1999 New Forest Hampshire 17 - 18 April Main Meeting
On a bright sunny morning twenty of us met in the long stay car park at Ringwood, having found the correct area of a rather large and confusing car park! There was a cold north wind so we were all well wrapped up. We soon found Gill Read and Vera Scott who were to lead us, and all introduced ourselves. We then moved off to our first site at Bickerley Common, a lovely water meadow where we found many of the usual water meadow plants, including four Carices, Geum rivale(Water Avens), and Ranunculus hederaceus (Ivy-leaved Crowfoot) and R. omiophyllus (Round-leaved Crowfoot). On the way back we also saw Cytisus scoparius (Broom) and Pyrus communis (Pear) on a hedge bank and a very red Capsella (Shepherd's-purse), which was later determined as "near C rubella" following the BSBI Handbook's guidelines. We then moved on to Moyles Court sandpits which had the appearance of a moon landscape. First, we went to look for Teesdalia nudicaulis (Shepherd's Cress) and found it well in flower and looking lovely. I had only seen seed before so was very pleased to see it in bloom. In the same area we saw Crassula tillaea (Mossy Stonecrop) but finding flowers proved very difficult. Carrying on down the hill we saw Claytonia sibirica (Pink Purslane) and Viscum album (Mistletoe) which is unusual in the New Forest. As the sun was shining and the weather had warmed up we sat on the grass and had our lunch, being visited by ponies from time to time.
After lunch we moved on to Hale Park. A very boggy area near the River Avon produced Allium paradoxum (Few-flowered Garlic). We then crossed the road and walked up the path to the church. In the churchyard there was a marvellous stand of Chrysosplenium oppositifolium (Oppositive-leaved Golden- saxifrage). Other plants found were Pentaglottis sempervirens (Green Alkanet), Petasites japonicus (Giant Butterbur) and Arabidopsis thaliana (Thale Cress) growing on the wall. We then carried on up the path and saw Lathraea squamaria (Toothwort) on host Prunus laurocerasus, which had established itself on many of the Prunus trees to the extent that it was tumbling down the side of the hill. Also on the side of the path were Melica uniflora (Wood Melick), Potentilla sterilis (Barren Strawberry) and Galeobdolon luteum (Yellow Archangel).
Leaving Hale we progressed to Redlynch to see the last plant of the day. It was at this stage the rain caught up with us and out came waterproofs and umbrellas. It was lovely to see Asarum europaeum (Asarabacca) in the hedge where it is reputed to have grown since 1782.
On Sunday we met at Lyndhurst car park. The sun had now reappeared and I am glad to say we had no more rain until late in the afternoon when there was a quick shower. While the sun was out the Forest was looking really lovely with all the trees dressed in their fresh green foliage. This time we were looking at plants on the east side of the forest. Our first call was at Standing Hat; I never did discover the reason for this strange name! Here we saw Carex montana (Soft- leaved Sedge), Orchis mascula (Early-purple Orchid), Ruscus aculeatus (Butcher's- broom) and Salix repens (Creeping Willow).
Our next port of call was Ivy Wood, where we had a lovely walk along the river bank with the sun filtering through the trees. The two interesting plants seen were Euphorbia amygdaloides (Wood Spurge) and Ranunculus auricomus (Goldilocks Buttercup). We also saw many of the usual woodland spring flowers.
There was a quick stop at the Weirs in Brockenhurst to see Lysichiton americanus(American Skunk-cabbage). We then moved on to Wilverley Plain car park for our lunch break. Lunch over we moved on to Osmund Bushes at Holmsley. This was the wettest and muddiest area of the two days and we saw Myrica gale (Bog- myrtle) in flower, Thelypteris palustris (Marsh Fern) just emerging and Viola palustris (Marsh Violet). Not forgetting Ophioglossum vulgatum (Adder's-tongue). Then a walk along an old railway line for some different plants including Sedum telephium (Orpine, leaves only), Pulmonaria longifolia (Narrow-leaved Lungwort) and Tussilago farfara (Coltsfoot).
Next, a short stop at a small wayside pull-in at Scrape Bottom, Wilverley, Myrica pensylvanica (Bayberry) was seen and while some of the party stayed behind as they had seen it before. Gill's husband, Stan, was able to have a quick walk as he had spent most of the day very kindly guarding our cars in the rather vulnerable New Forest car parks.
Our last stop was at Warwickslade car park, which was I think the highlight of the weekend. Ophioglossum azoricum (Small Adder's-tongue) was found. To begin with we had quite a hunt for it, being so small it was difficult to find, but once we all had our eyes focused we found it in abundance all round the outer edges of the car park.
A big thank you to Gill and Vera for a grand weekend and also to Stan tor looking after our cars on Sunday. It was a lovely two days and we saw many good plants, and I know we all enjoyed it immensely.
ANN OHLENSCHLAGER