Galanthophilia

Snowdrops are still in flower and it's a good time to record them from your local area. The most frequent species naturalised locally is Snowdrop Galanthus nivalis, which can be recognised by its entirely glaucous (blue-green) leaves which are flat and less than 1cm in width. The inner tepals have a green patch at the apex only. This is the species that is so abundant in Old Sulehay Forest and at Orton Woods.

G.nivalis in Old Sulehay Forest

Quite often the double form 'flore pleno' can be found. This is present in Thorpe Wood NR and in many churchyards.

G.nivalis 'Flore Pleno' in Thorpe Wood

There are three other species that may be found occasionally in our area, most frequently in churchyards and cemeteries where they may originally have been planted. All three can be found in St. Botolph's Churchyard at Longthorpe.

The most distinctive perhaps is Woronow's Snowdrop Galanthus woronowii, as it is the only snowdrop that has a clear green leaf with no trace of glaucous colouration. Like G. nivalis, this species only has a green patch at the tip of the inner tepal. This appears to be fully naturalised in Longthorpe Churchyard, and I have also seen much smaller groups in several Lincolnshire churchyards this spring.

G.woronowii well established in Longthorpe Churchyard

Flowers of G.woronowii

Greater Snowdrop Galanthus elwesii has very glaucous leaves, but at least one will be more than 1.5cm wide after flowering, the leaves have their margins rolled when they are young and have a hooded apex. This species can have green patches at either just the apex, or at the base and apex of the inner tepals. I've never seen this species in large numbers, but it is occasionally present at low frequency in populations of G.nivalis.

G.elwesii in Longthorpe Churchyard

G.elwesii

The last species is perhaps the rarest, and in some ways can be the trickiest to identify. Pleated Snowdrop Galanthus plicatus has glaucous leaves, but the margins are folded under at least along most of the length, especially when young. Although this sounds a relatively easy character it can be quite tricky to notice. The leaves are also supposed to have a paler central band on the upper side. Like G. elwesii, the inner tepals can be marked with green either just at the tip (subsp. plicatus) or at the apex and base (subsp. byzantinus).

G.plicatus in Longthorpe Churchyard

G.plicatus subsp. plicatus

Do have a closer look at your local snowdrops in the next couple of weeks and see if you can spot some of the less frequent species. Of course, like many plants, they will hybridise, but that's another story...

Hybrid thistle

Having finished writing a long report, I was in need of some fresh air, so pottered off to Castor Hanglands. I wasn't really botanising, just trying to clear my head, but I then spotted a thistle that looked odd. The flower structure was like Cirsium arvense, but a somewhat deeper and redder shade of purple than usual, and the stem was partially winged. It was growing close to a patch of C.arvense, but there was also a very typical C.palustre growing close by.

Winged stem

Reddish-purple flowers

The intermediate features fit the hybrid between C.arvense and C.palustre, which goes by the snappy name of C. x celakovskianum. It seems to be a fairly rare cross, and doesn't seem to have been recorded from VC32 before, though I don't suppose many people look that hard at thistles!

False grass-poly

I've been very engrossed in report writing, so field time has been limited. Nevertheless I was surprised to find a plant I didn't recognise at all on a quick dog-walk to Ferry Meadows. It was growing in a shady area along the old route of the A47. At first glance I thought it might be a weird purple loosestrife Lythrum salicaria, but there were only one or two flowers in each axil. In Stace it keys out to false grass-poly Lythrum junceum, a casual bird-seed alien, though I have to say it was an unusually robust specimen. Certainly people do scatter bird seed close-by, and this could be the source. It seems to be only the second record for VC32!

A multitude of mulleins

Recently I've been working on some land close to the East Coast mainline, which is one of the richest sites I know for mulleins. These can be rather puzzling, as like many taxa, they hybridise freely. So far I've recorded at least nine taxa, although only eight this year. These include:

Great mullein Verbascum thapsus

This is by far the commonest species, and has the anthers of the two lower stamens asymmetrical, branched hairs, decurrent leaves and a capitate stigma. All the hairs on the anthers are white and it normally has an unbranched inflorescence.

Dark mullein Verbascum nigrum

Once again the flowering stem is usually simple or sparsely branched but the anthers are all reniform and symmetrical, many hairs on the filaments are violet, there are several flowers per node and each pedicel has two small bracteoles, the pedicels are of variable length and the bases of the leaves are cordate.

Verbascum x semialbum (V. thapsus x V.nigrum)

This is by far the commonest hybrid in the genus and is quite frequent where both parents occur. All anthers are reniform and symmetrical, and usually the upper 3 filaments have violet hairs and the lower 2 white hairs, though there can also be a rather more random mix.

Hoary mullein Verbascum pulverulentum

A local species of East Anglia, whose spectacular branched inflorescences can often be seen on road verges, particularly along the A14 in Suffolk and the A47 round Norwich. The anthers are all reniform and symmetrical, and the filaments have dense white hairs. The leaves are are mealy and the hairs gradually rub off (they're also very irritant!). This one is pretty unmistakable.

Verbascum x mixtum (V.nigrum x V.pulverulentum)

A rare hybrid with the spectacularly branched inflorescence of V.pulverulentum, but with a mix of purple and white hairs on the filaments of the anthers, which are all reniform. The leaves are softly hairy, with some purple colouration along the main vein.

Caucasian mullein Verbascum pyramidatum

Superficially quite similar to V. x mixtum in the branched inflorescence and presence of violet hairs on the filament. However, there is only one flower per node in the axil of the bract, with no bracteoles and the leaves have a very different texture, being rather crinkled.

Twiggy mullein Verbascum virgatum

This is possibly native in the west country, but is a fairly frequent casual of waste places elsewhere. The anthers are asymmetrical, the stem has glandular hairs for the whole of its length and the inflorescence is usually simple with yellow flowers and violet hairs on the filaments. The main characters separating it from moth mullein V.blattaria are that there are usually more than one flower per node in the lower part of the inflorescence and the pedicels are mostly shorter than the calyx.

White mullein Verbascum lychnitis

A rare species of southern England, which is also occasionally established on brownfield sites. The anthers are reniform and all the hairs on the filaments are white. The flowers are normally white (although they can be yellow) and the inflorescence is usually branched although it may be feebly so in stunted specimens.

Pain-free nettles

If you're by a river bank or in a fen, keep a look out for stinging nettles with particularly long, narrow leaves. And then if you're feeling brave, try brushing your hand against them. The chances are you won't be stung, as this leaf shape is very characteristic of Urtica dioica subsp. galeopsifolia, the stingless nettle.

The classic locality for this subspecies is Wicken Fen, but it occurs more widely in damp habitats. The images above were taken on the bank of the River Nene at The Boardwalks LNR, where it occurs alongside the normal painful nettle, as well as with some intermediates.

If you examine the leaves closely you'll find that there are scarcely any stinging hairs, but instead there is an indumentum of dense simple hairs. The lowest flowering branches are at nodes 13-22 and it flowers from mid-July onwards, about a month later than common nettle. 

The Local Patch

Spent a few hours today recording in my local tetrad TL19U, visiting Thorpe Hall Grounds, Holywell Fish Ponds and several local streets. Lots of interesting finds, taking my total to somewhere over 370 species. Highlights so far include:

A good population of bee orchid Ophrys apifera at Thorpe Hall, with more scattered records from Thorpe Meadows

A single pyramidal orchid Anacamptis pyramidalis at Thorpe Hall

A strong population of salsify Tragopogon porrifolius in rough grassland at Thorpe Hall

A few plants of spring beauty Claytonia perfoliata in secondary woodland at Thorpe Hall

A small population of motherwort Leonurus cardiaca at Thorpe Hall

Moth mullein Verbascum blattaria at Thorpe Hall

Deadly nightshade Atropa belladonna in an area of secondary woodland at Thorpe Hall

A strong population of black mullein Verbascum nigrum on disturbed ground (possibly archaeological diggings) at Holywell Fish Ponds, growing not far from a very large population of whorled water-milfoil Myriophyllum verticillatum in one of the ponds.

Several bushes of the hybrid Salix x smithiana (S. viminalis x S.caprea) at Holywell Fish Ponds, only known from nine other sites in VC32

A single bush of white barberry Berberis candidula naturalised in a shrubby area of Holywell Fish ponds - possibly new to VC32

A good population of creeping bellflower Campanula rapunculoides in an area of waste ground in Netherton - possibly a new record for VC32

A good population of Balkan spurge Euphorbia oblongata (another possible new VC record) in the same area of waste ground, where there was also cotton thistle Onopordum acanthium and large-flowered evening-primrose Oenothera glazioviana.

Swaddywell Pit

I followed Bob's advice and headed off to Swaddywell Pit this morning to see the spectacular display of pyramidal orchid Anacamptis pyramidalis - well worth a visit and very close to the car-park if you're short of time!

Lots of other interesting species flowering too including lots of lesser centaury Centaurium pulchellum and brookweed Samolus valerandi in a damp area of compacted clay.

Centaurium pulchellum

Samolus valerandi