1994 Surrey 10th to 12th June Main Meeting
This long weekend meeting was led by Mr Ron Parker and Miss Eileen Taylor. It began on the Friday evening when Ron Parker took 18 members on a tour of some well-known sites in south London to see the alien dock species, hybrids and varieties on the river bank by Barnes bridge. Then they went to Kew Green churchyard for, notably, Sisymbrium strictissimum, Atropa belladonna and Phytolacca acinosa. A good start for a busy weekend.
On Saturday morning, the first venue was the Sutton Ecology Centre at Carshalton. In the Centre grounds there is a man-made pond, now well established, supporting Hippuris vulgaris (Marestail), Ranunculus lingua (Greater Spearwort) and a fine stand of the yellow Flag Iris. The party were shown a mound formed of spoil from the Sutton waterworks. This chalky precipitate had been heaped there purposely and left unplanted as an experiment. Dactylorhiza fuchsii (Common Spotted Orchid) had appeared on the mound in quantity. On the unmown area alongside was the beautiful and dainty Lathyrus nissolia with its grasslike leaves. Returning to the road, Epilobium hirsutum, E. parviflorum, E. ciliatum and E. roseum (Great, Hoary, American and Pale Willowherbs) were seen a growing together in the gutter - highly convenient for comparison.
The Grange at Wallington was the next port of call, specially to see Veronica peregrina (American Speedwell) which was colonising a flowerbed and spilling over on to the path edges. A beautiful Pterocarya sp. (Wing Nut Tree) was at its best, its spreading branches just asking to be climbed by an adventurous child.
The next stop was the old Croydon airfield, a Site of Metropolitan Importance. I remember flying from here to Guernsey in a De Havilland Rapide in 1945. Now it is a beautiful flat area, left unmown. We compared the two subspecies of Tragopogon pratensis (Goatsbeard) - ssp. pratensis with the ligules longer than the phyllaries and ssp. minor with the ligules and the phyllaries the same length. There was a glorious patch of Euphorbia x pseudovirgata (Twiggy Spurge) glowing in the sunshine, a dainty, neat plant, not living up to its woody name. We studied the glands and thorns on Rosa obtusifolia (Round-leaved Dog Rose) and the protruding style of Rhinanthus angustifolius (Greater Yellow Rattle). Purley Way, flanking the eastern boundary of this delightful area, gave Cerastium arvense (Field Mouse Ear) and Erigeron acer (Blue Fleabane).
We spent the afternoon in the Howell Hill nature reserve at Ewell. This consists mainly of chalk grassland dominated by Helictotrichon pubescens (Downy Oat- grass). Adjoining the twelve-acre reserve are school playing fields, the levelling of which in the early 1960s gave rise to Howell Hill's spoil heaps of chalk and sandy soil. This was left uncared for until 1986, but there is now a management agreement between the owners, Surrey County Council and Surrey Wildlife Trust. The specials on this reserve are Ophrys apifera (Bee Orchid), Orobanche elatior(Knapweed Broomrape) and the Small Blue butterfly which feeds on the Anthyllis vulneraria (Kidney Vetch), all of which we saw. The reserve also supports a large number of naturalised garden plants, including a variety of bird-sown Cotoneasters. Our most interesting find was Prunus serotina (Rum Cherry). Our leader Eileen, who is warden of the reserve, did not know it was there and she was suitably delighted.
Sunday was another glorious, sunny day. The party went to Banstead Downs to see Gentianella anglica (Early Gentian) and Polygala calcarea (Chalk Milkwort). Then we went to a site near Coulsdon which had earlier been ploughed, to see its specialities Teucrium botrys (Cut-leaved Germander) and Ajuga chamaepitys, the former being unfortunately not in flower. Another site at Banstead had a set of interesting garden escapes, notably a bright red Peony, and Carex vulpinoidea in Workhouse Pond.
In the afternoon we went to Box Hill for orchids. We saw the Man and the Musk and sat among the flowers in the steeply sloping field, gazing at the beautiful view. If it had not been for the promise of the Cynoglossum germanicum (Green Houndstongue) I think several of us would have stayed there for the rest of the afternoon. But we moved on to another beautiful orchid slope where there were the Common Spotted, the Fragrant and the Greater Butterfly Orchids and Cephalanthera damasonium, the White Helleborine. What a beautiful spot to end our happy weekend!
Our thanks go to Ron Parker and Eileen Taylor for organising this lovely weekend. What a task they had in getting so many cars to so many different places in so much traffic and with so many parking problems! There wasn't a hitch and they didn't lose anyone. I was so grateful that I was a passenger and not a driver.
RACHEL RABEY