2004 Northumberland 6th to 7th July Main Meeting
Most of us met the previous evening at the leader's mother's (Mary Craster) house, to get to know the other participants, and partake of some kind and generous refreshment, during which the rain fell of monsoon-like proportions. What did this augur for the following day? Eighteen of us met the next morning which was sunny, bright and warm - we did have a few spots of rain and finished perfectly at the end of the day before the next heavy shower fell. Skylarks were singing everywhere and the group soon got spread out. We were on the Holy Island of Lindisfame and initially tackled the western arm known as The Snook. Our first plant was Centaurium littorale (seaside centaury) in its vivid pink glory interspersed with now going over paler pinks of Armeria maritima (thrift). Within minutes bottoms were in the air as we identified Sagina procumbens (procumbent pearlwort) and S. nodosa (knotted pearlwort).
Growing all over the place is a pest of a plant and most managed to pick up their Velcro-like fruits on various parts of their anatomy; I am talking about Acaena novae-zelandiae (pirri-pirri-bur) which found its way over to our shores in shoddy from the Antipodes.
Throughout the day we saw many common seaside plants but some were in profusion. There were mats of Glaux maritima (sea milkwort) interspersed with the really pale pink of Anagallis tenella (bog pimpernel) and small pockets of the white flowered Samolus valerandi (brookweed). In the wet ruts were tufts of Juncus gerardii (saltmarsh rush) and Carex extensa (long-bracted sedge). Over a fixed dune and suddenly there were hundreds of Epipactis palustris (marsh helleborine) which just increased in numbers throughout the day. An especial find was Gentianella amarella ssp. septentrionalis, surprising because its corolla is creamy white but the petals are gently suffused with purple on the outside. In this boggy ground were thousands of Hydrocotyle vulgaris (marsh pennywort) which then entailed the bet of who could find a flower first - I won, and when seen under a lens it is quite beautiful. Also growing amongst these was Selaginella selaginoides (lesser clubmoss) which was showing its minute yellow cones.
A fenced off area, presumably to keep out the rabbits, revealed many pendant bells of Pyrola rotundifolia (round-leaved wintergreen) with its curved pink style. Elizabeth led us to her piece de resistance, a newly-named species apparently only found on Lindisfarne and identified and renamed by Kew experts. Previously known as Epipactis leptochila var. dunensis (narrow-lipped helleborine) it now has the species name E. sancta. The sun was now quite warm and brought out several dark green fritillary butterflies which seemed to love the thistles. On the beach area itself were the dune-fixing grasses of Ammophila arenaria (marram) and Leymus arenarius(lyme- grass), and on the littoral were four species of oraches; Atriplex patula, prostrata, littoralis, and laciniata (common, spear-leaved, grass-leaved and frosted orache). Together with these were Salsola kali (prickly saltwort) and an out of place Chenopodium album (fat hen).
After lunch we crossed to the east of the island and walked over the sand flats to St Cuthbert's Island, a tiny off-shore piece of rock, where we found Limonium vulgare(common sea-lavender), apparently an unusual species in the north. On the hill back on the main island we hunted for Trifolium scabrum (rough clover), of which there were many plants, but only one of T. striatum (knotted clover). Growing out of the rocks was Astragalus danicus (purple milk-vetch) which by now had strange strawberry-like fruits.
Before the tide returned we found Zostera noltii (dwarf eel-grass) in great profusion and its cousin Z. angustifolia (narrow-leaved eel-grass) in little pools, their flowering parts evident in inflated areas on the leaves. Examining the saltmarsh before calling it a day gave us the omnipresent Puccinellia maritima (common saltmarsh grass), with Spergularia media (greater sea spurrey) identifying it by its fleshy pointed leaves, and appreciating the differences between the aromatic Triglochin palustre (marsh arrow-grass) and the denser spikes of T. maritimum (sea arrow-grass).
On a bright, sunny and warm Sunday morning we all met up again at the bottom of the College Valley, near Hethpool, Northumberland. It is a private estate and we had permission to go up the valley and follow the Bizzle burn. On the way up to the start of the walk a Sambucus racemosa (red-berried elder) resplendent in its eponymous berries was growing at the side of the road. We paused by a ford to look at flowering Pinguicula vulgaris (common butterwort) and to add several species of Carex for the day: C. pulicaris, echinata, viridula, flacca, and panicea (flea, star, yellow, glaucous and carnation sedge).
We parked our allowed six cars and proceeded on our walk up the valley with the burn trickling down on our right. Several grasses were soon notched up all growing closely together; Nardus stricta (mat grass), Molinia caerulea (purple moor grass), Danthonia decumbens (heath grass) and Agrostis canina (velvet bent). Amongst these we gained Carex binenervis (green-ribbed sedge), Juncus squarrosus (heath rush) and Luzula multiflora (heath wood-rush). It was quite a rich area and by the burn we found Epilobium brunnescens (New Zealand willowherb) and Oreopteris limbosperma (lemon-scented fern) demonstrating its sort grouped along the outer edges of the pinnules and its less than lemony scent. The pale blue flowers of Polygala serpyllifolia (heath milkwort) were good to see as it was the only specimen we found. Amongst the swathes of Calluna vulgaris (ling) and Pteridium aquilinum (bracken) stood clumps of Blechnum spicant (hard fern), and as we fought our way higher there were masses and masses of Vaccinium myrtillus (bilberry) in fruit, that many of us ate as we went, the berries pleasantly sweet. The edges of the rushing burn gave us Myosotis secunda (creeping forgetmenot) and Saxifraga stellaris (starry saxifrage), a delicate flower showing two small yellow spots at the base of each petal. Out of the scree grew the aptly named Cryptogramma crispa (parsley fern).
A stalwart few managed to scramble up the steep slopes to see Luz,ula sylvatica (great wood-rush), Carex pallescens (pale sedge) and yet another fern, Phegopteris connectilis (beech fern). On the rocks above was a hawkweed species which has been recorded in the area as Hieracium anguinum, the leaves of a lady's mantle species that keyed out to Alchemilla filicaulis, with its wine red coloration to the base of its stalks. There was one plant of the beautiful Geranium sylvaticum (wood cranesbill) and the red and yellow buds of Hypericum pulchrum (slender St John's-wort). Over the top of The Cheviot black clouds appeared and it started to rain - again. We decided to go down quickly before it became too slippery, and descended the valley through clumps of Trichophorum cespitosum (deer-grass) to return to our cars.
One last stop at a bridge crossing the stream and we could compare Myosotis stolonifera (pale forgetmenot) with the one we found earlier. At the water's edge and in the rocky scree by the water were yellow stands of monkey-flower, one showing only spots in the throat of the flower, and the other with red blotches over the remaining petals. Keying these out gave us Mimulus guttatus (monkey-flower) and M. x robertsii (hybrid monkey-flower). A flock of black-faced sheep was chivvied over the bridge and with that an excellent two days of botanising came to an end.
Many thanks to all those who took part and made it so enjoyable, and especially to Elizabeth Herd and her mother Mary.
STEPHEN CLARKSON