1998 Teesside 11 - 12 July Main Meeting
An expedition into Yorkshire is always exciting, and this two-day meeting in the Cleveland area led by Ian Lawrence was no exception, with many people travelling long distances to attend. To make it even more worthwhile, lan very kindly met us on the Friday evening and escorted the party round Bassleton Wood and Holmes Local Nature Reserve on the River Tees.
An ideal length for an evening's gentle botanising, this riverside walk introduced some good grassland and wetland species, including Rorippa amphibia (Greater Yellow-cress), Epilobium tetragonum (Square-stemmed Willowherb) with dark shiny leaves, two superb clumps of Apium graveolens (Wild Celery) and lots of Allium scorodoprasum (Sand Leek). Two "Pots" were fished out of the water for our inspection: Potamogeton crispus (Curled Pondweed), and P. pectinatus (Fennel Pondweed), Mimulus guttatus (Monkey-flower) added a splash of colour.
Grasses and sedges of note included Festuca gigantea (Giant Fescue), which we were able to compare with Festuca arundinacea (Tall Fescue);the differences were also noted between Elytrigia repens (Common Couch) and Elymus caninus (Bearded Couch). Carex hirta (Hairy Sedge) was found among the long grasses,whilst in the water were stands of Phalaris arundinacea (Reed Canary-grass) and Bolboschoenus maritimus (Sea Club-rush). One plant of particular interest was a hybrid Knapweed - Centaurea x moncktonii (C. jacea x C. nigra), and Ian explained in some detail the combination of characters of the parent plants found in this taxon.
On Saturday morning we drove out to Redcar and parked on the sea-front. lan introduced Pat Wood, a local botanist and member of the Cleveland Naturalists, who had worked on the Flora of Cleveland with him and knew the area well, and so accompanied us that day. Pat pointed out to us three large typical coastal grasses on a sand-bank close to the road: a fine stand of Leymus arenarius (Lyme-grass), Elytrigia juncea (Sea Couch), and Ammophila arenaria (Marram grass). We set off in a north-westerly direction between the golf-course and a low ridge of dunes, towards the British Steel works in the distance. The sun was shining and skylarks singing as we followed the coastline for some distance. As well as the commoner coastal plants such as Ononis repens (Restharrow), Plantago coronopus (Buck's-horn plantain), Honckenya peploides (Sea Sandwort) and Carex arenaria (Sand Sedge),there were several with which many of us were much less familiar. One such speciality was Solidago gigantea (Early Goldenrod), which - like S. canadensis (Canadian Fleabane) - crossed the Atlantic initially as a garden plant, but is now well-naturalised. Not far from this was another tall composite, Lactuca virosa (Great Lettuce). Ian told us that there had only been about a dozen plants (near the breakwater at British Steel) when he first started recording, but it now it is a menace in Teesside. We passed through golden swathes of Galium verum (Lady's Bedstraw), and several of us commented that we had never before noticed what a sweet scent it has. Many small flowers dotted the sandy turf along the edge of the golf course, including a white-flowered Stork's-bill (Erodium cicutarium) growing near another lovely white flower, Cerastium arvense (Field Mouse-ear), initially taken by some of us to be Cerastium tomentosum (Snow-in-summer), which was also present. Large patches of Sedum acre (Biting Stonecrop) and S. album (White Stonecrop), Leontodon saxatilis (Lesser Hawkbit), Thalictrum minus (Lesser Meadow-rue), Euphrasia nemoralis (Eyebright), and Trisetum flavescens(Yellow Oat-grass) all contributed to the gold-and-white tapestry of this grassland. Two extra- special plants provided variation in the colour-scheme: Dactylorhiza purpurea the deep- coloured Northern Marsh Orchid, and an uncommon member of the sedge family Blysmus compressus (Flat-sedge) with its flattened red-brown spikes. Another stiff little plant, Catapodium rigidum (Fern-grass) was also seen.
On a pile of loose sandy soil from the golf-course we were able to make useful comparisons between three Sisymbrium species: S. orientale (Eastern Rocket), S. altissimum (Tall Rocket), and S. officinale (Hedge Mustard) and further compare these with two other yellow crucifers - Sinapis arvensis (Charlock), and Diplotaxis tenuifolia (Perennial Wall- rocket). Nearby, on the grassy sand-hills, the lovely Securigera varia (Crown Vetch) attracted attention, and just above it was an obviously naturalised Spartium junceum (Spanish Broom). Cichorium intybus (Chicory) added a touch of blue to the palette, while Medicago saliva ssp. sativa (Lucerne) was in deep purple. A local hawkweed - an early- flowering leafy species - Hieracium eboracense was identified by Ian. In a wet slack were more orchids, with Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani (Grey Clubrush), Juncus gerardii (Salt-marsh Rush), and Hydrocotyle palustris (Marsh Pennywort) complete with flowers. We ate lunch in the car-park of Coatham Marsh Nature Reserve, where Plantago coronopus (Buck's-horn Plantain) and Catapodium marinum (Sea Fern-grass) were spotted. The reserve itself consisted of wet grassland, marsh, and pool, and yielded some interesting wetland species including Hippuris vulgaris (Mare's-tail), Veronica catenata (Pink Water-speedwell), Ranunculus sceleratus (Celery-leaved Buttercup), and Ranunculus trichophyllus (Thread-leaved Water-crowfoot). There were also Ophrys apifera (Bee Orchid) and Oenanthe lachenalii (Parsley Water-dropwort). Ian was delighted when Isolepis setacea (Bristle Club-rush) was spotted, as it was a new record for the reserve. We then drove round to another part of the reserve to see Verbascum densiflorum (Dense-flowered Mullein). Unfortunately my recollection of this is hazy - all I remember is stepping back to take a photograph and suddenly finding myself waist-deep in a drainage ditch of dirty water that I hadn't noticed was behind me! I would like to say a big thank you to all the kind people who rallied round to provide me with a towel, clean water to wash in, and dry clothing, and in particular to Judy who kindly took away my filthy wet clothes and laundered them.
The next main site was the breakwater at South Gare, but we stopped en route to see Colutea x media (Orange Bladder-Senna) growing by the wayside. From South Gare we had a good view of the Tees estuary and nuclear power station, and Hartlepool across the water. This was a most interesting area; the breakwater was composed of compacted slag from the British Steel works in the last century, which obviously had a calcareous content as we were finding plants such as Blackstonia perfoliata (Yellow-wort), Carlina vulgaris (Carline Thistle), Inula conyzae (Ploughman's Spikenard), and Geranium sanguineum (Bloody Crane's-bill). Also along this stretch was Astragalus danicus (Purple Milk-vetch) and Lathyrus latifolius (Broad-leaved Everlasting-pea).
What really fascinated us, however were three well-established garden species looking very happy there on this coastal site: a large flowering patch of Bergenia crassifolia (Elephant-ears) a mass Antirrhinum majus (Snapdragon) all different colours; and a very pretty deep pink mystery plant that was only identified as far as the genus - Lychnis. lan took a piece home and found it in a French flora under the name Lychnis flos-jovis (Flower-of-Jove) not listed in Kent, but interesting to see. Finally, we went to Teesport where, growing by the railway tracks on an industrial site we saw several large plants of Rapistrum perenne (Steppe Cabbage), which is obviously spreading there. That completed a very full day's botanising, but we still had one more place to visit: lan had arranged for us to visit the Botanic Centre at Nature's World in Middlesbrough, where we were able to get tea and cakes before being treated to a tour of the grounds (25 acres including 1'ive acres of organic gardens, and a wonderful "flowing" model of the river Tees) which was most interesting.
On the Sunday morning we drove further inland to Nunthorpe, south of Middlesbrough. to the estate of an old derelict gothic mansion. Grey Towers. Here we wandered in bemusement around a mid-19th century garden that has fallen into neglect and become something of a jungle taken over by giant plants, including Heracleum mantegazzianium (Giant Hogweed). Filipendula kamtschatica (Giant Meadowsweet), and Fallopia sachalinensis (Giant Knotweed), with Darmera peltata (Indian Rhubarb), and Lysimachia ciliata (Fringed Loosestrife). On the pool in the garden Nuphar lutea (Yellow Water-lily)vied for attention by sending leaves up about a foot out of the water! Other plants of interest around the pool included Osmunda regalis (Royal Fern), Carex riparia (Greater Pond-sedge), Hypericum tetrapterum (Square-stalked St John's-wort), and Typha angustifolia (Lesser Bulrush). There were many trees and shrubs, but one in particular - Rubus spectabilis (Salmonberry) had spread itself around and was displaying its wonderfully colourful fruits. The afternoon was spent at Ingleby Greenhow where we walked along the old railway line from Battersby Junction.
Vince Jones joined us for this walk, and we had a most instructive afternoon as he has specialised in studying several of the critical plant groups and was able to identify for us all the Rosa, Euphrasia, Taraxacum and Hieracium species that we saw, patiently explaining the characters of each taxon. Thanks, Vince!
We are greatly indebted to lan for an extremely well-planned, informative, and interesting weekend during which we visited a wide variety of habitats containing a great many plants. He was consistently good humoured and patient as he answered all our queries, and his time keeping and organisation of moving 20 people from one spot to another was brilliant. Very many thanks, Ian!
ANNE P. DALY