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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