bog Mix: 90,460 plugs comprising: 20% Sphagnum capillifolium Acute-leaved Bog-moss, 20% S. palustre Blunt-leaved Bog-moss, 20% S. papillosum Papillose Bog-moss, 10% S. magellanicum Magellanic Bog-moss, 10% S. cuspidatum Feathery Bog-moss, 10% S. fallax Flat-topped Bog-moss, 5% S. tenellum Soft Bog-moss and 5% S. subnitens Lustrous Bog-moss.

Fig. 6a Furber’s field before lagg restoration 2017, nutrient rich with abundant Urtica dioica Common Nettle (Mags Cousins)

then applied to some of the bare peat of the lagg restoration areas in two phases (November/ December 2020 and May/June 2021), whilst others have been left to regenerate naturally. All the Sphagnum products were propagated by BeadaMoss® Micropropagation Services (EM) Ltd.

Fen Mix: 24,760 plugs comprising 20% S. palustre, 20%, S. fallax, 15% S. fimbriatum Fringed Bogmoss, 10% S. angustifolium Fine Bog-moss, 10%

Fig. 6b Furber’s field after scraping and inoculation with Sphagnum plugs, Aug 2021 (Mags Cousins)

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Long-term monitoring Sophie Laing (BogLife Monitoring Officer) is in the process of compiling the vegetation monitoring report for the site and we look forward to another article in a future newsletter.

My thanks to Sophie Laing, Nathan Brake, Stephen Barlow and Robert Duff for their contributions to the article.

References Cousins, M. 2016 Shropshire Botanical Society, Newsletter No.33, Autumn 2016, p.4 Fenn’s, Whixall, Bettisfield, Wem and Cadney Mosses SSSI and Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

Fig. 8 Abundant Rhynchospora alba White Beak-sedge at Fenn’s (Stephen Barlow).

S. russowii Russow’s Bog-moss, 10% S. subnitens, 5% S. capillifolium, 5% S. papillosum and 5% S. cuspidatum.

Assisted dispersal

Leader, S. (2020) Marches Mosses BogLIFE Project: Hydrological Analysis Fenn’s, Whixall, Bettisfield and Wem Mosses NNR: Hydrological analysis of water levels and water flows and their response to management, LIFE15 NAT/UK/000786, 8th November 2020 Samantha Leader, Leader Environmental Analytics.

Future plans under discussion include assisted dispersal of some of the other key plants of the bog; Rhynchospora alba White Beak-sedge, Utricularia minor Lesser Bladderwort and Narthecium ossifragum Bog Asphodel. All three of these species are still present at Fenn’s but the degree of peat removal and the size of the site are likely impediments to speedy recolonisation, and so the team were keen to test assisted dispersal with appropriate monitoring and controls in place. R. alba has actually had a good year, with sheets of it seen in parts of Fenn’s where it was previously known. Was this in response to the restoration of more favourable water levels and a bit of disturbance, or just a good year? (see Fig. 8).

Fig. 9 The diversion of Bronington Manor drain, (Pete Bowyer)

Josh Styles of the North West Rare Plants Initiative submitted a proposal to the BogLIFE team to do some translocation within the site to promote/ speed-up recolonisation of restored areas by certain species. For those that dialled in to Josh’s talk to Bot Soc this year, you will know that he has had considerable success in re-establishing bog plants lost from degraded peatland sites that are under restoration. Methods would differ between species; for R. alba, bulbil-like propagules are easily harvested from the base of plants, whereas for N. ossifragum it will probably be necessary to translocate established plants.

Fig. 10 The mammoth viewing tower,. (Stephen Barlow)

Nathan Brake, who is part of the NNR project team, is monitoring the survival of the Sphagnum as part of his Conservation Resource Management degree project.

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Mires of the Long Mynd: Part 2 Andrew Perry as R. omiophyllus, but can also include species of montane springs (Rodwell, 1991). The spring water is usually circumneutral, averaging around pH 6 on the Long Mynd (Callaghan, 2012), and the springs are very attractive to grazing animals which bring some localised nutrient enrichment.

The floristic table for M35 by Rodwell (1991) also lists Sphagnum denticulatum Cow-horn Bog-moss as a community constant, but this species is usually lacking from M35 on the Long Mynd, although S. inundatum Lesser Cow-horn Bog-moss or the nationally scarce S. platyphyllum Flat-leaved Bogmoss sometimes occur.

In this article I’ll be describing the vegetation of springs and soakaways on the Long Mynd.

Springheads are numerous near the heads of valleys on the Mynd, and a distinctive flora occurs in the running water and saturated mud around them. These areas are small, sometimes only a few square metres, and unlike the flushes described in the previous article, you cannot walk through them without sinking at least ankle deep! Low, lush-green vegetation dominates with cushions of Montia fontana Blinks with Ranunculus omiophyllus Round-leaved Crowfoot, Juncus bulbosus Bulbous Rush, Myosotis secunda Creeping Forget-me-not, Ranunculus flammula Lesser Spearwort, Callitriche stagnalis Common Water-starwort, Glyceria spp. Sweet-grasses and Potamogeton polygonifolius Bog Pondweed.

Frequent bryophytes here include Philonotis fontana Fountain Apple-moss, Calliergonella cuspidata Pointed Spear-moss, Brachythecium rivulare River Feather-moss and the nationally scarce Bryum weigelii Duval’s Thread-moss. The latter is more typical of mountains and the shores of highland loch shores, with the Long Mynd representing the southern extreme of its range.

On the Mynd, spring head vegetation can also include common grassland plants such as Lotus pedunculatus Greater Bird’s-foot Trefoil, Trifolium repens White Clover, Cardamine pratensis Cuckooflower, Arrhenatherum elatius Sweet Vernal-grass and Holcus lanatus Yorkshire Fog. Triglochin palustris Marsh Arrowgrass and Isolepis setacea Bristle Club-rush can also be found around our springs; both have a local distribution in Shropshire (Lockton and Whild, 2015).

Spring heads can be found in the upper reaches of most valleys on the site, with some good examples in Ashes Hollow and Boiling Well, and M35 also occurs in small patches along the edges of streams. Downstream of the springs, small sedge or rush communities often occur where there is a constant movement of water through the

Such plant communities are described in the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) as M35 Ranunculus omiophyllus-Montia fontana rill. M35 is most common in the southwest of Britain, containing oceanic West European plants such

Flush on Nover’s Hill (Peter and Jane Howsam)

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Another vegetation community occurring alongside streams or in wet depressions are known as soakaways and include M29 Hypericum elodes-Potamogeton polygonifolius soakaway. M29 is uncommon on the site, occurring in small quantities alongside streams or in wet depressions.

Like M35, this can also be very boggy with much surface water, and both can include Potamogeton polygonifolius, Juncus bulbosus and Ranunculus flammula, but M29 usually lacks R. omiophyllus and Montia fontana. M29 soakaways can also be distinguished by the presence of Hypericum elodes Marsh St. John’s-wort in the southwest of Britain, although this species may be absent further north (Elkington et al., 2001). H. elodes is scarce and declining in Shropshire (Lockton and Whild, 2015) but can be found in some of the M29 on the Long Mynd. Other species found here are Anagallis tenella Bog Pimpernel, Juncus articulatus Jointed Rush, Juncus effusus Soft Rush, Eriophorum angustifolium Common Cottongrass, Hydrocotyle vulgaris, Narthecium ossifragum Bog Asphodel, Drosera rotundifolia Round-leaved Sundew, Galium palustre Marsh Bedstraw, Agrostis canina Velvet Bent and the sedges described earlier. Sphagnum denticulatum is a community constant, sometimes with S. palustre Blunt-leaved Bog-moss, S. fallax Flat-topped Bog-moss and Polytrichum commune Common Haircap also present. This list of acidic associates might sound like the M6 Carex echinataSphagnum fallax/denticulatum mire discussed in Part 1, but M29 can be distinguished from M6 by the floating mats of Potamogeton polygonifolius

Hypericum elodes Marsh St. John’s-wort in Catbatch (Andrew Perry).

Triglochin palustris Marsh Arrowgrass (Andrew Perry).

soil. Some examples, e.g. at the top of Jonathan’s Hollow, can be quite species rich and are probably best described as a form of M23 Juncus effusus/ acutiflorus-Galium palustre rush-pasture, with frequent Juncus acutiflorus Sharp-flowered Rush, Hydrocotyle vulgaris Marsh Pennywort, Ranunculus flammula, Succisa pratensis Devil’s-bit Scabious, Epilobium palustre Marsh Willowherb, Carex nigra Common Sedge, C. echinata Star Sedge, C. demissa Common Yellow-sedge and C. panicea Carnation Sedge.

Another spring community recorded on the Long Mynd is M37 Palustriella commutata - Festuca rubra spring (Callaghan, 2012). This upland community is dominated by cushions of the moss Palustriella commutata Curled Hook-moss, and vascular plants can be sparse. M37 is usually found on more calcareous rocks, and presumably occurs on the Mynd where there is sufficient baseenrichment of the spring water.

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species composition, grazing impacts, wetness, vegetation structure and damage are assessed.

Fixed point photography is also employed to track change over time. Whilst there is still localised grazing damage at some plots, overall there has been a positive trend in increased flowering levels.

A future monitoring ambition is to try and quantify the increase of Sphagnum that has been observed at Wildmoor and in other mires on site.

and Hypericum elodes (when present). Catbatch and the flush on Nover’s Hill is a good place to see many of the species described here, along with some rare liverworts including the legally protected Jamesoniella undulifolia Marsh Flapwort.

Communities notable by their absence are the wet heaths and blanket mires (e.g. M15 – M20). It is unknown whether these vegetation types once occurred here, although quadrats resembling M19 Calluna vulgaris – Eriophorum vaginatum blanket mire have been recorded on deep peat at Wildmoor (Iain Diack pers. comm., 2021). The Long Mynd has a long history of human occupation, and if blanket bog did once occur here, it is likely that historic burning, heavy grazing and potentially peat cutting led to its demise long ago.

Acknowledgements: many thanks to Peter and Jane Howsam for sharing their photographs, and to Mags Cousins for proof reading the article.

References: Callaghan, D. (2012) Bryophytes and vegetation communities of springs and flushes on The Long Mynd (Shropshire). An unpublished report by EcoStudy to Natural England

Current management of the Long Mynd is now focussed on habitat conservation and restoration, and graziers of the Common have been in agrienvironment schemes since the late 1990’s which has reduced grazing pressure on the vegetation.

Heathland management by the National Trust is also targeted to avoid cutting, burning or vehicle damage to wet areas. Mire vegetation (including springs heads and soakaways) is monitored at a number of sample plots where attributes such as

Elkington, T., Dayton, N., Jackson, D.L. & Strachan, I.M. (2002) National Vegetation Classification field guide to mires and heaths. JNCC, Peterborough, ISBN 1 86107 526 X Lockton, A. & Whild, S (2015) The Flora & Vegetation of Shropshire. Shropshire Botanical Society, Shrewsbury. ISBN 978-0-9530937-2-4.

Rodwell, J.S. (ed.) (1991) British Plant Communities. Volume 2. Mires and heaths.

Cambridge University Press.

Vegetation near springhead (Andrew Perry).

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A summer spent Shanklin surveying Jane Ing, Margaret Markland and Pat Parker well glaciated in the past and isolated pockets of base rich soil exist. The wow plants for us like the higher pH of the base rich clay. Examples are Briza media Quaking-grass, Leontodon hispidus Rough Hawkbit, Euonymus europaeus Spindle and Rhamnus cathartica Buckthorn.

“What are you doing?” is a question that three keen flower hunters from SJ42, (the parishes of Baschurch and Myddle in the north of the county), have been asked several times over this past spring and summer. As Covid restricted our ability to travel safely together to the more exciting and remote corners of Shropshire, and advancing years made the idea of a full day surveying just a little tiring, Shanklin hunting in our local lanes became a worthwhile substitute. Ramblers and dog walkers, curious to know what ladies with clip boards could possibly be looking for in the local ditches and hedgerows have, in a small way, turned us into ambassadors for Shropshire Botanical Society.

Our most exciting find was Glebionis segetum Corn Marigold. The known site in Baschurch was tarmacked over a few years ago and in spite of repeated searches it has not come up nearby. It turned up in an arable field margin near Bagley a couple of miles away.

We recorded with pencil and notebook or by using Flora 2015 card. Records will be entered into Excel, and our winter challenge is to get to grips with iRecord so it is easier for records to be checked and added to the database.

SJ42 has 13 Shanklins and a quick look at the OS map showed that many of those were either poorly served by roads or Public Rights of Way and had no exciting looking features like kettle holes or woodland.

Older eyes were a problem solved by buying a x15 lens with an LED light or a digital microscope.

Fumaria Fumitories and Epilobium Willowherbs are no longer ugh. Hairs and bumps become things of beauty and these difficult flowers have become a happy challenge.

We decided to take up the challenge and do the ones nearest to home. We have managed between us to visit three monads in Baschurch Parish and four in the Myddle area. Each square has had at least two visits and we hoped to clock up at least 100 species in each.

Exploring the SEDN database has turned up two things which other surveyors can check. There was one monad which had results sent in for Date Class 6 which had not been entered on the database.

There are also several monads that did not get sent in because they had only been visited once and were not complete.

Alex was right. We did indeed find Poa annua Annual Meadow-grass in every monad but we had to look especially for it on one outing.

Those of you who know the county flora well will realise SJ42, apart from a very few places, is not an area renowned for the richness of its flora.

The area around Baschurch and Myddle was

Galium verum Lady’s Bedstraw on Limpit Hill (Margaret Markland).

Fumaria seeds (Margaret Markland).

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Fortunately, there are rough and neat copies of our past survey work so another job this winter will be to check all these Date Class 6 monads for any anomalies. If there are sufficient records to send in for a monad, and a good Date Class 6 list is not already present on SEDN, we’ll submit the data.

Was it worth the effort? Well, the three of us have really enjoyed the challenge. A morning of fresh air, good company AND flowers -what more could a Bot Soc member ask for other than coffee and cake and a good snooze on returning home.

We were also reminded of the good things to be found on our doorstep, the woodland floor carpeted in Hyacinthoides non-scripta Bluebells, the tiny colourful ‘arable weeds’ growing at the edge of a maize crop and the Galeopsis tetrahit Common Hemp-nettle which we thought had disappeared.

Many thanks to Alex for the idea and to Mags who has answered our queries and helped us cope with the new bits. Hopefully we will be doing more Shanklins in 2022. We already have several earmarked!

May-time in Myddle (Margaret Markland).

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Philip Harrison Oswald, 13th April 1933 – 5th May 2021 If you are a BSBI member and have read your recent BSBI News you will be aware that in May this year, talented botanist, author and educator Philip Oswald passed away, aged 88 years. Philip lived and worked in Shropshire from 1965 until he moved to Cambridgeshire in 1976. I was not fortunate enough to have met Philip but his name is very familiar to me, not least because he was one of the co-authors of the late Charles Sinker’s 1985 Ecological Flora of Shropshire. His chapter on the history of botanical recording in Shropshire is marvellously detailed revealing so much about the life and works of botanists passed. He continued with this botanical detective work until very near the end of his life, the final version of his article for the BSBI News 148 (September 2021) was submitted in March 2021, just before he died.

Reading the BSBI blog about Philip and the obituary by Chris Preston in BSBI News paints a picture of a leading light in botanical and science education. Indeed, he became Head of the Education Advisory Section at the Nature Conservancy, the government agency created in 1949 with responsibilities for site protection, and remained in the organisation, variously as head of interpretation, publicity and communication.

This was the announcement from his family: Our father has died peacefully today, aged 88. He passed away early this morning at the Arthur Rank Hospice in Cambridge, where he had been these past 15 days, following his admission to Addenbrooke’s Hospital six weeks ago today. As you may be aware, he was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer in February 2018, so he had time to finish a number of projects and put things in good order. He had been ready to die this past month. A large number of people have been supportive of Dad and us in these past few weeks, and we are very grateful for the wonderful display of affection for him.

Chris, Jane and Clare

We offer our sincerest condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.

References: Oswald, P.H. 2021 A puzzling unrecorded herbarium and some related mysteries. BSBI News 148, September 2021, page 31.

Preston, C.D. 2021 Philip Harrison Oswald (1933-2021). BSBI News 148, September 2021, page 77.

Mags Cousins

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The Ferns – an Identification Guide: Part 4 Martin Godfrey

Polystichum setiferum (Martin Godfrey) Fig. 1 Polystichum sori (Martin Godfrey)

Polystichum species We have again had a rather odd year although it has been simpler to get out to more places to see more plants. I have decided to keep this article fairly straightforward and introduce the Shield-ferns, genus Polystichum which, for two of the species, is common but which can be confusing for the novice.

Introduction There are three species of Polystichum found in Britain – the common and abundant P. setiferum Soft Shield-fern and P. aculeatum Hard Shield-fern, and the rather rare P. lonchitis Holly-fern. The first two are large and grow in the classic “shuttlecock” form of many ferns, while P. lonchitis is smaller and tends to have a rather untidy growth form amongst the rocks where it usually grows.

Because of their growth form and obviously “ferny” appearance, the first two species may be mistaken for Male-ferns, Dryopteris, by the beginner. A good way of telling them apart is to look at the indusia on the underside of the pinnae – in Polystichum they are circular (Fig. 1), while in Dryopteris they are kidney shaped (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2 Dryopteris sori (Martin Godfrey)

Polystichum setiferum This species is common in base-rich woodlands in Shropshire where is can form quite abundant stands.

Superficially it looks rather like P. aculeatum, but as mentioned above, the frond has a rather less leathery and stiff feel to it. There are also two good reliable distinguishing features:

All three Polystichum species have fronds with a rather stiff leathery texture and long points on the edges of their pinnae. However, P. setiferum (Soft Shield-fern) is, as its common name suggests, rather less stiff and the points have a less “prickly” feeling.

P. setiferum and P. aculeatum both have bipinnate fronds while those of P. lonchitis are once-pinnate.

The first is to look at the base of the frond; the basal pinnae are more or less the same length as those above, giving the frond a truncated look, and below this the stipe is quite long and narrow and not heavily scaly (Fig. 3).

The second is to examine the structure of the

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Fig. 3 P. setiferum (Martin Godfrey) Fig. 6 P. aculeatum (Martin Godfrey)

Polystichum lonchitis P. lonchitis is a rare upland species of the north and west. It isn’t found in Shropshire but it is quite abundant where it does grow in Snowdonia, Cumbria and Northern Scotland. Its habitat is amongst calcareous rocks, in cracks and under ledges, and it is common in grykes (fissures in limestone pavement) where it is protected from sheep grazing. There is occasionally a bit of habitat overlap with P. aculeatum amongst rocks but its once-pinnate form and very prickly lamina make it unmistakable (Fig. 7 and Fig. 8)

Fig. 4 P. setiferum (Martin Godfrey)

pinnules – these look a bit like little mittens with a thumb-like lobe held close to the stem (Fig. 4).

Polystichum aculeatum Like P. setiferum this species grows in base-rich woodlands but also occurs on somewhat damper ground and around rock crevices. Again, it is abundant in Shropshire and can be found together with P. setiferum. As well as being more prickly and leathery to touch, it has the following two features to distinguish it: Look at the base of the frond – the lower pinnae are much shorter than those further up the frond giving it a tapering appearance. The stipe is shorter, thicker and more scaly than in P. setiferum (Fig. 5).

Fig. 7 P. lonchitis habitat (Martin Godfrey)

The pinnules are slimmer, lack the “mitten and thumb” impression, and are held at a distinct acute angle to the stem (Fig. 6).

Fig. 8 P. lonchitis frond showing once-pinnate structure and prickly edge (Martin Godfrey)

Fig. 5 P. aculeatum (Martin Godfrey)

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