Catch up

I finally got round to checking out the Conyza that is in profusion around a neighbour's home in the small cul-de-sac we live in in Hay. It turns out to be Conyza canadensis - I generally don't like the term "weed" but in this case it seems to only way to describe it !

Not so the Sand Spurrey I avoid weed-killing near our house. Both of these frequent pavement cracks and no doubt when Powys get round to it total extermination of all life forms will occur... (Our pavement also has flushes of Saxifraga tridactylites occasionally.) The Sand Spurrey seems unconcerned by trampling and is spreading.

Earlier in the week, Steph Coates (Brecon Wildlife Trust) contacted me about about a field near Talybont with abundant Stachys arvensis. It really is a great display for end of October in a field that is obviously resting from a brassica crop... Sad to think that turning the field to grazing like most around the area would see this gone... In fact I wonder if this sort of annual is more under threat than we realise. I only encountered it for the first time way off the beaten track at Foel y Mwnt last year. (A BSBI meeting naturally.)

Before that taking part in the Hay Walking festival turned up this magnificent Pollarded Oak. That was a friend's walk which I back-stopped. My own walk was pleased to find Naked Ladies still in bloom at Henallt Common !

Back again

OK so it's been another long time...

I intend to visit all Brecon Wildlife Trust Reserves this autumn and started today.

Today I went to Glasbury Cutting - the nearest to where I now live and only 5 years plus to get there. The first thing that shocked me was the evidence of drought - confirming the "rain in summer is useless" argument. It was a very dry winter and the effects were apparent. Particularly in drooping and wilting Hart's-tongue (Asplenium scolopendrium) which I don't think I have ever seen before. Hard to believe there will be be Primroses, Cowslips and "Oxlips" at the far end in the spring - must go back and see. Tsk Tsk to BWT on the Oxlips which I presume will be the False Oxlip (Primula x polyantha)...

The reserve is managed for Dormice but I hope they manage to keep the spring flowers to enhance their environment.

It's also a fun reserve for old railway nuts as you are walking a surprisingly wide old cutting of the Hay / Brecon railway frequented by Kilvert.

Then I went up to Cae Eglwys high above Brecon with stunning views of the Fans and Black mountains. About the limit of my car's capabilities to get up the lane which is surprisingly rough as there is at least one house up there. No doubt they have a 4WD.

Many signs of richness for the spring and summer. Fleabane still flowering. and a nice little dammed stream to investigate. Spearwort was still looking good and I encountered white ones.Close up examination revealed that a yellow layer had been eroded / shed from the surface of the petals; revealing a white layer beneath that presumably accounts for the brightness of the flowers. The flower is still yellow from behind. See my pictures.

Gap

OK so I haven't updated for a while. Doesn't mean I haven't been active botanically - just too busy !

The website now has a new engine for the main pages - bigger pictures and easier browsing of the pictures of any species I hope...

Cwm Idwal

First trip for me and early for most botany. But Purple Saxifrage flowers now and will be over later when this botanist's paradise is in full flow.

It took a while to find the first plant below the Devil's Kitchen - but as usual once the "right type of rock" had been identified, finding more was easy.

There were several interesting lichens there as well which I may or may not have identified correctly. The British Lichen Society multi-access key helps a lot, full marks to them - but I still need to know more about lichens to use it to full effect.

The only slight problem with the photos was that  the biggest ever dust particle was apparent on my sensor when I got back - just a little extra work with Photoshop but definitely the downside of a digital SLR.

And the scenery was magnificent as well, naturally.

Filmy-ferns

A trip to West Cork for family reasons but the challenge to find something new for me was the same as ever.

Glengarriff came up trumps with Wilson's Filmy-fern. I was sure this must be there but found that the Tunbridge Filmy-fern I stumbled upon a few years ago, when I hardly knew what they were, is very much dominant there. (In places the plant is abundant.)

The identifcation is hard as well but, as usual, once I found it I realised straight away that this was "significantly different" - and there is only one other species in the genus in the UK.

They were growing together with Wilson's higher up the tree trunk on which I found them.  To me the longer vein cells were more diagnostic than the vein ends being at the end of the frond - I find that even with a x10 lens the vein ends of the Tunbridge fern are often at the end of the leaf to my eyes.

Llangors

We (the U3A hay Botany group) were invited to explore some botanically rich meadow land near Llangors lake by the Biodiversity Officer for the Brecon Beacons Park Authority. Frankly the botanical riches were a little overwhelming for us but, as the afternoon progressed were able to assist in identifying three good sites for seed harvest (collecting seed for other Brecon Beacons Park meadows) later in the month and identify some of the species at these sites.

A few we found:
Hypericum tetrapterum, Square-stalked St John's Wort
Lychnis flos-cuculi, Ragged Robin
Anthoxanthum odoratum, Sweet Vernal Grass
Cynosurus cristatus, Dog's Tail Grass
Trifolium dubium, Lesser Trefoil
Trifolium micranthum, Slender Trefoil
Lathyrus pratensis, Meadow Vetchling
Lotus corniculatus, Bird's Foot Trefoil
Leucanthemum vulgare, Oxeye Daisy

Getting lucky

Odd to walk past some Tree Mallow growing near Grove Park in Weston-super-Mare almost every day for several years and never notice it in flower (maybe it takes a while to mature enough to do so...). So when I went back there from the new abode last week it was good to see it in full bloom.

Not to the top

I had to tell more than one exhausted "peak bagger" that actually I wasn't going for the top on Snowdon last week. A good botanical site nestles below the cliffs to the east of the peak and the main path is the way to get there until about the 3/4 point where you turn off.

Nice to get a cup of coffee on the way down though - thanks to the popularity of the main path and the fact that the cafe at the top is currently closed. Also it was good to see the railway (only going 3/4 way at the moment itself) chugging up and down - not such a blight on the landscape as I had imagined it would be. One day I may bag the peak - but that isn't the way for Northern Rockcress, Parsley fern and Roseroot, amongst other new things for the website.

It was good to see Thrift so far from the sea as well.

I was actually hoping to find a very local speciality but it wasn't obliging this year. There is always 2009 !

A great walk and my front garden

Last Saturday was my first BSBI field trip of the year and, as ever, it was great. Emily lead us on a tour of the Dinas Bran area behind Llangollen with breathtaking views, some great botany and knowledgeable company to help me learn more about the subject.

For me the highlight was Changing Forget-me-not. By no means a rarity but probably unknown to most casual walkers. It has minute flowers with the charming characteristic of starting out bright yellow and then changing to a more Forget-me-not blue later.

My "front garden"

Well I don't have one, having opted for a town house, but the pavement outside the front door has already offered a display of Rue-leaved Saxifrage and now (while clearing the asbo weeds) I find a Spergularia - which turns out as expected to be Sand-spurry - Spergularia rubra, after a lot of hand lens searching for (scarce on this one) glandular hairs.

Yellow Whitlow-grass

Some flowers require a special trip. This is one of them - it only grows at all in the UK on the Gower and it flowers in March / early April. So off I went.

I tried three possible sites. The first I drew a blank - probably because I wasn't getting the location quite right - but I cut my losses and tried possibility two. That was bereft, I am sure, of a current population.

But Pennard Castle came up trumps and the display was splendid. So a great deal of (very enjoyable) walking and three separate parking charges paid off in the end. The plant loves to grow in pockets of poor soil in rocks - or in this case crumbling ruin walls.

The view from the castle was stunning as well.

Once again the excursion had me reflecting on the unsatisfactory nature of "bagging" finds. It would be so much better (IMHO) to spend one's life walking the great botanical areas of the country all year round and stumble upon species as if by accident. But it would take more than a lifetime to find it all !

Cilcenni Dingle

It's "one of the most species-rich woodlands in Radnorshire" (Flora of Radnorshire, R Woods) so I had to take a peek.

These Radnorshire dingles are, I am aware, pretty difficult to explore, so I was heartened by the "come on in" attitude of the Woodland Trust on their website - it's access land as well. But it was hard - I had to get out before the top and re-enter on the (easy) footpath through the middle. But well worth it ! Major find was Alternate-leaved Golden-saxifrage, in some quantity and quite distinctive from its commoner relative growing with it.

Lovely Marsh Marigolds as well.

Trees and other matters

It's not as though nothing has been happening so I should get back to reporting the development of FloralImages !

Outside

The important bit... Well Cwm Byddog was well worth the visit a few weeks ago with Moschatel carpeting areas (I've never seen that before - it's commonish in the Mendips but "local") and other flowers such as Barren Strawberry starting to flower. Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage was also abundant but I couldn't trace the reported Alternate-leaved version.

Trees
The trees though are the major feature of Cwm Byddog and doing them photographic justice is hard. Old pollarded oaks are rare - these are thought to be up to 450 years old.

The old Yews at Cusop churchyard were worth examining, coming off Cusop Hill last week. These are also reputed to be very old.

Inside

The reason for my lack of blogging is partly major "upgrades" to FloralImages. Best not to boringly go through the detail but if it's an improvement than hopefully traffic / user satisfaction will increase ! The introduction of links to get around the various "parts" of plants is perhaps worth mentioning. So, if you land on a particular flower, want to see the leaf shape and I have a suitable photo the link will be there.

Rhos Goch

A magic place that is now "access land" but you need to take great care in visiting. I was fortunate that the warden, Andrew Ferguson, showed me around and pointed out the pitfalls. Now I know where to go (with a companion - it's that sort of place) next year for the flora.

At this time of year it was all ankle deep at least and there were plenty of places to get stuck if not careful. "Rhos Goch" means Red Moor but it is actually a bog (in fact several varieties of bog) that is "intriguing to some and respected by all" in the local community. There are very few places like this left now and it is being managed carefully by the Countryside Council for Wales to preserve its nature and the rare plants that grow there.

Not much to photograph this time (I was busy keeping upright anyway) except for the lovely lichen, Usnea florida on old marker posts.

Oh - and Cowberry - I nearly forgot.

Offa's Dyke

Not the best time for flowers - and not even much in the way of fungi in evidence where I have walked recently - so pictures last week were of Offa's Dyke !

A reserve along an old track

It's not too late yet - and Llandeilo Graban Nature Reserve in Radnorshire will be even more worth visiting next year at peak time. The reserve is along the verge of a road that was part of the railway line from Three Cocks to Llanidloes. Must have been a wonderful railway trip. Amongst the signs of it's past use - the most obvious is that to get onto it you drive under the road and then do a double left to actually get on it.

The cars that use it now don't see anything as they flash past - they are not a danger though - bikes are (but NOT their fault !) as they approach unannounced from behind. The verges / cutting sides provide a variety of habitats and Welsh Stonecrop grows here amongst many other wild flowers. (Of course it wasn't flowering this late.)

Amongst other flowers not recorded by me before was Wavy Bitter-cress.

It's always worth taking the camera

Even is that means an extra load up Pen y Fan.

The highlight (botanically) was finding a rush in full flower - but my preoccupation with catching up the rest of family meant poor details recorded and a difficult identification. (Actually rushes are always a difficult identification for me - but they are very worthwhile plants at the interface between the grasses and more conventional flowers.) Luckily Rodney Burton on the UK Botany Yahoo forum was able to help me.

And all the way up I noticed an unusual flower not quite open - found one open eventually - and it was obviously a Willow-herb on closer examination - turns out to be a New Zealand one that is spreading along paths like this one in the Brecon Beacons.

Tricky genus

After the first walk with no photographs for some time last week at least I found things to investigate and record in Cusop Dingle today.

Mainly Hypericum spp. (the St. John's Worts) - a tricky genus and no easier for finding different species all close together as is often the case for these. At least they have the good manners to flower (a bit) even at this time of year.

But my field guide (Rose), in my hands, is inadequate for these and although I am getting better at recording all the important features for checking in Stace later it still was hard to be totally sure what I found - so several this week have the "uncertain" flag in the database and resultant warning on the site.

Continued up to meet the modern road into the Llanthony valley and came back down that way, finding a Hawkweed on Offa's Dyke path that I think I was able to identify to the section (only amazingly erudite botanists go beyond this for this genus).

The road up from the Dingle is I think the older route and clearly traceable (and a public footpath) up to the modern tarmac road. I think Kilvert will have come up this way as well as on the Welsh side.

Mixed day

"Private woodland - please don't start fires" - great attitude and very botanically rich paths into it. Just a pity they hadn't added to the notice "logging in progress" ! So I had to divert.

But then I got back and my pictures weren't that great. Realised I hadn't photographed Galeopsis tetrahit before (and so should have taken more pictures of it with more care !) and had probably seen G. bifida (a closely related species) as well ! (The carry-able book I take with me in my rucksack doesn't mention G. bifida.)

And my Heath Speedwells in this locality were blue, not lilac as usual. I still think they are that species, after careful checking in Stace when I got back - and the species is "highly variable".

I was partly hoping to get near Kilvert's Graig Pwll Du - not to see the waterfall which I know is regarded as a dangerous exploit these days** but just to see the scenery around. Well I did the latter briefly before diverting from the public footpath because of the logging and a lot of confers have just been cleared from the land above the area - hopefully to be replaced by broad-leaves...

** No doubt Kilvert was in full Victorian gentleman's garb when he climbed down to it with the Mole catcher...

Walking to Clyro

You don't have to walk along the road - the walk over the fields that Kilvert described is still a public right of way and reasonably easy to find. (Not much trodden though - the usual way to see where a path crosses a field from trodden grass doesn't work - at least at this time of year.)

Nice to come across a Welted Thistle at last - it's not particularly rare but eluded me until now. Because it is a tricky identification I took plenty of pictures of the "relevant bits".

And the marshy area by the Clyro Brook was a delight - particularly for the blue of Skullcap all over parts of the area. I must look out for mention of it in Kilvert's Diary - but I wonder was it called Skullcap then in this area ?

Nothing new

A lovely day for a walk along the Wye Valley Walk towards Glasbury.

I didn't actually find any species I had not photographed for FloralImages before but several good examples of some I need better photographs of.

The slight surprise was Marsh Woundwort in what seemed a dryish place. But it was near the Wye and a baby frog did leap out of the undergrowth as I positioned myself !