Highs and meadows

This is one of my hasty ones. Off to Tintern soon for the BSBI Welsh AGM and plenty to do first...

Early last week I did a little recce of Tarren yr Esgob prior to our joint meeting coming up with the Monmouthshire recording group as I had never been there. It's a spectacular place and right on the border between our counties. 

View from above of the border area with an old enclosure below

Down at the enclosure

We will concentrate on this area so that records for both counties can be obtained. There is a very steep cliff with more botany (for the intrepid) further into Brecknockshire - another time perhaps.

Then we went to Cilmery to record the graveyard and a meadow near Llanganten Church Llanafan Fawr nearby where we found a relative rarity for Brecknockshire:

Meadow Barley, Haidd y maes or Hordeum secalinum, spotted by Steph and named by Ray Woods who was with us.

We found a surprising amount of the Stingless Nettle Urtica dioica subsp. galeopsifolia in the lane there and discovered that it graded into the stinging variety along the way.

Then we called in to Eglwys Oen Duw (delivering a hedgehog box) and visited a rare Lichen growing on an Oak by the roadside there.

Eglwys Oen Duw

Oak Lungwort or Lobaria pulmonaria

And Saturday saw the BWT / Wildflower Society meeting at Craig y cilau, ably led by Stephen Marshall. It was a great day with perfect weather.

This is what Steph was photographing:

Angular Solomon's-seal, Llysiau-Solomon persawrus or Polygonatum odoratum