2003 Surrey 5th 6th July Main Meeting
Yet another good weekend passed in the company of like-minded members. The weather was warm and comfortable and we avoided the rain that had occurred in the previous week. In fact Clare Coleman and Pamela Lee who had done the recce the previous week had both been soaked to the skin. Such bravery in the face of adversity to make it all the easier for us to see the plants available. Pamela had also been out with her machete to clear some of the brambles so that we could get to some of them!
Our first stop was at Witley Common, near Godalming in Surrey. A few of us had record forms to complete as a botanical survey had not been done here for several years. The first part of the woodland ride was edged with Juncus tenuis (slender rush) and within a few yards we had come across a large clump of an alien plant introduced many years ago - Acaena novae-zelandiae (pirri-pirri bur). It was in fruit and within minutes many of us had their Velcro-like hooks attached to our boots and socks. No doubt we will spread them far and wide. Talking of fruits it wasn't long before we were investigating another with our lenses - looking at the differences between Agrimonia eupatoria (agrimony) and A. procera (fragrant agrimony) - look it up! Pamela soon had us on our way to one small area of the wood which had a wealth of interesting flowers. Most obvious were the spikes of Verbascum blattaria (moth mullein) to the other extreme of getting down on our knees to look at Centaurium pulchellum (lesser centaury), a few centimetres high. Luckily, growing nearby was Centaurium erythraea (common centaury) so that we could compare and contrast the two - paradoxically the pulchellum having longer flowering pedicels than the erythraea.
Close by were Inula conyzae (ploughman's spikenard), carpets of Circaea lutetiana(enchanter's nightshade), the hybrid Potentilla x mixta (hybrid cinquefoil), Gnaphalium uliginosum (marsh cudweed), Kickxia spuria (round leaved fluellen) and Verbena officinalis (vervain).
In the afternoon we transferred to nearby Thursley Common NNR, near Elstead. Near where we sat eating our sandwiches were the tiny pink flowers of Anagallis tenella (bog pimpernel) and the even tinier ones of Hydrocotyle vulgaris (marsh pennywort). Within yards of each other were three Juncus species: J. effusus, acutiflorus and squarrosus (soft, sharp-flowered and heath respectively). The edge of the pond had Hypericum elodes (marsh St John's wort), the first time I had ever seen it in flower. There is a boardwalk that traverses the boggy part of the Common and gave good views of many specimens. At the start you could compare the differences between Betula pendula (silver birch) and its hybrid with B. pubescens (downy birch) - B. x aurata. This is a lovely site and in another couple of weeks will be ablaze with a carpet of Narthecium ossifragum (bog asphodel). At the moment it was just coming out amongst the waving cottony heads of Eriophorum angustifolium (common cotton- grass) and the fibre optic lamp like clumps of Trichophorum cespitosum (deergrass). One of the most beautiful sedges is Rhynchospora alba (white-beaked sedge) and we also found its brother R. fusca (brown-beaked sedge). Two sundew species were also in evidence growing side by side, Drosera rotundifolia and D. intermedia (round leaved and oblong leaved). A shy flowering Utricularia minor (lesser bladderwort) obliged by showing a few minute yellow petals just above the water. Of interest was the unlikely siting of Quercus x pseudosuber (Lucombe oak) - a hybrid of Q. cerris and Q. suber (Turkey and cork oaks) with its wonderfully crinkled leaves. Our final plant of the day was a rare one indeed, a Red Data Book - Endangered and UK BAP priority species. This was Lycopodiella inundata (marsh clubmoss). We found a few specimens but it seems to have a precarious hold on here.
Sunday took us to a couple of sites near Leatherhead where a few members of the London Natural History Society joined us. The weather was again kind to us as we walked beside the River Mole through a herd of remarkably large uddered cows which looked desperate to be milked. Within minutes we had our first real find of the day growing, as it says in the books, on Urtica dioica (stinging nettle) - Cuscuta europaea (greater dodder). The riverbank was full of the handsome, but alien and invasive Impatiens glandulifera (Himalayan balsam) and struggling through it was one Myosoton aquaticum (water chickweed). It was quite warm and over the water were flying so many banded demoiselles. We also found a white-legged damselfly and on an open bank a handsome black-tailed skimmer. At the water's edge was a band of Rorippa sylvestris (creeping yellowcress). Nearby we were lucky to find one standing plant of Dipsacus pilosus (small teasel) the rest of them having been eaten by the cows. As we made our way back to the cars Brian and Ruth had found one single specimen of Cynoglossum germanicum (green houndstongue). A couple of years ago I had seen this at a site near Box Hill but on further investigation today could not find any at all. Even where we had parked our cars was botanically rich with a particularly handsome Anacamptis pyramidalis (pyramidal orchid), some Odontites vernus (red bartsia) and Campanula trachelium (nettle-leaved bellflower).
In just a few cars we moved to White Hill where we had a trek up this mountainside (OK so I exaggerate a little). With twenty pairs of eyes we were hoping to find and record Teucrium botrys (cut-leaved germander) but I'm afraid to say that we were completely unsuccessful.
Back to the original car park and we transferred a few hundred yards up the road to Bocketts Farm. Alongside the road edges were Onobrychis viciifolia (sainfoin) and Clinopodium vulgare (wild basil). This place was busy with families out for the day but we walked straight through into the arable fields beyond. Primarily we were looking for a Fumaria species but discovered an atypical Fumaria densiflora (dense- flowered fumitory) - well, that's how it keyed out in Stace. Other arable weeds were Lamium amplexicaule (henbit deadnettle), Chaenorhinum minus (small toadflax) and Kickxia elatine (sharp-leaved fluellen), as well as the extremely common Chenopodium album (fat hen).
Technically this was the end of our day but Clare had a couple of specials up her sleeve and a stalwart few followed her to East Clandon. On the edge of another arable field we found a few handsome spikes of Apera spica-venti (loose silky-bent) and after a little hunt and doing some judicious weeding exposed fourteen plants of Torilis arvensis (spreading hedge-parsley). Another on-your-knees job to have a close look at this plant. Its fruits were incredibly beautiful when looked through a lens, each one covered in myriad purple tipped bristles.
Yet another successful weekend and thanks to all who came and took part, but especial thanks to Pamela for Saturday and Clare for both days.
STEPHEN CLARKSON