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Tuesday, July 23, 2019

A Summary

Llangorse - the second day of BSBI Plant Families course where participants were asked to work out which family the many plants that grow there belonged to - this one was tricky:
Common Meadow-rue, Arianllys or Thalictrum flavum

Then some explorations at the edge of the SENTA range to find some Atlas targets including:
White Sedge, Hesgen benwen or Carex canescens
This was right by the tree we selected for lunch after some searching of delightful spring flushes abundant with:
Marsh St John's-wort, Eurinllys y gors or Hypericum elodes
- not really flowering yet but on the verge - a picture of the flower from somewhere else:
Later we found:
Common Butterwort, Tafod y gors or Pinguicula vulgaris
- and driving home traffic lights at roadworks stopped me right by:
Agrimony, Llysiau’r dryw or Agrimonia eupatoria 

Then an exporation in and around Traeth Mawr near the Visitor Centre for various missing species. All pictures from Arlene as I didn't take any: (These were not necessarily missing species for the Atlas - just worth a photo!)

Lesser Water-plantain, Llyriad-y-dŵr bach or Baldellia ranunculoides
(In more places than I remember from before)

Bog Pimpernel, Gwlyddyn-Mair y gors or Anagallis tenella
This was one we particularly wanted as yet to be recorded for the area since 2000 - found exactly where previously recorded and there was plenty in the lane.
Black Bryony, Cwlwm y coed or Tamus communis

Cross-leaved Heath, Grug croesddail or Erica tetralix

Shoreweed, Beistonnell ferllyn or Littorella uniflora

Creeping Willow, Corhelygen or Salix repens



Sunday, July 07, 2019

Reservoirs Springs and Quarries

I've had a break but meanwhile members of the botany group had continued to record many plants including this:
Ivy-leaved Bellflower, Clychlys dail eiddew or Wahlenbergia hederacea
-recorded by Sue west of Upper Chapel.

Then on our way to the Elan Valley we noticed this at our meeting point in Llyswen:
White Bryony, Bloneg y ddaear or Bryonia dioica 
-which isn't that common in our county.

Up by the main dam (in our territory) we were wading through acres of common Ling with rather abundant:
Bell Heather, Grug y mêl or Erica cinerea
- in most of our county we feel privileged to find the odd plant...

We made a lot of good records but didn't find the rarity we were crossing our fingers for...

There was plenty of:
Small Cudweed, Edafeddog fach or Filago minima 
- on the dry trackways.

And abundant:
Oak Fern, Rhedynen dridarn or Gymnocarpium dryopteris 
- in the shadier parts and woodland.

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Then we went to Cadair Fawr on the road from Brecon towards Penderyn to explore old limestone quarries where the Fairy Flax was very abundant but not photographed by me.

I did examine these Hieraciums which will take a little more identification effort on a return visit (we have to go back for the Euphrasias which were too young to be sure about.)

From there we went across the moorland, picking up other records for this little explored (botanically) area. Below the peak the limestone changes to sandstone and springs appear. Here we found many of the expected wet gound plants - a reduction of the grazing pressure could make it more I suspect.

Pictures from Sue:
 Brooklime, Llysiau Taliesin or Veronica beccabunga
Bog Pimpernel, Gwlyddyn-Mair y gors or Anagallis tenella

One of the springs:


And I finish with this from the A470 near Brecon - spotted by Joan (when she stopped to look).
Grass Vetchling, Ytbysen feinddail or Lathyrus nissolia