2003 West Yorkshire 10th to 11th July Main Meeting
By popular demand and a waiting list as long as your arm the second year of Phyl Abbott's West Yorkshire meeting got under way. The group assembled in the Armley Mills Industrial Museum car park in what was the industrial heartland of Leeds and in a district appropriately named Botany Bay.
In glorious sunshine and with the temperature soaring to 28 degrees centigrade and a health and safety reminder not to fall in the canal we descended to the towpath for our first sighting of the day Ficus carica (fig) with only one fruit to share between 20! Then walking alongside the canal Phyl proceeded to demonstrate her Olympian skills with her trusty grappling irons and successfully landed numerous specimens of Potamogeton namely P. berchtoldii (small pondweed), P. pectinatus (fennel ondweed), P. perfoliatus (perfoliate pondweed), P. pusillus (lesser pondweed), P. trichoides (hairlike pondweed) and Elodea nuttallii (Nuttall's waterweed) with the salient features being explained and examined.
We then proceeded to make a brief detour to the banks of the River Aire to see Heracleum sphondylium x H. mantegazzianum (hybrid hogweed). Then onto our next port of call Oddy Locks and the exciting find ofBrassica oleracea (wild cabbage), a first sighting for Vc64, and Hirschfeldia incana (hoary mustard). Continuing this pleasant canal ramble we were then rewarded with a splendid sight of Nymphoides peltata (fringed water-lily) the attractive Sagittaria sagittifolia (arrowhead) and the lovely Butomus umbellatus (flowering rush).
Our last stop of the morning was to see Senecio inaequidens (narrow-leaved ragwort), Cotoneaster hjelmqvistii (Hjelmqvist's cotoneaster) and Salix x sericans (Salix caprea x S. viminalis) prior to lunch which was taken at a picnic site overlooking the Aire Valley.
In the afternoon the party reassembled at Woodside Quarry, where it was nice to be reacquainted with Michael Wilcox whose extensive knowledge of the site and its rich alien flora was soon evident as he led us to see the attractive Geranium dalmaticumstill in flower, followed by Cotoneaster dielsianus (Diels' cotoneaster), C. conspicuous (Tibetan cotoneaster), C. mairei (Maire's cotoneaster), C. rehderi (bullate cotoneaster), Epilobium tetragonum x E. obscurum = E. x semiobsscurum (square- stalked x short-fruited willowherb), Rosa ferruginea (red-leaved rose), Sisyrinchium montanum (American blue-eyed grass) and lastly on hands and knees to examine Agrostis stolonifera x Polypogon monspeliensis = x Agropogon littoralis. A very rewarding day botanically followed by a most enjoyable evening take-away meal hosted by Phyland her husband Cedric.
Day two the group met in the car park of Brockadale and we were introduced to Joyce and Paul Simmons, members of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust who had kindly offered to show us their local area. With sun hats and sunscreen applied we started to explore and admire the limestone escarpment known as the Craggs with a profusion of Campanula glomerata (clustered bellflower), Malva moschata (musk mallow), Helianthemum nummularium (common rock-rose), Cerastium arvense (field mouse- ear), Arabis hirsuta (hairy rock-cress) and a few plants of Salvia verbenaca (wild clary). We were then taken to the Smeaton end of the reserve to see a fine colony of Astragalus glycyphyllos (wild liquorice). Retracing our steps we made our way down to the riverside meadow where we saw Myosoton aquaticum (water chickweed) and Cynoglossum officinale (hound's-tongue). From the valley floor we made our way up the steep valley side for Dipsacus pilosus (small teasel) and the welcome woodland shade in an area which Joyce described as butterfly walk we were shown a thriving group of Daphne mezereum (mezereon) in seed. Walking back along Ley's Lane, more plants. Aconitum x cammarum (hybrid monk's-hood), Helleborus viridis (green hellebore) and a recent find in an area of clearance Polygonatum x hybridum (garden Solomon's-seal) and Convallaria majalis (lily-of-the-valley). Lastly in the comer of an arable field Paul Hughes, a member of the group, was able to show us Legousia hybrida (Venus's looking-glass) a plant which has eluded us for many years.
After lunch we drove in convoy to Aberford, then on to the Hook Moor site of the national rarity and Yorkshire speciality Orobanche reticulata (thistle broomrape) which was still nicely in flower much to the relief of Phyl and the delight of members. Back on the road we made several stops to examine Eastern European plants growing on the embankments, which were reseeded when the A1-M1 link road was built a few years ago. The seed mixture used in landscaping the roadside verges provided us with Sanguisorba minor ssp. muricata (fodder bumet), Centaurea jacea (brown knapweed), Centaurea jacea x C. nigra = C. x moncktonii (hybrid knapweed) and C. rhenana.The last stop of the day gave us a repeat of C. rhenana this time in flower, Deutzia scabra 'Plenia' (deutzia), Lonicera nitida (Wilson's honeysuckle) and Lychnis coronaria (rose campion).
This was another excellent weekend thanks to the inspired choice of sites and detailed planning. As they say in Yorkshire Phyl 'You did us proud!'
EVERALD ELLIS AND ROBERT BEEVERS