B&BC Botanical Society Newsletter - Issue 2 (2015)

Newsletter
Issue 2 | Autumn/Winter 2015
2015
was another fantastic

and busy year for the Society
so we thought we would put together
another issue of the newsletter, with this
years highlights.
We hope you enjoy reading through it
and join us next year for more recording!
In this Issue:
Sutton Park Flora

- The first season of recording
Plus other highlights from 2015 including
site visit reports from:
Clayhanger SSSI | Daw End

Branch Canal | Fens Pools
Smooth-stalked Sedge (Carex laevigata)
Sutton Park July 2015
SAVE THE DATE!

The 2016 AGM will take place on
Other dates for your diary:
Saturday 27th February 2016
Provisional Field Recording Dates 2016
at 11am
Winterbourne House and Garden,

University of Birmingham,
58 Edgbaston Park Road,
Birmingham, B15 2RT.
Note: entrance to Winterbourne Garden
will be free for this event!
Hope to see you there!
23/03/2016
07/04/2016
16/04/2016
26/04/2016
09/05/2016
20/05/2016
01/06/2016
11/06/2016
21/06/2016
30/06/2016
05/07/2016
03/08/2016
13/08/2016
25/08/2016
09/09/2016
19/09/2016
30/09/2016
2 B&BC Botanical Society Newsletter
Autumn/Winter 2015
FENS POOLS
15TH July 2015
We met Anne Daly, our leader for the day, outside the
warden's base at the junction of Pensnett Road and Bryce
Road in Brierley Hill, and after negotiating the busy B4179, we
headed off along the section of canal known as Wide Water
in the direction of Fens Pools. The typical vegetation along
the canal towpath comprises Field Maple, Hazel, Alder,
Rowan, Guelder-rose, willows and some very large poplars,
and in one spot a large Crataegus pedicillatus Cockspur
Thorn, the first of many interesting plants we were to
encounter during the day.
The Perry Pond containing Ranunculus

trichophyllus Thread-leaved Water-crowfoot
Moving on from where the canal ends we headed along the

main path, keeping Grove Pool to our left and Middle Pool to
the right, and leaving this path onto a smaller path, we made
our way to the Perry Ponds, a group of small ponds named
in honour of the late naturalist Alan Perry, one of the two
local men (the other being Brian Jones) who had the vision of
saving the Fens as a nature reserve, and started the Pensnett
Wildlife Group, without which the reserve may never have
been created.
The ponds were originally excavated to provide a cluster of
breeding ponds for amphibians, and in particular, for the
large population of Great Crested Newts that Fens Pools is
renowned for. The typical vegetation in and around the pond
margins included Eleocharis palustris Common Spike-rush,
Myosotis laxa Tufted Forget-me-not, Juncus tenuis Slender
Rush, Elodea nuttallii Nuttalls Waterweed, Ceratophyllum
emersum Rigid Hornwort and in each of the small ponds we
encountered a submerged aquatic not found in the others.
The first pond contained a colony of Zanichellia palustris
Horned Pondweed and a small amount of Lagarosiphon
major Curly Waterweed, the next held Potamogeton
berchtoldii Small Pondweed and in another, on drying out
mud, mixed in with Callitriche sp. was a small-flowered
Crowfoot with capillary leaves only which we tentatively
determined as Ranunculus trichophyllus Thread-leaved
Water-crowfoot, a plant previously not recorded in
Birmingham and the Black Country so we were very pleased
when it was later confirmed as this by John Hawksford, BSBI
Recorder for Staffordshire.
Ranunculus trichophyllus Thread-leaved Water-crowfoot
Once satisfied that we had recorded everything from the

Perry Ponds we continued along the main path towards the
cindery mounds where Cerastium arvense Field Mouse-ear, a
low-growing, early-flowering perennial has been known from
for many years. In Britain this rather large-flowered, native
Mouse-ear is frequent only in the east of England, and as far
as we are aware the only extant Birmingham and Black
Country site for this plant is here at Fens Pools. Several plants
were soon located although, as we expected they were well
into seed at this time of the year.
Moving on in the direction of the ridge and furrow meadow
we passed more Slender Rush. This increasing alien rush is
relatively tolerant of trampling and is often found along path
edges.
On reaching the ridge and furrow meadow, known locally as

the bumpy field because the ridges and furrows of a bygone agricultural system are still very evident in places, it was
noticeable that there were far fewer ponies here since the
clampdown by Dudley Council on stray horses. For many
years this meadow has traditionally been a favourite spot for
locals to graze their ponies and with very few animals here
now the long-term effect this will have on the flora in this
area remains to be seen. Ophioglossum vulgatum Adderstongue fern has long been known from this meadow and at
one time was relatively easy to find. In recent years heavy
grazing from tethered ponies has all but eradicated it from
the open parts of the meadow so a challenge was put out to
the group to see who would be the first to find an Adderstongue. After several minutes of searching the honour went
to Paul Reade who discovered several plants tucked well in
amongst bracken, one of the few places that the ponies tend
to avoid. A closer inspection revealed this to be quite an
extensive colony which extended well into the bracken
thicket.
From here we made our way up the bank which brought us
into an area of short, open grassland where lunch was taken
seated on the brickwork remains of a building that once stood
here. Suitably refreshed we set off in the general direction of
Russells Hall Hospital, following a well-defined track which
soon became wooded on both sides. In the half-shade at the
side of this track were four flowering Verbascum lychnitis
White Mullein plants, somewhat of a rarity elsewhere in
B&BC. The scrubby woodland here also contains many
naturalised Cotoneasters, the most frequent of them being
Cotoneaster rehderi Bullate Cotoneaster. Others Cotoneasters
found here include C. horizontalis Wall Cotoneaster, C.
franchetii Franchets Cotoneaster and C. simonsii Himalayan
Cotoneaster. Skirting the metal-railed fence enclosing a
factory, and descending a slope towards a wet area, we
passed a colony of Sambucus ebulus Dwarf Elder on both
sides of the path whose flowers were just beginning to open,
and a little further on, we encountered a fine specimen of
Athyrium filix-femina Lady Fern growing next to a patch of
Osmunda regalis Royal Fern, another local rarity.
Autumn/Winter 2015
Osmunda regalis Royal Fern
Time constraints prevented us from exploring the large area

of open grassland that opened out before us, so reluctantly
we started to make our way back, pausing briefly to admire
more White Mulleins and a small colony of Oenothera
cambrica Small-flowered Evening-primrose in a clearing just
off the main path. As we headed along the top of the bank
overlooking Fens Pool we could not resist stopping once again
to admire the colony of Inula conyzae Ploughmans-spikenard
growing on the top of the bank overlooking Fens Pool, and
yet another of the many intriguing plants found at this site.
Besides the plants Fens Pools are rich in other wildlife and
during our visit I noted Ringlet, Painted Lady, Small
Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown, Large Skipper, Large White,
Common Blue Damselfly and Broad-bodied Chaser.
Two further visits were made to Fens Pools later in July and
many more species were added to the list for this site. Our
record sheets have been submitted to EcoRecord and to John
Hawksford, the BSBI recorder for Staffordshire and will form
part of the BSBI database for Atlas 2020 which will provide:
Maps for both native and introduced taxa
Interactive maps able to display frequency and
distribution at a variety of scales
Analyses of changes, summarising the state of the
British and Irish flora in 2020
Should anyone wish to become more involved with recording
for Atlas 2020, information on how to do so can be found at
http://www.bsbi.org.uk/atlas_2020.html
Mike Poulton
Sambucus ebulus Dwarf Elder
Autumn/Winter 2015
DAW END BRANCH CANAL

12TH September 2015
Although it was a rainy Saturday morning there was quite a
good turnout. We started at the car park for Park Lime Pits at
SK032001, and recorded a section of the Daw End canal going
north.
Where we first encountered the canal there was a low, rather
bare bank and we suspected that a seed mixture had been
applied. There was much Leucanthemum vulgare Ox-eye Daisy,
a strangely coloured Malva moschata Musk Mallow, a single
flowering plant of Centaurea scabiosa Greater Knapweed and a
lot of Daucus carota Wild Carrot. There was also much Galium
album Hedge Bedstraw, which also might be an introduction.
However this is a limestone area and all of these species have
previously been recorded from this or neighbouring squares.
The towpath was studded with the flowering rosettes of
Scorzonerioides autumnalis Autumn Hawkbit, distinguished
from Crepis capillaris Smooth Hawks-beard by the relatively
narrow terminal lobe to the leaf and the feathery (i.e.
branched) hairs which make up the pappus (or parachute) of
most of the fruit. Crepis capillaris is usually taller with a leafy
stem but can be rosettiforme when grazed or mown and was
also recorded here. Strangely, we did not record the other
common rosettiforme dandeliony plant with a branching
inflorescence, i.e. Hypochaeris radicata Cats-ear, which usually
had hairier leaves and also has yellow, tongue-like receptacular
scales mixed with the florets in the flower head.
As always, Senecio jacobaea Ragwort was present, but also two
very similar members of the same genus. Senecio aquaticus
Marsh Ragwort, with larger ray-florets and a less dense head
than S. jacobaea and with the leaves less divided and with a
much larger terminal lobe was quite frequent. Also present
was Senecio erucifolius Hoary Ragwort, a plant of limy soils,
where the stem leaves are much more regularly divided into
narrower lobes than in S. jacobaea. Usually the leaves are much
hairier beneath than in S. jacobaea, but this feature was not
pronounced here. Later I was able to ascertain that the fruits
were all shortly hairy, even those derived from ray florets,
which confirmed S. erucifolius.
We also had fun with Willowherbs! We saw five species,

including both of the ones with spreading hairs: E. hirsutum
Great Willowherb and E. parviflorum Hoary Willowherb. The
latter has much smaller flowers, a less shaggy and more plushlike hairiness on the stems and leaves which do not clasp the
stem at the base. Both of these have flowers with deeply lobed
stigmas, as does E. montanum Broad-leaved Willowherb, which
lacks the spreading hairs and had more clearly stalked leaves.
The stems of E. montanum are covered in tiny glandular hairs
they glisten if viewed against the light with a hand lens which
is also true of E. ciliatum American Willowherb, but in ciliatum
the stigma is club-shaped.
E. obscurum Short-fruited
Willowherb has the same club-shaped stigma as ciliatum, but
has no glandular hairs EXCEPT on the sepals. Often these hairs
do not look to have glandular heads and appear as tiny
spreading hairs. In E. obscurum, the leaves are usually narrower
than in E. ciliatum. I tried to make some of the E. ciliatum into
E. roseum Pale Willowherb, because of the pale flowers and
longer-stalked leaves, but looking at the seeds with a x20 lens,
they were covered in neat rows of papillae, which meant it was
E. ciliatum. We also didnt see E. tetragonum Square-stalked
Willowherb, which lacks all spreading and glandular hairs. It
can often be picked out at a distance by its narrow leaves and
long fruits compared with other similar species.
In B&BC (but not here) there is also E. palustre Marsh
Willowherb, which is much more confined to semi-natural sites
than the others. It is glandular-hairy, and has very narrow
leaves, the fruits turn outwards in a very characteristic way. If
in doubt, it can be distinguished from the other generally
glandular willowherbs with a club-shaped stigma with a x20
lens, since like E. roseum the seeds lack the distinct rows of
papillae. The seeds do however have a prominent appendage
at one end. These seven are all the willowherbs so far recorded
in Birmingham and the Black Country. There are however
hybrids.!
I have summarised these differences at the end of this report.
Autumn/Winter 2015
Impatiens capensis Orange Balsam
Carex pseudocyperus Cyperus Sedge
In the stones of the canal column we came across a large,

broad-leaved sedge, which we suspected as being the rather
ruderal Carex pendula Pendulous Sedge at first, but the leaves
were too small 0.5 rather than 1.5 cm across and the ligule
1.5 cm rather than 4 cm long. Later we found it flowering and
it had the closely-clustered female spikes and sharply pointed
bracts and utricles of Carex pseudocyperus Cyperus Sedge, not
a common plant but commoner here than the typical canal-side
sedge Carex otrubae False Fox-sedge (which we also recorded).
Unexpectedly, there was also quite a lot of Carex remota
Remote Sedge in similar positions it is normally a plant of wet
woodlands. We saw several ferns both Asplenium rutamuraria Wall-rue and Asplenium trichomanes Maidenhair
Spleenwort were found, mainly on the bridges.
There were only four submerged or floating-leaved aquatics
recorded, but 13 emergents, including Acorus calamus Sweetflag, vegetatively rather like Yellow Iris but with leaves scented
when crushed and with one margin of the leaf undulating. And
Butomus umbellatus Flowering-rush with its narrow, spirallytwisted emergent leaves. Also both Sparganium erectum
Branched Bur-reed and Sparganium emersum Unbranched Burreed, the latter with largely floating leaves and emergent
unbranched inflorescences. Also Alisma lanceolata Narrowleaved Water-plantain we argued about the leaf shape, but
we found fruiting material in which the short styles were clearly
set close to the apex of the achenes, which differentiates it
from Alisma plantago-aquatica in which the style is longer and
set half way down one side of the achene.
The 15 marsh species included the beautiful alien Impatiens
capensis Orange Balsam smaller and (hopefully) less invasive
than Impatiens glandulifera Indian Balsam, the classic
Scutellaria galericulata Skullcap and the deadly Oenanthe
crocata Hemlock Water-dropwort.
Also the Bur-marigold with pinnately-divided leaves was the

alien Bidens frondosa Beggarticks with the apical lobe of the
leaf with a distinct wingless stalk and barbs on the edges of the
achenes (NOT the bristles) backward-pointing.
Bidens frondosa Beggarsticks
This species seems to be largely replacing Bidens tripartita

Trifid Bur-marigold along our canals. B. tripartita has the apical
lobe of the leaf scarcely stalked and the barbs on the achenes
forward pointing.
There were large numbers of grassland species including the
hemiparasite Odontites verna Red Bartsia and a good range of
hedgerow species including Viburnum opulus Guelder-rose and,
near the bridge over Daw End Lane, a large scrambling rose
with large panicles of small flowers which might have been
Rosa multiflora Many-flowered Rose but needs to be looked at
at flowering time in July. Another big group was the ruderals,
especially the perennial weeds, contributing 33 species.
The canal was quite cloudy and opaque and we recorded few
submerged aquatic species, but apart from that, the canal
corridor is very rich in species: we recorded 137 and we never
got beyond the SK0300 square. Richard Orton recorded
Humming-bird Hawkmoth. At the end we walked back down
the canal and, as always, recorded more species we missed the
first time!
Ian Trueman
Autumn/Winter 2015
Appendix | Erect species of Epilobium in B&BC.
Stem with spreading non-glandular hairs
Stem with glandular hairs
Sepals with glandular hairs
palustre
tetragonum
roseum
obscurum
ciliatum
montanum
parviflorum
hirsutum
Stigma lobed (not club-shaped)
Seed with extra appendage at hairy end
Seed with papillae on ridges
(not uniformly papillose)
Leaf petiole 2-15mm (0-4 mm)

Leaf decurrent and clasping stem
= present = more or less.

Note that all species except possibly hirsutum and parviflorum have at least some appressed hairs on their stems and
other parts.
E. lanceolatum Spear-leaved Willowherb has not been recorded in B&BC but there are rare records from neighbouring
areas. It has the key characters of montanum but narrower, more elliptical leaves (broadly ovate in montanum) with
petioles 4-10 mm (2-6 in montanum).
Many hybrids occur, they are not all that common and are usually robust and partly sterile and characteristic of
frequently disturbed habitats.
Flower buds of E. obscurum (above) and

E. ciliatum (below)
Seeds of E. ciliatum
Seeds of E. roseum
Autumn/Winter 2015
CLAYHANGER
15TH September 2015
Ian Trueman, Mike Poulton, Jane Hardwick and Yoke van der
Meer visited this site in SK0304 on 15th September 2015. The
purpose was to check old records for Oenanthe fistulosa
Tubular Water-dropwort, which was last seen there in 1990. In
late August 2006 ICT and Eleanor Cohn did a rapid botanical
survey of the site and the 2015 visit also gave the opportunity
to monitor change there. A full record was made of the plant
species we encountered.
The site was entered from Bullows Road, under the bridge at
SK03450490 which carries the mineral line which defines the
north west margin of the site. The bridge still bears plants of
Asplenium trichomanes Maidenhair Spleenwort as in 2006.
The pasture was being grazed by a small number of friendly

horses and is currently somewhat undergrazed. The pastures at
this point are pretty wet, with numerous ditches, Ranunculus
flammula Lesser Spearwort and Senecio aquaticus Marsh
Ragwort. We noted seedheads of Dactylorhiza Marsh-orchids
and assume that D. praetermissa and D. x grandis are probably
still present here as previously. In rather drier areas we noted
Euphrasia cf. nemorosa Eyebright and Ononis repens
Restharrow. The latter seems to have spread down off the
mineral line where we recorded it in 2006. There is quite an
extensive seasonal pond at circa SK033047 which seems now to
be totally infested with Crassula helmsii New Zealand
Pigmyweed, which also extends as a dominant almost wherever
there has been standing shallow open water in the pasture.
Crassula helmsii New Zealand Pigmyweed
Asplenium trichomanes Maidenhair Spleenwort
As we emerged into the site, four ravens took off and spent the
entire day complaining about our presence.
We moved westwards on to the main coal spoil tip at SK032046

and found Aira praecox Early Hair-grass, Aira caryophyllea Silver
Hair-grass and Nardus stricta Mat-grass as in 2006. We also
note both rosettiform and leafy-stemmed Hieracium spp.
There is still much open vegetation on this spoil tip, presumably
kept open by drought and nutrient poverty.
Beyond the spoil tip we headed south towards the second,

lower mineral line which (we think) forms the southern
boundary of the SSSI.
The damp pasture between the spoil tip and the southern
mineral line at circa SK031044 had Hypericum tetrapterum
Square-stemmed St. Johns-wort, Carex nigra Common Sedge
and Epilobium palustre Marsh Willowherb, an over-recorded
species but its long, narrow, linear-lanceolate, nearly sessile
leaves and its nodding flowers were conclusive here. The
mineral line still bears Viburnum opulus Guelder-rose, but at
least some of the Rosa Rose plants present had glandular fruitstalks and slightly hairy leaves and we thought that they were
Rosa canina x R. rubiginosa the hybrid between Dog-rose and
Sweet-briar.
Viburnum opulus Guelder-rose
The main subsidence pool lies alongside the mineral line and
still has a dense (possibly denser than in 2006) reedswamp with
much Schoenoplectus lacustris Common Club-rush.
Bidens cernua Nodding Bur-marigold
Autumn/Winter 2015
We looked for Oenanthe fistulosa but found none. The tall

swamp vegetation now comes right up to the bank of the
mineral line where there is a lot of Crassula helmsii although
we did also see Achillea ptarmica Sneezewort, Caltha palustris
Marsh-marigold and, much to my surprise, an abundance of
Bidens cernua Nodding Bur-marigold, last seen at this site in
1986. In 2006 we only saw Bidens tripartita Trifid Bur-marigold,
which we did not see in 2015.
The pool tails off at the eastern end into a ditch, which was
where I saw most of the Oenanthe fistulosa in the 1980s. Again
there was none to be seen in 2015 although the vegetation is
quite diverse.
Jane and I quartered the extensive pasture east of the pool
looking for the sites principal pasture rarity Cirsium dissectum
Meadow Thistle, but in 2015 we found only a single patch,
about 20 metres across, at SK03710464. In 2006 we recorded it
in several patches as far south as SK03600448. In 2015, as in
2006, we also noted much Succisa pratensis Devils-bit
Scabious, Comarum palustris Marsh Cinquefoil and Sanguisorba
officinalis Great Burnet, also much Agrostis canina Velvet Bent.
However the pasture as a whole is a little undergrazed with
much Juncus effusus Soft-rush and Juncus acutiflorus Sharpflowered Rush.
Meanwhile Mike and Yoke scoured the pool margin but did not
find O. fistulosa. They did however get a good haul of
uncommon species: Hippuris vulgaris Mares-tail, Equisetum
fluviatile Water Horsetail, Rorippa amphibia Great Yellow-cress,
Veronica catenata Pink Water-speedwell (with its fruits swollen
with a weevil Gymnetron villosulum) and Silene flos-cuculi
Ragged-Robin.
Veronica catenata Pink Water-speedwell

(with its fruits swollen with a weevil Gymnetron villosulum)
There was much Crassula helmsii, which has maybe taken over
the bare draw-down zone where Oenanthe fistulosa might well
have to establish itself from seed. Several other important
axiophyte plants from this zone which were present in 2006
were not seen: Lythrum portula Water-purslane, Triglochin
palustris Marsh Arrow-grass and Veronica scutellata Marsh
Speedwell. This is quite worrying, although still present were
Myriophyllum spicatum Spiked Water-milfoil and, with a few
flowers, Ranunculus peltatus Pond Water-crowfoot,
distinguished from Ranunculus aquatilis Common Watercrowfoot by its larger flowers with more overlapping petals
with pear-shaped nectar pits and slightly less divided laminar
leaves. Particularly striking were huge stands of flowering
Succisa pratensis and many fruiting spikes of Dactylorhiza.
One key plant in the reedswamp of the main pool is the
Cyperuslike Bolboschoenus. This has been identified as
Bolboschoenus maritimus Sea Club-rush, which is the only
species of the genus mentioned in Stace. However in the new
Shropshire Flora a similar plant at two sites is named as
Bolboschoenus laticarpus. Using a key by Hroudova et al.
(2007), on the basis of perianth bristles being persistent in fruit,
a fruit quite strongly triangular in cross-section and a smooth
and shiny fruit coat rather than one with a highly visible
polygonal network as is found in B. maritimus, the plant at
Clayhanger is probably B. laticarpus, but I will have to get an
expert opinion.
Autumn/Winter 2015
We did not have time to do much more and headed diagonally

across the mire to the entrance bridge, where in 2006 we saw
much Lythrum portula; this time we saw only Crassula helmsii
in suitable hollows. We were too late to do the sedges properly
but saw Carex nigra Common Sedge, Carex flacca Glaucous
Sedge, and were able to add Carex demissa and Carex panicea
to the 2006 list, due to late second flowering.
We also noted a area of drier, spoily pasture at circa SK036045
with much Centaurea erythraea Common Centaury and
Leontodon saxatilis Lesser Hawkbit, also the waxcap Hygrocybe
conica, Blackening Waxcap.
Aeshna mixta Migrant Hawker
Mike photographed a Dragonfly which was later confirmed by

Richard Orton as Aeshna mixta Migrant Hawker. He also
recorded the fungus Bolbitius titulus (=Bolbitius vitellinus)
Yellow Fieldcap on and around dung in the pastures. Those of
us who had not seen the site before were rather taken aback by
its botanical richness despite the excess Crassula.
We did not have time to go under the second bridge and look
at the wetland between the main mineral line and the A4124,
nor did we look at the pools area south of the SSSI, which had
been recently constructed in 2006. We hardly touched the
northern half (or two thirds) of the site and think that this
whole area ought to be subjected to a much more thorough
and detailed survey.
Ian Trueman
Bolboschoenus maritimus/laticarpus Sea Club-rush
Autumn/Winter 2015
SUTTON PARK FLORA

2015 - The first season of recording
1. Wednesday 25th March
We held our first field meeting at Sutton Park on this day. It
was well attended, although Westwood Coppice proved less
than exciting. There were some areas of native Hyacinthoides
non-scripta Bluebell along the perimeter path and a few small,
non-flowering shrubs of Prunus cerasifera Cherry Plum - the
latter of which we suspected are bird-sown. The woods are a
plantation mostly of Oak (we will have to decide which when
we have leaves!) and pine - Pinus sylvestris AND Pinus
nigra. The latter seemed mostly to be the very long, pale
leaved Pinus nigra subsp. laricio Corsican Pine, although we
thought a little of the shorter-, darker-leaved Austrian Pine
subsp. nigra was present, also one rather beautiful Pinus
pinaster Maritime Pine - we didn't really get even any fresh
leaves of this, but John and Monika Walton looked at the cones
and checked out the rather elderly fallen leaves against
Poland. There is very little field layer - some old thinnings have
generated (in SP0895 NE) some bramble patches including
what appears to be a very vigorous completely thornless plant
which we must look at again later in the season.
Rather more interesting than Westwood Coppice was the large
scrape in SP0896SE, created last year where there had been a
sewage spill. There is a lot of re-colonisation, and we expect
some new records, but it was too early to get a full
list. However there was quite a lot of a water-crowfoot, most
of which was clearly Ranunculus omiophyllus Round-leaved
Crowfoot which even had a few flowers, small (petals mostly 56 mm) but nothing like as small as in Ranunculus hederaceus
Ivy-leaved Crowfoot where petals are typically 2.5 - 3.5 mm
long. This is a good record - omiophyllus just about hangs on in
the roadside ditch by the Banner's Gate car park and has
reappeared in quantity across the path from Little Bracebridge
pool following the introduction of the ponies, but we
were in danger of losing it in the Park before that at its only

recent station in B&BC.
We returned to Banner's Gate and survivors went to look for
the winter-annual Cerastium semidecandrum Little Mouse-ear
in the fairly open grassland SE of Longmoor Pool, but the
season is not very well advanced and we could only find
possible leaf rosettes. Danny Squire pointed out a quarried
area by the road which will be worth looking at a little
later. We 'admired' a VERY prickly-leaved Sitka Spruce in that
area. Paul Reade pointed out a plant of Asplenium trichomanes
Maidenhair Spleenwort on the bridge below Longmoor Pool this is a newcomer to the Park, only recently recorded on one
of the railway bridges. Nearby was a population of one of the
broad-, green-leaved Snowdrops, which Paul later identified as
Galanthus woronowii Green Snowdrop.
We were also pleased to see a little lichens sub-group sprang
up and started work with us on the 25th!
2. Tuesday 7th April 2015

From the car park at Four Oaks Gate (where there was a single
plant of Iris foetidissima Stinking Iris) we headed west across
two quarter monads (SP1098NE, SP1098NW, despite ICT
getting very confused about which ones we were in), across
woodland with extremely poor field layers, poorer even than
Westwood Coppice. Although there were occasional patches of
bryophytes, no native Hyacinthoides non-scripta Bluebell was
seen. The woods are mainly Oak (probably including Sessile or
Hybrid Oak) with Birch (as much Downy as Silver Birch). Even
Brambles and Bracken were mainly confined to the margins of
clearings. Only Dryopteris dilatata Broad Buckler-fern and,
rarely, Deschampsia flexuosa Wavy Hairgrass seemed able to
cope.
We returned to Banner's Gate and survivors went to look

for the winter-annual Cerastium semidecandrum Little
Mouse-ear in the fairly open grassland SE of Longmoor
Pool, but the season is not very well advanced and we

These woods also included abundant and extensive wet
patches, equally barren and pretty disturbed, although a little
vegetation appeared in clearings, and included one or two
slightly better species such as Ficaria verna subsp. fertilis Lesser
Celandine.
In SP1098NW we hit a huge open area, where massive amounts
of Gorse has been removed (mostly Ulex europaeus Common
Gorse, from the remnants which were flowering), with a
mountain of debris still awaiting removal. The result is quite
promising, with considerable young Calluna vulgaris Heather,
some Ulex gallii Western Gorse, Carex pilulifera Pill Sedge etc,
but also much Bramble and young Birch.
From SP1098NW we headed south into SP1098SW into
woodland much more clearly mature plantation, with Larch,
Spruce, Scots and Black Pine, also Tsuga heterophylla Western
Hemlock-spruce, of which only Picea abies Spruce appeared to
be regenerating from seed. The field layer was no less (or
more!) devoid of a field layer. Eventually we approached the
northeast corner of Bracebridge Pool in SP 0998SE and enjoyed
the richer poolside vegetation, but postponed detailed listing
until later in the season. Once again we found both Ranunculus
hederaceus and R. omiophyllus, respectively Ivy-leaved and
Round-leaved Water-Crowfoots, both in flower. We followed
the path back into plantation along the eastern side of the pool,
noting the odd plant of Hard Fern Blechnum spicant in the
incised drainage ditches in SP0998SE, and a gigantic-leaved and
flowered Caltha palustris which looked distinctly
domesticated in the edge of Bracebridge Pool when we briefly
moved back through SP1098SE.
Autumn/Winter 2015
In the sandy banks to the north of the road by the car park
there was the basis of a U1 Festuca ovina Agrostis capillarisRumex acetosella grassland, where at last we found quite an
amount of Cerastium semidecandrum Early Mouse-ear in
flower, easily recognised from the combination of glandular
hairs and bracts with scarious tips. There was also material of
the larger, darker Cerastium glomeratum Sticky Mouse-ear,
also glandular but without the scarious bracts.
We then plunged north back into the woodland, which was
dominated by Birch, suggesting degenerate heath. Danny
suggested that the birch came in after fires had destroyed the
heath here in 1976. Eventually we struck (or rather squelched
into) the Gum Slade path, lined by many beautiful mature
oaks, spared in the last major timber extraction early in the
20th C due to not then being considered worth felling. The
field layer continued very poor. We were shown the levelled
area which is all that remains of the Mayors Arbour, at just
about the highest elevation in the park and once with
incredible views but now surrounded by tall Holly and Birch.
3. Thursday 16th April 2015

Eight of us explored Streetly Wood and its environs, starting
from Streetly Lodge (SP0898SE). In fact the Lodge is outside
Streetly Wood, as defined by the deer fence banks pointed out
by Danny. Nevertheless we found the odd patch of Circaea
lutetiana Enchanters Nightshade, which is sometimes an old
woodland species but often something of a weed, close by the
car park but also deeper into the wood.
Generally there is the usual vast excess of Ilex aquifolia Holly
under the Oaks and Birches (both Birches), with a few Acer
pseudoplatanus Sycamore etc, and we saw also a cluster of
Apples, mostly sufficiently hairy to be classified with Malus
pumila but at least one sufficiently hairless and rather spiny as
to suggest Malus sylvestris. Around the car park, we also found
a plant or two of Veronica hederifolia, we thought subsp.
hederifolia, Ivy-leaved Speedwell - this is apparently an unusual
record for the Park! We were also slightly surprised to see
how, despite the usual barrenness of the field layer, the odd
plant of Vaccinium myrtillus Bilberry gets well into the
woodland.
Ranunculus omiophyllus Round-leaved Water-crowfoot

(near Little Bracebridge Pool)
After a few lingering glances at the refreshments on offer at the

Boathouse Restaurant we paid our respects to the Druids Well
and investigated the shallow-soiled banks around the car park,
where there is much Parsley-piert (known to be Aphanes
australis Slender Parsley-piert from a previous visit).
We moved east as far as the railway and then south, where

some scrub has been removed from the edge of the wood and
where Calluna vulgaris Heather grows and Molinia
caerulea Purple Moor-grass is already starting to green up,
even though we are still in early spring. We plunged back into
the wood: Danny pointed out the signs of the Roman Road and
we crossed the extant road as far as the Golf Course margin
without seeing much of significance.

Along the road, there was quite a bit of Hyacinthoides nonscripta Bluebell in the edges of the clearings, along with some
aliens such as a probable neophyte Hypericum. We felt the lack
of Mike Poulton and must identify it later! Lucy Bastin had
emailed to say that we might still find the elusive Melampyrum
pratense Common Cow-Wheat around these clearings; none
was seen but it might have been too early for this
annual. Danny tried to find a single specimen of Corylus
avellana Hazel, which is known from this area and is
remarkably rare in the Park but we must have missed it.
Eventually we emerged westwards from Streetly Wood into
SP0998SW and into quite a fine mire, with Eriophorum
vaginatum Hares-foot Cottongrass as well as Eriophorum
angustifolium Common Cottongrass and two distinct patches of
Vaccinium oxycoccos Cranberry, not to mention Erica tetralix
Cross-leaved Heath etc. We must explore this mire in summer
but it was well worth a visit even so early. We saw Small
Tortoiseshell and Peacock Butterflies, Honey Bees and Drinker
Caterpillars. And a frog! We returned along the railway margin
much planted with Pinus sylvestris Scots Pine and busy with
goods trains.
4. Wednesday 22nd April 2015
Autumn/Winter 2015
A Horsetail, almost certainly all the hybrid Equisitum x litorale
Shore Horsetail previously recorded all along this stream, was
starting to grow and will later be prominent.
Eventually we were able to cross the stream and headed west
across heathland in SP1097SW. First we had lunch in the
woodland margin and were able to familiarise ourselves with
Carex nigra Common Sedge, with its terminal male spike, and
its lateral female spikes made up of flowers each with TWO
stigmas, which divides the small nigra group from the rest of
this type of sedge (subgenus Carex) in which the female flowers
have THREE stigmas. In the other type of sedge (subgenus
Vignea) as in Carex paniculata, the male and female flowers are
intimately mixed in a branched inflorescence and the female
flowers ALWAYS have two stigmas. We also noted several
plants of Blechnum spicant Hard-fern in the northwest-facing
stream banks.
Crossing the heath, the vegetation included acid mire to the
north with Erica tetralix Cross-leaved Heath, both
Cottongrasses Eriophorum angustifolium and vaginatum, and
an abundance of berries: Vaccinium myrtillus Bilberry, V. vitisidaea Cowberry, V. oxycoccos Cranberry and Empetrum nigrum
Crowberry. The Cranberries were ripe enough to sample pretty tart but quite pleasing! Tell me where else you would
find this richness in the English midlands!
This expedition started from the Blackroot Bistro, offering the

possibility of bacon butties and other delights. We headed up
the eastern side and then the northern sides of Blackroot Pool
in SP1097SE with little to see along the banks planted with
Black and Scots Pines, except for a patch of what appeared to
be Stellaria pallida Lesser Chickweed on steep bank under
pines. Yellow-green, already in fruit, but with a few flowers.
Later the flowers proved to have 0 petals and 1 stamen, the
calyx was up to up to 3.5 mm in fruit, smaller in flower. Seeds
from one capsule circa 0.9 mm in length.
Somewhat disturbed by the considerable amount of traffic on
the railway line to our left, we suddenly started to glimpse
white flowers through the trees to our right. We descended
into a perfect Alnus glutinosa Alder carr which has developed
on a miniature delta which has formed where the Blackroot
stream enters the pool. It was full of Anemone nemorosa
Wood Anemone in full flower, but there was also the large
yellow flowers of Caltha palustris Marsh Marigold, Athyrium
filix-femina Lady-fern, still completely without green leaves,
Chrysosplenium oppositifolium Opposite-leaved Goldensaxifrage, Valeriana dioica Marsh Valerian, Carex paniculata
Greater Tussock-sedge and a shrub understory of Viburnum
opulus Guelder-rose.
Moving away from the lake, the vegetation seemed to become
less base-enriched and a Sphagnum lawn with much Purple
Moor-grass developed, with much more Betula pubescens
Downy Birch in the canopy.
Eriophorum vaginatum
Hares-tail Cottongrass
Eriophorum angustifolium
Common Cottongrass
Further west we crossed the bank delimiting Upper Nut Hurst,

which proved to be the usual Oak woodland with a dense
understory of Ilex aquifolium Holly. One or two clearings had
allowed something of a grassy field layer to develop in places,
but there was also much planted Larix decidua Larch and the
occasional Picea abies Spruce.
We eventually moved south and east back into SP1097SE and
followed the western shoreline of Blackroot Pool. Mostly this
seemed transitional between the two types of wet woodland at
the northern end, but a bit more trampled by anglers and quite
treacherously swampy in places. Ian was of the opinion that
the slightly blue-green little sedge here was Carex canescens
White Sedge which is also known from Bracebridge Pool.

Later its clusters of neat little pale spikes will allow a definite
identification. Stace describes this plant as absent from most
of central England.
We finished by crossing the dam at the southern end of the
pool. Much timber has been felled here to protect the dam,
which has allowed Caltha palustris Marsh Marigold to flower
profusely but we also noted several weedy plants including the
seedlings of Impatiens glandulifera Indian Balsam. Matthew
valiantly pulled quite a few up and it must be a priority to clear
this later since it threatens the wet woodland to the north of
the pool.
5. Thursday 14th May 2015

This was forecast to be a very wet day and although perhaps
not VERY wet it was wet enough to curtail activity. Our party of
eight decided to explore the woodland beyond the railway from
Blackroot Pool.
In SP1097SE, from the car park we headed east across an
unpromising-looking piece of grassland which proved to be a
very unspoilt patch of Nardus stricta Matgrass acid grassland
(U5 Nardus stricta Galium saxatile grassland in the National
vegetation classification) with Juncus squarrosus Heath Rush,
Galium saxatile Heath Bedstraw and several grasses just
starting to flower including Festuca filiformis Fine-leaved
Sheeps-fescue, a species distinct from Festuca ovina Sheepsfescue, with finer leaves and spikelets (flower clusters) smaller
and almost or quite without awns. This seems to replace
Festuca ovina in the park. Also Poa humilis Spreading Meadowgrass, distinguished from Poa pratensis Smooth Meadow-grass
by its fine hairs where the leaf blade meets the sheath and with
both glumes of the spikelet with three nerves. The new BSBI
Grasses Flora (Cope & Gray) says that the fundamental
difference is that humilis has culms often solitary at the nodes
of the rhizome and only 1-3 branches at the lowest node of the
panicle. There was much Luzula campestris Field Wood-rush
AND the less common Luzula multiflora Heath Wood-rush, a
larger plant in which the filaments of the stamens are up to
twice as long as the anthers (more than twice as long in L.
campestris). There were also large dense patches of the
handsome sedge Carex binervis Green-ribbed Sedge, which
specialises in heaths in places going from wet to dry. The dead
part of its leaves are a very characteristic russet-brown.
Most of this heath is actually in SP1197SW and we must look at
it again later in the season.
Eventually we hit an area of Oak-Birch-Holly woodland, in
places a bit richer in the field layer than some we have seen,
with quite a bit of Hyacinthoides non-scripta Bluebell but more
of H. x massartiana, the hybrid of H. non-scripta with H.
hispanica Spanish Bluebell.
Autumn/Winter 2015
Compared with the native Bluebell, the hybrid H. x massartiana
has broader leaves, a less one-sided and more erect
inflorescence and flowers in which the bell opens gradually
into the free parts of the petals. In the native H. non-scripta
the leaves are narrower, the inflorescence is one-sided and the
flower more nodding and with a more tubular form with the
free parts more recurved.
There is a track running between the heath with an interestinglooking Dandelion in which none of the exterior flower bracts
are re-curved as they are in most of the common
species. There was also some patches of bare, sandy and
gravelly banks with Plantago coronopus Bucks-horn Plantain
and a few plants of Cerastium semidecandrum Little Mouseear.
We then crossed the railway bridge, which had several
Asplenium scolopendrium Harts-tongue growing from the
mortar on the one side and followed the road in the edge of
the park with a smattering of non-native species to the east
including a huge patch of the alien Lamiastrum galeobdolon
subsp. argentatum, Yellow Archangel with its prominent white
patches on most leaves, and an impenetrable thicket to the
west.
This track eventually joins the road which leads from Blackroot
Road back to the car park; we followed this (avoiding the cars)
and saw more aliens and some nice mossy banks and then
turned north at the next junction back into SP1097SE along the
metalled road which runs for more than a kilometre along the
eastern margin of the park. There are many intriguing areas of
wet woodland along this road, mostly with Birch and Salix
cinerea Sallow and Salix caprea x cinerea (the latter lacked the
strong ridges under the bark of second-year twigs found in S.
cinerea) and a little Alnus glutinosa Alder.
We got as far as SP1097NE along this road, and noted Primula
vulgaris Primrose in both quarter tetrads. This has not been
recorded in the Park since Bagnalls days and we could not
decide whether it is re-colonising from the gardens of the
adjacent houses beyond the Park wall. Some of the more
intrepid among us penetrated deeper into these wet
woodlands and found more Primrose, also much Chryosplenium
oppositifolium Opposite-leaved Golden-saxifrage, what
appeared to be the same Equisetum x litorale we found the
other side of the railway, big patches of Hydrocotyle vulgaris
Marsh Pennywort and a large sedge, not large enough to be
Carex pendula Pendulous Sedge, which we were hopeful would
turn out to be Carex strigosa Thin-spiked Wood-sedge, an
ancient woodland indicator and not previously recorded in the
Park. We agreed that these undrained areas are potentially
slightly hazardous and made the rule they should not be visited
alone.
By this time we were cold and wet and decided to continue
from this point on our next visit.
Autumn/Winter 2015
6. Tuesday 19th May 2015

Another wet day with a smaller team: Mike, Jane, David &
Ian. We started in SP1097NE and re-examined the sedge in the
mire by the metalled road. Mike had had a look at a specimen
we collected last time and we were now much less sure it was
Carex strigosa. Both Ian and Mike took further samples but in
the end we have decided we must wait until the fruits mature.
Here quite a large area of wooded mire stretches along the side
of the road and 100 m or more into the wood. Thinnish Birch
(both spp.), Willow (mainly Salix cinerea Grey Willow) and Alnus
glutinosa Alder. The flora was rich we added Athyrium filixfemina Lady Fern, three times-pinnate, translucent leaf stalks
and generally fragile appearance at this time of year, a good
range of old habitat flowers such as Angelica sylvestris Wild
Angelica, Caltha palustris Marsh-marigold, Comarum palustre
Marsh Cinquefoil, Galium palustre Common Marsh-bedstraw,
Lysimachia nemorum Yellow Pimpernel, Menyanthes trifoliata
Bogbean; Ranunculus flammula Lesser Spearwort, Silene floscuculi Ragged-Robin, Stellaria alsine Bog Stitchwort, Succisa
pratensis Devils-bit Scabious and Viola palustris Marsh Violet,
the uncommon shrub Frangula alnus Alder Buckthorn.
A delightful place but you need agility and good wellies! Carex
nigra, Common Sedge was now in full flower and the two white
stigmas in each female floret are very clear (three in most
similar sedges). In some wooded areas Molinia caerulea Purple
Moor-grass: is currently showing small round tussocks of broad
bright pale green leaves, surrounded by the white dead bases
of last years leaves. All this is really mostly just to mention the
axiophytes, but also a few aliens penetrate the mire, incuding
scattered Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora Montbretia (even in the
wet) and one plant each of the shrubby Cotoneaster rehderi
Bullate Cotoneaster and Fagus sylvatica Purpurea Copper
Beech (both not obviously planted). Eventually our way was
barred by a fence to confine the ponies. Beyond that, an
existing clearing had had much encroaching scrub removed and
had been quite closely grazed by the ponies.
This area must be looked at again in summer: it was too soon to
do the grasses properly, but in some slightly poached areas the
fine-leaved, sprawling Agrostis canina (fairly long, triangular
pointed ligule) were mixed with the coarser lessbranched stolons of the commoner Agrostis stolonifera (long
blunt ligule).
We noted a small Carex pilulifera Pill Sedge with downy utricles
and a distinct notched beak as we moved west on to a dry ridge
(an earthwork, known as the ancient encampment), planted
with Pinus nigra and much colonised by Betula pendula. Here a
simple heathland with much Calluna vulgaris Heather
predominated and we passed into SP1097NW, where we found
the little winter annual Aira praecox Early Hair-grass and many
non-spiny Ulex gallii Western Gorse seedlings in amongst the
Heather on the south west slopes.
Aira praecox Early Hair-grass
Further west we descended to the railway margin where there

were further mires with Juncus acutiflorus Sharp-flowered Rush
(unlike Soft-rush, it has true leaves which are hollow and have
tranverse septae at intervals. It is larger, taller, more erect and
forms more continuous stands than the similar Juncus
articulatus Jointed Rush), more Viola palustris in flower, and
another unidentified sedge like a very narrow-leaved Carex
acutiformis Lesser Pond-sedge which must also be investigated
when in fruit. There was some pretty clear Hedera helix subsp.
hibernica Irish Ivy on the railway bank but out of reach. We
then entered the well-known mire at Pool Hollies, once
renowned for much Drosera rotundifolia Round-leaved
Sundew, but recently almost bereft of it. We saw none, but
may be too early. We found Juncus bulbosus Bulbous Rush in
flower and located the well-known patch of Vaccinium
oxycoccus Cranberry. We were far too early for a full survey and
must return. At the north west end this site is bounded by a
considerable stream, and we noted Caltha palustris, Mentha
aquatica and a large expanse of Menyanthes trifoliata in flower
and more Comarum palustre and also Equisetum palustre
Marsh Horsetail (in which the central hollow in the stem is
much smaller than the surrounding ring of hollows as well as
the Equisetum x litorale Shore Horsetail with its large central
hollow and quite easily collapsible stems which we had been
seeing all day.
Equisetum x litorale Shore Horsetail

We had collected several pieces of this to make sure it was all
the hybrid and none was Equisetum fluviatile Water Horsetail
and will report back on this later. We would have liked to
follow this stream further into the woodland but time was
pressing and we decided to retrace our steps a little, cross
under the railway and follow the track on the north side of the
pool back to Blackroot Pool and the car park.
7. Saturday 30th May 2015

Seven of us started from the car park above the Boathouse
Restaurant. We had another look at the sandy banks across the
road from the car park where we found Cerastium
semidecandrum Little Mouse-ear. By now the annual grasses
Aira praecox Early Hair-grass and Vulpia bromoides Squirreltail
Fescue were in flower and we were able to confirm Aphanes
australis Slender Parsley-piert. We were particularly pleased to
find some tiny plants of Filago minima Small Cudweed, first
seen by us in 2005 and last seen here by Brian Laney in
2010. We crossed the road and walked down across the heath
towards the railway. There were some signs of scrub clearance
here in recent years and we saw most of the common
heathland plants including Danthonia decumbens Heath-grass.
Several moths were easily disturbed in the Bracken. Mike later
identified photographs as Petrophora chlorosata Brown Silverline, whose caterpillar food is Bracken.
At the railway we skirted the well-known Drosera rotundifolia
Round-leaved Sundew mire which we investigated last
week. Again we failed to find any Drosera, but the Vaccinium
oxycoccus Cranberry was now in full flower.
We crossed the stream and found ourselves in quite an
extensive area of deeply shaded mire, with many drainage
channels cut towards the stream well in the past. It was
reasonably species-rich although we didnt see a lot new. We
then followed the stream back to the boathouse and the
Bracebridge Pool dam. We proceeded clockwise around the
pool from here, where we saw quite a few youngish
Whitebeam Sorbus saplings which we thought were probably
the Sorbus eminens found mainly the other side of the
Boathouse although these were clearly not old, planted
trees. There was also a small sapling of Lime Tilia x vulgaris
under a bench. None of us remember seeing this except as a
planted tree. It wont survive for long where it has sprung
up! We didnt see any possible mother tree either.
We spent a little time examining the railway bridge flora at
SP099978 and saw the three plants of Asplenium trichomanes
Maidenhair Spleenwort which Peter Coxhead found last year
and the masses of Oxalis acetosella Wood-sorrel huddled at the
base of the bridge walls and nowhere to be found in its rightful
place in the wood! However mostly we examined the lake
margin flora, with its reedswamp full of flowering Menyanthes
trifoliata Bogbean with its usual accomplice of Comarum
palustre Marsh Cinquefoil. The swamp was strongly dominated
Autumn/Winter 2015
by the alien Acorus calamus Sweet-flag with its characteristic
leaves very much like those of Iris but paler green and with a
distinctive crimping of parts of the leaf margin.
However there was also plenty of Carex paniculata Greater
Tussock-sedge tussocks and stands of Typha angustifolia Lesser
Bulrush, Iris pseudacorus Yellow Iris and Equisetum fluviatile
Water Horsetail (with an even larger central canal and much
less well-developed whorls of branches than the E. x litorale
down by the railway), also some small patches of Ranunculus
lingua Greater Spearwort which is so common on Little
Bracebridge Pool.
Carex paniculata Greater Tussock-sedge
We only found one or two patches of the Utricularia

Bladderwort which floats between these plants around
Bracebridge Pool and one patch of Carex rostrata Bottle
Sedge. Most interesting were the wooded mires just inland
from the reedswamps: dominated by Sphagna and quite
treacherous underfoot. They were noted for considerable
amounts of Carex canescens White Sedge, now very scarce in
central England and now far enough into flower to be beginning
to be satisfactorily identifiable. At the northwest end of the
pool these areas become much more extensive and richer in
species. There was much Valeriana dioica Marsh Valerian still
in flower, many sedges and Dactylorhiza Spotted-orchids still
not identifiable to species, fertile Equisetum palustre Marsh
Horsetail and large stands of Anagallis tenella Bog
Pimpernel. We rejoined the path, just where it joins the main
path from the railway bridge to Little Bracebridge Pool and we
will continue from this point at a future visit.
7. Tuesday 9th June 2015

Just five of us this time hope we are not wearing people out!
set out around the northern edges of the Bracebridge pools.
We parked west of the railway line, and crossing the railway
bridge we noticed a striking specimen of the fungus Laetiporus
sulphurous Chicken of the Woods on a standing dead tree.

We finished exploring the wet woodland west of Bracebridge
Pool, eventually emerging south of Little Bracebridge, where
the Menyanthes trifoliata Bogbean was still flowering and the
sedges such as Carex echinata Star Sedge are starting to flower.
The Carex canescens White Sedge, found last time all along the
western side of Bracebridge Pool, reaches as far as the Crassula
helmsii New Zealand Pigmyweed-infested margin of Little
Bracebridge. Silene flos-cuculi Ragged-Robin was starting to
flower on the north shore and also the uncommon Veronica
scutellata Marsh Speedwell.
Throughout this area there was much incontrovertible
Dryopteris carthusiana Narrow Buckler-fern. Compared with
the much commoner Dryopteris dilatata Broad Buckler-fern, D.
carthusiana has narrower, paler fronds with completely pale
scales and clusters of shoots borne on a branched rhizome
rather than a single large shuttlecock. We have been seeing
many specimens with a bit of a mixture of these characteristics
and we need to collect material with developed sporangia,
since the hybrid between the two is not uncommon and pretty
sterile with poorly developed spores.
Autumn/Winter 2015
M. secunda has spreading hairs all the way up its stems (only
adpressed ones in M. laxa) and the flowers are distinctly larger
(not however as large as those of M. scorpioides Water Forgetme-not) and a different shade of blue. M. secunda is in most of
the ditches in the triangle. We didnt find it anywhere else in
the Park in the Flora survey (Readett had it only in SP1096, but
frequent there), nor did we record it anywhere else in
Birmingham and the Black Country and it is largely absent from
the east midlands.
After lunch we entered the wet woodland north of Little
Bracebridge Pool and attempted to find our way through it to
Bracebridge Pool. There is what appears to be a canal
connecting the two pools, and adjacent to this is a wide zone of
Alder/Birch woodland with an understory of Carex paniculata
Greater Tussock-sedge set in more-or-less continuous
Sphagnum lawns with Carex canescens.
Very beautiful, but difficult to traverse. Never come in here (or
into any of the lake margin mires) alone!
We decided not to enter the wonderful mire by Little

Bracebridge we think we have recorded it very well already
and spent some time examining the triangle of wetland
between the railway line and the paths from the bridge and the
tunnel. This had become dominated by willows which have
been kept cut back in recent years. The willows are a motley
crew we thought that apart from Salix cinerea, both Salix
aurita and Salix purpurea were represented, at least as hybrids,
but it is quite difficult to identify suckering willows.
This area is clearly the stronghold of Myosotis secunda
Creeping Forget-me-not, quite different from the Myosotis laxa
Tufted Forget-me-not, which has a population within the
Bogbean stands of Little Bracebridge Pool.
Myosotis secunda Creeping Forget-me-not
Carex canescens White Sedge
Away from the canal the tussocks thin out and a more varied
vegetation, with patches of Filipendula ulmaria Meadowsweet,
Juncus bulbosus Bulbous Rush and dense patches of Viburnum
opulus Guelder-rose seedlings (but no adults?), crossed by
numerous trickles (some with extensive iron bacteria) and, alas,
a HUGE patch of Impatiens glandulifera Indian Balsam. It may
just be controllable but another season will probably make it
ineradicable and likely to spread throughout the mires.
We found our way to the lake margin reedswamp, which is as
elsewhere on the lake but with oodles of Carex canescens and
quite extensive Carex rostrata Bottle Sedge. Close by the track
and the beach there is a nice flush with Potamogeton
polygonifolius Bog Pondweed. The patch of Ranunculus
omiophyllus near the seat could not be found this time, but
there was still plenty of Ranunculus hederaceus and also
several plants of Myosotis secunda, so that is still in at least two

different sites in the 1 km square. We revisited the gigantic
Caltha palustris Marsh-marigold by the lake and Mike took
some photographs. We made a few records of ruderals on the
dam, crossed the railway by the Oxalis acetosella, then crossed
the first unimproved acid grassland, then the ploughed
grassland back, past graceful black cattle, to where we could
see our cars.
9. Monday 15th June 2015

Just Ian and Mike this time. We spent some time trying to find
the fern Adders-tongue which Brian Laney found in the area of
grassland at SP0934397876, but to no avail. A hard plant to
spot and already well grazed this year. We then covered the
area between Streetly Wood and the railway line this includes
a lot of fragments of squares and we also wanted to check the
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Cotton Grass/Cranberry mire which we recorded on 16 April
for sedges, but we didnt add a lot. We then re-checked the
clearings along the metalled road for Melampyrum pratense
Common Cow-Wheat, but it is still elusive. Mike confirms that
the big St Johns-wort Hypericum we found in one of the
th
clearings on 16 April is not H. androsaemum Tutsan but needs
flowers for a definite identification.
From there we went under the railway through the tunnel
which emerges by Little Bracebridge Pool. Just to the
southwest of this tunnel is quite a nice little mire with some
Carex paniculata Greater Tussock-sedge tussocks and more
probable hybrid Horsetail Equisetum x litorale. There was a
single spore cone which we took to check for spore viability,
which turned out to be fully fertile, so here there is obviously E.
fluviatile. Just through the tunnel we climbed on to a high
mound of what must be railway spoil to the left of the path. It
was planted with a range of now mature trees including Tilia x
vulgaris Lime.
At the far end we descended into a large area of mire, which is
the continuation of the mire by Little Bracebridge Pool. Not
quite as good as that, it nevertheless contained large
populations of many of the choice species found there, such as
Pedicularis palustris Marsh Lousewort, Anagallis tenella Bog
Pimpernel, Valeriana dioica Marsh Valerian and a good range of
sedges, although we did not see Carex hostiana Tawny Sedge
nor Pinguicula vulgaris Butterwort. Probably most significant is
the extent of the Cirsium dissectum Meadow Thistle
population. Also there was so much Devils-bit Scabious
present, that it will look splendid later on if the ponies allow it
to flower. We also found an area with many little mounds
possibly originally grazed tussocks of Molinia caerulea Purple
Moor-grass or even ant hills (probably too wet for the latter),
most of which were covered in dense stands of Scutellaria
Autumn/Winter 2015
minor Lesser Skullcap, and we were impressed to find that we
were at the exact grid reference for this species given by Brian
Laney, who noted how rare it is in v.c. Warwickshire when he
found it.
Although this mire area has developed quite a lot of scrub it is
still very special and extends the tiny special area west of Little
Bracebridge Pool a further 200 metres west. This is a very
significantly large area of high quality mire! In the other
direction it extends well down the western flank of Bracebridge
Pool. Although the ponies were much in evidence, this area is
much more difficult of access and much less visited by people
than the area by the pool with Carex dioica Dioecious Sedge
and Pinguicula vulgaris Butterwort.
On our way back, a Blechnum spicant Hard Fern was discovered
on the bank of the stream and as we passed by Little
Bracebridge Pool we noted that the Campanula trachelium
Nettle-leaved Bellflower is still growing out of the bridge
concrete at it was ten years ago. We also noted more Myosotis
secunda Creeping Forget-me-not and flowering stands of
Nasturtium sp. Watercress; no seed seemed to be developing in
the latter: probably this is the hybrid N. x sterile. It took us
some time to find Montia fontana Blinks in the stream it
seems to be getting scarce.
10. Wednesday 1st July 2015

Six of us assembled in the Blackroot Bistro car park, and after
the traditional bacon butty set out south across the acid
grassland which we crossed from west to east on the 14th May.
Further south it includes areas of scrub as well as grassland and
it is not quite so interesting. We didnt see any Carex binervis
Green-ribbed Sedge for example, although there was a
reasonable haul of lime-haters such as Calluna vulgaris
Heather, Carex pilulifera Pill Sedge, Luzula multiflora Heath
Wood-rush and even Danthonia decumbens Heath-grass.
When we hit the relevant car park, we headed west in the
direction of Keepers Pool and hit an extensive mire north of
the fenced area adjacent to Park House.
This was mostly occupied by a tall herb community, rather less
acid and less nutrient-poor than many we have explored in the
Park, with much Glyceria fluitans Floating Sweet-grass, It was
however quite rich in species, and, noting that we need to
explore the fenced area eventually, we recorded Dactylorhiza
praetermissa Southern Marsh-orchid and Carex pseudocyperus
Cyperus Sedge one of the larger sedges with leaves 5-12 mm
wide and a characteristic Cyperus-like clustering of the single
male and long-stalked female spikes. Also, what appeared to
be yet more Equisetum x litorale.

Further west we reached Keepers Pool, which had a modest
submerged aquatic flora, mostly of Potamogeton crispus Curled
Pondweed. There is some wet woodland west of Keepers
Pool, mostly pretty impenetrable, and a fairly species-rich mire
with Carex echinata Star Sedge extends quite a way further
west beyond Keepers Well. We went further west than we
intended and crossed the usual field-layer-free woodland of
Lower Nut Hurst as far as Blackroot Pool before we found our
way back.
Some of us decided to check the sedge in the wet woodland
th
north of the railway at SP10709753 which we found on 14
May and thought might be Carex strigosa Thin-spiked Woodsedge. Both Mike and I had looked at the early-flowering
specimens on that date and had eventually decided it was most
likely Carex laevigata Smooth-stalked Sedge and this is what it
turned out to be. We had one previous record from the park, a
single depauperate specimen by a ditch further north in the
same area and were very pleased to find much better and more
abundant material. It had been last recorded by Bagnall in
1868 in SP0997 and is otherwise almost unknown in the
midlands east of Birmingham.
Autumn/Winter 2015
This time, these were definitely identified as ant hills by Peter
Coxhead, who secured some specimens which he later
tentatively identified as Myrmica scabrinodis, not recorded in
the Park since the 1904 VCH (and not absolutely certainly from
the Park then). He will ask Steven Falk for a definitive
identification.
This is one of the richer mires of the Park, with much Anagallis
tenella Bog Pimpernel, Carex echinata Star Sedge, Cirsium
dissectum Meadow Thistle, Pedicularis palustris Marsh
Lousewort or Red Rattle, Triglochin palustris Marsh Arrowgrass,
Valeriana dioica Marsh Valerian and Veronica scutellata Marsh
Speedwell (the latter in a dryer place than one usually sees it).
Strangely, no Carex hostiana Tawny Sedge or Carex dioica
Dioecious Sedge, or Pinguicula vulgaris Common Butterwort.
We found Scutellaria minor well into the scrub which surrounds
these more open mires (also the clusters of orbicular leaves of
Viola palustris Marsh Violet) and suspect that the scrub is
advancing. This area is clearly liked by the Exmoor Ponies (who
may be eating the Meadow Thistle flowers: we saw many
rosettes but no flowers) and Peter pointed out that they do not
appear to graze off the Birch which are the most aggressive
woody colonists.
Carex laevigata Smooth-stalked Sedge

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Scutellaria minor Lesser Skullcap - 3 August
11. Tuesday 4th August 2015

Eleven of us started from Little Bracebridge Pool and re-visited
the pink-flowered Scutellaria minor Lesser Skullcap mire visited
th
by Mike and Ian on 15 June which was first refound by Brian
Laney in 2009. It should be noted that Scutellaria galericulata
Skullcap will occasionally throw pink- rather than blue-flowered
forms and pink Skullcaps should be looked at carefully
especially if the habitat is wrong. The flowers are larger, and
the corolla distinctly bent, in S. galericulata. The Scutellaria
minor was abundant and in full flower in the mire at Sutton
Park and looked particularly fine where it completely occupied
a series of small mounds.
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Scutellaria minor Lesser Skullcap -24 August
Autumn/Winter 2015
We attempted to leave these mires to the northwest parallel

with the railway but were repulsed by a whole series of ditches.
Eventually we retreated back (only a little muddy) almost to
Little Bracebridge Pool (seeing quite a lot of Frangula alnus Alder
Buckthorn on the way) and then headed north-west towards
Streetly Clumps through extensive heathlands and heathy
grasslands which were only modestly diverse botanically.
Sadly the most interesting feature is a modern ditch (probably
designed as a soakaway from the Park margin, which displayed
Aira praecox on its edges and a new record for the Park,
Epilobium roseum, on its banks. There was much of the
nitrophyll Persicaria maculosa suggesting sewage pollution.
Eventually we reached Pony-proof fences and saw how the
ponies are limiting the dominance of Molinia caerulea Purple
Moor-grass. We found the Roman Road and were introduced to
its features by Mike Hodder.
We crossed the railway line and saw the whole structure of the
Roman Road including its marginal ditches and the series of pits
dug for the gravel which makes the road, at one of the best sites
to see them in the Park Who could fail to be moved by the sight
of these borrow pits, dug by hands so long ago and still visible in
the landscape!
Botanical group pause for lunch in Lesser Skullcap site
12. Thursday 13th August 2015

Although much of the land near Town Gate and the Visitors
Centre is heavily-used and closely-mown grass, fragments of
semi-natural habitat remain, notably patches of acid grassland
with Danthonia decumbens Heath Grass, Festuca filiformis Fineleaved Sheeps-fescue, Nardus stricta Mat-grass and Juncus
squarrosus Heath Rush. At this time of year, much grassland is
dotted with the yellow capitula of Scorzoneroides autumnalis
Autumn Hawkbit and that was the case here today. This
dandeliony plant, with its branched inflorescence can look
similar to mown or cut-down specimens of Crepis capillaris, but
the latter has leaves with a broader terminal lobe and the
pappus of the fruit has simple rather than feathery hairs. Both
are of course distinguishable from the equally common
Hypochaeris radicata Cats-ear since they lack the yellow,
tongue-like scales mixed with the florets. We followed the path
through scrub (with a single plant of Cotoneaster dielsianus) to
Park House.
The flora around Park House and in its orchard is humanoriented and not very typical of the Park. Perhaps the most
interesting species seen was Calystegia sepium Hedge
Bindweed, easily separated from Calystegia silvatica Large
Bindweed by its smaller flowers and the fact that the pair of
green bracts at the base of the flower do not overlap, so that
the sepals can clearly be seen between them. This is,
remarkably, the first record from the Park although the largerflowered C. silvatica is known to occur here. Also seen between
here and the padlocked entrance to the Park fenced reserve is
one of the large-leaved Cotoneasters, Cotoneaster rehderi.
The reserve is quite a large enclosure of wet woodland
provided with ponds and a network of fairly substantial streams
derived from Blackroot Pool. The woodland is a little more
botanically interesting than some in the Park, with much Alnus
glutinosa Alder, some Populus tremula Aspen and a little
Frangula alnus Alder Buckthorn. There is a patchy field layer,
including Blechnum spicant Hard Fern, Circaea lutetiana
Enchanters Nightshade, Filipendula ulmaria Meadowsweet,
and Hypericum tetrapterum Square-stalked St. Johns-wort and
we even found two plants of Ruscus aculeatus Butchers-broom
(presumably introduced, and previously recorded in the
grounds of Park House, but thought lost).
The larger pond was full of Nuphar lutea Yellow Water-lily with
some Elodea nutallii Nutalls Pondweed beneath (the leaves
were too narrow and pointed for it to be Elodea canadensis
Canadian Pondweed). The other pool has a large, broad-leaved
sedge, which judicious use of binoculars allowed us to identify
as Carex pseudocyperus Cyperus Sedge (we did manage to find
a plant not growing in treacherous-looking bare mud to confirm
this identification later).
Autumn/Winter 2015
Note we previously saw it just outside this fenced area on 1
July.
st
We moved downstream and by the cattle grid at the Toby

Carvery we noticed a patch of large, Sow-thistle-like leaves.
The inflorescences were well into fruit, which did not allow us
to know even the flower colour. Later, Poland suggested
Cicerbita macrophylla subsp. uralensis Blue Sow-thistle. It will
need to be checked next year in flower.
There is much mown grass in this part of the Park which offers
plenty of space for the casual visitor to relax and unwind. We
continued downstream and noted a modest set of trees and
shade-tolerant wetland species, even including Carex
paniculata and the large-flowered Senecio aquaticus Marsh
Ragwort.
Around Town Gate there were a few ruderals uncommon in the
Park such as Hordeum murinum Wall Barley and even Picris
echioides Bristly Oxtongue, and so back to our entrance point.
In returning the key to the Visitors Centre we checked a rocky
slope close by with what appeared earlier to be Spergularia
rubra and found that its characteristic bright pink flowers were
now open. Quite common in the Park it is rare in the rest of
B&BC.
13. Tuesday 25th August 2015

This is a record of the first of four visits to the Longmoor Valley,
all starting from Banners Gate car park.
Calluna vulgaris/Ulex gallii heathland - Longmoor Valley

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On 25 August about a dozen participants crossed the main

mire between the car park and Longmoor Pool. The land here
is initially dry to damp heathy grassland with Calluna vulgaris
Heather, Agrostis capillaris Common Bent, Nardus stricta Matgrass and Deschampsia flexuosa Wavy Hairgrass prominent
and occasional patches of Vaccinium vitis-idaea Cowberry but
rapidly gets wetter, with Erica tetralix Cross-leaved Heath,
Molinia caerulea Purple Moor-grass, Dryopteris carthusiana
Narrow Buckler-fern and a good range of Juncus rush species
Autumn/Winter 2015
and, in the wettest places, both Eriophorum angustifolium

Common Cottongrass and Eriophorum vaginatum Hares-tail
Cottongrass. Also even Vaccinium oxycoccus Cranberry and
Viola palustris Marsh Violet start to appear. We were too late
in the year to get a full impression of the sedges and we will
have to return earlier next year.
Galium uliginosum Fen Bedstraw Longmoor Valley

We tried to work our way northwards along the lake margin
and got pretty wet and muddy. We had to retreat quite a way
back from the pool before we achieved our aim and discovered
the relatively low-lying mires, probably produced by peat
cutting long ago, which are the refuge of Parnassia palustris
Grass-of-Parnassus.
Erica tetralix Cross-leaved Heath
The land became increasingly crossed by anastomosing ditches
which were more and more difficult for us to cross, especially
since the cattle had danced about in many areas. The ditches
seem to be associated with patches of Birch-Willow scrub
(mostly Betula pubescens Downy Birch and Salix cinerea subsp.
oleifolia Grey Willow). Eventually we reached the edge of
Longmoor Pool, with some indicators of increasing bases and
fertility such as Myosotis scorpioides Water Forget-me-not and
Glyceria maxima Reed Sweet-grass among some Carex
paniculata Greater Tussock-sedge tussocks, also the beautiful
alien Mimulus guttatus Monkeyflower. Species recorded
suggested, locally, base-rich but fairly nutrient-poor conditions
such as are associated with particular high plant diversity.
Choice species present in these patches included Comarum
palustre Marsh Cinquefoil, Menyanthes trifoliata Bog-bean,
Hydrocotyle vulgare Marsh Pennywort, Triglochin palustris
Marsh Arrowgrass, Valeriana dioica Marsh Valerian and Galium
uliginosum Fen bedstraw (the latter usually easily distinguished
from the more widespread G. palustre Marsh Bedstraw, which
lacks the sharp points to the leaves and has a much less rough
feel).
Just before seeing that plant, we encountered a population of

Euphrasia Eyebright in flower. Later John and Monika were
able to confirm it as E. micrantha, the first Warks record for 55
years. The Parnassia mires are not ones to be entered without
great care and probably not at all when Parnassia is not in
flower since then the plants are almost invisible. On this
occasion it was well in flower; something like 30 flowering
plants being observed although there were too many of us to
allow a proper assessment. It was flowering rather earlier than
the early September which is most usual here. It grows with
Valeriana dioica, Galium uliginosum and (less closely)
Eleocharis quinqueflora Few-flowered Spike-rush, which is
easily told from even extremely-dwarved Eleocharis palustris
Common Spike-rush by its less than ten florets in the spike and
the three, rather than two stigmas.
In this general area we also recorded Anagallis tenella Bog
Pimpernel, Pedicularis palustris Marsh Lousewort and
Pinguicula vulgaris Butterwort.
Earlier in the year an
impressive range of sedges can be added to this list and also
the pretty white flowers of Sagina nodosa Knotted Pearlwort.
We returned briefly to this area at the end of the session on the
rd
3 Sept and recorded one last flower of Sagina nodosa and a
further 50 inflorescences of Parnassia and the remnant of
fruiting inflorescences of Carex diandra.
Autumn/Winter 2015
A little work with the BSBI New Atlas of the British and Irish
Flora will soon show you how scarce is this assemblage and
many of the other species listed here away from the Derbyshire
limestone and the hills bordering Wales. Some reappear much
further east in the Fens, some not at all. These vegetation types
have been annihilated in the central lowland midlands except
here in Sutton Park, which is practically the only place which
shows that they ever used to grow away from the uplands.
Even here there is a tall, dense barrier of Epilobium hirsutum
Great Willowherb between these mires and the stream running
into Longmoor Pool, suggesting that highly fertile water
sometimes flows past close by, and only a few centimetres
below, the base-rich and nutrient-poor mires. Also bordering
on the Parnassia mires, close to where the stream enters the
lake, is a huge, sprawling, and probably expanding rhizomatous
shrub, the alien willow Salix eriocephala Heart-leaved Willow.
Persicaria hydropiper Water-pepper alongside

P. minor Small Water-pepper
14. Thursday 3rd September 2015

Eight of us headed northwest from Banners Gate car park to
re-examine the area which had been scraped as part of the
remediation of the sewage pollution incident. We were
encouraged by an email from Mike Smith, who had visited the
park recently with Martin Rand, the Recorder for South Hants,
who had been very impressed, compared Sutton with the New
Forest and noted a population of Persicaria minor Small Waterpepper in the scrape. None of us really knew Persicaria minor
and at first we were confused by the presence of extensive
populations of Persicaria hydropiper Water-pepper and
Persicaria maculosa Redshank.
Eventually Mike Poulton realised that the plant we were
looking for was superficially much more similar to P. maculosa
than to P. hydropiper, despite its name, with the inflorescence
much more rounded, denser, more discrete and pinkish than
that of P. hydropiper, although a size smaller than that of P.
maculosa. The leaves are also much smaller, without the black
blotch and almost linear in shape. Once we got our eye in, we
realised that P. minor is abundant almost throughout the
scrape.
Persicaria minor Small Water-pepper
Persicaria maculosa Redshank with

P. minor Small Water-pepper
We think that the most likely reason for its appearance here is
that it is present in the seed bank, since there are past records
from the Park and it was known fairly recently from SP0998.
Nevertheless the scrape does include a number of aliens,
presumably established here as a result of the disturbance.
We noted Viola x wittrockiana Garden Pansy, Myriophyllum
aquaticum Parrots-feather and Cyperus eragrostis Pale
Galingale. Drier parts of the scrape have a population of
Leontodon saxatilis Lesser Hawkbit, presumably also from the
seed bank and at the foot there was a population of another
large Hieracium-like composite which puzzled us. Later John
and Monika reported that it could only be Scorzoneroides
autumnalis Autumn Hawkbit. Presumably its luxuriance is
related to the dose of fertility received by the area from the
sewage outflow.
Later we followed the outflow from the ditch which borders the
scrape and runs west down into the valley, eventually to join
the main stream which passes through the Parnassia mire and
feeds Longmoor Pool.

We eventually lost contact with the ditch well short of the
Longmoor stream, since the ditch is (probably mercifully) not
very marked. A great deal of Birch scrub has developed in this
area; some has been felled but it is too isolated an area to be
cleared easily.
We did note that there is at least one quite diverse area of mire
at around SP091962 with Triglochin palustris Marsh
Arrowgrass, Hydrocotyle vulgaris Marsh Pennywort, Silene floscuculi Ragged-Robin, Succisa pratensis Devils-bit Scabious and
Viola palustris Marsh Violet.
15. Thursday 10th September 2015

On this day, our party of 9 visited the Longmoor stream in the
area of Rowtons Well. There is some botanical interest in the
wetlands west of the stream by the footbridge but we
concentrated on the area east of the stream and found some of
the choicer wetland species such as Hydrocotyle vulgaris,
Potamogeton polygonifolius Bog Pondweed and Viola palustris,
also both Vaccinium myrtillus and Vaccinium vitis-idea. The
well itself is not quite such a let-down as Druids Well, but held
little botanical interest.
The stream corridor is well shaded and might be worth a spring
visit although there are signs of eutrophication. We did,
however, in one of the open areas locate Mimulus guttata
Monkeyflower and a small colony of Ranunculus hederaceus
with leaves floating out into a slack part of the stream.
Autumn/Winter 2015
We crossed the stream by a fairly substantial bridge at

SP090966 and were pleased to find that it too bears Asplenium
trichomanes Maidenhair Spleenwort. We now have three sites
for this species first recorded in the Park in 2014. Also present
was Asplenium ruta-muraria Wall-rue, which although a
commoner plant in the conurbation was also first noted in the
Park only recently in 2009.
From here we headed towards Westwood Coppice across
grassy heathland, noting a Brimstone butterfly, and were
surprised to find more Persicaria minor in a number of small
wet areas along the path. These proved to be quite close to the
original scrape site, where we noted that the areas of open
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water seen on the 3 had already retreated considerably.
16. Friday 18th September 2015

On this day, 12 of us returned to the area east of Longmoor
Pool which we last visited in March. The area of SP0995NE
south of the main track had some quite well-developed wet
areas but surprisingly seemed to lack Erica tetralix. We noted
Large White, Holly Blue, Speckled Wood and Small Heath
butterflies and plentiful fungi including Boletus badius, Amanita
fulva and Psilocybe semilanceolata. From here we crossed the
corners of a number of squares of grassy heathland, although
the most interesting find was in the car park close to the model
aircraft flying area in SP1096SW, where Mike Poulton spotted
the last of Filago minima Small Cudweed plants. This little
winter annual was only first found in the Park in 2012 and
seems to be confined to sandy roadsides.
Heading back in the general direction of Longmoor Pool
crossing the model aircraft flying area Danthonia decumbens
Heath grass was located in the grassland along with many more
Psilocybe semilanceolata. Prior to returning to the car park a
couple of us examined the bankside vegetation of Longmoor
Pool close to the dam wall in the hope of finding Sagina nodosa
Knotted Pearlwort which has been recorded from here in the
past. None were found but a specimen of Carex demissa
Common Yellow-sedge found by Ranger Matt was an additional
record for this quarter km square.
Ranunculus hederaceus Ivy-leaved Crowfoot
17. Thursday 1st October

For our final field visit of the season, we ICT, MWP, Jane
Hardwick, John and Monika Walton, Yoke van der Meer, John
Bates and David Wall - met at the car park north of Powells
Pool.
Autumn/Winter 2015
The source of this (quite considerable) disturbance is not

known to us, although there is a quite extensive Badger set,
Here too fruiting bodies of Lycoperdon pyriforme Stump
Puffball were present, newly-emerging from part-buried wood,
the spine covering, which are lost on older specimens, clearly
visible at this stage.
By the gate we located a single tall Conyza plant, later

identified as C. floribunda Bilbao Fleabane by vice-county
recorders John & Monika. Nowadays many of these fleabanes
in Birmingham & the Black Country seem to be C. sumatrensis
Guernsey Fleabane, but the one we found today lacked the
softly and densely hairy leaves we associate with that, although
Stace instead draws attention to the smaller size of capitula
and the almost glabrous phyllaries found in floribunda, and
distinguishes floribunda from the equally small-flowered C.
canadensis Canadian Fleabane on the basis that the disc florets
of floribunda have 5-lobed corollas and those of canadensis
has 4-lobes corollas. Not sure that the last word has been
written on these species yet!
We set off west towards the northern shore of Powells Pool.
The grassland here is not very uniformly heathy but we did find
some Deschampsia flexuosa Wavy Hair-grass and Festuca
filiformis Fine-leaved Sheeps-fescue. The pool has a steepsided bank with a rather gappy marginal flora, similar to a canal
margin flora with such plants as Angelica sylvestris Wild
Angelica, Cardamine pratensis Cuckoo-flower, Mentha aquatica
Water-mint, Scutellaria galericulata Skull-cap, Solanum
dulcamara Woody Nightshade and Veronica beccabunga
Brooklime. These seem to be quite nutrient-rich waters,
although Agrostis canina Velvet Bent is also present, suggesting
nutrient-poorer areas. Here too, for the first time this year, we
came upon a few plants of the easily overlooked Isolepis
setacea Bristle Club-rush growing in a damp depression. The
western end of the pool is wooded, with a narrow Willow/Alder
carr beside the pool. This is the margin of Boldmere Golf
Course and is fenced, presumably to keep the cattle off the golf
course. Two of us did explore the carr briefly (and got very
muddy!). There are a lot of Carex paniculata Great Tussocksedge tussocks, also much Carex remota remote Sedge. The
willow is mostly Salix cinerea Grey Willow but also some Salix
purpurea Purple Willow, with its leaves quite long and narrow,
broader above, margin nearly entire, hairless, and tending
towards being opposite at the tips of the branches.
At the northwest corner of Powells Pool is a curious Apple: it is
completely hairless like Malus sylvestris, but the fruit and
leaves are much larger than Stace allows for the native
sylvestris and we therefore lumped it with the introduced
Malus pumila. Just here there is a large area of open scrub,
with sheets of Dipsacus fullonum Teasel.
Lycoperdon pyriforme Stump Puffall

.
We then passed northwest through extensive grasslands,
mostly neutral in character but including some more acid
Molinia purpurea Purple Moor-grass and Deschampsia flexuosa
Wavy hair-grass; we skirted dense woodland with impenetrable
Ilex aquifolia right down to the ground and out into the grassy
heathland east of Longmoor Pool which we had explored on
the previous visit.
We passed through the car park by the Model Aircraft zone
again and this time managed to find, close to where we found
Filago minima Small Cudweed last time, a single inflorescence
of the winter annual Cerastium semidecandrum Little Mouseear, with its characteristic scarious-tipped bracts, along with
many tiny, recently-germinated Aphanes (australis?) seedlings.
From there we mainly followed the metalled track back to our
starting point, mostly through acid grassland, frequently
dotted, east of the track, with a little Hawkbit, which was nearly
glabrous and which we thought was Scorzoneroides autumnalis
Autumn Hawkbit, but in fact the inflorescences were
unbranched and there were a few hairs on the leaves and those
were forked at the tip. This had to be Leontodon saxatilis
Lesser Hawkbit, smaller and less hairy than some of us are used
to seeing it.
Autumn/Winter 2015
We have all thoroughly enjoyed our series of visits to Sutton

Park this year and have been into 34 of the 52 quarter km
squares in the Park. We have left quite a lot of loose ends this
year. One might mention the sedge by the railway west of the
ancient earthworks, the need to collect spores to find hybrids
between Dryopteris dilatata and D. carthusiana, the sow-thistle
by the Toby Carvery and a lot of the wetland grasses and
sedges in July. We also need to collect Oak leaves and try to
assess the extent of hybridization between Quercus robur and
Q. petraea and we also need to collect material of birches to try
to estimate the degree of hybridisation between Betula
pendula and B. pubescens.
Leontodon saxatilis Lesser Hawkbit
Thanks are particularly due to Danny Squire and his rangers for
the support they have given us. We are already putting
together a series of dates for next year and hope as many of
you as possible will come out to this amazing site next year.
Many thanks to all who came out with us this year!
Grassland habitat
And so back to the car park, noting on the way a well-grown,
but clearly planted cedar. Cedars have most of their leaves on
woody short shoots, like Larches but evergreen, and these were
mostly over 3 cm long and bright green, suggesting Cedrus
deodar Deodar rather than the other species which have much
shorter and often glaucous leaves.
Map showing number of visits so far.
Ian Trueman
Thanks to all those who attended the Sutton Park Field Visits!
The names below are presented in alphabetical order by surname. Apologies
to those we have ommitted!:
Group photograph of those who attended on

st
1 October 2015
Ray Allen, Matthew Barker, John Bates, Maggie Birchall, Jackie Bloor, Jaz
Boparai, Sam Bucknell, Sara Carvalho, Paul Cox, Peter Coxhead, Will Fox,
Shirley Hancock, Jane Hardwick, Jackie Hardy, Mark Heeley, Mike Hodder,
Alistair Hughes-Roden, Alison Millward, Dave Mitchell, Adam Perry, Aden
Perry, Ellen Pisolkar, Mike Poulton, Paul Reade, Craig Reid, Mike Smith, Danny
Squire, Jane Tavener, Ian Trueman, Yoke van der Meer, David Wall, John
Walton, Monika Walton
Autumn/Winter 2015
Photographs throughout are by Mike Poulton with the exception of the following:
Orange Balsam (p. 5), Beggarticks (p. 5) and the close-ups of the willowherbs (p. 6) all by Ian Trueman
Newsletter design by Andy Slater
Contact Us
General Enquiries:
To find out more about the society including information on upcoming events and how to get involved please email us
at enquiries@ecorecord.org.uk
Events Bookings:
Ian Trueman: i.c.trueman@wlv.ac.uk
Mike Poulton: Poulton_mike@yahoo.co.uk
B&BC Botanical Society is also now on Twitter

Follow us: https://twitter.com/bbcbotsoc | @bbcbotsoc

B&amp;BC Botanical Society Newsletter - Issue 2 (2015)

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Newsletter

Issue 2 | Autumn/Winter 2015

was another fantastic

Sutton Park Flora

Clayhanger SSSI | Daw End

SAVE THE DATE!

Other dates for your diary:

Saturday 27th February 2016

Provisional Field Recording Dates 2016

Winterbourne House and Garden,

Hope to see you there!

2 B&BC Botanical Society Newsletter

The Perry Pond containing Ranunculus

Moving on from where the canal ends we headed along the

Ranunculus trichophyllus Thread-leaved Water-crowfoot

Once satisfied that we had recorded everything from the

3 B&BC Botanical Society Newsletter

On reaching the ridge and furrow meadow, known locally as

Osmunda regalis Royal Fern

Time constraints prevented us from exploring the large area

4 B&BC Botanical Society Newsletter

DAW END BRANCH CANAL

We also had fun with Willowherbs! We saw five species,

5 B&BC Botanical Society Newsletter

Impatiens capensis Orange Balsam

Carex pseudocyperus Cyperus Sedge

In the stones of the canal column we came across a large,

Also the Bur-marigold with pinnately-divided leaves was the

Bidens frondosa Beggarsticks

This species seems to be largely replacing Bidens tripartita

6 B&BC Botanical Society Newsletter

Appendix | Erect species of Epilobium in B&BC.

Stem with spreading non-glandular hairs

Stem with glandular hairs

Sepals with glandular hairs

Stigma lobed (not club-shaped)

Seed with extra appendage at hairy end

Seed with papillae on ridges

(not uniformly papillose)

Leaf petiole 2-15mm (0-4 mm)

= present = more or less.

Flower buds of E. obscurum (above) and

7 B&BC Botanical Society Newsletter

The pasture was being grazed by a small number of friendly

Crassula helmsii New Zealand Pigmyweed

Asplenium trichomanes Maidenhair Spleenwort

We moved westwards on to the main coal spoil tip at SK032046

8 B&BC Botanical Society Newsletter

Beyond the spoil tip we headed south towards the second,

Viburnum opulus Guelder-rose

Bidens cernua Nodding Bur-marigold

We looked for Oenanthe fistulosa but found none. The tall

Veronica catenata Pink Water-speedwell

9 B&BC Botanical Society Newsletter

We did not have time to do much more and headed diagonally

Aeshna mixta Migrant Hawker

Mike photographed a Dragonfly which was later confirmed by

10 B&BC Botanical Society Newsletter

SUTTON PARK FLORA

were in danger of losing it in the Park before that at its only

2. Tuesday 7th April 2015

We returned to Banner's Gate and survivors went to look

11 B&BC Botanical Society Newsletter

3. Thursday 16th April 2015

B&BC Botanical Society Newsletter - Issue 2 (2015)

B&BC Botanical Society Newsletter - Issue 2 (2015)