Andrew Perry

Society News – notes from the Editor

Andrew Perry

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. 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.

A note from Martin Godfrey on Membership Subscriptions:

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.

Finally, from face masks to field trips, hooray!

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.

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

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. 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.

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! 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). 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

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.

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

Muxton Marsh – Penny Wysome

On 6th 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. 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 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.

Wetland habitat at Muxton Marsh (Mags Cousins)

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.

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

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. 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.

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 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. 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.

Dragonfly pond at Secret Hills Discovery Centre (Mags Cousins)