A proper ragbag of first flowerings this week. It begins to feel like we’re trying to keep a register of guests attending a summer ball: we’re down to the last few stragglers who every year seem to make a habit of turning up this late, but there are others who must have sneaked in earlier—and it’s only now, when their names are called out, that we realise they’re already here.
Among the perennial latecomers, Helena spotted Common Hemp-nettle, Galeopsis tetrahit,at Mendip golf course on the 15th, while on the same day Jeanne and Tim had Sharp-leaved Fluellen, Kickxia elatine, in a field border between Old Cleeve and Washford. Chris L’s and Karen’s just-flowering Broad-leaved Helleborine, Epipactis helleborine, near Huish Moor on the 18th, is another in this group, as is my own Common Reed, Phragmites australis, at Roughmoor Pond, also on the 18th. The dates for all of these are well ahead of Watson’s, and mostly they’re earlier than my own in previous years.
The second group includes Helena’s Bog St John’s-wort, Hypericum elodes, at Yarty Moor on the 10th, Maureen’s Heather, Calluna vulgaris, at Staple Plain on the 11th – both in Week 17 – and Chris and Linda’s Blue Fleabane, Erigeron acris, at Milverton on 27th June (Week 15); as well as Helena and Margaret’s Saw-wort, Serratula tinctoria, at Strode on the 1st (also Week 15), which Margaret says had probably started flowering some days earlier. Chris had first-flowering Saw-wort at Langford Heathfield on the 4th. Also, it appears that Dodder, Cuscuta epithymum, started flowering earlier than suggested in last week’s roundup: Jeanne reports having had it at Cleeve Hill on the 5th (Week 16).
Amongst my own catch-ups this week were Tansy, Tanacetum vulgare, and Fennel-leaved Pondweed, Potamogeton pectinatus, between Obridge and Firepool Weir on the 20th. Which reminded me that we’ve been rather ignoring pondweeds, so if anyone has first dates for any of these, do please let me know.
While we’re at it, here’s a quick update on numbers of records of the various colour forms of Field Bindweed, Convolvulus arvensis—this time displayed as a pie chart that faintly resembles a particularly lurid decarrhabdotus!
Field Bindweed, interim scores up to end of Week 18
Not much happening in the non-botanical world this week, although this morning’s first Jersey Tiger, Euplagia quadripunctaria, was a joy to behold. And since the 17th we’ve had (more or less) daily sightings of Migrant Hawkers, Aeschna mixta, in the garden.
More than anything, though, it’s an absence I have to report. Yesterday, I was listening to birdsong in Longrun Meadow. There were Blackcaps in the riverside Alders, Greenfinches rasping from the hedgerows, and a single Song Thrush still triumphantly proclaiming its territory from the top of a crack willow. But there weren’t any singing Robins or Chaffinches, and—worse than that—there was a strange and total lack of Blackbirds…
When I got home I checked back through the diary, to find that the last reference to our back-garden Blackbird had been in late June. Exactly on which day his chimney-pot monologue ceased, I cannot say. But if he sang in early July, I didn’t hear him; or else, if I did hear him, I made neither physical nor mental note of it. I kick myself that he became utterly silent—at the start of his post-breeding moult, presumably?—without me really noticing.
It may be true that recording the end of something is harder than recording its beginning: the first Lesser Celandine is easy, the last is much trickier. But does this Blackbird oversight also have something to do with our emergence from lockdown? As general ‘busy-ness’ resumes, it feels as though some of the little things that, during lockdown, assumed huge significance are starting to become small again. Odd, really, that as the world opens up—enlarges—there’s also this shrinking.
Oh yes, and we should be getting Devil’s-bit Scabious, Succisa pratensis, more widely soon, too. So far, we’ve had just a single record of it.
I was almost tempted to add Autumn Lady’s-tresses, Spiranthes spiralis, to the target list, but it’s very unlikely we’ll get it flowering before the end of July. Worth keeping half an eye out for it though? It would be brilliant, too, if we could get a first date for Goldilocks Aster, Galatella linosyris (= Aster linosyris), and—while we’re at it—what about Sea Wormwood, Artemisia maritima? Both of these we’d expect to start flowering sometime in August, but you never can tell…
Do let me know—by 3 p.m. on 22nd and/or 29th July would be ideal—if you see any of these (or other) spp coming into flower over the next fortnight, preferably by email to simonleach@phonecoop.coop.
The last time pubs, cafes and hairdressers were open there were flowering Lesser Celandines, Ficaria verna, everywhere, and many of us were eagerly anticipating our first Moschatel, Adoxa moschatellina. For the last seventeen weeks—from Moschatel to Mugwort—their doors have been locked, their windows shuttered. But now, gradually, we emerge blinking into the light to enjoy a pint and get our hair cut; and maybe it’s time, too, to get that dandelion-clock tattoo we’ve all been hankering after.
Most of us are beginning to get out more, seizing opportunities to meet friends and family for socially-distanced gatherings in each other’s gardens, or in the park, or else heading into nearby countryside for walks together. Even sharing meals together… For months we’ve tried to restrict ourselves to activities deemed to be ‘essential’, but the definition of that word seems to get broader and looser with each passing week. Last Friday I even stepped inside a supermarket, for the first time since 15th March.
So, despite the indifferent weather—not to mention the cricket—I’m feeling much more upbeat about things; last week I was hurtling toward autumn, but this week it’s been almost like spring again. The butterflies have helped: there have been newly-emerged Brimstones, Gonepteryx rhamni, on the wing—offspring, presumably, of those we saw while hunting for Moschatel—along with second-generation Holly Blues, Celastrina argiolus, and Common Blues, Polyommatus icarus.
Many ‘high summer’ butterflies have also been much in evidence. Still inordinate numbers of Marbled Whites, Melanargia galathea, but now joined by a crowded rabble of Gatekeepers, Pyronia tithonus—much perkier and more richly coloured than the now drab and rather tired-looking Meadow Browns, Maniola jurtina. This week, too, from the 12th, there were sightings of Silver-washed Fritillaries, Argynnis paphia. We’ve found them in good numbers up at Thurlbear, and at Orchard and Henlade Woods (the latter a Woodland Trust reserve).
Roesel’s Bush-cricket, Metrioptera roeselii, continues to expand its distribution in Somerset. First reported from the county in 1996, and a real rarity until at least 2010, there were sightings of it in the Taunton area in 2018-19, at Longrun Meadow and in fields near Staple Fitzpaine. This week I’ve started hearing its distinctive high-pitched ‘buzzing’, on the 12th in an area of rank Arrhenatherum grassland at Thurlbear Quarrylands, then the following day near Orchard Wood. Marshall & Haes’s description of its song is worth quoting: “an intensely penetrating and continuous, if high-pitched, stridulation … the sound has been likened to that of an electrical discharge such as is emitted by pylon-cables in damp weather.” Definitely one to listen out for in the next few weeks…
When it comes to first-flowerings, it’s been a surprisingly productive week. Between us, we’ve seen 12 of the 14 spp on our target list for Weeks 16 and 17, five of them for the first time during the week just gone. Here are some of the highlights, following the usual roughly alphabetical order, and with Weeks 16/17 target spp emboldened.
‘A’. Following Chris’s exceptionally early Wild Angelica, Angelica sylvestris, on 29th June, the rest of us are slowly catching up, e.g. I had it at Staple Hill on the 9th, while Alastair picked it up today, the 15th, at Wimbleball. Also today, a second record for flowering Mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris, this time from Dee at Clevedon Pill.
‘C’. A couple of thistles: Georgina’s Carline Thistle, Carlina vulgaris, at Ubley Warren on the 11th; and my own Woolly Thistle, Cirsium eriophorum, near Orchard Wood on the 13th – in an area that used to be a tree nursery, then became overrun with brambles, and is now an ever-improving mosaic of scrub and calcareous-clay grassland with hundreds (probably thousands) of Pyramidal Orchids, Anacamptis pyramidalis, and dozens of Bee Orchids, Ophrys apifera. Also a good week for Common Calamint, Clinopodium ascendens (or Calaminthain old money), with first-flowering records from Bleadon Hill on the 6th (Hilary), Wellington on the 9th (Linda), and Avon Gorge on the 14th (Georgina). And the first Dodder, Cuscuta epithymum, was also on the 14th, at Thurlbear Quarrylands.
I’ll spare you a further update on the colour forms of Field Bindweed, Convolvulus arvensis, except to say that f. quinquevulnerus, the one colour form that hadn’t been reported yet, was seen at Henlade Wood on the 14th. The ‘ticked’ forms are still outnumbered by the ‘unticked’, although there have been lots of records of f. notatus and f. pallidinotatus in the last couple of weeks. Could ‘ticked’ forms be later-flowering than ‘unticked’?
‘E’. I was up at Staple Hill on the 9th and noticed several flushes with just-flowering Marsh Willowherb, Epilobium palustre. Not one I usually record, but Walter Watson gives it as the latest-flowering of the willowherbs, with an average FFD of 22nd July, so possibly the 9th is quite an early date for it? Has anyone else seen it yet?
‘G’. Alastair reported Marsh Fragrant-orchid, Gymnadenia densiflora, from near Watchet on the 4th (so in Week 16). Between 2008 and 2019 my earliest FFD for Autumn Gentian, Gentianella amarella, was 27th July, while Watson’s date for it was 15th August. So to find it just starting to flower at Thurlbear on the 12th came as quite a surprise—although Captain Roe’s FFDs for six years in the 1950s did include one amazingly early date for it, in 1958, when he recorded it at Goblin Combe on 8th July.
‘H’. Trailing St John’s-wort, Hypericum humifusum, wasn’t on our list of targets, but probably should have been. We may have missed its earliest flowering, but this week two of us recorded it for the first time: me at Staple Hill on the 9th, and Linda at Wiveliscombe on the 11th. It’s one of the latest Hypericum spp to flower, only Marsh St John’s-wort, H. elodes, being later—for which Watson’s FFD was 10th July. Have we missed that one too?
‘I’. Ploughman’s-spikenard, Inula conyzae, was flowering up at Thurlbear on the 12th, the first record of it since Andrew’s on 8th June at Purn Hill.
‘J’. (a.k.a. ‘S’) Dee has had flowering Hoary Ragwort, Jacobea erucifolia, today, the 15th, at Clevedon Pill. Still in bud around Taunton, but we can expect more records of it in the next week or so. This is one of about a dozen species flowering later now than in Watson’s day. Another, from the opposite end of spring, is Colt’s-foot, Tussilago farfara.
‘L’, ‘M’ & ‘P’. Alastair’s highlight of the last fortnight was on the 8th, when he came across more than 150 plants of Weasel’s-snout, Misopates orontium, at Porlock Marsh.More mundanely, it’s been a week of ‘catch-up’ for me, with Purple Moor-grass, Molinia caerulea, on the 9th at Staple Hill, Burnet-saxifrage, Pimpinella saxifraga, also on the 9th at Orchard Portman, Wild Parsnip, Pastinaca sativa, on the 12th at Thurlbear, and Amphibious Bistort, Persicaria amphibia, on the 13th between Obridge and Creech Castle. Amongst Linda’s ‘catch-ups’ was Water Mint, Mentha aquatica, on the 9th at Wellington, while Andrew’s included Common Fleabane, Pulicaria dysenterica, at Rooksbridge on the 13th. Dee saw Common Toadflax, Linaria vulgaris, on the 14th at Uphill—the first FFD of a species that should probably have been on the target list but wasn’t. Oh yes, and this morning I noticed lots of Water-pepper, Persicaria hydropiper, flowering in scrapes and hollows, and around pools, in Longrun Meadow.
‘S’ is for Sison. Stone Parsley, Sison amonum, has been spotted coming into flower round right across the county, including in Wellington on the 9th (Linda), Lilstock on the 12th (Ro), Brent Knoll village on the 14th (Andrew) and Clevedon today (Dee).
‘T’. At last, Wild Thyme, Thymus drucei, is flowering at Thurlbear, but good grief it’s taken its ‘thyme’—probably because of a severe infestation of the mite Aceria thomasi which causes woolly-haired shoot-tip ‘rosette’ galls. These can affect the flower buds, apparently. Andrew, meanwhile, has had first-flowering Thysselium palustre (= Peucedanum palustre) on Catcott Moor on the 14th. I’ve never recorded an FFD for it, but Watson’s date in the 1920s/30s was 28th July.
And lastly ‘U’ is, once again, for Ulex. Following Helena’s Western Gorse, Ulex gallii, on 27th June we’ve since had reports of it from Staple Hill on the 9th, and from Staple Plain, Quantocks (Maureen Webb), Oakhampton Wood (Linda) and Langford Heathfield (Chris), all on the 11th.
As if to prove the point that spring isn’t quite over yet, Helena sent me a photo via WhatsApp of a still-flowering Bluebell, Hyacinthoides non-scripta, which she found in the Blackdowns on the 12th. She thinks this could be a record last flowering date… I wonder, can anybody find a later one?
With today’s return of Test match cricket, everything suddenly seems terribly normal again. Even the inevitable rain delays add to the sense of ‘business as usual’. We’ve won the toss and, despite a forecast of intermittent mizzle and generally muggy conditions, we’re going to bat. West Indies would have fielded anyway, apparently, so everyone’s happy. I’m off to listen to the opening exchanges.
…
Well, play eventually started at two, and they were off by quarter past, England scoring one run and losing one wicket in the process. Another half hour lost to rain, then two more overs and now they’re off again. Just two runs added to the total.
…
Turning away from the cricket for a moment, if you can bear it, Georgina had her first Harebell, Campanula rotundifolia, on the 6th at Blackmoor, Mendip; but she summed up the general mood when she said: “… it always feels like autumn when I see one.”
And I felt a similar ‘stab’ of autumn too, on the 4th at Orchard Wood, when amongst trackside Field Bindweed, Convolvulus arvensis, and Upright Hedge-parsley, Torilis japonica,I found my first heads of Common Fleabane, Pulicaria dysenterica. Linda and Chris had already recorded it flowering near Milverton, on 27th June, so I’d been on the look-out for it. What surprised me, though, was how the sight of those flower heads triggered an unexpected flood of memories of childhood summer holidays in Devon, of ripening blackberries, cream teas, scrabble and Ambre Solaire. But those striking yellow blooms brought to the surface less pleasant feelings, too, a stabbing sensation of summer being almost gone—marking, as they always did, the beginning of an unstoppable countdown to the start of a new term, a new school year…
Things may have stalled a little on the first-flowering front in recent days, but here’s Georgina again, who has “nesting spotted flycatchers in the garden plus three baby tawny owls … One of the adults was spied by me early one morning … attempting to catch serotine bats returning to roost, so plenty of nature to amuse me even if I can’t find many new plants.” The first Gatekeepers, Pyronia tithonus, have been seen this week, too.
Yet despite the ‘go slow’, there are still first flowerings to be had: from our target list, I had Stone Parsley, Sison amonum, at Corfe on the 6th, and Mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris, and Water-pepper, Persicaria hydropiper, beside the River Tone on the 7th. Round-leaved Fluellen, Kickxia spuria, was a bonus while tramping the field-borders between Corfe and Pitminster. Also on the 6th, Andrew saw first-flowering Tubular Water-dropwort, Oenanthe fistulosa, at Max Bog, and Amphibious Bistort, Persicaria amphibia, at Mark Moor. The day before, there were reports from Ro of Burnet-saxifrage, Pimpinella saxifraga, flowering abundantly at East Quantoxhead, and Hawkweed Oxtongue, Picris hieracioides, at Kilton, while Georgina, at Ubley Warren, had her first Stemless Thistle, Cirsium acaule.
And then this morning, Andrew spotted the first few flowers on his local Water Mint, Mentha aquatica, in Brent Knoll village, while I came upon two plants of Small Teasel, Dipsacus pilosus, their flower-heads just beginning to ‘burst’. What a gorgeous plant Small Teasel is, with its understated ‘globose’ heads and whitish flowers, and lacking the brashness and over-confidence of its much larger cousin. Walter Watson’s first flowering dates (FFDs) for Water Mint and Small Teasel in the 1920s/30s were 30th July and 5th August respectively. Capt. Roe’s dates for Small Teasel in the 1950s were even later than that, with six of his eight FFDs being in September.
It may only be the second week of July, but we’re closer to autumn than we think.
…
England have progressed to 35-1 off 17.4 overs. Bad light’s stopped play, and there’s more rain around, so they’re taking an early tea. I think I’ll do the same.
Any member who would like to join the SRPG WhatsApp group, please contact me. All committee members are listed under the “About Us” heading. ( Or send a message via website enquiries if necessary ).
You can brag about your finds, first flowering ones perhaps, ask for ID help, or just see what others are up to.
For example, here is Cath Shelswell’s photo of buttercup achenes found at Rumwell near Taunton which was confirmed as Ranunculus sardous.
I’m assuming that any photograph which appears on the WhatsApp group can be used on the website or Newsletter, so only post if you’re happy with that.
As spring shifts towards autumn, so the pace of first flowerings begins to slow down, which makes me think it probably makes sense to do another list to keep us occupied for at least the next fortnight. First of all, here are the three species we’re carrying over from Week 15:
As well as the above, it would be worth keeping an eye out for species already recorded by one or two of us, but which should be coming into flower more widely very soon, e.g. Common Fleabane, Pulicaria dysenterica,Burnet-saxifrage, Pimpinella saxifraga, Western Gorse, Ulex gallii, Hawkweed Oxtongue, Picris hieracioides, and Devil’s-bit Scabious, Succisa pratensis.
Do let me know each week—by 3 p.m. on 8th and/or 15th July would be ideal—if you see any of these (or other) spp coming into flower over the next two weeks, preferably by email to simonleach@phonecoop.coop.
“This is a marathon, not a sprint.” Admittedly, that statement was being used in relation to our slow emergence from the Covid-19 pandemic, and to highlight the need to remain vigilant as the lockdown eases. But it could equally well apply to first flowerings. In the last two weeks we’ve slipped beyond the summer solstice. Tim Dee would declare this to be the time when things start to unravel and fall apart; when the surge of spring that’s been carrying us forward suddenly seems to dissipate, and we’re left to face the long trudge toward autumn. Well, I’m as prone to ‘PSD’ (post-solstice doldrums) as anyone, but I’m not prepared to give up on spring just yet. The pace may have slowed, but there are ‘comings’ still to be had amid all the ‘goings’. As the politician said: a marathon, not a sprint.
So, we’ve reached that point in the year when (in a parallel universe) our thoughts would turn to Wimbledon and Glastonbury and Lord’s. Roger Federer, Kaiser Chiefs, Jonathan Agnew… The weather has had a distinctly summery edge to it: hard to pin down or predict with any certainty, frequently wet, sometimes windy, and occasionally hot and humid. Just enough rain, probably, to turn Worthy Farm into a steaming mud bath. We had a particularly drenching day on the 18th, when it rained from start to finish, then on the 25th we endured the hottest-yet day of the year (32°C in Taunton); when UV levels were supposedly the highest ever recorded in the UK, and when too many of us decided to head out for a day at the seaside. Some roads were gridlocked, car parks and beaches were packed. Throughout lockdown many have struggled with the concept of ‘two metres’, but we’re now expected to re-calibrate to a new measurement called one-metre plus—which, once the pubs open and the summer holidays begin, could very quickly come to mean ‘no distance at all’. If we can avoid a second wave it’ll be a miracle.
In the last update, I got so carried away with Captain Roe’s index cards that I forgot to report on non-botanical matters. These included first ‘hearings’ of Meadow Grasshoppers Chorthippus parallelus and Field Grasshoppers, C. brunneus, on the 14th—at Longrun Meadow in the south, and Long Dole Meadow in the north. Also on the 14th there were Small Skippers, Thymelicus sylvestris, and Six-spot Burnets, Zygaena filipendulae. In Weeks 14 and 15 the ‘buzz’ of high summer continued with Ringlets, Aphantopus hyperantus, from the 22nd, while Ro had her first Humming-bird Hawk-moth, Macroglossum stellatarum, nectaring on Red Valerian, Centranthus ruber,on the 26th. Several of you have commented on the exceptional numbers of Meadow Browns, Maniola jurtina, and Marbled Whites, Melanargia galathea. Apparently this is the second good summer on the trot for Marbled Whites; anyone living in Taunton would normally expect to have to head into the Blackdowns to guarantee seeing this butterfly, but in the last few weeks they’ve been popping up all across the town—in Vivary Park, Goodlands Gardens, between Obridge and Creech Castle, Longrun Meadow and Roughmoor. Since mid-June there’s also been a flurry of records of ‘summer brood’ Commas, Polygonia c-album, perhaps a couple of weeks earlier than usual. These are the offspring of over-wintering butterflies that emerged in early spring.
The dog’s ears are a good barometer of the changing seasons, too. Gilly is a cocker spaniel, and once past the summer solstice her ears start to become tangled with burrs. A walk of one hour can lead to a de-burring session at least as long. At the moment it’s mainly the burrs of Wood Avens, Geum urbanum, but within a week or two it’ll be Goosegrass, Galium aparine, soon to be followed by Agrimony, Agrimonia eupatoria, Enchanter’s-nightshade, Circaea lutetiana, and Burdock, Arctium spp. Each burr to its own season.
You’ve sent in many more records of Convolvulus arvensis colour forms in the last fortnight, and the scores are beginning to look less like football and more like rugby. So, here’s an update, this time headed up by Exeter Chiefs’ crucial game against Sarracens that lifted them to the top of the Premier League back in December. As before, teams wearing ‘unticked’ strips are on the left, those with ‘ticks’ on the right.
Field Bindweed, scores up to end of Week 15
Exeter Chiefs
14
v.
Sarracens
7
f. arvensis
20
v.
f. notatus
3
f. pallidiroseus
9
v.
f. pallidinotatus
5
f. pentarrhabdotus
17
v.
f. pentastictus
1
f. decarrhabdotus
7
v.
f. decemvulnerus
1
f. perroseus
11
v.
f. quinquevulnerus
0
Clearly, teams lacking ‘tick’ marks continue to outscore their ‘ticked’ counterparts, with a combined score of 64 records for ‘non-ticked’ colour forms and just 10 for ‘ticked’. In the latter group, only f. notatus and f. pallidinotatus are at all frequent, while those displaying five- or ten-point stars seem to be invariably tick-free. But maybe that will change as the season progresses…
Now for our first flowerings from the last fortnight. Many thanks, as usual, for your records. This time we had 21 target species to search for, of which (amazingly) we saw all but three.
‘A’. Our target list was awash with ‘A’s, and we saw all bar Mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris. Chris had first-flowering Wild Angelica, Angelica sylvestris, on the 29th at Langford Heathfield. In Taunton, the two Burdocks had been stubbornly in bud for about two weeks, but the mini-heatwave produced a suddening ‘opening’ of Greater Burdock, Arctium lappa, on the 27th and Lesser Burdock, A. minusagg., on the 29th. Meanwhile, Andrew reported first flowers on Spear-leaved Orache, Atriplex prostrata, at Burnham-on-Sea on the 21st. It was seen flowering in Taunton, too, but not until the 29th. Amongst other ‘A’s, there was a second record of Water-plantain, Alisma plantago-aquatica, this time from the pond at Roughmoor, on the 26th, to add to the Great Water Dock, Rumex hydrolapathum, which began flowering there on the 18th. And another ‘A’, Alastair, spotted first flowers on Sea Aster, Aster tripolium, at Wall Common on the 25th. (Watson’s date for Sea Aster was 24th July…)
‘B’. Hairy-brome, Bromopsis ramosa, is another grass that can be hard to judge the flowering of. It has such graceful, dangling inflorescences, but at what point, exactly, do you decide it’s flowering rather than merely about to flower? It’s certainly up and showing well, as Linda reported on the 28th, and I’ve seen it close to flowering at Thurlbear on the 29th, and again earlier today, but I’m not convinced yet. Andrew, however, had it flowering at Hollow Marsh on the 30th, so that’s great, and we can expect more records of it in the coming days. Flowering-rush, Butomus umbellatus, seems particularly shy this year, but I finally found a clump of it in flower on the Tone at Obridge on the 27th. Not an especially early date for it. Watson’s average FFD for Butomus was 7th July; Roe’s earliest in the 1950s was 2nd July. All much of a muchness, then.
‘C’. Just the one target species this week, given that Many-seeded Goosefoot is now Lipandra rather than Chenopodium. Fig-leaved Goosefoot, C. ficifolium, was seen first by Linda on the 23rd, in Wellington, then by me on a rare trip to the Levels, near Burrowbridge, on the 26th. Otherwise, ‘C’ is for ‘catch-up’, including my own first Greater Knapweed, Centaurea scabiosa, and Common Centaury, Centaurium erythraea, on the 22nd, Wild Basil, Clinopodium vulgare, on the 28th, and Stemless Thistle, Cirsium acaule, on 1st July. All of them at Thurlbear. Traveller’s-joy, Clematis vitalba, was flowering at Clevedon on the 18th (Dee), and at Sandford on the 25th (Ann Burman). And Pat, at Nettlecombe, had her first Spear Thistle, Cirsium vulgare, on the 28th, and Rose-bay Willowherb, Chamaenerion angustifolium, on the 30th, continuing the pattern of slightly later first-flowering in that area. These dates are very much in line with what Watson would have expected in the Taunton area in the 1920s/30s, his FFD for the former being 26th June, and for the latter 8th July. All very interesting…
‘D’ is for Teasel, Dipsacus fullonum, with Ro delighted to spot her first “blue cummerbund” on the morning of the 20th. Later the same day, Andrew had it beginning to flower at Highbridge, followed by records in Taunton on the 22nd and Linda’s in Wellington on the 23rd. Among other ‘D’s was Common Sundew, Drosera rotundifolia, reported by Andrew from Westhay on the 23rd. I’ve no idea whether this is early or not, but I see that Watson’s date for it was 3rd July. Unfortunately, Roe’s dates from the 1950s all seem to be from locations outside Somerset.
How can we skirt past ‘E’ without mention of Andrew’s Marsh Helleborine, Epipactis palustris, at Berrow on the 24th? The plants were small of stature, so the flowers were hidden in the herbage and hard to spot. Well worth the search though, and another one, like the sundew, for which the only FFDs we have to go on are those of Watson’s—his date for it was 11th July.
‘G’ and ‘H’. Just the one record so far of Marsh Cudweed, Gnaphalium uliginosum, seen flowering with Lipandra polysperma on a muddy field margin near Roughmoor on the 26th. (Also with lots of Bulbous Canary-grass, Phalaris aquatica—a new hectad record for this game-cover alien.)And, just in passing, I need to note further sightings of Hoary Mustard, Hirschfeldia incana, in the Taunton area. Is this a recent colonist, or have I been overlooking it? A couple of plants of it are in full flower on the A3038 dual carriageway between Wickes roundabout and the Shell garage, while there are great thickets of it alongside the railway line between Staplegrove Road and Silk Mills. The petals are a more delicate, slightly paler yellow than those of Black Mustard, Brassica nigra, with which it sometimes grows, while the little club-shaped fruits and greyish leaves help to distinguish it too. It seems to be more widespread in VC6 than in VC5; in The Atlas Flora of Somerset, the Green twins note that it’s “an increasing species in the county, especially in the Bridgwater area.”
Two other surprising ‘H’s to report: Frogbit, Hydrocharis morsus-ranae, on the 23rd on Mark Moor (Andrew), and the 26th at Burrowbridge (me); and, also on the 23rd, Helena and Fred had Marsh Pennywort, Hydrocotylevulgaris, at Tyning Wood, near Gare Hill—not just flowering, but a first record for the hectad this century! Watson didn’t mention Frogbit in his paper on FFDs, which seemed odd; but a quick look at the BSBI Database revealed that there were only four records of this species for Somerset before 1930. It appears that Frogbit has become widespread across the Levels only since about 1950. I’d always presumed it to be a long-established native species in Somerset, but maybe that’s not the case?
‘L’. Many-seeded Goosefoot, Lipandra polysperma, had just started flowering out at Roughmoor on the 18th, in the pouring rain, with Marsh Cudweed following suit a few days later. Gypsywort, Lycopus europaeus, was also flowering there, beside the pond, on the 26th, as it was on the Huntspill River (Andrew). Another noteworthy ‘L’ in the last week was Common Sea-lavender, Limonium vulgare, seen by Alastair at Wall Common on the 25th.
‘M’. Just the one target: Purple Moor-grass, Molinia caerulea, which was seen by Andrew at Westhay on the 23rd. But a special mention, also, for Alastair’s White Horehound, Marrubium vulgare, at Wall Common on the 20th.
‘O’ for Oenanthe. Andrew saw Parsley Water-dropwort, Oenanthe lachenalii, on the 24th at Berrow; but Tubular Water-dropwort, O. fistulosa, still eludes us. A few catch-ups of my own too, with Common Restharrow, Ononis repens,on the 22nd and Marjoram, Origanum vulgare, on the 23rd. Plus, to add a dramatic twist, a large colony of Common Broomrape, Orobanche minor, in Taunton, in the Frieze Hill community orchard between Roughmoor and the Staplegrove Road allotments. A scarce species in Somerset, and a real rarity in Taunton, so a real treat to see 200+ flowering spikes of it emerging amongst the apple trees.
‘P’. Common Fleabane, Pulicaria dysenterica, was spotted by Linda and Chris at Milverton on the 27th. Also a ‘P’ that used to be an ‘S’: Rock Stonecrop, formerly Sedum but now Petrosedum forsterianum, was found by Alastair at Greenaleigh on the 14th.
‘S’. Just the one target, Marsh Woundwort, Stachys palustris, which was finally spotted in Taunton on the 20th (me), Minehead on the 23rd (Alastair), and Huntspill River on the 26th (Andrew).Even Watson would have been only mildly surprised by these dates, his FFD for it being 5th July. Three other first-flowering ‘S’s deserve a mention, all of them Andrew’s: Common Skullcap, Scutellaria galericulata, at Westhay on the 23rd, and Floating Bur-reed, Sparganium emersum, and Arrowhead, Sagittaria sagittifolia, both on the Huntspill River on the 26th.
A couple of ‘T’s: Tansy, Tanacetum vulgare, was seen just beginning to flower by Andrew on the 30th at Highbridge, while I had Strawberry Clover, Trifolium fragiferum, at Upper Holway, Taunton, on the 29th.
And lastly, no ‘V’s this week, but a first-flowering ‘U’ instead when Helena had Western Gorse, Ulex gallii, at Stockhill on the 27th.
Apologies to anyone whose records I’ve overlooked. It’s been a distracting week, with too much going on, and it seems that one drawback to the lockdown being eased is the way in which normal life starts to intrude again.
I can feel ‘busyness’ returning, and I’m not sure I like it…
I’m taking another one-week sabbatical, so we’ll have a list to last us a fortnight this time around. Let’s go for 21 spp this time. First of all, there are nine to carry over from Week 13:
Plus there are many species, e.g. Wild Parsnip, Pastinaca sativa, Hawkweed Oxtongue, Picris hieracioides, Marjoram, Origanum vulgare, Stemless Thistle, Cirsium acaule, Wild Basil, Clinopodium vulgare, and Devil’s-bit Scabious, Succisa pratensis, for which we’ve so far only had one or two early or ‘precocious’ records, but which should soon be starting to flower more widely.
Do let me know—by 3 p.m. on Wednesday 1st July would be ideal—if you see any of these (or other) spp coming into flower over the next fortnight, by email to simonleach@phonecoop.coop. But please don’t feel you have to save up your records until the 1st. I may be taking a week off, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear from you. Quite the opposite, in fact.
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 14th and 15th. Otherwise, we had rain here each day, with two days, the 11th and 12th, 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 26th June, whereas even Roe’s earliest FFD in the 1950s was 1st July. Sometimes he didn’t see it flowering until August, and his average FFD was 8th August, so about six weeks later than Watson’s. As a comparison, my own average FFD for the period 2008-17 was 6th June, while our earliest FFD for Tutsan this year was 18th 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 15th in Taunton, and reported by Andrew on the 16th 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 14th. Pat, out at Nettlecombe, picked up Agrimony, Agrimonia eupatoria, on the 17th, 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 8th, a second record of Bog Pimpernel, Anagallis tenella, this one at Lots on the 16th, and Meadow Oat-grass, Avenula pratensis, another one of Andrew’s records, at Priddy Mineries on the 12th.
‘B’. Betony, Betonica officinalis, has now begun its ‘proper’ flowering season, with records from GB Gruffy on the 9th (Andrew), Ashton Court meadows on the 14th (David H), and at Long Dole Meadow, also on the 14th (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 17th, 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 7th (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 16th; 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 14th; and Ro had Wild Basil, Clinopodium vulgare, at Lilstock, also on the 14th. Other noteworthy ‘C’s included Steve’s Whorl-grass, Catabrosa aquatica, near North Newton, on the 13th, and my own (very early) Fat-hen, Chenopodium album, near Creech St Michael on the 12th. Just for the record, Watson’s average FFD for Fat-hen was 8th July, while Roe’s earliest FFD in the 1950s was 9th July.
‘D’. Two reports of first-flowering Tufted Hair-grass, Deschampsia cespitosa, this week: GB Gruffy on the 9th (so actually Week 12), courtesy of Andrew, and North Newton on the 13th, with thanks to Steve. Another grass seen flowering for the first time this week was Heath-grass, Danthonia decumbens, at Thurlbear on the 15th and at Lots on the 16th. Also at GB Gruffy on the 9th 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 9th (Jeanne), Creech St Michael on the 12th (me), The Quants on the 15th (Linda), and Langford Heathfield on the 17th (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 17th on waste ground near the A38 at Creech Castle, Taunton; Yellow Loosestrife, Lysimachia vulgaris, on the 12th at Postlebury (Gill); and Water-purslane, Lythrum portula, on the 15th 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 16th. 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 17th on waste ground and verge of the A38 at Creech Castle, Taunton; and Burnet-saxifrage, Pimpinella saxifraga, on the 12th at Priddy Mineries (Andrew). Linda found flowering Pale Butterwort, Pinguicula lusitanica, at Ring Down on the 13th, while there were also two records of Annual Beard-grass, Polypogon monspeliensis, from Stock Moor on the 14th (Steve), and on waste ground at Firepool Weir, Taunton on the 15th. 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 14th, me in Taunton, also on the 14th, and Andrew at Crook Peak on the 17th. This is exactly a month earlier than Watson’s average FFD of 15th 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 14th, Helena and Fred’s Devil’s-bit Scabious, Succisa pratensis, at Long Dole Meadow on the 14th (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 15th. Also, we had two more reports of Wild Thyme, Thymus drucei, both in Week 12: one from ‘near Watchet’ on the 8th (Alastair), the other, also on the 8th, 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.
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