Oenanthe pimpinelloides L. in Suffolk

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O E N A N T H E P I M P I N E L L O I D E S L. IN S U F F O L K E . M . HYDE

In the Atlas of the British Flora (Perring & Walters, 1962) there are no post-1930 records of Oenanthe pimpinelloides L. for Suffolk, or indeed for East Anglia. Old records in The Flora of Suffolk (Hind, 1889) are doubtful, (Simpson, 1954) owing to confusion with O. lachenalii C. C. Gmel., which is not uncommon in the County. There was, however, an unconfirmed report of the plant at Brantham, East Suffolk, in the early 1960s. It was, therefore, with some surprise that on July 26th 19751 came across an isolated plant of this species, growing in the lane leading to Bourne Park in Ipswich (TM 14). Further searches around Bourne Bridge revealed hundreds of plants in the rough dry grassland of the embankment and the level ground below. They continued along the top of the embankment, though in smaller numbers, into the neighbouring parish of Wherstead. So far the Situation has remained unchanged. The plants are regularly trampled on by small boys with fishing-rods, but this constitutes no serious threat to their survival. Shortly, however, the whole site will disappear. A new bridge and a link road to the new Ipswich by-pass will cut through it. In order, therefore, to preserve the species in Suffolk, I obtained permission in 1977 from the Orwell Yacht Club, the owners of the land, to dig up a few plants, which I transferred to a site further down the Orwell. They survived and flowered in 1978 and 1979. In addition, Mrs. G. Crompton took one plant for the Conservation Section of the University Botanic Garden in Cambridge. Then on June 24th 1979 my son, Mark Hyde, discovered a thinly scattered colony of the same species near the factories at Brantham (TM 13), again growing in a dry Situation. Perhaps the future of the plant in Suffolk is now a little less precarious. On both occasions the identity of the plants was confirmed by experts, in the first case by the late J. E. Lousley in September, 1975 and in the second by Professor T. G. Tutin in early 1980. References Hind, W. M. (1889). Flora of Suffolk, 170, London. Perring, F. H. & Walters, S. M., eds. (1962). Atlas ofthe British Flora, 163. London. Simpson, F. W. (1954). Doubtful, extinct and uncommon flora of Suffolk. Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 9, 43. E. M. Hyde, M.A., Parkside, Woolverstone, Ipswich, IP9 1AR.

Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 18part2.


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