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Suffolk Natural History, Vol. 38
Plant recording in 2001 Recording work was greatly reduced in the early part of the year due to the access restrictions covering much of the countryside to try and prevent the spread of Foot and Mouth Disease. Despite these problems, some recorders still manage to get into the field and some areas in towns and villages that were still accessible but which might not otherwise have been considered worth recording were looked at and some good records made. The Norfolk team still managed to look at over fifty tetrads during the year including many under-recorded squares. One of their best finds was Marsh Violet, Viola palustris L. at Newdelight Walks (TM4572) in June. Toby Abrehart found an attractive and unusual carrot growing in a roadside at Wrentham (TM4982) which turned out to be a first Suffolk record for Daucus glochidiatus (Lab.ll.) Fischer, L. Meyer & Avé-Lall., an Australian species usually introduced as a wool casual (See Plate 7). Specimens of a crab apple tree found by Joan Westcott and Frances Lupton at Westleton Heath (TM4569) were sent to Kew for identification. It was named as Malus baccata (L.) Borkh., Siberian Crab; it is not clear whether this specimen is a relic of cultivation or a seedling. Peter Lawson noticed garden escapes of the popular Mediterranean garden spurge Euphorbia characais growing in Southwold (TM5076) and Reydon (TM4978). These were assigned to the subspecies wulfenii which some floras regard as doubtfully distinct although many gardeners have recognised it as a superior form to the type. Peter was also able to confirm the identity of some interesting celandines found at Wenhaston Village Green (TM4274) by Graham Peck as Ranunculus ficaria subsp. chrysocephalus P. D. Sell, a cultivated form with much larger flowers than the wild type. During the Recorders meeting at Captain’s Wood, Sudbourne (TM4254) in July, Adrian Knowles found a good population of White Horehound, Marrubium vulgare L. near outbuildings. This nationally scarce species is considered to be native in some of its coastal sites, but is probably an introduction or escape from cultivation at this Sudbourne site. Annette Burton drew my attention to an attractive verge near the Ipswich B&Q Warehouse (by the A1156 ‘Asda’ roundabout, TM1347) which had been sown with a ‘wildflower’ seed mix. There were many plants of Reversed Clover Trifolium resupinatum, Cornflower Centaurea cyanus, Sainfoin Onobrychis viciifolia, Yellow Chamomile Anthemis tinctoria and a large flowered Knapweed which on close examination turned out to be Brown Knapweed Centaurea jacea - a European alien species which was formerly widely naturalised in Britain but now seems to be extinct. Problems with a new version of the database software used at the Suffolk Biological Records Centre meant that there were some delays in processing all the backlog of new records. There were also problems getting the new software to deal with tetrad references correctly which made the production of coverage maps very difficult. These problems have now been resolved. Martin Sanford SBRC, Ipswich Museum, High Street, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 3QH
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 38 (2002)
Toby Abrehart Plate 7: Daucus glochidiatus (Lab.ll.) Fischer, L. Meyer & AvĂŠ-Lall. A species of carrot from Australia found at Wrentham in 2001 (p. 102).