Author: Christine

Week 13 Roundup : 17^th June

The air today is thick and humid, and there are distant—and then not-so-distant—rumbles of thunder. For the last ten minutes a peregrine has been lazily circling overhead, calling and pulling in a mob of agitated gulls. An absence of swifts, and the rumbling’s getting louder: the sky is dark to the west, darker still to the north-west. It’s dry here, for now, but it’s probably pelting on the Quantocks. Today’s brewing storm feels like it might be a reprise of yesterday’s cloudburst, with rain drops like gobbets the size of garden snails, or liquid marbles, each one producing its own miniature puddle as it hit the ground. Within a minute, down-pipes full to bursting, drains in the street bubbling up from below; and our blackbird dumb-struck and marooned in the depths of his holly tree.

Yet now, I notice, the rumbling has gone away, the air has cleared, the sun is shining again and next door’s plastic roof gutters are clicking in the heat. And that, really, sums up the week, a mixed bag of weather that each of us would probably describe quite differently; a week when it feels unsafe to generalise, when one person’s moment in the sun doubtless coincided with another person’s drenching. The only settled days, in Taunton at least, were on the 14^th and 15^th. Otherwise, we had rain here each day, with two days, the 11^th and 12^th, also quite windy. Daytime temperatures in the upper teens, peaking stickily yesterday at 24°C. Nights have been warm too, actually warmer than during earlier ‘heatwaves’, presumably due to the frequent overnight blanket of cloud.

Yesterday I was scanning the bookshelves for Philip Pullman’s The Subtle Knife. Ben used to have the boxed set, but only the first of the ‘Dark Materials’ trilogy—Northern Lights—is in the box, the other two have disappeared. Searching for something is always an opportunity to find something else that you weren’t really looking for, that maybe you’d forgotten you ever had… The Subtle Knife was proving elusive, but instead I came across something far more interesting: an old card index box, with pull-out drawer and covering of imitation snake skin. The box, I now remember, came to me on loan from Helena a few years ago. It had previously belonged to Captain Robert G.B. O’Neil Roe, BSBI’s Vice-county Recorder for VC6 1965-1993, and VC5 1978-1993.  Roe, like Walter Watson before him, had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the flora of Somerset and was an assiduous keeper of records. The two men, luckily for us, also shared a particular interest in first flowering dates. But while Watson’s dates were eventually published (at least in summary form) Roe’s remained hidden away in this card index box. There are hundreds of 5” x 3” index cards, one for each species, and each one listing FFDs—with locations—for the period 1951-61. He had the neatest writing, and the smallest too. His records aren’t always straightforward to interpret, not least because in some years they were as likely to relate to places in Cornwall, or Wiltshire, as they were to Somerset. Also, his own ‘local patch’ was around Bath, whereas Watson’s was Taunton; and, as we’ve seen in our own records this year, dates are liable to vary considerably from one part of the county to another. But Roe’s record-cards nevertheless provide a rich seam of data that would merit much closer examination.

Interestingly, many of his FFDs seem to be as late, or later, than those recorded by Watson in the 1920s/30s. To take a random example: Tutsan, Hypericum androsaemum, was said by Watson to flower between June and August, with an average FFD of 26^th June, whereas even Roe’s earliest FFD in the 1950s was 1^st July. Sometimes he didn’t see it flowering until August, and his average FFD was 8^th August, so about six weeks later than Watson’s. As a comparison, my own average FFD for the period 2008-17 was 6^th June, while our earliest FFD for Tutsan this year was 18^th May, three days earlier than even the earliest FFD during the period 2008-17. Watson would have been amazed, but Roe would have been flabbergasted!Anyway, be prepared, from this week onwards, for our own records to be cross-referenced occasionally with Roe’s as well as Watson’s dates.

Now, as you’ll be aware, the premiership football season gets underway again today, with some matches even being shown on terrestrial TV. In celebration of this long-awaited shift towards normality, I’ll start this week’s botanical summary by giving you the latest ‘state of play’ on Convolvulus arvensis colour forms. Assume that there are five matches, then, and that each match is being played between a ‘non-ticked’ colour form (on the left in the Table below) and its ‘ticked’ counterpart (on the right). So, for these purposes, you have to imagine that f. arvensis (all-white strip, without ‘ticks’) is playing against f. notatus (similar strip but with a rather smart ring of purple ‘ticks’ around the neck)…

Field Bindweed, interim scores up to end of Week 13

Aston Villa	0	v.	Sheffield United	0
Manchester City	3	v.	Arsenal	0
f. arvensis	12	v.	f. notatus	2
f. pallidiroseus	4	v.	f. pallidinotatus	3
f. pentarrhabdotus	11	v.	f. pentastictus	1
f. decarrhabdotus	3	v.	f. decemvulnerus	1
f. perroseus	5	v.	f. quinquevulnerus	0

You can see from the above that all those teams sporting ‘tick’ marks (apart from Sheffield United) are consistently being thrashed by their ‘unticked’ rivals, giving a combined score of 35 records for ‘non-ticked’ colour forms against just seven for ‘ticked’. Oh yes, and while I think of it, to add to last week’s notes about how to distinguish between f. arvensis and f. pallidiroseus, it’s also worth stressing that the first has white anthers while the second has purplish anthers. This also holds good for the ‘ticked’ variants f. notatus (corolla and anthers white) and f. pallidinotatus (corolla ‘flushed’ palest pink, anthers purple).

Now for our sightings from the last week: scientific names of target species emboldened, other notables mentioned as and when, and, as usual, the whole lot in alphabetical order-ish. Between us, we saw ten of the 19 target species…

‘A’ is for Bent. On our target list we had Creeping Bent, A. stolonifera, seen on the 15^th in Taunton, and reported by Andrew on the 16^th fromLots SWT reserve—the latter along with flowering Common Bent, A. capillaris and Velvet Bent, A. canina. Amongst other ‘A’s, Andrew recorded the first few flowers on Water-plantain, Alisma plantago-aquatica at Brent Knoll village on the 14^th. Pat, out at Nettlecombe, picked up Agrimony, Agrimonia eupatoria, on the 17^th, amongst another really interesting batch of relatively late FFDs. Other species of note included Alastair’s Babington’s Leek, Allium ampeloprasum var. babingtonii, at Porlock Marsh on the 8^th, a second record of Bog Pimpernel, Anagallis tenella, this one at Lots on the 16^th, and Meadow Oat-grass, Avenula pratensis, another one of Andrew’s records, at Priddy Mineries on the 12^th.

‘B’. Betony, Betonica officinalis, has now begun its ‘proper’ flowering season, with records from GB Gruffy on the 9^th (Andrew), Ashton Court meadows on the 14^th (David H), and at Long Dole Meadow, also on the 14^th (Helena and Fred). Still no sign of it, though, at Thurlbear or Orchard Wood. One other ‘B’ of note was Rye Brome, Bromus secalinus, on the 17^th, on a road verge in Taunton rather than in its usual arable habitat.

It was a week of ‘C’s, with four on the target list and all of them seen by at least one of us. Lesser Centaury, Centaurium pulchellum, was actually seen by Jeanne on the 7^th (so in Week 12), at Blue Anchor; Stemless Thistle, Cirsium acaule, had begun to flower at Observatory Hill—so just in VC34—when David H visited on the 16^th; first-flowering Traveller’s-joy, Clematis vitalba, clambering over a low shrub-border on the edge of Tesco’s car park off Wellington Road, Taunton, on the 14^th; and Ro had Wild Basil, Clinopodium vulgare, at Lilstock, also on the 14^th. Other noteworthy ‘C’s included Steve’s Whorl-grass, Catabrosa aquatica, near North Newton, on the 13^th, and my own (very early) Fat-hen, Chenopodium album, near Creech St Michael on the 12^th. Just for the record, Watson’s average FFD for Fat-hen was 8^th July, while Roe’s earliest FFD in the 1950s was 9^th July.

‘D’. Two reports of first-flowering Tufted Hair-grass, Deschampsia cespitosa, this week: GB Gruffy on the 9^th (so actually Week 12), courtesy of Andrew, and North Newton on the 13^th, with thanks to Steve. Another grass seen flowering for the first time this week was Heath-grass, Danthonia decumbens, at Thurlbear on the 15^th and at Lots on the 16^th. Also at GB Gruffy on the 9^th was Wavy Hair-grass, Deschampsia flexuosa, which is now flowering well at several heathland sites on the Blackdown Hills, along with a couple of ‘E’s, Bell Heather, Erica cinerea, and Cross-leaved Heath, E. tetralix.

‘H’. This has definitely been the week for Square-stalked St John’s-wort, Hypericum tetrapterum, with records from Old Cleeve on the 9^th (Jeanne), Creech St Michael on the 12^th (me), The Quants on the 15^th (Linda), and Langford Heathfield on the 17^th (Chris). Another ‘H’ of possibly only ‘niche’ interest, was the discovery earlier today of a large roadside/waste ground population of (flowering) Hoary Mustard, Hirschfeldia incana, on Trenchard Way, close to the bridge across Station Road. This seems to be the first record of Hoary Mustard for the ST22 and the Taunton area since the turn of the century.

‘L’. First records this week for: Prickly Lettuce, Lactuca serriola, on the 17^th on waste ground near the A38 at Creech Castle, Taunton; Yellow Loosestrife, Lysimachia vulgaris, on the 12^th at Postlebury (Gill); and Water-purslane, Lythrum portula, on the 15^th at Blackdown and Sampford Common—just over the border in Devon, I admit, but always considered, by me at least, to be part of ‘Greater Somerset’. Well, the parking place is in Somerset…

‘M’, ‘N’, ‘O’… Just the one target species: Marjoram, Origanum vulgare, which, like the Water-purslane fell just outside the county’s borders—this time at Observatory Hill, Bristol, where it was seen by David H on the 16^th. Other than that, a motley collection including reported first-flowerings of Creeping Forget-me-not, Myosotis secunda, Water Chickweed, Myosoton aquaticum (Stellaria aquatica in Stace 4), Mat-grass, Nardus stricta, Bog Asphodel, Narthecium ossifragum, and Spiny Restharrow, Ononis spinosa.

‘P’. Included this week are sightings of two ‘P’s that would have been on later lists: Hawkweed Oxtongue, Picris hieracioides, on the 17^th on waste ground and verge of the A38 at Creech Castle, Taunton; and Burnet-saxifrage, Pimpinella saxifraga, on the 12^th at Priddy Mineries (Andrew). Linda found flowering Pale Butterwort, Pinguicula lusitanica, at Ring Down on the 13^th, while there were also two records of Annual Beard-grass, Polypogon monspeliensis, from Stock Moor on the 14^th (Steve), and on waste ground at Firepool Weir, Taunton on the 15^th. The latter is an attractive and eye-catching grass that seems to be spreading, at least in parts of VC5.

‘S’.  Our target was Autumn Hawkbit, Scorzoneroides autmnalis, which was seen by three of us: Helena in Paulton on the 14^th, me in Taunton, also on the 14^th, and Andrew at Crook Peak on the 17^th. This is exactly a month earlier than Watson’s average FFD of 15^th July, and 3-4 weeks earlier than Roe’s dates in the 1950s. Its English name really ought to be Summer Hawkbit. Some really lovely ‘S’s tagging along too, such as Chris’s Lesser Skullcap, Scutellaria minor, at Langford Heathfield on the 14^th, Helena and Fred’s Devil’s-bit Scabious, Succisa pratensis, at Long Dole Meadow on the 14^th (a very early date), and—less lovely, but still noteworthy—my own Sand Spurrey, Spergularia rubra, on Blackdown and Sampford Common where it was growing alongside the Water-purslane. The only Marsh Woundwort, Stachys palustris, was in Surrey (!), so that one stays on the list for another week I’m afraid.

‘T’. Amongst her batch of ‘late’ FFDs, Pat also had our earliest FFD for Wood Sage, Teucrium scorodonia, on the 15^th. Also, we had two more reports of Wild Thyme, Thymus drucei, both in Week 12: one from ‘near Watchet’ on the 8^th (Alastair), the other, also on the 8^th, from Purn Hill (Andrew).

‘V’. A strange absence of ‘V’s this week, apart from Gill’s Vervain, Verbena officinalis, at Truddoxhill, and my own Tufted Vetch, Vicia cracca, which has at last begun to flower in the Taunton area.

The end of another week, each one now seeming a little more ‘normal’ than the last, despite the need for endless discussions about what’s acceptable and what’s not, how one defines a ‘bubble’, whether to wear a mask, which is the best hand sanitizer… not to mention daily amazement at some people’s interpretation of what is meant, exactly, by the term ‘two metres’!

Yet amid all the uncertainty and understandable worry, it’s good to see that a few of us are beginning to meet up with friends again for the occasional socially distanced botanical foray; and good, too, that the number of sites being visited seems to be increasing each week. A sure sign that we are returning—slowly, tentatively—to some of our old haunts and old ways.

Do keep the Convolvulus arvensis records coming in, by the way. It seems that f. arvensis may be destined to win the League—much like Liverpool—and that ‘non-ticks’ will ultimately hold sway over ‘ticks’. But, as football commentators always say following a late goal against the run of play: “it’s never over ‘til it’s over”…

And we still haven’t found The Subtle Knife.

Week 13 Preview : 11^th – 17^th June

We’ll go for 19 spp this week. I think maybe we should give up on Alsike Clover, Trifolium hybridum, so let’s start by rolling over four from Week 12, three of them wetland species:

Flowering-rush, Butomus umbellatus; Marsh Woundwort, Stachys palustris; Water-plantain, Alisma plantago-aquatica; Traveller’s-joy, Clematis vitalba;

To which we can now add the following 15 spp:

Creeping Bent, Agrostis stolonifera;Tufted Hair-grass, Deschampsia cespitosa; Hairy-brome, Bromopsis ramosa; Stemless Thistle, Cirsium acaule; Lesser Burdock, Arctium minus agg; Wild Basil, Clinopodium vulgare; Autumn Hawkbit, Scorzoneroides autumnalis; Lesser Centaury, Centaurium pulchellum; Marjoram, Origanum vulgare; Greater Burdock, Arctium lappa; Mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris; Teasel, Dipsacus fullonum; Square-stalked St John’s-wort, Hypericum tetrapterum; and, lastly, for anyone who happens to be on the Levels, what about Tubular Water-dropwort, Oenanthe fistulosa?Or, if you’re near the coast, Parsley Water-dropwort, Oenanthe lachenalii?

Plus there are many species, e.g. Wild Thyme, Thymus drucei,Upright hedge-parsley, Torilis japonica, Betony, Betonica officinalis,  and Common Centaury, Centaurium erythraea, for which we’ve so far only had one or two anomalous/exceptionally early records, but which should soon be starting to flower more widely.

As always, do let me know—by 3 p.m. next Wednesday would be ideal—if you see any of these (or other) spp coming into flower over the next week, by email to simonleach@phonecoop.coop.

Good wishes for the coming week. Stay safe and stay dry.

Simon

Week 12 Roundup : 10^th June

It’s raining again. This time, a soft crackle on the tiles sounding like the sizzling tick and patter of an old vinyl record. An indifferent week, weather-wise—which, given what’s gone before, is surely noteworthy—often breezy, sometimes wet, not especially hot, and generally a fairly unpredictable mixture of cloud and sunshine. Which has given us new things to ponder, like whether it might be sensible to wear a coat of some sort. Or maybe take a brolly, just in case?

This week I’ve been reading Madeline Miller’s Circe,a (quote) ‘bold and subversive’ retelling of Homer’s Odyssey,writtenfrom the point of view of the goddess-witch Circe, the much-maligned daughter of Helios, God of the Sun. And, would you believe it? One minute she was giving birth to her son, Telegonus, via what appeared to be self-administered Caesarean section; the next, on the back path, I came across first-flowering Enchanter’s-nightshade, Circaea lutetiana. The link between the witch and the plant had never really occurred to me before, but is well summarised in Geoffrey Grigson’s Dictionary of English Plant Names. To quote: “The Flemish botanist Mathias de l’Obel (1538-1616) equated the Greek plant kirkaia, Latin circaea, used in charms, [at] first with Solanum dulcamara, the Woody Nightshade, then [later] with Circaea lutetiana. Kirkaia was taken to mean the plant of the witch or enchantress Kirke, or Circe…” Or, more simply, as noted on the Woodland Trust’s website: “Circaea relates to Circe, an enchantress sometimes depicted as the Greek goddess of magic, who was known for her knowledge of herbs.” Strange, anyway, that two such disparate worlds—of Greek myths and first flowerings—should collide in this way.

And Tim Dee’s two seasons of spring and autumn seem to be colliding too, which means that (despite this week’s weather) it’s really starting to feel like summer… And, as if to prove the point, Georgina reported her first Dark Green Fritillary on the 5^th, at Blackmoor. There have been further sightings of Marbled Whites and Large Skippers, Ro’s had a Green Hairstreak, and suddenly Meadow Browns seem to be everywhere. Amongst other ‘miscellaneous records’, Helena and Val spotted a Swollen-thighed Beetle, Oedemeria nobilis, in Great Breach Wood on the 9^th, while Andrew, on the same day, saw Chimney Sweeper moths, Odezia atrata, at GB Gruffy.  And Ro reports that she has tigers in her polytunnel, although in this case, thankfully, Scarlet Tigers, Callimorpha dominula.

In the next couple of weeks, if you find yourself tramping through rough grassland, listen out for the first stridulating grasshoppers and bush-crickets; Meadow Grasshoppers, Chorthippus parallelus, and Field Grasshoppers, C. brunneus, are the two commonest species in the county, and they’re also often the first to reach adulthood and make themselves heard. You’ll probably tell me now that you’re hearing them already…

On the botanical front it’s been a more straightforward week, with a shorter list of target species, and many of them big and blousy, so quite easy to spot, even at a distance. The rain has helped, too, to push things on a bit, and we’ve managed to record all but five of the 18 spp on our list. Another interesting week, too, for late first flowerings, particularly so for Pat over at Nettlecombe. She’s been noticing how delayed some of her FFDs are in comparison with those from coastal or more lowland areas to the east. Tutsan, Hypericum androsaemum, for example, came into flower at Nettlecombe on 7th June (cf. 18^th May in Taunton). But, don’t forget, Pat also had the earliest FFD in the county for Creeping Thistle, Cirsium arvense, which shows that it’s never safe to generalise. I’ve had my own catching up to do this week, with one of my best finds being on the 4^th, an extraordinarily late FFD for White Bryony, Bryonia dioica—five weeks after Linda’s FFD for it at Nynehead. Even Watson would have found my date unremarkable; his FFD for it was 2^nd June. Being five weeks behind Linda is bad enough, but two days behind Watson? I’m beginning to understand how Pat and ‘ice-scraping’ Ellen must feel… But, anyway, it’s not a competition. Is it?

Here’s a summary of what we’ve all found this week. A bit shorter than usual, partly because there are less species to cover, but mainly because I’m hoping for an early night. Usual rules apply: scientific names emboldened, other notables mentioned as and when, and the whole lot in alphabetical order, more or less…

An Absence of ‘A’s. Well, not quite, but nothing from the target list other than more sightings of Agrimony, Agrimonia eupatoria, at East Quantoxhead on the 3^rd (David H), and Stoke Hill, Stoke St Mary, on the 6^th (me). David H also reported having seen Pyramidal Orchid, Anacamptis pyramidalis, flowering at St George’s Flower Bank on 25^th May, the same day as Andrew’s at Yarley. Potentially the most interesting ‘A’—although at this point there will doubtless be shouts of ‘L’ for Lysimachia—was Chris’s Bog Pimpernel, Anagallis tenella, at Langford Heathfield on the 9^th. This isn’t one I usually record, but Watson’s date for it was 23^rd June.

‘B’ for Brachypodium. Two reports of Tor-grass, Brachypodium rupestre/pinnatum, both in Week 11, and both from Crook Peak: David H on the 28^th, and Andrew on the 31^st. But Week 12 was certainly the week for Wood False-brome, Brachypodium sylvaticum. The first report of it was from Wellington on the 5^th (Linda), which provoked an email discussion about when, exactly, a grass like this can be said to be flowering. Grasses are difficult, we decided; and while some are quick to reveal their sexual parts, others, including this one, can be decidedly coy about it. (Wall Barley, Hordeum murinum, is another.) Anyway, following Linda’s slightly optimistic record there was a flurry of sightings: David H in Leigh Woods on the 7^th, Andrew at Purn Hill on the 8^th, and then on the 9^th there were records from Helena and Val at Great Breach Wood, Pat at Nettlecombe, and me at Thurlbear. The first flowering Butterfly-bush, Buddleja davidii, in Taunton, incidentally, was on the 5^th.

‘C’.  Two of you have seen Greater Knapweed, Centaurea scabiosa, both records were on the 3^rd, so actually in Week 11. In our far-eastern enclave, Fred had it flowering nicely while he was investigating broomrapes near Whitchurch, and the same day David H saw it at East Quantoxhead. As already mentioned, first records this week also for Enchanter’s-nightshade, Circaea lutetiana: Taunton on the 4^th, Leigh Woods on the 7^th (David H), and Paulton on the 9^th (Helena).

‘C’ is also for Convolvulus. Several of you have been sending in records of the various colour forms of Field Bindweed, Convolvulus arvensis. Early indications are that f. arvensis (white) and f. pentarrhabdotus (5-pointed star) are the most frequent, while those having ‘tick’ marks round the yellow throat are the least frequent. The scores at the moment are: f. arvensis = 8 records; f. pentarrhabdotus = 8; f. perroseus = 4; f. pallidiroseus = 3; f. decarrhabdotus = 3; f. pallidinotatus = 2; f. notatus = 1; f. decemvulnerus = 1; f. pentastictus = 1; f. quinquevulnerus = 0. Needless to say, these ten forms can seem like points along a continuum of variation, with the pink of some flowers being very pale, and tick marks faint, while others are much more strongly marked. The f. perroseus is particularly striking, the flower usually being a very pretty deep pink with contrasting white ‘star’ in its centre. The f. pallidiroseus can be hard to separate from f. arvensis, the pink ‘flushing’ often being very pale; yet, put one of these barely-flushed flowers next to a pure white f. arvensis and you can immediately see the difference: f. arvensis is the colour of an ‘ice white’ polo shirt, whereas f. pallidiroseus  is like the same polo shirt after it’s been through the wash with a pair of red socks. Also, I do wonder whether f. arvensis flowers tend to be slightly smaller than pallidiroseus?

‘D’ is for Carrot. Lots of records of Wild Carrot, Daucus carota, now, including Dee in her garden on the 1^st, then at Clevedon Pill on the 7^th, David H at East Quantoxhead on the 3^rd, and Andrew at West Huntspill on the 5^th.

‘E’. Hemp-agrimony, Eupatorium cannabinum, earlier today, on the bank of the river Tone beside Goodlands Gardens. I’d been watching it all week as it was ‘pinking up’, but only this morning did the first flowers begin to open. Also, following last week’s rain, Hoary Willowherb, Epilobium parviflorum, has finally begun to flower in Taunton; and a second record of Great Willowherb, E. hirsutum, this time in Brent Knoll village (Andrew). Oh yes, and a ‘first’, too, from Chris who has reported having seen Cross-leaved Heath, Erica tetralix, at Langford Heathfield on 26^th May—so actually in Week 10. Very early! (Watson’s date for it was 23^rd June.)

‘F’. Meadowsweet, Filipendula ulmaria, popping up everywhere now—even at Nettlecombe where first flowers were seen on the 10^th.

‘G’. Galiums galore this week, with lots more records for verum, album, palustre and saxatile. Reed Sweet-grass, Glyceria maxima, like Brachypodium sylvaticum a rather ‘shy’ grass when it comes to exposing its anthers, is now beginning to flower along the canal in Taunton, near Firepool Weir. Panicles are nicely expanded, anyway.

‘H’. It’s also been quite a week for St John’s-worts. Plenty more Hairy, H. hirsutum, and Perforate, H. perforatum; plus lots of first-flowering Slender, Hypericum pulchrum, including Georgina on the 5^th at Blackmoor, Pat on the 7^th at Greencombe, Linda on the 8^th at Wivvy, and Chris at Langford Heathfield on the 9^th.

‘I’. An early FFD for Ploughman’s-spikenard, Inula conyzae, was Andrew’s from Purn Hill on the 8^th. The yellow variant of Stinking Iris, Iris foetidissima var. citrina, has also been spotted again, this time by Helena and Val at Great Breach Wood: “Interestingly, we first started seeing yellow ones on the slope above the former Monocot Nursery … but there was quite a bit on New Hill, further along the slope, mixed in with blue ones.” Which leaves me still wondering to what extent this variety might have been preferentially taken into cultivation, from where it has then got back out into the wild as a garden escape or throw-out.

‘J’. Not a first-flowerer, but we can’t pass this point in the alphabet without a nod to David H’s discovery in Leigh Woods on the 7^th of Janetiella lemeei, a midge causing little wart-like galls on Wych Elm, Ulmus glabra. This appears to be a new county record of a species for which there is only a handful of GB records on the NBN. (With thanks to Simon Haarder, a Danish cecidologist/dipterist, and Keith Harris for confirming its identity.) David also had a couple of nice midge galls on Lime, Tilia sp., Contarinia tiliarum and Didymomyia tiliacea, the latter also, possibly, a ‘first’ for the county.

‘K’. Field Scabious, Knautia arvensis, was on our target list, but probably shouldn’t have been, since David H had seen it flowering at St George’s Flower Bank on 21^st May (at start of Week 10), and Chris saw it in Langford Budville on 28^th May (at start of Week 11). My own FFD, in Taunton, was on 5^th June.

‘L’. One species that’s begun to spread in these parts recently is Great Lettuce, Lactuca virosa. Previously a real rarity in VC5, the first record for the Taunton area was Graham’s on the day of our ‘last week hunt’ at the end of October 2018, in the Silk Mills park-and-ride car park. In 2019 we found it to be quite abundant on road verges near the Somerset Heritage Centre. And this week, to my astonishment, I’ve seen it in two new roadside sites on Obridge Road, and close to the junction of Priorswood Road and Lyngford Road. The plants were flowering well, but more than anything it was the height of the plants that really impressed: they were massive, with the tallest attaining a height in excess of 3 metres. A plant with real chutzpah! (For Bog Pimpernel, Lysimachia tenella, you’ll have to go back to ‘A’.)

‘M’. Two targets this week: Water Forget-me-not, Mysosotis scorpioides, which was found to be flowering well in the canal near Firepool Weir, Taunton, on the 4^th; and Musk Mallow, Malva moschata, which started blooming with great synchrony this week, in Taunton on the 4^th, Wivvy on the 8^th (Linda), and Clevedon also on the 8^th (Dee), to list but three. Lucerne, Medicago sativa subsp sativa, was also seen this week, like the Malva, in Taunton and Wivvy.

‘P’, ‘R’, ‘S’. One of each. Timothy, Phleum pratense, at last, was seen by Andrew on the 6^th, at Highbridge. Wild Madder, Rubia peregrina, was picked up by David H on his highly productive visit to East Quantoxhead on the 3^rd (Week 11), while I had it in a wood-border hedgerow at Thurlbear on the 8^th. The only ‘S’ was Perennial Sowthistle, Sonchus arvensis, which was seen on the 6^th in a road verge beside a bridge over the M5 between Stoke St Mary and Taunton. Marsh Woundwort, Stachys palustris, though, we’ll have to roll over to Week 13…

‘T’. Three extra-curricular ‘T’s this week: Hare’s-foot Clover, Trifolium arvense, in flower on Berrow golf course on the 7^th (Andrew); Bulrush, Typha latifolia, in Taunton on the 9^th;and, with thanks to David H’s father, a record of Common Meadow-rue, Thalictrum flavum, on Weston Moor on the 5^th.

And, as ever, our ‘V’s of the week, and both Week 12 targets: Great Mullein, Verbascum thapsus, on 30^th May in Wivvy (Linda), on the 6^th at Highbridge (Andrew), and on the 8^th in Taunton; and Vervain, Verbena officinalis, in Brent Knoll village on the 4^th (Andrew).

Am I the only one to find that a good way to remain sane while in a traffic jam is to engage in roadside botany? Well, it paid off handsomely on the 8^th, with my own first-flowering Verbena officinalis being the high point—along with Greater Quaking-grass, Briza maxima, and Wall Bedstraw, Galium parisiense—of an hour spent queuing to get into Priorswood Recycling Centre.

Week 12 Preview : 4^th – 10^th June

We’ll go for 18 spp this week. First of all, there are five to ‘roll over’ from our Weeks 10 and 11 list—a bit of a ‘mixed bag’ I’m afraid:

Water Forget-me-not, Myosotis scorpioides; Alsike Clover, Trifolium hybridum; Timothy, Phleum pratense; Flowering-rush, Butomus umbellatus; Enchanter’s-nightshade, Circaea lutetiana

To which we can now add the following 13 spp, lots of them tall and showy, so hopefully fairly easy to spot as soon as they begin to flower:

Wild Madder, Rubia peregrina; Musk Mallow, Malva moschata; Great Mullein, Verbascum thapsus;  Perennial Sowthistle, Sonchus arvensis; Wood False-brome, Brachypodium sylvaticum; Marsh Woundwort, Stachys palustris; Reed Sweet-grass, Glyceria maxima; Hemp-agrimony, Eupatorium cannabinum; Water-plantain, Alisma plantago-aquatica; Field Scabious, Knautia arvensis; Vervain, Verbena officinalis; Traveller’s-joy, Clematis vitalba; Greater Knapweed, Centaurea scabiosa

Plus there are lots of species, e.g. Common Centaury, Centaurium erythraea, Wild Carrot, Daucus carota, Branched Bur-reed, Sparganium erectum, and Betony, Betonica officinalis, for which we’ve had one or two anomalous/exceptionally early records, but which should soon be starting to flower more widely.

As always, do let me know—by 3 p.m. next Wednesday would be ideal—if you see any of these (or other) spp coming into flower over the next week, by email to simonleach@phonecoop.coop.

Weeks 10 & 11 Roundup : 3^rd June

The Blackbird isn’t singing. He was broadcasting from the TV aerial first thing this morning, but now the rain’s clattering on the roof and he’s made for cover. Eerily quiet, then, and a day quite different from every other day since the middle of March: overcast, wet, and much warmer indoors than out.  Somerset should have been playing a T20 today against Sussex at Hove, but it would almost certainly have been rained off anyway—a consoling thought. So we’ve given Hove a miss, and instead Ben and I have been walking the dog up at Staple Hill and Mount Fancy where, apart from a good crop of first-flowerers, I was particularly pleased to witness another excellent show of Stinkhorn fungi, Phallus impudicus, in the same place we saw them as a group almost exactly a year ago.

Taking the fortnight as a whole, today’s rain has been an aberration at the end of another prolonged period of dry, sunny, warm weather. You’ll have heard on the TV News that it’s been the sunniest spring on record (since 1929); and in Taunton, at least, ten of the last 14 days have recorded temperatures of 25°C or above. The lack of rain this spring has also been noteworthy. Effects on first-flowerings can be strange and unpredictable: while drought stress might cause one species to ‘stall’, another—sensing impending doom, perhaps—decides to flower as quickly as it can, resulting in a mixture of responses. Even a single species can behave quite differently in different places, blooming precociously early on a dry, sheltered, sunny, south-facing slope while remaining stubbornly in bud everywhere else.

This also means that different people can have wildly differing perceptions of how first flowering dates (FFDs) are progressing. So, while some of us have had rich pickings in the last fortnight, others have been complaining that they’ve found next to nothing. Today’s rain, especially if it’s the start of a period of more changeable weather, may even things up a bit. Expect the barrenness of recent days, if that’s been your experience, to be followed by a great flourish of new records in the next week or two… 

Turning to what we’ve seen in the last fortnight, let’s start, as usual, with things other than plants. At home—where, despite all this talk of ‘easing’, I still seem to spend much of my time—I’ve been mainly distracted by bees and blackbirds. In Week 10, continuing the ‘b’ theme, it was beetles. The first, appearing like a mislaid brooch on the doormat, was a Rose Chafer, Cetonia aurata, to be swiftly followed, in the back garden, by an equally iridescent and jewel-like Thick-legged or Swollen-thighed Beetle, Oedemera nobilis. They’re not thighs of course—beetles don’t have thighs, do they?—but the first segments of the male’s back legs (the ‘hind femora’, to give them their proper name) are noticeably swollen, making it instantly recognisable: a beetle that looks like it’s been seriously ‘working out’ at the gym. I’m sure I’ve been shown them on SRPG or SANHS field meetings, but this is the first time we’ve spotted one in the garden. It’s a ‘southern’ species, with a distribution centred on the Mediterranean region and southern Europe. In the UK, at its north-western limit, it used to occur only very locally in southern-most counties of England, but since the 1990s, presumably as a result of climate change, it’s undergone a rapid expansion of range. Now common across England and Wales as far north as a line running from the Mersey to the Wash, there are even scattered records into northern England, and (most recently) the extreme south of Scotland. Definitely one to keep an eye out for in your flower borders.

It’s been a good fortnight for butterflies. Georgina saw her first Small Blues and Large Skippers on the 25^th at Stoke Camp, and first Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns on the 30^th at Draycott Sleights. My own first Meadow Brown, at Orchard Wood, was on the 25^th, followed by several at Thurlbear on the 27^th. Keith Gould had Meadow Browns and Large Skippers at Longrun Meadow, Taunton, on 1^st June. He also saw his first Emperor Dragonfly, Anax imperator, there on the 1^st. On the 2^nd, down by the river Tone at Obridge, we found there had been an overnight/early morning mass emergence of Banded Demoiselles, Calopteryx splendens. What a gorgeous insect this is! We walked between Obridge and Creech Castle and counted dozens and dozens and dozens (easily more than 50) where the previous afternoon we hadn’t seen a single one. The description in Cyril Hammond’s field guide is spot on: “females have a feeble fluttering flight … [but] males are much more active and engage in chasing one another and sometimes more than half-a-dozen may be seen involved in the chase which can last many minutes. Courtship is pretty to watch, the male vibrating his wings rapidly in front of or above the female before flying with her in tandem.” Their slow, bobbing, butterfly-like flight is distinctive, as are the broad bands on the wings of the males, which seem, like their bodies, to have been brushed with blue-black ‘Quink’.       

On the botanical front it’s been a busy two weeks, with 19 of you sending in a total of 225 records covering goodness-knows-how-many species. As already hinted, while some of you found target species elusive, others (including me) were having a field day. In all, we saw all but five of our 28 target species. The following gives you an idea of what we’ve all been up to, and what we’ve seen; as usual, target species have their scientific names emboldened, other notables are mentioned along the way, and the whole lot is stitched together in an order that’s vaguely alphabetical, except when it isn’t….

‘A’s abounding! Two reports of Agrimony, Agrimonia eupatoria, first seen by Kate Jeffreys at Stolford on the 23^rd, and then by Andrew (another ‘A’) at Crook Peak on the 30^th.  Pyramidal Orchids, Anacamptis pyramidalis, are beginning to flower all over the place, with many of you noticing how the first blooms open towards the base of the spike, even while the top of the pyramid is still tightly closed. The first was Andrew’s, at Yarley on the 25^th, then me at Orchard Wood on the 27^th, followed by Steve in Bridgwater on the 29^th—right next to a courting couple, apparently! Keith Gould photographed a Pyramidal Orchid on the 1^st in grassland out near the Silk Mills park-and-ride, which is currently being used as a coronavirus testing station. I had my first bulbil-laden head of Wild Onion, Allium vineale, in a Taunton roadside flower-bed on the 2^nd. Also we’ve had two records of the much prettier Rosy Garlic, A. roseum, one in Taunton on the 24th, the other from Alastair in Minehead, actually on the 14^th (Week 9). Fool’s Watercress, Apium nodiflorum, is one of the species that seems to have ‘stalled’ in the last week or two, but I did see it in flower on the 2^nd in Taunton. Other noteworthy ‘A’s included: Fool’s Parsley, Aethusa cynapium, on the 31^st in Bridgwater (Steve); Marsh Foxtail, Alopecurus geniculatus, on the 25^th in Bridgwater (Steve) and 2^nd June at Postlebury (Gill); and more Kidney-vetch, Anthyllis vulneraria, this time at Stoke Camp, Mendip, on the 25^th (Georgina).

A paucity of ‘B’s. We had two to search for, and only struck lucky with one of them: Black Horehound, Ballota nigra, was starting to flower at Obridge, Taunton, on the 23^rd, while Andrew had it at Berrow on the 3^rd. Flowering Rush, Butomus umbellatus, we’ll have to carry over to Week 12… Amongst other ‘B’s, we’ve had first sightings of flowering Yellow-wort, Blackstonia perfoliata, in ‘proper’ habitat, i.e. NOT beside a railway line. Georgina had it at Draycott Sleights on the 30^th, while the next day Andrew saw it on Crook Peak; for the record, it’s still only ‘in bud’ at Thurlbear. A couple of sightings of Borage, Borago officinalis, this week, from Steve and Linda, and also a surprisingly early record of Butterfly-bush, Buddleja davidii, on the 31^st in Bridgwater (Steve).

‘C’ is for Convolvulus. I’ll spare you the details, except to say that Andrew is leading the pack when it comes to colour-forms of Field Bindweed, Convolvulus arvensis, with a score of 7/10. Looking at everyone’s records so far, f. arvensis and f. pentarrhabdotus seem to be the most frequent, followed by f. decarrhabdotus and f. pallidiroseus. Colour forms with tick marks round the throat seem to be scarcer than those without. Or maybe they just start to flower slightly later? Thanks to Andrew, Jeanne, Ro and Linda, in particular, for their records, many of them with accompanying photographic evidence. (Sorry, I said I’d spare you the details, then couldn’t resist giving you them anyway…)

Still on ‘C’s, and still on bindweeds, there have been several records of Large Bindweed, Calystegia silvatica, from Highbridge (Andrew), Wiveliscombe (Linda) and Taunton. I’ve been playing catch-up with my own ‘C’s, with Spear Thistle, Cirsium vulgare, on the 24^th, and Basil Thyme, Clinopodium acinos, on the 30^th, the latter in its usual spot on Thurlbear Quarrylands. Of our targets, Rosebay Willowherb, Chamaenerion angustifolium, showed its first flowers in Taunton on the 2^nd (on our back path) but Enchanter’s-nightshade, Circaea lutetiana, (also on our back path) is yet to show itself. ‘C’ of the week, though, must surely be Steve’s Bermuda-grass, Cynodon dactylon, at Bridgwater docks on the 24^th. Only the second record of this grass in VC5.

‘D’ is for Ellen’s exceptionally late FFD for Common Spotted-orchid, Dactylorhiza fuchsii. It was the same with her nettles, which you’ll remember were also very late. Rumour has it she’s still having to scrape ice off her windscreen each morning. For sheer classiness amongst the ‘D’s, though, what about Georgina’s Cheddar Pink, Dianthus gratianopolitanus, seen flowering in the Gorge on the 30^th?

‘E’. I had thought Steve’s Viper’s-bugloss, Echium vulgare, on the 24^th was a first for the year, until I looked back at Alastair’s records and discovered that he’d seen this species flowering at Dunster on 18^th April. So that one shouldn’t have been on the list, really. Other than that, we’ve had our first Couch-grass, Elymus repens, in Taunton on the 29^th and Highbridge on the 30^th (Andrew), Great Willowherb, Epilobium hirsutum, in Taunton on the 30^th, and Pale Willowherb, E. roseum, also in Taunton, also on the 29^th. But still, amazingly, only a single record of Hoary Willowherb, E. parviflorum, which seems to have been badly affected by the prolonged dry spell. A couple of records of Caper Spurge, Euphorbia lathyris, on the 28^th in Taunton and the 31^st in Bridgwater (Steve). And, finally, a vaguely autumnal ‘E’ in the shape of Bell Heather, Erica cinerea, seen today at Staple Hill. This is usually the first of the ‘heathers’ to flower—even Walter Watson’s FFD for it was mid-June—but should soon be followed by Cross-leaved heath, E. tetralix, and then Heather, Calluna vulgaris. If you’re out looking for any of these, keep an eye out also for the first Western Gorse, Ulex gallii. Oh, and Slender St John’s-wort, Hypericum pulchrum, too…

‘F’. Just the one target this week, Meadowsweet, Filipendula ulmaria, which three of us have seen—me on the 24^th in Taunton (in the same ditch as the Apium a week later), Andrew at Binham Moor, near Mark, on the 28^th, and Steve in Bridgwater on the 31^st. Others have commented on how it seems to have got ‘stuck’ in bud. Have another look in the next couple of days and you may find today’s rain has worked its magic…

One other ‘F’ in passing: a plant of the not-so-common Common Cudweed, Filago vulgaris, flowering in bare ground off Canal Road, Taunton, on the 1^st. We’ve had records of it in previous years from road verges near the railway station, but this is the first in Taunton away from that area. It’s quite a scarce plant in Somerset, and ‘Near Threatened’ on the England Red List, so a nice one to have whether flowering or not!

‘G’. Three species of bedstraw, Galium spp, were on our target list for the fortnight, and Andrew managed to twitch them all! On the 30^th he found Lady’s Bedstraw, G. verum, on Brent Knoll; the next day he had Hedge Bedstraw, G. album, on Crook Peak; and the day after that he picked up Marsh Bedstraw, G. palustre, at Wick Lane, Brent Knoll. And, not wanting to miss out completely on this sudden rash of bedstraws, I can also report seeing Fen Bedstraw, G. uliginosum, flowering nicely today at Mount Fancy, Staple Hill. To put these dates into some kind of perspective, Walter Watson’s FFDs for verum and album were 25^th June, palustre 10^th June, and uliginosum 3^rd August.

Our only other target ‘G’ was Dyer’s Greenweed, Genista tinctoria, flowering at Thurlbear on the 26^th and at Ellen’s place ‘up north’ on the 28^th.  Amongst other ‘G’s, there were records of Goat’s-rue, Galega officinalis, in Minehead on the 25^th (Alastair),

Gallant-soldier, Galinsoga parviflora, in Bridgwater on the 31^st (Steve), Yellow Horned-Poppy, Glaucium flavum, at Dunster beach on the 25^th (Alastair), and Corn Marigold, Glebionis segetum, near Nynehead on the 23^rd (Linda). There were also three records for flowering French Oat-grass, Gaudinia fragilis, from Yarley, Brent Knoll and a field near Thurlbear. The last was in a new monad, in a field through which I’ve walked, probably every week, for the last 25 years. I’d like to think it must be a recent arrival, or else I’ve been extremely good at overlooking it all these years. I suspect the latter.

‘G’ is also for (botanical) Graffiti. Several of you have been in touch about the #morethanweeds campaign, becoming popular during lockdown, to chalk up the names of ‘weeds’ (sic) growing in urban streets, in pavement cracks and on roadside walls and verges. It’s simple really, you just head out with some coloured chalks, then write on the pavement or wall the English and scientific names of the plants you find. The hope is that people walking by will be encouraged to notice these street plants, and their names, and maybe come to value them more as a result. I mean to start my own campaign of pavement-scribbling soon, as well as posting a few pictures on our recently-formed neighbourhood WhatsApp group—Mexican Fleabane, Water Bent, Adria Bellflower, Ivy-leaved Toadflax, Argentinian Fleabane, Musk Stork’s-bill, etc, etc… And the odd dandelion too. But it turns out someone’s already on the case, as I’ve just come across an ‘annotated’ Herb Robert growing against a wall in Eastbourne Terrace. That’s got to be my plant of the week. And it was flowering too.

‘H’. Three target ‘H’s, and all of them picked up by somebody in Week 11. Bristly Ox-tongue, Helminthotheca echioides, was seen in Taunton on the 28^th, and at Lilstock on the 2^nd (Ro). Hairy St John’s-wort, Hypericum hirsutum, was on Crook Peak on the 31^st (Andrew), and at Thurlbear on the 1^st, while Perforate St John’s-wort, H. perforatum, was seen on waste ground in Taunton on the 1^st, and in Langford Budville on the 2^nd (Chris). We’ve also had records this week for Meadow Barley, Hordeum secalinum, in Bridgwater and Taunton. ‘H’ of the week, though, has to be Andrew’s Lizard Orchid, Himantoglossum hircinum, at Berrow on the 22^nd.

‘H’ is also for Helena, who’s beaten her personal best so often in the last fortnight it’s making me dizzy just thinking about it.

‘I’. The normal colour variety of Stinking Iris, Iris foetidissima, is now flowering quite widely, following an early first sighting at Lilstock on the 19^th (Ro), then Thurlbear and Orchard Wood on the 23^rd (me) and Brent Knoll on the 29^th (Andrew). Ro’s experience is worth sharing, since it shows the lengths to which we’re prepared to go when plant hunting: “I had one of those walks that just turns out horrid. An arable field edge … had become choked with tangled Alexanders and blackthorn suckers … and Brambles, so I had a hellish struggle to get round … I managed to collect two ticks and get stung and prickled.” But it was worth it, in the end, as she also picked up her first flowers of Stinking Iris—or Gladdon as she and several others have called it. This name is derived, apparently, from the Latin Gladiolus, and was formerly applied also to Yellow Flag, I. pseudacorus, when early botanists knew it as ‘water gladiolus.’ (With thanks to Geoffrey Grigson.)

‘J’. A rush of rushes this week, with first-flowerings noted for Hard, J. inflexus, on the 23^rd (Kate), Soft, J. effusus, and Compact, J. conglomeratus, on the 26^th at Thurlbear, and a trio of Toad, bufonius, Bulbous, J. bulbosus, and Jointed, J. articulatus all flowering up at Mount Fancy earlier today. Watson would have expected these to be coming into flower in the last ten days of June, except for J. bulbosus for which his FFD was the 16^th. So they’re all jolly early, basically. Has the dry weather sped them up, I wonder?

‘L’. Grass-leaved Vetchling, Lathyrus nissolia, and Meadow vetchling, L. pratensis, are both flowering well now, while there have been further records for Fairy Flax, Linum catharticum (me, at Thurlbear), Honeysuckle, Lonicera periclymenum (Gill and Liz, at North Wootton) and Purple Toadflax, Linaria purpurea (Dee, Clevedon). The first flowering Purple Loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria, was beside the river Tone on the 2^nd.

‘M’. Tufted Forget-me-not, Myosotis laxa,this week, but still no Water Forget-me-not, M. scorpioides.  Alastair, by the way, had Bastard Balm, Melittis melissophyllum, at Sully on the 20^th. (Helena had some in her garden, but that probably shouldn’t count. Lovely picture though.) We’ve also had further records for Dwarf Mallow, Malva neglecta, Wall Lettuce, Mycelis muralis, both in Bridgwater, andCommon Cow-wheat, Melampyrum pratense, in both the Blackdowns and the Quantocks. The Thurlbear plants could well be subsp. commutatum, which is the subspecies that tends to occur on calcareous soils. It needs checking though, so there’s a specimen in the press for Fred to examine later…

‘O’. More records for Corky-fruited Water Dropwort, Oenanthe pimpinelloides, including near Castle Cary on the 24th (David Reid) and Bridgwater on the 25^th (Steve). Several records of Bee Orchid, Ophrys apifera, too: Orchard Wood (me) and Yarley (Andrew), both on the 25^th; Fiona’s lawn (no idea where she lives, maybe near Street?), on the 26^th; and Chantry, on the 1^st (Gill). And then, to cap it all, there was Jeanne and Tim’s Fly Orchids, Ophrys insectifera, on the 26^th. And Andrew has just reported seeing first-flowering Common Restharrow, Ononis repens, at Berrow golf course. This would have been on next week’s list, had he managed not to see it. But he did, so it isn’t!

‘P’. We saw three of the four ‘P’s on offer: Canary Reed-grass, Phalaris arundinacea,was flowering well beside the river Tone at Obridge on the 29^th; Selfheal, Prunella vulgaris, had just started flowering at Yarley on the 25^th (Andrew) and at Orchard Wood on the 27^th; and Greater Plantain, Plantago major, flowering (if you can call it that) on a road verge in Taunton on the 30^th. Which just leaves Timothy, Phleum pratense, to carry over to Week 12.

‘R’. Interesting to note how much later-flowering Field Rose, Rosa arvensis, is than Dog-rose, R. canina. That was the case in Watson’s day, too. Whereas our first R. canina, was on 28^th April (Watson’s = 22^nd May), our first R. arvensis wasn’t until 28^th May when Linda had it at Langford Heathfield (Watson’s = 7^th June). The next day, on the 29^th, Gill saw it at Truddoxhill, while my own first for it was on the 30^th in Taunton.

‘S’. Firsts this last fortnight for Small Scabious, Scabiosa columbaria, on the 30^th (Georgina, Draycott Sleights), Pepper-saxifrage, Silaum silaus, on the 23^rd (Kate, Stolford), and Wood Club-rush, Scirpus sylvaticus, on the 29^th (me, river Tone at Obridge). Nothing much else of note, although good to see that Ragged Robin, Silene flos-cuculi, now being widely reported, as also Common Figwort, Scrophularia nodosa, and Water Figwort, S. auriculata.

‘T’. A third record for Hop Trefoil, this one from Linda on the 30^th in Wivvy. More significant, though, was Georgina’s discovery, on the same day, of Wild Thyme, Thymus drucei aka praecox aka polytrichus, just starting to flower on Draycott Sleights.

‘V’. And, as usual, ending with our ‘V’ of the week… This time, Andrew’s patch of Tufted Vetch, Vicia cracca, at Wick Lane, Brent Knoll.

Many thanks, as always, for your records over the last fortnight, and apologies for any that didn’t get a mention.

Is this really such an exceptional year?

We’ve been recording first flowering dates (FFDs) for ten weeks now, and with lockdown beginning to be eased—and with me taking a one-week sabbatical over the Whit half-term week—this seems like as good a moment as any to look back and take stock.

I think we all feel that this year’s march of spring has, so far, been an exceptionally rapid and early one. But is this perception borne out by the data we’ve been collecting?

In Somerset we have two datasets against which we can usefully compare this year’s FFDs.

• The first is a Table of ‘average flowering times’ produced by eminent local botanist Walter Watson in the first half of the last century. This includes both FFDs and flowering period. So, for example, the average FFD for Bluebell, Hyacinthoides non-scripta, he calculated to be 12th April, while the flowering period was noted as usually being April-May, but with occasional early starts in March and late finishes in June. His Table, which runs to eighteen-and-a-half pages and more than 800 species, was published in the Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society (SANHS) for 1947. To anyone even vaguely interested in flowering times, Watson’s ‘Big Table’ is like gold dust. His dates were, for the most part, based on at least ten years’ observations. Much of his fieldwork was carried out in the Taunton area.

• The second dataset, modest in comparison, is from my own survey—again based mainly on observations in the Taunton area—beginning in 2008. My initial aim was to emulate Watson’s earlier survey by recording at least a decade’s-worth of FFDs for each species. By 2017 this had been achieved for 339 species, along with a further 216 species more patchily recorded. 2008-17 average FFDs for the first group—the 339—were calculated, and similarities and differences between these and Watson’s dates were summarised in the SANHS Proceedings for 2019. For all species combined, FFDs for the decade 2008-17 were found to be, on average, about two weeks earlier than in Watson’s day.

So, how do FFDs for the spring of 2020 compare with Watson’s dates, and with my own 2008-17 average FFDs? It would be astonishing if this year’s FFDs weren’t early at least by Watson’s standards, but are they really much different to those of other, more recent, springs?

1. Comparing our ‘combined’ FFDs with Watson’s dates

First, let’s look at this year’s SRPG records against Watson’s dates. Of the 339 target species, we have already recorded FFDs for 266 of them. (Note this includes my own dates for species coming into flower between the start of January and mid-March, before our lockdown project began.) In Fig. 1 each point is a species, and its location is determined by Watson’s date (along the x axis) and our date (up the y). The numbers along each axis refer to Day Number, with Day 1 being 1st Jan., Day 32 being 1st Feb., etc, etc. The diagonal red line marks the line along which the data-points would lie if this year’s FFDs were identical to those recorded by Watson. Above the line, the 2020 FFD is later than Watson’s date, below the line is earlier.

I’m no statistician—never have been, never will be—but I think any sane person would be forced to conclude from Fig. 1 that FFDs in 2020 have (so far) been exceptionally early in comparison with Watson’s dates almost a century ago; indeed, many of our dates are more than a month earlier. Only two species, Blackgrass, Alopecurus myosuroides, and Gooseberry, Ribes uva-crispa, had later dates than Watson’s.

2. Comparing our ‘combined’ FFDs with the 2008-17 average FFDs for the Taunton area

How do our dates compare with FFDs from my 2008-17 survey centred on the Taunton area? Fig. 2 is constructed in the same way as Fig. 1, but for each species the value along the x axis is the average FFD for the period 2008-17 rather than Watson’s date. The red line marks the line along which the data-points would lie if our FFDs this year were identical to the 2008-17 average FFDs – above the line is later than the decadal average, below the line is earlier.

There are, once again, very few species above the red line, although the gap between the mass of points below the red line and the red line itself is perhaps not quite as large as that in Fig. 1.

One reasonable objection to the above comparisons is that both Watson’s dates and my own 2008-17 FFDs are based on the observations of one pair of eyes operating across a fairly restricted geographical area, whereas our ‘combined’ first-flowering records for 2020 have had the benefit of many pairs of eyes and much wider geographical scope. One might expect the latter to produce an earlier crop of dates than the former. So, just to make sure, let’s make one more comparison…

3. Comparing my own 2020 FFDs with 2008-17 average FFDs

Another graph, then, but this time comparing like with like: i.e. one person’s observations in 2020 against that same person’s observations between 2008 and 2017. And still you’ll notice that the data-points are, for the most part, below the line, indicating that my own FFDs this year are generally early in comparison with dates from the period 2008-2019—and this, despite the logistical and geographical constraints imposed by lockdown.

One further observation, and then I’ll shut up. As already noted, of the 339 species for which we have 2008-17 average FFDs, we have, between us, so far spotted 266 in flower. This spring, 94 of these—so more than one-third of the total—have had their earliest FFD on record, i.e. since 2008. Even within my own records, 55 species (so far) have had their ‘earliest ever’ FFDs. That’s a higher figure, at this stage in the year, than in any other year of the study. And yet the flip side to this statistic is also true, that for the vast majority of species the ‘earliest ever’ FFD wasn’t in 2020.

Many thanks to everyone for their records so far. It has been the strangest of springs, in ways both botanical and not-so-botanical, but it’s not over yet! We still have many species to search for, so it would be good to keep going a little longer if we can. Is it too fanciful to imagine that when we spot our first blossoming Ivy, Hedera helix—in the first week of September (ish)—we could be together, as a group, rather than each of us still isolated on our own patch?

Now there’s a thought.

With all good wishes for the coming week,

Simon

This time Clive continues the story of Miss Isabella Gifford, and gives us some news about records of the Somerset Whitebeam.

It’s all there under “Instead of meetings”

Convolvulus chart

Weeks 10 & 11 Preview : 21^st May – 3^rd June

I’m going to take a short break from weekly report-writing, so here’s an extra-long target list of 28 spp that I’m hoping will keep us going until 3^rd June. First of all, the ‘roll over’ of 9 species from last week’s list:

Viper’s-bugloss, Echium vulgare; Water Forget-me-not, Myosotis scorpioides; Selfheal, Prunella vulgaris; Stinking Iris, Iris foetidissima (the real McCoy, NOT var. citrina);  Reed Canary-grass, Phalaris arundinacea; Dyer’s Greenweed, Genista tinctoria; Greater Plantain, Plantago major; Meadowsweet, Filipendula ulmaria; Pyramidal Orchid, Anacamptis pyramidalis

To which we can now add the following 19 species:

Alsike Clover, Trifolium hybridum; Fool’s Watercress, Apiium nodiflorum; Wood Club-rush, Scirpus sylvaticus; Timothy, Phleum pratense; Perforate St John’s-wort, Hypericum perforatum; Great Willowherb, Epilobium hirsutum; Bristly Ox-tongue, Helminthotheca echioides; Hairy St John’s-wort, Hypericum hirsutum; Marsh Bedstraw, Galium palustre; Hedge Bedstraw, Galium album, Tufted Vetch, Vicia cracca; Agrimony, Agrimonia eupatoria; Rosebay Willowherb, Chamaenerion angustifolium; Flowering-rush, Butomus umbellatus; Enchanter’s-nightshade, Circaea lutetiana; Black Horehound, Ballota nigra; Lady’s Bedstraw, Galium verum; Wild Onion/Crow Garlic, Allium vineale; Purple Loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria

As always, do let me know if you see any of these (or other) spp coming into flower over the next two weeks, by email to simonleach@phonecoop.coop.

Nest week, in lieu of a report, I’ll put together a graph or two to summarise ‘the story so far’, comparing our FFDs this year with 2008-17 average FFDs and those recorded by Walter Watson in the 1920s/30s. Something to put this extraordinary spring into perspective…

And don’t forget to have a look at the crib chart and key to colour forms of Field Bindweed, Convolvulus arvensis, and then—if you fancy it—see if you can work out which ones you’ve got in your ‘home patch’.

With best wishes for the coming fortnight.

Simon