DHBlog024 · An article by Robert Sharp
I am thinking about another extreme. If I say Dandelions, you might think of extreme boredom, or extreme stupidity, but I think, now, thanks to Professor John Richards' new book, this is an extreme botany that is well suited to those in Dorset looking for a challenge. Admittedly, when I had a first stab at Dandelions using the old BSBI Dandelion guide, extreme frustration on my part was the outcome.
The book in question is "Field Guide to British and Irish Dandelions" BSBI Handbook No. 23, published in 2021, and it is that time of year when the Dandelions are ready to test us. You will need some equipment: The Book, for a start; a camera to take pictures in the field before you harvest and before you press; a sharp knife to harvest your specimens at the top of the root (Richards provides advice on taking specimens); a field press because putting specs in a bag for even as little as 30 mins can make them harder to identify; lots and lots of blotting paper (I got mine from a local art supplies shop); plenty of flimsies (I got a ream of paper from a removal company); some small tags to attach to your plants to keep tabs on them, because otherwise you will soon be overwhelmed with specimens; and a heavy press able to bear down on the growing wadge of blotting paper, flimsies and plants as the month progresses.
You also need to be systematic: in recording where and when you got your specs; in writing down all the little details of each plant that may or may not be needed to reach a conclusive identity; and, the one I definitely failed at, in capturing and recording mature achenes or seeds. You can leave flower heads on the plant and hope they mature or you can set aside some flowers without pressing to give them a better chance. You can also put these in water but I didn't find that necessary. However, I admit, that by the end of the season I had a whole bunch of clocks discharging themselves around the office and packets of seed I had collected and I lost track of which belonged to which. Fortunately, achenes are not needed for all identifications.
Last year I collected about 20 specimens, which stretched my blotting paper supply to the limit. You are advised to change the paper often to speed up the drying process, so you either need an awful lot or you need to limit how many specs you have in the drying process at one time. I would advise the latter. Of those 20 I managed to identify about six species and although I had a few duplicates, it looks like I failed to identify quite a few. This was largely down to my disorganized approach to collecting seeds. And perhaps because I was not systematic enough in relating images to specimens.
Was it worth it? Yes, definitely! I was lucky in finding plants in my own garden that I identified as Taraxacum amicorum. This species has only recently been found in the UK and only in an area around Taunton, so I didn't believe it at first. I contacted Professor Richards and he was very quick to confirm the ID. This year I have to explore how widespread this community is but I will also be collecting again and, I hope, managing my seeds and images a little better than last year.
Why bother? Well, if I was to suggest, for example, that identifying individual species of Dactylorhiza was not worth the effort I suspect there would be an outcry. There are 240 species of Dandelion recognised in the UK and they vary in a wide range of characteristics and distributions. Some species are only found in a few specific locations, such as Shetland or the Scottish Highlands. Like any other plant, the more we know about these taxa the better we understand how they interact with their environment. The new Field Guide makes this knowledge far more accessible than before, so what is to stop you? Why not give it a go!
But hurry! Dandelions can only be reliably identified in their first flowering. Any growth after that becomes too varied. So, given the season has just about started, you only have until the end of April! At least the weather is improving?
PS: If you do collect some records they will need to be verified and at the moment Prof Richards is the only person who can do this. Don't enter them onto Living Record unless you plan to get them verified.