2002 Bedford Purlieus 23 June One Day Meeting
Nine of us met at 10:30 a.m. Sunday 23rd June 2002. Barbara Pochin volunteered to do the clerical bit, for which I was very grateful. The weather was cloudy but warm and dry. We walked around about a quarter of the site, finding a total of 149 species, of which 135 were "countable". The wood had a total check-list of 465 species, of which 29 are believed to be extinct on the site. On this visit we were able to add one new species to the list. Only Pentaglottis sempervirens (green alkanet), no doubt a recent incomer, but all is grist to the mill.
One of the features of the wood is Tilia cordata (small-leaved lime), which we saw in abundance; there are also a few trees of Tilia platyphyllos (broad-leaved lime). It was useful to see them a few yards apart for comparison. Lithospermum officinale (gromwell), was plentiful, and Carex pendula (pendulous sedge), was in fine form, up to two metres high. Orchids were not plentiful, but we did locate Anacamptis pyramidalis (pyramidal orchid), and Listera ovata (twayblade). By special request we made a search for Paris quadrifolia (herb paris), and were rewarded with several plants, one with a ripe berry on it.
After lunch the popular vote was to go over to Bamack Hills and Holes. Here we noted a further 27 species, including Aceras anthropophorum (man orchid), Gymnadenia conopsea (fragrant orchid), Ophrys apifera (bee orchid), Coeloglossum viride (frog orchid) and Astragalus danicus (purple milk-vetch).
SEÁN KARLEY