1993 County Durham and South Northumberland 10th July One Day Meeting
On July 10th a small party of five members met Mr Rob Kelsey to visit various sites, mostly riverside and waste, in the neighbourhood of Ryton and Wylam, County Durham and south Northumberland. They were energetic and enthusiastic members, spending 10 ½ hours in the field, with a quick working lunch in the open air! Mr and Mrs Graham had helped beforehand with some of the plants likely to cause problems, so several species of Rubus were safely determined. A number of hybrids were seen: Juncus x diffusus (J. inflexus x effusus), Senecio x subnebrodensis (S. squalidus x viscosus\ Hypericum x desetangsii (H. perforatum x maculatum) and, an unusual one, Aconitum x cammarum (A. napellus x variegatum). The end of the day saw a special trip to see Allium carinatum and (probably) Helianthus x laetiflorus(H. tuberosus x rigidus).
Mr Kelsey comments: "There seems to be a dearth of local meetings in the north- east of England. If someone were to organise one, I would endeavour to attend. Alternatively, I would welcome comments on what factors (location, date, habitat etc.) would make a future north-east meeting more popular." Members and potential organisers please note!
A week later, on July 17th, Mr David Curry led a large party on a walk on the West Sussex downs. The lush downland flora near the car park included Herminium monorchis and Phyteuma orbiculare, while a walk along the top of the downs produced, among other plants of a chalky habitat, Legousia hybrida, Valerianella dentata, Thesium humifusum and 330 plants of Frog Orchid, Coeloglossum viride, by a dried-up dew pond. Lonicera xylosteum in fruit was a pleasing end to a very good day. Paul Harmes had brought a recording card, and the result of the outing was 205 species marked off.
On August 8th, 23 people turned up on a bright sunny day to explore the Quantock Hills with Ian Green. The main objective of the outing was to try to locate the site of Vaccinium vitis-idaea (Cowberry) in its only Somerset site. We were delighted to find it in abundance on one hill slope, hidden among the Vaccinium myrtillus (Bilberry) and Pteridium aquilinum (Bracken). It was fruiting well and its bright shiny red berries contrasted nicely with its few delicate bell-shaped white blooms. A sheltered quarry produced a surprisingly prolific growth of Cotoneaster bullatus which had obviously been naturalised for many years and was new for many people's diaries. Other plants of note were Radiola linoides (All-seed) in its only Somerset site and Anagallis minima (Chaffweed) which was a new find for the Quantock Hills. Agrostis curtisii (Bristle-bent) made a beautiful sea of orange-brown in the brilliant sunlight on the hilltops. The meeting was most successful and thoroughly enjoyed by all.
I was able to join the last two 1993 meetings myself, both being fairly 'local' to me. On August 21st Dr Tom Cope took us for a morning's walk along the banks of the Basingstoke Canal and the Wey Navigation in Surrey. The weather in previous weeks had been hot and dry, many plants being past their best, so a waterside site was an advantage. We saw Lemna minuta in quantity, also Spirodela polyrhiza, and Sparganium emersum which has those long leaves trailing in the water, whereas S. erectum is, as you might suppose, erect. There were also three balsams and three Calystegias - C. silvatica, C. sepium and a pink and white striped one of the sepium group (flat, not inflated bracts below the calyx) which was later determined by Dr Brummitt, on the initiative of Roy Sherlock, as C. sepium ssp. sepium f. colorata.
The year's final meeting was on September 8th and was led by the indefatigable Sherlocks who are always to be relied on for some good plants. By now the North Downs round Merrow were well and truly dried up, but the weather was bright, the views were stunning and the highlight of the morning was lovely - Spiranthes spiralis, the Ladies' Tresses, about a dozen spikes of them, a record which Mr Sherlock was very glad to have confirmed. A patch of recently disturbed waste had masses of Atropa belladonna, the Deadly Nightshade, an ominous-looking plant whose spread in recent years I cannot say I really like. Finally we were shown a patch of Solidago gigantea which I had always had trouble in distinguishing and which I shall now no longer confuse with its commoner relative S. canadensis. In spite of its name it is a smaller plant than the latter, with smaller panicles of somewhat larger flowers and much broader leaves.
At any one of these local meetings there is always something to learn and to appreciate. We owe many thanks indeed to the leaders who are so ready and willing to give so much pleasure.
E. NORMAN