DHBlog032 · A report with some botanical aide-mémoires by Fiona Wood
On 27th April, members of the Dorset Flora Group met for a rescheduled Beginners' Woodland Flora ID Walk at Bonsley Wood near Durweston. The wood is within Forestry England's Hillcombe Coppice but is managed by the Dorset Coppice Group who have their Living Classroom base there. They kindly gave us permission to use the wood for our walk and on the day were out coppicing a coupe at the northern end. It was good to meet them, stand by their fire to warm up and even have one of them come along with us.
Since this was a beginners' walk, we stopped and looked at all the plants we came across using both common and scientific names, with participants ticking the species off on the Dorset Flora Recording Card. There were certainly a few participants who were far from beginners and who could have led the walk themselves but it was great to have them all along! We found plenty of Ancient Woodland Indicators and Dorset Notable Species such as Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta), Ramsons (Allium ursinum), Wood Spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides), Early Dog-violet (Viola reichenbachiana), Hairy Wood-rush (Luzula pilosa) and Wood Melick (Melica uniflora).
I have gathered a few weird and wacky ID tips over the years and shared these with the group. I often need a little trick to help me remember the names of plants and their ID features. Here’s a little taster:
Broad Buckler-fern (Dryopteris dilatata)
The pinnules closest to the stem or rachis point upwards parallel to the stem but the lower pinnules are angled outwards. If you use your imagination a bit, those lower pinnules look like the outstretched arms a butler would use to hold a tray. Then imagine that butler is serving up dill and tartar sauce and voilà – dilatata! Alternatively, you could be a bit more scientific about it. As we all know, dilated means wider/more open, so you could think about the pinnules being spread out on the lower side or dilated.
Primrose (Primula vulgaris)
A Primrose is hopefully still a plant that a lot of children can identify, so I didn’t want to insult anyone by pointing this one out. However, for a long time I could never remember how to tell the difference between Primrose and Cowslip (Primula veris) vegetatively. Which has a leaf that tapers gradually to a short stalk, and which has a longer stalk with the leaf stopping more abruptly some way up the stalk? I’ve cracked it now with the aid of a hungry cow. Just imagine a cow eating a lollipop – Cowslip leaves are more like lollipops while Primrose leaves taper gradually.
Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys) and Wood Speedwell (Veronica montana)
It’s important to be able to differentiate these two since Wood Speedwell is an Ancient Woodland Indicator and Dorset Notable Species, while Germander Speedwell isn’t. Fortunately, it’s easy to tell them apart – Wood Speedwell has hairs all round the stem and Germander Speedwell has them in two rows on either side of the stem. Sophie, who attended the walk, was able to share her helpful way to remember – the hairs are like two lines of German soldiers in Germander.
Bush Vetch (Vicia sepium) and Common Vetch (Vicia sativa)
When flowering, these two are easy enough to tell apart. The flower of Bush Vetch usually has a darker purple, sometimes washed-out look to it with up to six flowers in a flowerhead. Common Vetch has a pinker flower with only one or two flowers per flowerhead. But when you’ve only got the leaves to go on they can look very similar. If you look closely, the leaves of Bush Vetch are more oval and look like eggs on a shelf, whereas those of Common Vetch are generally more elongate. You find eggs on a shelf in a supermarket and sep for sepium sounds a bit like supermarket – well, a little more so than sat. My links for telling these two apart may be a bit too tenuous!
Giving plants a sniff is often a handy way to make sure you're on the right track. When you've sniffed them once you ought to remember the smells for next time:
Yellow Archangel (Lamiastrum galeobdolon) has a delicate hint of Cucumber.
Wood Sage (Teucrium scorodonia) has a smell not too dissimilar to Garden Sage, although quite a lot less pungent.
Hedge Woundwort (Stachys sylvatica) is a real stinker and you'll regret rubbing the leaves of that one.
Figworts (Scrophularia sp.) smell a bit like peanuts.
Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum) has a soapy slightly floral fragrance.
