DHBlog015 · A review by Robin Walls (Dorset Flora Group AGM, Dec 2022)
Atlas coverage
The two maps show total numbers of species recorded in 1km squares on Living Record since records began and since 2020, where there have been fewer records, but exhibiting the same geographical spread.
Below are the number of records annually from 2000 to 2021 as recorded on the BSBI database.
Lobelia urens at Silverlake and Hurst Heath
For the first time at Silverlake three flowering spikes of Lobelia urens (Heath Lobelia) were found outside the enclosure where Hurst Heath plants had previously been planted. Work is planned to control the sallow and other shrubs threatening to overwhelm the site. Mentha pulegium (Pennyroyal) is also doing well.
At Hurst Heath the vigorous Molinia growth and bramble need controlling. A working party is planned for February with the help of Alaska Ecological Contracting.
Ferns Workshop 2022
In September Dr. Fred Rumsey gave us a workshop on British ferns at Kingcombe. After lunch he showed us some of the ferns and horsetails in the reserve. In October, he returned to Dorset to investigate a 2018 report from Mark Gurney of Gymnocarpium dryopteris (Oak Fern) at Arne. After a lot of searching he found two patches of around 20 small plants. The only other record for Dorset was in 2014 in the gardens of Forde Abbey where I presume it was planted.
Gymnocarpium dryopteris: by Thomas Moore ; edited by John Lindley ; nature-printed by Henry Bradbury., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Dorset is well outside its known range in Britain as seen on the above map from the BSBI’s Distribution Database.
Dorset Rare Plant Register
Currently there are 341 taxa in the DRPR. 141 of these are of least concern (LC) and the remainder range from Near Threatened to Extinct in the Wild.
New Records
A new addition to the Rare Plant Register is Valerianella rimosa (Broad-fruited Cornsalad). Alex Mills re-found this along the coast path; the first sighting in Dorset since 1987. This archaeophyte had been know in the county from 1843 when it was found on Portland by G.S.Gibson, but it had always been scarce. The critically endangered species has suffered a 74% decline in area of occupancy across the whole of England.
Astragalus glycyphyllos (Wild Liquorice) was found in a small wood at Chettle during an SNCI survey early in the year. Carolyn Steele and Mariko Whyte were able to identify the plant from the very young shoots they found. We returned later in the year to confirm the identification.
This is the third site in Dorset for this native plant and there may be others in the copses scattered across Cranborne Chase.
Illecebrum verticillatum (Coral Necklace) is a small plant that occurs sporadically in Dorset. It is more common in the New Forest. It may be spreading. Jon Crewe and Robert Sharp found it at Lower Common, Verwood.
The most extraordinary new find this year was Juncus capitatus (Dwarf Rush). Bryan Edwards found several hundred plants in tightly mown unimproved acid grassland with bare areas at the Royal Logistics Corps’ School of Petroleum, West Moors. This is the only site for this species outside Cornwall and the Channel Islands, apart from a declining population in Anglesey; and it is also the most inland site. One can only imagine seed was carried here on military vehicles.
Editor’s Note: some of you may know this as RAOC West Moors. You may be surprised to learn that the Royal Army Ordnance Corps was merged into the Royal Logistics Corps back in 1993, some thirty years ago.
Flowering times
Recent posts on the DFG WhatsApp group have been of plants flowering unexpectedly late in the year. Is this a postponement due to the summer drought, or the mild autumn persuading the plants that spring is starting very early?
Here are some of the more remarkable:
Species | | Recorded by | days late | days early |
Daucus carota | Wild Carrot | Smith, T&J | 74 | 201 |
Verbascum thapsus | Great Mullein | Smith, P. | 84 | 191 |
Polygala serpilifolia | Heath Milkwort | Hall, D. | 87 | 127 |
Thesium humifusum | Bastard Toadflax | Masters, S. | 92 | 183 |
Cornus sanguinea | Dogwood | Smith, P. | 105 | 201 |
Rosa spinisissima | Burnet Rose | Masters, S. | 123 | 152 |
Viola odorata | Sweet Violet | Holloway, D. | 206 | 71 |
Ruscus aculeatus | Butchers Broom | Walls, R.M. | 233 | 44 |
Urban Flora & Road Verges
Tom and Jean Smith’s road verge survey is well described in the Dorset Heath Blog. It has been suggested that we might pay more attention to our urban/suburban flora. For example, we could compare street diversity by collecting in a standardised way: Record a sample length – say 30m – as we would for a hedgerow survey.
Courses
The BSBI will run the Identiplant course in 2023. In Dorset the course will operate through the Dorset Wildlife Trust Kingcombe hub where you should apply if you wish to improve your basic understanding of botany and the use of keys. Details can be found on the DWT website.
2020-29 recording options
An updated list of worthwhile activities includes:
Site recording:
reserves (DWT, RSPB, NT etc.)
SNCIs and other worthwhile sites
military camps.
Dorset Rare Plant Register
update records (341 spp)
audit species of concern (26 spp not seen since 2000).
autecology of RPR species
Monitoring
DWT: Kingcombe, Wild Woodbury
NT: Purbeck, Kingston Lacy and Golden Cap estates
Purbeck Heaths National Nature Reserve
New Year Plant Hunt
Tom & Jean Smith coordinating
Cinderella spaces
pavement flora project.