Some recent Suffolk plant records

SOME RECENT SUFFOLK PLANT RECORDS

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SOME RECENT SUFFOLK PLANT RECORDS MARTIN SANFORD This article is intended to update information given in the Flora (Sanford & Fisk 2010).

For the records listed below nomenclature follows Stace (2010); Clement & Foster (1994) is the authority for information on alien plants not covered by Stace.

I was surprised to find that the last update was nearly five years ago (Sanford, 2012); so there is plenty of new information to draw on. The following selection naturally concentrates on rarities, but also includes new information for some species that are changing range or frequency or where recent surveys have improved our knowledge. I am grateful to all those who have sent in records.

There has been a renewed interest in charophytes (stoneworts) in recent years resulting in some new finds.

Fragile Chara globularis, Bristly C. hispida, Convergent C. connivens and Opposite C. contraria Stoneworts were all found at Barnby Broad during a Broads Authority survey in 2012.

Juliet Hawkins found Delicate Stonewort C. virgata at Felshamhall Wood in 2011 and at Grove Farm, Thurston in 2012. She also found Fragile C. globularis and Bristly C. hispida Stoneworts at Stanton in 2013.

Tim Pankhurst and Jonathan Shanklin recorded Fragile Stonewort C. globularis at Market Weston Fen in 2016.

Susan Stone and Sue Hooton refound Tassel Stonewort Tolypella intricata in abundance in a ditch at Mickfield (TM1262) on 6 April 2014. Pleasing to know this Priority species is still present in the ditch where it was last seen nearly 20 years ago.

Rustyback Asplenium ceterach L. (Ceterach officinarum) (see Cover photo) Bury St Edmunds, wall of sunken area around Norman Tower, TL8564, 06/10/2016, Martin Sanford. First W. Suffolk record since 1955 (also Bury).

Borrer’s Male-fern Dryopteris borreri (Newman) Newman ex Oberh. & Tavel.

Corton Woods, TM5496, 28/07/2012, Chris Romer, det. by visiting Fern group.

Redgrave Fen TM0478, 28/05/2014, Jonathan Shanklin &Tim Pankhurst.

Theberton Wood, TM4264, 10/05/2014, Arthur Copping.

Assington Thicks, TL9237, 01/05/2015, Tim Piner.

The Scaly Male-fern Dryopteris affinis aggregate has few accurately identified records from Suffolk and we had no definite records in the Flora of this species.

Fern-leaved Corydalis Corydalis cheilanthifolia Hemsl.

Hadleigh, Church walk, TM0242, 02/03/2013, Stephen Clarkson.

Parham, TM3060, 19/09/2016, Daphne Culpan. Weed in garden.

Dense-flowered Fumitory Fumaria densiflora DC. Mildenhall, TL6974, 14/07/2013, Jonathan Shanklin. One plant at edge of potato field on south side of track.

Fine-leaved Fumitory Fumaria parviflora Lam. Mildenhall, TL6974, 14/07/2013 Jonathan Shanklin. Five plants at edge of potato field on south side of track.

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Newmarket Oregon-grape Mahonia aquifolium × repens = M. × decumbens Stace Herringswell, broad shelter belt up the east side of the track, TL7168, 17/01/2015, Alan Leslie. ‘Large population with plants in all shapes and sizes, some only a foot tall, through to some five feet tall, almost all creeping quite extensively, some glossy, some dull, leaflets from 2-5 pairs etc.’

Small-flowered Buttercup Ranunculus parviflorus L. Snape, near Dunningworth Hall, in open area next to road, TM3857, 08/05/2015, Brenda Williamson.

Mousetail Myosurus minimus L. Washbrook, edge of Rape field, TM1142, 29/04/2012, Dennis and Anne Kell.

Westhall, TM4380, 2012, Graham Peck. Hundreds of plants in marsh gateway.

Assington Mill garden, TL9336, 01/07/2013, Nick Miller.

Bentley, car park, Bergholt Road, TM1036, 02/05/2014, Dennis Kell. Large colony.

Lavenham, Clay Lane, TL9249, 04/05/2016, Barry Ruggles.

Slender Tare Vicia parviflora Cav. Lavenham, near Lineage Wood, TL9849, June 2016, David Green. 20 plants.

Common Restharrow Ononis repens L. Sizewell, Kenton Hills, TM4764, 15/07/2014, Peter Maddison. White flowered form.

Crimson Clover Trifolium incarnatum L. subsp. incarnatum Kelsale, Maple Farm, TM46C, 08/08/2015, Arthur Copping and Lowestoft Field Club.

Alsike Clover T. hybridum and Reversed Clover T. resupinatum were found in the same site – likely to have been introduced with a legume ‘nectar mix’.

Dropwort Filipendula vulgaris Moench Holywells Park, in an old orchard area sown with a wildflower mix in the 1980s, TM1743, 07/06/2015, Martin Sanford. Growing with Meadow Cranesbill and other introductions; a remarkable survival for a chalk-loving species in a neutral grassland.

Yellow-flowered Strawberry Potentilla (Duchesnea) indica (Jacks.) Wolf Falkenham Churchyard, TM2939, 2011, Anne & Dennis Kell.

Beccles Churchyard, TM4290, 26/11/2014, Graham Peck.

Thetford, TL8782, 30/07/2015, Ian Woodward.

Boxford Churchyard, TL9640, 01/01/2015, Peter Payne.

Kessingland Beach, TM58I, 07/05/2016, Arthur Copping.

This shade tolerant garden escape is increasing in urban situations, particularly churchyards.

Stingless Nettle Urtica dioica L. subsp. galeopsifolia (Wierzb. ex Opiz) Chrtek Lakenheath Fen, near North Fen viewpoint, TL7186, 12/06/2012, Owen Mountford.

Lakenheath Fen, Botany Bay SSSI (within Lakenheath Fen RSPB NR), TL6785, 28/08/2012, Owen Mountford.

Bramfield, Earlsway Farm, TM37W, 30/07/2014, Arthur Copping.

Iken, Stanny Farm, TM45H, 2015, Graham Peck.

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Creeping Willow Salix repens L. Market Weston Fen, TL9878, 15/06/2016, Jonathan Shanklin and Tim Pankhurst.

It is odd that this species has not been recorded here before, it may have survived overlooked or ben a new colonisation.

Common Dog-violet Viola riviniana Rchb.

The purple-leaved violet often referred to by gardeners as ‘Viola labradorica Labrador Violet’ is actually a form of the Common Dog-violet. It is as quick to spread and become a weed as the typical form. It should be referred to as V. riviniana ‘Purpurea Group’. It was noticed spreading beyond gardens in Sudbury, TL8741 by Tony Butcher in 2012.

A rare, white-flowered form of V. riviniana was noticed by the side of a wet fen at the SWT Reserve Arger Fen, TL9335 by Trevor Hickman in 2015 (Plate 19) Munich Crane’s-bill Geranium phaeum × reflexum = G. × monacense Harz Sudbury, TL8741, 23/04/2012, Tony Butcher.

Musk Stork’s-bill Erodium moschatum (L.) L’Hér.

Sudbury, TL8741, 09/04/2012, Tony Butcher. Two plants, new to Sudbury.

Ipswich: Waitrose car park, TM1942, 12/07/2013; Felixstowe Road, TM1743, 15/04/2014; Holywells Park, TM1743, 07/06/2015, Martin Sanford.

Gunton Wood, TM59M, 11/05/2016, Arthur Copping and Lowestoft Field Club.

Felixstowe, Chelsworth Rd, TM2834, 28/8/2016, Alan Leslie. 1 plant on verge.

Water-purslane Lythrum portula (L.) D. A. Webb Walberswick, Westwood Marshes, TM47R, 18/07/2012, Lowestoft Field Club, Arthur Copping.

Westleton Common, dried up pond, TM4469, 15/09/2015, Jerry Bowdrey.

Panicled Willowherb Epilobium brachycarpum C. Presl.

Sproughton, former beet factory, TM1344, August 2016, Adrian Knowles. Few plants in waste ground. First Suffolk record, specimen at IPS. See Adams (2010) for an account of this species and its discovery in 2004 in Britain at Stanway near Colchester, Essex.

New Zealand Bitter-cress Cardamine corymbosa Hook. f.

Yoxford, TM3869, 28/05/2013, Graham Peck. In between the patio slabs outside the tearooms (it used to be a garden centre).

Ipswich, TM1843, 20/4/2016, Martin Sanford. Occasional weed in garden.

Probably overlooked for C. hirsuta in garden paths and pavements; it seems to be spread as a weed in nursery pots but has not appeared much outside gardens.

Chinese Mustard Brassica juncea (L.) Czern.

Herringswell, edge of beet field TL7170, 29/07/2012, Tony Butcher.

Hoary Mustard Hirschfeldia incana (L.) Lagr.-Foss.

Felixstowe, by bridge over Dock Rd, TM2835, 21/09/2011, Barbara Mathews.

Landguard Common, TM2832, 19/06/2014, Dave Wood and Mark Woods

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Upright Chickweed Moenchia erecta (L.) P. Gaertn., B. Mey & Schreb.

Westleton Heath NNR, TM4668, 18/06/2013, Toby Abrehart.

Small-flowered Catchfly Silene gallica L. Hollesley lane, TM3444, 02/06/2012, Laurie Forsyth. c. 12 plants. Still there 13/05/2016.

Wherstead, path from Suffolk Food Hall to Orwell Bridge, TM1641, 05/07/2012, Stephen Clarkson. 6 × 5m patch found by Ken Southall. Still there in good numbers July 2016, Martin Sanford.

Wickham Market, Gallows Hill, TM3056, 29/08/2014, Brenda Williamson, One patch approx .25 sq m.

Rendlesham, TM3249, 16/08/2016, John Dries.

Deptford Pink Dianthus armeria L. Sizewell Beach, TM4763, 20/06/2014, Dayne West. About 8 plants. Possibly native here, but the likelihood is that seed was introduced either when the site was landscaped or perhaps more recently spread as seed on someone’s shoe from a garden population.

The species continues to thrive in its other site at Cornard thanks to management by Adrian Waters.

Quinoa Chenopodium quinoa Willd.

Stanny Farm Iken, TM45I, 2015, Graham Peck.

Orache Atriplex prostrata × littoralis = A. × hulmeana Tascher Stanny Farm Iken, TM45N, 2015, Graham Peck. First Suffolk record. This hybrid may well occur elsewhere in the county as the parents often grow together. It is described in Stace, Preston & Pearman (2015).

Glassworts Salicornia procumbens Sm. agg.

Surveys of the Deben and Alde/Ore estuaries and a few other areas by Toby Abrehart in 2013 have greatly improved our knowledge of these difficult taxa and provided more records in one year than we had received in the past 40.

Long-spiked Glasswort Salicornia dolichostachya Moss Bawdsey, Benacre, Butley, Chillesford, Falkenham, Friston, Gedgrave, Hemley, Iken, Kirton, Levington, Martlesham, Melton, Orford, Orfordness, Ramsholt, Shotley, Snape, Sudbourne, Sutton, Waldringfield and Woodbridge.

Graham Peck also added records for Stanny Farm, Iken and Havergate Island in 2015.

One-flowered Glasswort Salicornia pusilla Woods Butley, Hollesley, Orfordness and Sudbourne.

Purple Glasswort Salicornia ramosissima Woods Aldeburgh, Bawdsey, Boyton, Butley, Chillesford, Falkenham, Felixstowe, Friston, Gedgrave, Hemley, Hollesley, Iken, Kirton, Melton, Orford, Ramsholt, Snape, Sudbourne, Sutton and Waldringfield.

Chris Romer and Graham Peck added Slaughden and Boyton Marshes in 2014.

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Salicornia species in the Alde, Ore and Deben estuaries Key  dolichostachya  ramosissima  pusilla

Sea Fig Carpobrotus sp.

Hopton-on-Sea, TG5301, 14/8/2014, Lowestoft Field Club, Chris Romer. Four discreet plants amongst Marram below sea wall extension; still spreading in 2016. Not flowering yet so exact species not determined.

Pink Purslane Claytonia sibirica Donn ex Willd.

Fritton and St Olaves, Tinks Wood, TG4600, 01/06/2012, Colin Ayers.

Yellow Nonea Nonea lutea (Desr.) DC. Mendlesham, Chilli Farm by A140, TM1164, 29/04/2015, Susan Stone. Abundant.

Common Comfrey subspecies Symphytum officinale L. subsp. bohemicum (F. W. Schmidt) Čelak.

Lakenheath Fen RSPB Nature Reserve - central and east parts, TL7086, 12/06/2012, Owen Mountford. On washland and ditch banks.

Brandon, three sites in the floodplain of the Little Ouse, TL7586, TL7786 and TL7686, 09/05/2014, Jonathan Graham and Owen Mountford.

This cream-flowered form of comfrey is smaller (< 1m) and more slender than the typical subsp. officinale (often purple-flowered). It has been recorded in Cambs, Hunts and Lincs and may well be a native fenland speciality, see O’ Reilly (2006).

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Hidcote Comfrey Symphytum officinale × asperum × grandiflorum = S. × hidcotense P. D. Sell Kessingland, Green Lane, TM58I, 07/05/2016, Arthur Copping and Lowestoft Field Club. ‘Hidcote Blue’.

Stonham Earl, Foward Green, field adjacent to The Cottage, TM0959, 08/04/2015, Clive Stace. ‘Hidcote Pink’ form naturalised in field next to garden.

Both blue and pink-flowered cultivars are grown in gardens and can spread to become naturalised.

Yellow Dodder Cuscuta campestris Yunck.

Stowupland, Middlewood Green, TM0961, 19/08/2015, Clive Stace. Parasitic on Niger Guizotia abyssinica growing beneath bird-feeding station. First record in about 30 years.

Dodder Cuscuta epithymum (L.) L. Aldringham Common and Walks / Thorpeness Golf Course TM4661, 13/07/2013, Adrian Knowles.

Lower Hollesley Common, TM3545, 19/08/2014 Laurie Forsyth; July 2016, John Dries.

Waveney Forest, TG4600, 14/06/2015, Nick Blacker.

Dunwich, TM4668, 27/05/2015, Arthur Copping and Lowestoft Field Club.

Deadly Nightshade Atropa belladonna L. Bury St Edmunds, garden just over Tollgate Bridge, TL8566, 17/08/2012, David Addy.

Longspine Thorn-apple Datura ferox L. Saxmundham, TM3863, 10/11/2013, Dudley Shepherd and Graham Peck. Conf.

Martin Sanford. First Suffolk record.

Found by Dudley Sheppard in his garden near the bird feeder. Photographed and identified by Graham Peck. This species has smaller flowers than D. stramonium, the spines on the fruits are stouter and less numerous.

Cape-gooseberry Physalis peruviana L. Metfield, weed in garden, TM2980, 2014, Graham Peck.

Weasel’s-snout Misopates orontium (L.) Raf. Helmingham Hall, weed in walled garden, TM1857, 18/09/2011, Martin Sanford.

Icklingham, allotments, TL7772, 14/10/2012, Tony Butcher.

East Bergholt, garden, TM0734, 11/11/2012, Adrian James.

Southwold allotments, TM5076, 23/08/2013, Graham Peck. Known here since the 1970s.

Walberswick, allotment site, TM4774, 10/08/2013, Chris Romer.

Assington, old garden at Tiger Hill, TL9235, 01/06/2014, Nick Miller. Seed thought to have been brought from a relative’s garden.

Sutton, field edge, TM3046, 01/07/2014, Laurie Forsyth.

It is interesting that nearly all the recent records have been from gardens and allotments where there is suitable cultivated soil and much less use of herbicides than in arable sites.

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Twiggy Mullein Verbascum virgatum Stokes Kennyhill Drove, TL6780, 06/09/2012, Owen Mountford. Corner of arable field by muck heap.

Hungarian Mullein Verbascum speciosum Schrad.

Higham, single plant by bridge, TM0335, 18/11/2012, Tony Butcher.

Hoary Mullein Verbascum pulverulentum Vill.

Shingle Street, large population on beach TM3642, 14/08/2012, Lydia Vulliamy. Det. from photos MNS. Lakenheath Fen, Drove to Joist Fen, RSPB Nature Reserve, TL7086, 12/06/2012, Owen Mountford and 03/10/2012 Jonathan Shanklin. Probably introduced with material for drove (fide Norman Sills and Dave Rogers).

Lowestoft, Nicholas Everitt Park, Lowestoft, TM5192, 21/08/2013, Arthur Copping.

Clive Stace has commented that this species is now more widespread than the map in the Flora shows; he sees it quite often by the A14.

Yellow Figwort Scrophularia vernalis L. Stowlangtoft, outside churchyard on open space next to Church View, TL9568, 30/05/2012, Stephanie Hughes.

Euston Estate Quarry, TL8977, 16/07/2015, Ben Heather and Martin Sanford.

Motherwort Leonurus cardiaca L. Baylham, roadside (B1113) right adjacent to the pavement almost opposite Fish Pond House entrance, TM1052, 08/07/2015, Sue Grayston and Ken Southall (Plate 18).

Common Cow-wheat Melampyrum pratense L. Willisham, 15 m stretch either side of green lane south of Barking Woods, TM0851, 06/07/2013, Ken Southall.

Marsh Lousewort Pedicularis palustris L. Minsmere B. R., TM46N, 02/07/2014, Arthur Copping and Lowestoft Field Club.

Bladderwort Utricularia australis R. Br. Minsmere B. R., reedbed N. of track from Centre to beach, TM4767, 05/09/2012, James Cadbury.

Slender Knapweed Centaurea debeauxii Gren. & Godr.

This taxon was briefly mentioned under C. nigra in the Flora. There are useful illustrations in Stace (2010) showing the distinctive shape of the phyllaries and recorders are more familiar with it. Look out for plants with smaller flowerheads (capitula < 15mm) and which lack the swollen stem beneath the flowers; plants often have more deeply divided leaves than C. nigra.

It has been recorded from about 40 sites in both East and West Suffolk with the majority of records due to the efforts of Arthur Copping and the Lowestoft Field Club.

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Hybrid Cat’s-ear Hypochaeris radicata × glabra = H. × intermedia Richt.

Campsey Ash, TM35C, 02/10/2012, Graham Peck. Confirmed by John Parker.

Sizewell Beach, TM46R, 10/07/2013, Arthur Copping.

Woodbridge Airfield, TM34E & TM34I, 2014, Graham Peck.

Westleton Common, TM4468, 11/06/2014, Arthur Copping, det. Graham Peck.

Iken, Stanny Farm,TM45M, 2015, Graham Peck.

Plants tend to resemble H. glabra in size, but the flowers stay open all day rather than shutting around noon. See Stace, Preston & Pearman (2015) for a full description.

Jersey Cudweed Gnaphalium luteoalbum L. Aldringham-cum-Thorpe, verge on road to Golf Course, TM4560, 25/09/2013, Stephen Massey. 100+ plants over 50m stretch. This has probably spread from the nearby site at Sizewell found by David Whiting in 2008.

Belstead/Bentley, near Wherstead Wood, TM1339, 31/8/2016, John Dries. A very large population in uncultivated fields. A new site for this rare species.

This cosmopolitan weed was formerly included in the Red Data Book, but has recently been downgraded to neophyte status. Although regarded as a casual introduction, it appears to be able to establish itself and may well turn up in other sites.

Bilbao Fleabane Conyza floribunda Kunth (correct name for C. bilbaoana) Stowmarket, waste land by Railway Station, TM0558, 31/8/2015, Clive Stace. Growing with C. sumatrensis. First confirmed record (it is not clear which species the records of C. floribunda in the Flora (Mildenhall and Ipswich) refer to).

C. floribunda plants usually have an inflorescence broadest nearer the top and the heads are smaller than sumatrensis and very much less hairy.

Alan Leslie also noticed C. floribunda in waste ground at Bury St Edmunds (TL8565) in September 2016 and in the far west of the County by the A14 north of Newmarket (TL6366) in September 2015.

He described finding some hybrids new to Suffolk in the Newmarket site: Hybrid Fleabanes × Conyzigeron ‘I sat down for lunch at the top of the steep bank above the slip road down to the east bound carriageway of the A14 from the A142 and was wondering why I had not encountered any Conyza × Erigeron as several potential parents had been frequent along the road. At that point I saw one on the slope below me and eventually recorded eight plants of Conyza sumatrensis × Erigeron acris on the bank. The habitat, an open hot dry sunny bank, is very like the site I first had this hybrid on the Royston bypass. The slope also has Conyza canadensis and Conyza floribunda and in the middle of a colony of the latter was a plant of Conyza floribunda × Erigeron acris [× Conyzigeron stanleyi see Mundell (2016)]. I have taken specimens of both hybrids and will put these in CGE … The latter hybrid has occurred on the Fordham bypass in Cambs but has very few other records. I could not find a Conyza canadensis hybrid on this occasion. All three hybrids are very different from each other.’

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Alan did find × Conizigeron huelsenii (Varke) Rauschert (Conyza canadensis × Erigeron acris) just east of Bury St Edmunds on the bank below the north side of the slip road on to the east-bound carriageway of the A14, TL8663 with both parents on 2 September 2016.

See Stace, Preston & Pearman (2015) and Mundell (2016) for descriptions of the various × Conyzigeron hybrids.

Narrow-leaved Ragwort Senecio inaequidens DC. A few new West Suffolk sites: Cavendish, setaside headland near Northey Wood, TL7950, 11/7/2011, Barry Ruggles.

Bury St Edmunds, railway station, TL8565, 13/10/2011, Martin Sanford; frequent here and in waste ground near the station in 2016 (Alan Leslie).

Creeting St Mary, verges of A14, TM1055, 08/09/2012, Martin Sanford; increased to a large stand with 100 m of dense cover by 2014 (Clive Stace).

Kentford, east side of the road immediately south of the railway at Slade Bottom, TL7266, 17/1/2015, Alan Leslie Thetford, BTO Nunnery grounds, TL8782, 14/7/2015, Ian Woodward.

In East Suffolk it is slowly spreading from the original colonisation sites; it is now quite frequent in Ipswich and Felixstowe, but has not shown the rapid expansion you might have expected elsewhere.

Butterbur Petasites hybridus (L.) P. Gaertn. B. Mey & Scherb.

Stowupland roadside ditch at Forward Green TM0959, 29/03/2015, Clive Stace. Also established by a pond at Forward Green, TM0961 and known there for at least 20 years. Both populations female. The Flora states that all Suffolk populations are male, which is a little presumptive, as most records don’t state the sex. These are the first confirmed records of female Butterbur in the county.

Giant Butterbur Petasites japonicus (Siebold & Zucc.) Maxim.

Stonham Earl, Foward Green, field adjacent to The Cottage, TM0959, 08/04/2015, Clive Stace. Naturalised in field next to garden.

Rough Cocklebur Xanthium strumarium L. Nacton, picnic area, edge of path near river, TM2239, 15/10/2016, Barbara Mathews.

Det. Martin Sanford.

Narrow-fruited Cornsalad Valerianella dentata (L.) Pollich Icklingham, South side of new dual carriageway of A11, TL7676, 07/09/2014, Brian Laney. One large plant in seed on edge of layed tarpaulin.

This species was still frequent at Potton Hall Fields, Westleton, TM4570, when I visited with Juliet Hawkins in July 2016.

Perfoliate Alexanders Smyrnium perfoliatum L. East Bergholt, Flatford, TM0733, 02/05/2015, P. I. Pearson. First Suffolk record. Plants noted in the tree lined footpath leading from the car park to the NT Centre. The path is atop a dry bank with poor soil.

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Corky-fruited Water-dropwort Oenanthe pimpinelloides L. Holbrook, Sea wall by Lower Holbrook creek, TM1734, 27/06/2014, James Carr.

Possibly introduced here by the Environment Agency mowers who also manage the Bourne Bridge site (see p. xx).

Hemlock Water-dropwort Oenanthe crocata L. Holywells Park, Pond 4, TM1743, 16/07/2011, Arthur Watchman. Brantham, west of Cattawade, TM13B, 2012, Nick Miller.

Slender Hare’s-ear Bupleurum tenuissimum L. Orford Alde-Ore Estuary complex Toby Abrehart’s survey of this area in 2014 produced a wealth of new records for this Nationally Scarce species. It was found both north and south of Orford on the sea wall along much of the Alde/Ore (see Map below).

Bupleurum tenuissimum Toby Abrehart’s survey records from the Alde/Ore 2014

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Fool’s-water-cress hybrid Apium (Helosciadium) nodiflorum × Berula erecta × Beruladium procurrens A.C. Leslie, hyb. nov.

Alan Leslie described this hybrid, new to science, from Chippenham Fen, Cambs in 2014 (Desjardins et al., 2015).

Paul Stanley (from the Isle of Wight) had suggested to Alan that ditches at Carlton Marshes SWT Reserve (TM5091) might have the same hybrid. Alan was able to visit the reserve on 6 August 2016 and confirmed its presence in several ditches on the marshes. He reported: ‘There is a little of both parents around, but in the ditches concerned the hybrid is the most frequent plant: it runs prodigiously and although it flowers abundantly, sets no seed. The main sites were a ditch running parallel to the footpath that runs to the south-west of the track north-west from the visitor centre and another ditch running north west across the marshes starting from where the footpath meets a stream on its south-east side. I have a specimen which I will put in CGE. I expect too that this umbel will also prove to be more widespread.

Alan also provided some useful tips to help identify this hybrid: ‘… as always with hybrids a combination of things. The most obvious is the number of bracts under the umbel, with three or four (sometimes more) in many cases and this marks it out from the Apium parent. It can vary from umbel to umbel so you need to look at a few. The Apium usually has none or just one bract (very rarely 2). In Berula there are often more and they are larger and leafier. The peduncle can vary from short to long. In the field the plants are usually covered in small umbels i.e. it looks very floriferous and the stems, unless held up by vegetation are very floppy, whilst vegetatively it can creep for many yards. The leaf toothing is usually intermediate, sharper than in Apium, but not so deep and irregular as in Berula. At Chippenham I have never seen the typical pale ring on the petiole of the lower leaves in the hybrid; I was not sure if this held good at Carlton Colville, but flowering stems have often lost their basal leaves and it can be hard to link them to vegetative shoots as the parents can all grow intermingled. It does not produce full-sized fruits and seems to be seed sterile. The basal leaves are rather more similar to Apium than Berula in the number of leaflets.

Corn Parsley Petroselinum segetum (L.) W. D. J. Koch Clare, Lower Common, TL7645, 22/08/2011, Barry Ruggles.

Parsnip Pastinaca sativa subsp. urens (Req. ex Godr.) Čelak.

Alan Leslie has been studying this form of Wild Parsnip which he had found in Cambs just over the border by junction of the A14 & A11 north-east of Newmarket in 2015. It differs from typical subsp. sylvestris in having rather tall and slender, terete stems (i.e. not with deep ridging), with numerous rather wide-spreading branches. The whole plant is covered in very short hairs. The main umbel is hardly bigger than those at the tips of the laterals and all have much fewer, less unequal, rays than in sylvestris. Peter Sell had noticed it on the coast and suggested it might be native there.

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Alan has confirmed Peterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coastal records at Thorpeness, shingle ridge along the sea front, south-east of car park, TM4759 and on the west side of the road to Aldeburgh, TM4658, 06/08/2016. He also found it at Beccles, verge of roundabout, TM4588, 06/08/2016.

Investigating possible links between the coast and the Cambs records, Alan looked at road and rail links and found subsp. urens in several sites in Felixstowe TM2835, Felixstowe Ferry TM3237, around the railway stations at Ipswich TM1444, Westerfield TM1647 and Derby Road TM1844 and further inland at Stowmarket on the verges of the A1120 and A14, TM0657, TM0658, TM0559 in September 2016. In October he found a similar population around Lowestoft Railway Station.

American Skunk-cabbage Lysichiton americanus HultĂŠn & H. St. John Melton watercourse, TM2749, 2013, Environment Agency. First Suffolk record.

Foxhall, east side of the Mill River a little way below the Nuffield Hospital, TM2143, 28/04/2015, Peter Brinkley. Conf. MNS from photos (Plate 17).

Lane between Hessett and Drinkstone, TL9362, 05/06/2016, Mike Farrow. Several plants at the side of a ditch.

An unwelcome arrival - this potentially invasive alien can be difficult to eradicate once its deep root system gets established. It grows in dense stands that out-compete native flora in wet woodland habitats.

Altar-lily Zantedeschia aethiopica (L.) Spreng.

Langer Park, Felixstowe by remains of old stream, TM2933, 15/06/2014, Barbara Mathews.

Landseer Park, TM1742, 16/06/2015, Matt Berry. Three plants in wet area.

Narrow-leaved Water-plantain Alisma lanceolatum With.

Brent Eleigh, roadside ditch, TL9448, 22/06/2015, Rufus Sweetman. Conf. Martin Sanford from photos.

Dwarf Eelgrass Zostera noltei Hornem.

Sutton, TM2945, 2013, Toby Abrehart. Three patches at the base of the saltings.

Perfoliate Pondweed Potamogeton perfoliatus L. Euston, A1088 Bridge over Little Ouse, TL8980, 06/07/2011, Environment Agency.

Thetford, Little Ouse, TL8583, 06/07/2011, Environment Agency.

Homersfield, Bridge over Waveney, TM2885, 16/09/2015, Environment Agency.

Marsh Helleborine Epipactis palustris (L.) Crantz Bredfield, TM2652, 17/07/2013, Ann Stammers conf. Stephen Massey. A small population (c. 6 plants) in former arable field; still there in 2016.

Thrandeston, meadow near Home Farm, TM1376, 19/06/2014, Paul Read, Field was arable in 1999. A sizeable population (>30 plants in 2016).

It is pleasing, and not a little surprising, to have two new sites for this scarce orchid turn up in as many years. Both sites have established from wind-blown seed in the last 10-15 years and it is encouraging to think that, if conditions are right, this species may re-establish a foothold away from the Waveney/Ouse valley.

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Greater Butterfly-orchid Platanthera chlorantha (Custer) Rchb.

Middleton, roadside verge on lane to Kelsale, TM4066, 24/06/2013, Laurie Forsyth.

Three flower spikes in 2016 (Charles Cuthbert).

Hybrid Marsh-Orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii × incarnata = D. × kernerorum (Soó) Soó Sudbury, riverside meadows, TL8840, 12/06/2013 (and again in 2015), Adrian Walters. Conf. Ian Denholm. First confirmed Suffolk record since 1937. There is a large population of Early Marsh orchid here including good numbers of the deep purpleflowered subsp. pulchella.

Green-winged Orchid Anacamptis morio (L.) R. M. Bateman, Pridgeon & M. W. Chase Hacheston, Fairfield Green, TM3158, May 2012, Jos & Jane Slade. Possibly introduced with Green Hay. Lizard Orchid Himantoglossum hircinum (L.) Spreng.

Bures St Mary, steep bank near the Stour, TL8936, 04/06/2014, Jenny Kemball, det. from specimen by Paul Read.

The plant at Badwell Ash, first noticed in 2011, has survived and showed a small rosette when surveyed by Brian Laney in January 2016.

Hairy Garlic Allium subhirsutum L. Gunton Wood, TM59M, 11/05/2016, Arthur Copping.

Honey Garlic Nectaroscordum siculum (Ucria) Lindl.

Washbrook, Woods Hill, Coles Green TM1042, 14/06/2016, Dennis and Anne Kell.

First Suffolk record. Plants were intermediate between subsp. bulgaricum (Janka) Stearn and subsp. siculum.

Honeybells Nothoscordum borbonicum Kunth Sudbury, garden, TL8741, 22/06/2012, Tony Butcher. A troublesome garden weed!

Spanish-dagger Yucca gloriosa L. Felixstowe, near Coast Watchtower, TM2933, August 2011, Barbara Mathews.

Landguard Common, near Caravan Park, TM2832, 06/07/2015, Nigel Odin.

Floating Club-rush Eleogiton fluitans (L.) Link Dunwich Heath, Docwra’s Ditch, TM4767, 18/06/2013, David Strauss. Growing with Marsh St John’s-wort Hyperium elodes.

Market Weston Fen, TL9878, 15/06/2016, Jonathan Shanklin and Tim Pankhurst.

Galingale Cyperus longus L. Bedfield, side of a ditch near Bedfield primary school, TM2266, 03/09/2012, Mark Smith. Several extensive patches.

Pale Galingale Cyperus eragrostis Lam. Polstead, by the church, TL9838, 14/08/2013, Barry Ruggles and Lavenham Natural History Group. First Suffolk record.

Lowestoft, Kirkley Ham, TM5491, 15/08/2015, Chris Romer, Mews driveway between Pakefield Road & Rectory Road.

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Flat-sedge Blysmus compressus (L.) Panz. ex Link Market Weston Fen, on track just through second gate, TL9878, 10/06/2012, Arthur Copping and Lowestoft Field Club. Photographed by Simon Leach in July 2013 who reports ‘We also saw a huge population of Blysmus compressus growing as a ‘sward’ along the footpath just beyond the gate at the SE end of the ‘ochroleuca’ fen. I estimated several thousand ramets (impossible to say how many plants as many flowering shoots will be connected underground).’ (Plate 15) Hybrid Sedge Carex acuta × elata = C. × prolixa Fr. Market Weston Fen, at pond margin, TL9878, 15/06/2016, Jonathan Shanklin and Tim Pankhurst. First Suffolk record.

Bract about 3/4 length of inflorescence. No stomata on upper surface. Weak hyaline margin on uppermost male glume, 0.2mm beak, most utricles empty. No cross-veins on leaf.

Long-bracted Sedge Carex extensa Gooden.

Alde-Ore Estuary complex e.g. Hollesley, TM3644, 31/12/2013, Toby Abrehart.

For many years this was only known at one small site at Shingle Street about opposite the end of North Weir point. Toby’s survey has shown the population has expanded booth north and south of Shingle Street with records from about 6 1km sqs and a dozen 100m sqs (see Map).

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Panic Veldt-grass Ehrharta erecta Lam. Felixstowe, edge of St Andrews Churchyard, TM3035, 14/06/2016, Martin Sanford.

Established at the base of a hedge. Perhaps spread from the established population at Woolverstone, but could be a new introduction Smilo-grass Oryzopsis miliacea (L.) Benth. & Hook. F. ex Asch. & Schweinf.

Carlton Colville, along cycleway between industrial estate & Ranvill, TM5290, 05/08/2015, Chris Romer.

Yellow Oat-grass form Trisetum flavescens (L.) P. Beauv. subsp. purpurascens (DC.) Arcang.

Woodbridge, Hutchinsons Meadow, TM2750, 17/06/2014, Arthur Copping. First Suffolk record.

Trimley Marshes, TM23S, 01/07/2015, Arthur Copping.

An introduced, larger (>60cm) form with broader (> 5mm) leaves and larger (c. 22cm) panicles. Spikelets usually strongly tinged purplish.

Annual Beard-grass Polypogon monspeliensis (L.) Desf.

Melton, Wilford Bridge, TM25V, 14/07/2013, Arthur Copping.

Chillesford, TM3851, 31/12/2013, Toby Abrehart.

Woodbridge, Hutchinsons Meadow, TM2750, 17/06/2014, Arthur Copping.

Trimley Marshes, TM23M, 01/07/2015, Arthur Copping.

Levington, TM2438, 15/06/2015, Robin Biddle.

Sizewell, shingle around power station buildings, TM4763, 30/06/2016, Martin Sanford.

This species is increasing as an urban casual in waste places, but some of the above records are from more typical native sites in coastal grassland.

Water Bent Polypogon viridis (Gouan) Breistr.

Ipswich, TM14, 01/06/2012, Tony Butcher.

Increasing rapidly in Ipswich and elsewhere to become a common pavement weed; it has also been noticed in other towns: Felixstowe, Bury St Edmunds, Lowestoft, Halesworth, Aldeburgh, Southwold and Bungay.

Hard-grass Parapholis strigosa (Dumort.) C. E. Hubb.

Stowmarket, verge of A1120, TM0658, 02/09/2016, Alan Leslie.

Alan had spotted this halophyte in Cambs. on the verges of the A14 near Newmarket in 2006, but this is the first confirmed inland record from Suffolk.

Sea Barley Hordeum marinum Huds.

Stowmarket, central island at junction 50 of the A14, TM0658, 2014, Clive Stace.

Confirms John Walsheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s record here from 2000.

References Adams, K. (2010). Panicled Willowherb Epilbium brachycarpum C. Presl. New to the British Isles. Essex Naturalist 27: 52â&#x20AC;&#x201C;54.

Clement, E. J. & Foster, M. C. (1994). Alien plants of the British Isles. Botanical Society of the British Isles, London.

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Desjardins, S. D., Leslie, A. C., Stace, C. A., Schwarzacher, T. & Bailey, J. P. (2015).

Intergeneric hybridisation between Berula erecta and Helosciadium nodiflorum (Apiaceae). Taxon 64: 784–794.

Mundell, A. R. G. (2016). The genus Conyza in Britain and a name for the hybrid between Erigeron acris and Conyza floribunda (Asteraceae). New Journal of Botany 6: 16–20.

O’Reilly (2006). What is Symphytum officinale ssp. bohemicum (Schmidt) Pers.? A taxon on the Red Data ‘Waiting List’. BSBI News 102: 46–48.

Sanford, M. N. & Fisk, R. J. (2010). A Flora of Suffolk. D. K. & M. N. Sanford, Ipswich.

Sanford, M. N. (2012). Some recent Suffolk plant records. Trans Suffolk Nat. Soc. 47: 93–97.

Stace, C. A. (2010). New Flora of the British Isles 3rd Edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Stace, C. A., Preston, C. D. & Pearman, D. A. (2015). Hybrid Flora of the British Isles.

Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, Bristol.

S. Leach

Martin Sanford SBIS, Ipswich Museum, High Street, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 3QH

Plate 15: Sward of Flat-sedge Blysmus compressus at Market Weston Fen (p. 74).

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P. Brinley

SOME RECENT SUFFOLK PLANT RECORDS

K. Southall

T. Hickman

Plate 17: American Skunk-cabbage Lysichiton americanus at Foxhall (p. 72).

Plate 18: Motherwort Leonurus cardiaca (p. 67).

Plate 19: White-flowered form of Common Dog-violet Viola riviniana (p. 63).

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