B.S.B.l. Spring 1986 SCOTTISH NEWSLETTE R

ORoENLANoTA DENsA BSBI SCOTTISHNEI'S LETTER

Number8 spring 1986

Edi torial 2

From the Cheirman ? Vice-count,y Recorders 3 BSBI Codniiteo for 4 A Botanist, by any other name? - G-H. Ballantyne 5 (bdF.f (bndrr.r l('r licot.tirh l.icl(l He.,l.i"A:t f '1986 Scot,tish Field Meettngs U Hary Mccallutl liebsler - OlBr M. iteHar't 9 Clara Winsonelfuirheed - e.W. l4urray 11 oroenland ia dpnsa - c.D. Prcston lj lJild Flover tJeek 1986 - N. Stewert 14 Problems ,ith 'Escapesr - lllson Ruthcrford 15 The i985 ExhibLtlon lvleeting 1l Critical ,lir. - olAa M- St.('lrnrt 19 Bluebells in England & scot,land - e.T. Hunter-Blair 20 Bluebells in Scotland & EnSIand - P, Macpherson 21 Sone conservrrron Issues - R-0, Thomas 23 Biological Confrol of HawkoFeds - l.P. lirnr{rLl :'\

Cover Tllustrat.ion - Cr.enland I i dens3 By OIAa lil. Stel{art SDITORIAL

It is mosl Aratlfying thal so many varied contrlbulions have been received enabling the editors lo conpile what ue trust will be an interesling Ness Letter. over 30 copies are now seni to BSBI inenbers furth of Scolland, and alnce our fast iaaue the Nei. york Botanical Carden has ordered a 8el of back nunbers and vishea to purchase future onee. Once again ue have been saddened by the death durina the year of memberau,ho have contributed nuch to ScolLlsh . Obituaries lo MIss C.!ll. lluirhead and Mias Mary Mccallun lJebster are included elsewhere in theae pages. lle are very pleasecl that Dr Alasta-ir Lavery, the ne!,, Director of Lhe Scottish Field Studles Associaiion Ltd, lrishes to marntain Nhe connection w.itb lhe BSBI and has agreed that the Nevs Lelter riII continue lo be produced at Kindrogan. l,le look forward to your contributions for Nevs Lelter No.9 which shoufd reach us, 1f posslble, by 3lat December r986.

A.McC. STIRLINc P. MACPHERSON

FROMTHE CHATRMAN

I was €treatly honoured to be elecled at the AGMlast November. I feel very humble following ln the footsNeps of our three previous Chairden - Brian Brookes, Allan Stirlln8 and Rlchard Thomas. f an particularly indebted lo Richard since I have .inher.ited a mosi effic.iently run Conmittee. He has nol only been a mosl able Chairnan but he has also encouraged the Society ln Scotland Lo becone more invofved in conservalion matt-ers, aboul whlch he writes efse here in this issue. Ue, nhose prinary aln is to record the Britlsh F]ora, must have some input' even if it is only lhe giving of advice to bodies llke the NCC and lhe Scottish Wildlife Trust, of,herwise we stand a Sood chance of losing some of the inore inleresting aspects of our f1ora. BSBI News31 summariaedlhe Sociely'3 policy towards conservaLion. If any memberconalders that a botanically inport,an! sile ia under threal please let me or any conmitlee 4ember know so that we can take appropriaNe

One majcr prcject has cometo fruition since t.he inceDt.ion , of lhe BSBI Commlt,teefor ScoLland - r.he pLblicdtion cf A Map Flora of Llalnland Inverness-shirc, rbr u,nrch lhe @ nFnbers v.,hche I ped nrust, feel justifyably proud. ll/e still await. the Cencus Catalogue on which Alan Silverside is workinA hard, bur hanpered by compet.ing demands on computer tlme. Members witL be dellghted lo know chat the new Scottish Field Cards, produced by the Biological Records Centre, have at long fast been published - lhe lelterlng nray pose problems for those of us with lesa than perfect eyesighi unfortunately, Your Comnit-lee has also been involved in Biving advice on lhe species lo bc included in the nevised Scheduleof fully protected plant.a in the Wild]ife and Count.ryside Act (1981) and you might be interested to know that lhe current. lisl of proposed additions includes lhe followinA Scoltlsh species :- Homogynealpina, Erigeron borealis and Scheuchzeria DalusNris. oft;aln-E;Et .l-F;l;T recenr. oeveLopmants hds been the creation of a Conservation officer for bot-anical socleiries in Brilain, including Lhe BSBI, and ke ,ere alf dellghled when Nlck Slev,art gol lhe post. I'n sure t,hat, everyone vculd like to offer their consraLulations and best irishes to hiln. Il is a job with enormous poteniial - readlng tbe job description one almost feels lhal ten people ni8ht have been more appropriate! The nalional Society's gai.n ua6 our loss, but before he left Nlc* had coflpleted arrangements for this yea-'s field meetlogs vhich looka noat inviting. I hope ,re shall see you on theae and Lhai after fasi yearrs non-summermay I vish you all an excellent season of bot.anising in lropical sunshine (birt interspersed with the odd downpour so lhat eiervthing does not dry up complet,elyl).

NOSALINDSi\4ITH

VICE-COLINTYI?BCORDERS

It is expe.ted lrhat lhe vacancies recently occurring ln UCE92, 94,95 and 96b w-i11t,e filled lrithout delay. lbninations have heen senr lo the BSAI Records Conmittee.

Changes of address :- Ilr-s O.14.:lfcwart (VC73) ncw 30,/5 a,itinton noad, [H]O 5DG N.J. Stewarl (VC87) either as above, or C.onservat,ion Assoclation of Botanical Societies, c/o Soulh London Botanical Inst., 323 Norward Road, London SE21 Dr R.A-H. Smith (VC89) noe :- 'Holburn', Dalcrue noad, Pitcairngreen, Perth PHI 3LU B.H. Thompson(VC98) nolr :- 'Clenlussa', Ford, by tochgilphead, Arayll PA3l 8RH

FTLE DRAWERSFOR BSBT INDEX CARDS

These drawers u,hich can be supplied free of charge to VC necorder,., are for holding lhe 8u x 5fl lndex cards which are a convenient l,ay of storlng flora records. They renain the property of lhe BSBI however and should be handed on irhen a change of Recorder occurs. Dr n.A.H. Snl|h has lhree of Lhese units available, and any recorder interested in aquiring one should get in touch wlth her aL the address

BSB] COMI,IITTEEFOR SCOTLAND

The followina is the conposition of the Comnlttee from Novenberl985 lo November198b:- Chairman- Dr R.A.H. Snith; Vice-ChairmanDr R.E.Thonas; Secretary / Treasurer - Dr P. Macpherson; Field lleetin8s Secret,ary - H.J. Nollle; MinuNes Secret,ary - Mrs M. Barron; Meet.ings Secretary - Miss J. Muscot,t,. Membersof Commltiee - Dr J.H. Dickson; Dr H-4. Lang; S. Payne, A.A.P. Slack; Miss H. Slraceand A.McC.St.irling. Representing lhe NCC- l{lss R. Scott; represent-ing the Botanical Society of Edinburgh - D.R. l.{cKean. At the AGMon lsl November1986, Nhree nenbers will be elected lo the Comnillee. The retiring memberswill be Dr J.H. Dickson, S. Payneand Uiss H. Stace, all of uhoD will be ellgible for re-election. NominaLions,signed by lv|o membersof the Society nornally resldent In Scot]and, or who are Recorders for a vlce-county in Scotland althouSh noL resident lhere, and uith the wrltlen consent of lhe candidate who flust also quallfy as above, should reach the undersigned al l5 LubnaiS Road, Clasgow C43 2RY by the 30th Septehber 1986.

Peier llacpherson, Hon. Secrelary, Commillee for Scotland. A BOTANTSTBY ANYOTHER NAI.4E? G.H. BALLANTYNE 'tAh, I hear you are a botanist,t'. "!ie would like you to join our scientlfic aub-conmltteerr. I'Cin ycu gj.ve us some advice on what $e should plant in this piece of grcund we have been given", "Whal's t,he difference belween a cyme and a racehe?'r. Every time I am confronl-ei with one of these comments or questiona or t,heir like I groan! BecauseI've been inLeresled in ihe countryslde, especially wild flowers, for some thirty yeara nou, and because I an the official Bolanical Recorder, nEt.urally people assune that l am a bolanisl . that is 'one skllled ln Lhe science of pla ts' (ChanbersDiclionary). Eutr l[ an far fron deservjnA ol That description! True, f did mana4eto scrape a pass in btolo8y (loerer) at school, but I failed miserahly in pure sclence subjects and naths. l,lhat bent I h"re is touar.jl, literature, 'n '.ra* ? facl rFflec'ed ry IrofFs.'io , of lib-?-ia'1 (though nowadays nany cf ny colfeagues lrould sccff at i-he associaticn). So it is daft to pretend lhat I am a scientist.. VJhatto caIl invself. then? Flower-lover is accLrrate but. ii noL quite right. Plantsman has definite gardeninB cver- tcnes, or maybe auSgests a prcfessional plant hunter. It can scarc€Ly be rwild flowererr, although increasin€lly -ratcher is becooing 'birder', a rord I do not care for at all. I'd long puzzled over this until, during the aut,unn of 1985 I came across a book called A h'o,r.rect of Flowers. The blurb indicated lhat il treated of lniId Ti6i&E from Doints of view oil"er t.han that. or- the botanist's ancl in particular a chapler cntitled 'Polanists and bctan- cphils' caught ny eye. Unless I was nislaken, a wrod ending in '.,.phi1/e'neani ia lover cf...r. and sure cnoLrgh'hc opinior was put, foru.rd th3f, rrthe tern bclanophil may be borrored to deacribe a person who! withoul being a bolanist, is interested in plants". Me t,o a rN'! The expresser of lhls view was Andrew Young, and he was writlng in 1945. Forly years later his bock uts reissued to mark lhe centenary of his birLh, al E]gin, in 1B85. Young attcnded school and then New CoLlege in Edinburgh and after Lhe first rorld war Doved to Hove to be rninist.er cf che Presbyterian Church there. In 1939 he was induclred inLo the Anglican Church and became Vicar .l Sf.ne.inrre in Ilusjrex. He retired in 1959 to near Chichesr.er, Hhere he died i.n

' '.. !'L!! J e-,-r] 1]:/r |,]j ] jl b not lio much as a prose writer that YounS l.'on renown but as a poet. He published hls flrst book of poens in 1910 and by the 1930s had becone recognised as a major writer, part- tnature icularly as a poelr. A Blance at the contents tist of his Poet.lca1 llorks, elso lssued tc celebraie his cent- enary, confirns his abiding inlerest in nature - rThe Green Woodpecker', 'Sea Wnnwoodt,ri/alklng in beech leavesr, 'At Anberley Brooks', rDrosera anglicar and so on. But he was also much intrigued by mysllcal experience and death, as witness his later, longer poems and verse plays, and this aspecl is broughL oui in a short piece composed in 1920 ca]led 'Here and lhere', which also captures hia innate love of naLure -:-

Eyes that are black as bramble-berries That. lustre wlth ]iaht ihe rank hedgero!,s Are kindty eyes and wlthin then ihere is Love of lhe land r/here the bramble arows.

But nine are blue aa a far-off dlalance And grey as tr,hewater beneath the sea; Therefore they look silh a 1on8 insj.atence For things thai are not and cannoi be.

Returning bo Young's use of rbotanophil', he says "While a bolanophil searches for plants, a botanist may noL have t,ime to do so, or even the lnlereal,,.... The former is so much a plant aeeker that in wlnter when there are fet,{ planLs lo lind, he usually hibernat,es. Indeed it is by this habit of hibernating that he ray besi be dist- inguished lfilite the botanist is llke an evergreen, rork- ing throughoul the year, lhe botanophil ia like one of those perennials that die doun to a rootstalk in autunn and lie nore or ]ess dormant ti1l the 3prin8- A botanophll once confessed that in winter he could not remember the botan- lcaL nanes. Put in spring, before the Wake-robin is ilrself awake, he is up and doin8, wandering about in hia eager search for plants'r. Many,ould agree! Youngrs A Prospeci of Flowera and his later A Retrospect of Flowers are well worth readlng. The jackel of the new ;a&GE-6T lhe former connents that 'reach essay is a fraS- ment of autobiography and a nosalc in rhich fascinating bits of infornation are subtly iuxtaposed and inier_related ' Perhaps a rather flouery (sorry!) description, but never- lhefess a true che. As to his suSSestion to uae rbotanophilr, 1t is a pity the word .is so unwieldy - not least to say 7 out loud - and I cannot really inagine rry usinA 11r- llh1ch ls 3 nuisance, for botanisl I insisl I an not.

What do others call thenselves?

CODEOF CONDUCTFOR BSBI SCOTTISHFIELD MEETINCS

1. Persons attending BSBI field meetings do ao at their oltn r.Lsk.

2. The neetlng Leader has lhe riSht to refuae participation to any memberor guesl whoae behaviour or equipment is considered unaatisfactory.

3- For certaln meetlngs the Leader ill provide a register to record the nanes of all participants at the start of the neeting. This musl be countersigned by each part- icipant at the end of the meeting.

4, For all meetingr,, each partlclpant shoufd carry i-

IJater-proof and wind-proor clo Lhing

Approprlate footrear

Adequate food and drink

In remote or mourtainous country each parlicipant should carry :-

hlhislle, nap arid conpass

and be fanillar vith tl_eir uae.

5. At all bines respecb the property of the owners who grant access to their 1and. Follow the Couniry Code and avoj.d damage io delicate habitats.

6. observe lhe provislons of the Wlldlife and Counlryslde Act. on1y collect gpecinens lrhen strictLy necessary for identiflcatlon or reaearch purposes, and obtain the permlasion of bhe Leader befcre doing so.

7, Pay gr.rat attention to the hazards of the terraln, ltlcludiDg lotentlel danSElE to othela floD dt6lod8eA stones, eapecblly on cl1ffB o! ac!€ea.

8. If ps,rtlclFDtB vlsh to leave tbe Et! SrouP' tb.y shouldl neve! do so o! thelr ovn. l sDalL Stoup ahoull be for:Eeal, one of vhoae DDbols Eust be able to lavLglta usl.lrg @p 4nal coDp4ss. Suoh slell groups By qrly leave tho 6.1n patty *lth the p€ld.rrlon of the la8delr vho rdu6t bo tolit of the group rs Intsnded route.

SCOIITSE FIELD l,ltBIImS IX 1985

Ilre foUorlrt8 ls e brlef retdidor of tho datos of tb. 1986 Detln8t. For frrrthe! d6tot16 the full proSt D leaflet shoulil be oonauLted.

24 e 2, t&y mrmcrsElltE (for @) 14 & 15 Jule S.V. STIRIITGSEIm

5 - 1r JuIy WESIiERRoSS 12 & 1, July cLmC0E & Mn{ocE }fOR

26 - 28 July REI]IXS0F mLLSi' rIKCUDBRICf,TSEIm 9 Ausust GIISGO4I(FloE of GlssSovPloJeot) 16 - 2, luAust KIIDROGAI{IIEID CEmm, PEnmSEIXE(Caoeea)

,O luaust . IIDIOEIAI| (tr'loE of the Iothlanr hoJoot) 20 - 27 sept KItDxOcAl| (lteter Plants)

P1ea6e note that the addres. 8lven i! tho plogra@ for the lteete! Ro6s@6ting l.s futoolleot. nt folldllg l. the ooEect aalibeEsr- lb T cUffotn' tr tute corucrvsncy couDollt IeltaS, A'tanceun Flelil St.tlon, trlDloch€ro' Ro66-rhlro' 9 MARY cCALLUI.'$IEBSTER OLGA I,1. STDIIAiT

Mary l{cCaIlum WeLster died on ?th tlcvember 1i185, aaed 78, and Scottand losb a first.-class field bolranisl. Flow- ers had always been her greateai love. na a lit.tle girl she sal,' a ehite violet on the other side cf a nudtiy d-ilch, and goL a spanking for going to pr.k jl agains! her governesst wishee. Her early educalion was fron a ser.ies of governesses, 19 ln 7 years until, aged 15 she urent.cff to boarding school al West Heath. and then lo HEnrCommon. After school she went to Bruss, :o ifinlsh', ., then worked as a nanny- llhen lhe 1939 war started she Joined Lhe ATS, at-tached lo the 1oth Battalion Gordon Highlanders and was sent to the firsb school of cookery for ucmen at Aldar:rhot. She vas posted lo Or.knev, and larer t.o SheNland as cook-aergeanLat the time of lhe Battle cf Narvik. After gaining a commission she ended up as a stalf capt-aln in Mont8oneryts HQ in Germanyin a branch disbandinA t.he Cerman arny. After the nar Mary became a cock working bolh in hotels and privately. AII t.his line she kept up her inter- es:- in plar,ta and decided thal rcrk lras cnly for lhe wlnt.er, while'lhe sumflers were filled Dilh field botany. Whe,rtbe botanical mapping scheme started, having no car, she ealked 100,nlles a reek iecording in the norlh of Scollanci. In 1958 she visited her brother in Natal , and went on a 7 month safari in Kenya and Northern Rhodesia, bringing back a valuable collectlon of grasses to Kew (5000 sheecs). The ncxl lhree winters were spent in helping to idenlrify them there, followed by four yeara in t,he Bolany School al CambridAe. She joinrd the Wild Flo er So.iety as early as 1926 tnd rernained a faithf'rl nenbcr cf ri. Ior t.he [F:rt of her Iife. She becane a menber of f.he BSBI in 1936, sefving on it,s Councl] in fater years, a Fellow of t.he Botanical Society of EdinburAh from 1955 and of the Linnaean Soc-iet.y from 1960 lo 1974. Mary organlsed many field meetings for both the !FS .nd the BSBI and oany wilL remenber in parlicular her excellent oeetings lo Arran, Skye, t,he Cairngorns and many cther ]ocalities t-hroughcutScot-land. I, personally, learned ny raquare-bash ingr fron her, and we uenli toget,her to placea at the back of beyond lo ensure that t-herc was 10 no Darl of her homecounLies she had not visited. AIl lhis culminated in her oulsNanding Flora of Moray, Nairn and EasN Inverness. Prior to the Flora she !r6le a ]lst ;T-iE;- Fl6;;;r the cutbin state Forest. Her visits there were uncounlable, and so many will have memoriesof being sholrn Coodyera, Corallorhiza and 0rlhilia there, bu! eapec- ially Moneses uniflora ohich she loved- Visilors to her coLlage aL Dyke aoon became very asare cf all l,lary's varied intereste. Her ]ovely garden vhere even the weeds were rich and rare, and the pile of drlft- ood at lhe door for floral decoration. If you stayed tbe night you might have lo nove a slring of oniona, a bunch of dried flowers and several pressed specinens before you could get int,o bed. The pressed specimens were either as records of plants aeen or for her beauLiful pressed flower piclures for which she won fi.sr prize at the Royal Ht8hland Showon severaf occasions. The only t..ime bolany look second place was during l,JimbledonFortnight l"rhenshe was glued to the televiaion, or during the lennis l,ournaments at Nairn and Elgin where she competed lil] three years ago. A lennis cup in her .oftage is a rpmrnder of her exce.llenceas a player. She was aiven.it to keep after winninA Lhe Ladies open SinSles at ihe North of Scotland Tournanent for four yeara running in the I9506. Having seen virtually every wild plant groolng naturally in t.he British Isles, 'shoddyr plant.s becamea great inter- est to her, and she loved the excitenenL of findlng an unknov.rnpfanl on the shingle a! Galashiels or in Lhe shcc r,-manur-adfields in the south. She found thaL thls knor.ledge l,as a help in identifying the grasges she sar{ on r,er t.uc trips tc llestern Australia. These visits ue.e out- st,anding f or her. 10 go on a boranical foray w.ith flary uas a real education. Her ]ast meeting, based at Tomintoul in 1983, attended by 30 people, was to collect records for a check list for Banff on rhich she was {orking. Allhough she had no acadenic qual.ifications, her knowledgeand experlence and, abova alf, her hawk-like eyesighL, helped her to find and identify nore planls in the field than anyone else- There vere occasions, perhaps, l,lhenshe didn'i suffer foolB gladly, b-l if you were urll.Lng 'o ]earn, no onF could be more pat,ient and instructive. T and many others have a great deal t.o Lhank hei fcr, particularly her friendship. 11 CLANAWINSOME MUIRHEAD ]915 - 1985 C.W. MURNAY

Amongthe Skye VC Recordpr's botanjcal files is a col]- ect.ion of lelters and pojrr.-rrds tn beautifut and highly lndividualistic handwriting, wrillen over a period of 20 year8. They are also ,.r,lcige, clear and oftren anuqing - as when l,hc rriler said ',I Lhlnk that the 1964 addilion No.l to t.he Prabosltsquare ls the bes! yel" ...(our daughler!). The first letters arrived aft.er the CSSFfield ne.iling held ai Dunvegan in 1958, aiking quections :rbout planLs seen, which a then very 'basic knol",ledge' botanist tried t.o answer. Obviously Miss lvluirliead (the leader) was keen on islends (lhough on lthat occasion Skye hadn't treat.ed t.hen very kindly), and was able Lo lransfer boih her enlhusiasn and interest to her correspondenbs.As 'guestst at the Dunvaganneering, we ha4 only flel lhe l-ad-r briefLy, brt in l9b1 I was able lo join the parLy of fj.ve al EaBdale, on the island of Seil. and exDlore the 0arvellachs and ct.her islands in the Fil'lh of Lorne (see The Flora of Easdale and lhe Carvel lachs, Trdns.Bot.Soc.Ud.n;. V"lIXXLX, Pr. 'JlI, 316)- Aft,er lhat,, both lhe correspondence ancl the friendship flour iahed . Clara Ialinsomeltulrhead (known as rt'iinr) was born in Cunbrla in lri15, of Scott.ish parentage. Her father was a Chief Englneer in the l.lerchant Navy, and her nother ran a snall narket Barden, passlng on a love of planta and garden- ing to all her fanily. Mrs l'lulrhead deli8hted us by appear- ing j.n a kilt on a visil lo Skye in 1962. lJin, being a different, shape, preferred her 'WRNS'st,y]e pleaied okirl. The spe.Ll in the WRNS(1943-45), dunird ihe ar l riri.Ly engaged 1a code-breaking, and norhere near the sea or ships) followed lwo yFa... Jf Slurley CorlegF of Horrr^u.ru-e (rgl'l - 35j and work Hit.h t-he InAw.-rsen's Alpine Nursery at [ast Grinstead, and in Carlisle Museu (where she was officially in [he Porcelain departnent, but helped unofficja]Iy with t.hF plants, and began collect.ing nateriaf for a Ffcra of Cumberland). Aft-er the oar she rer.rlrnedto Carlisle ind the Museum, and used to visit. RUGEdrnburgh tc check plar,f,s in the Herbariun and Library. Her interesl irasn't only in pressed specinens - ahe also grew succl.rl.ents and cacti. As well as Sempervi,'un,she liked Cassiope, and had a cu.Ilivar {C.r!.rdii x lycopodioioesrnamDd tsftrer'her - Casslope '14rir- heaclt, which used !o be in the ,Jack Drake' caLdlogue. Aater beinB appointredto lhe slraff of t.he Herbariumrt sh.. 1_.r:l\ ' Menbersof the public (especially BSBI recorders!) can send in specimens, sonetimes rather scrappy, for ident-L- f icar :on. She was very pat ienr ulrh bits of supposed PoLyst.ichunlonchitis (Holly ), until finally it really was, She also worked, among other t-hings, on the fanlllea Rosularia (rit-h D.F. Chamber.Iain) and Sernpervivumfor P-H. '" ^em o-, * 1519_91_1yg5gy. rhe perv:. vii--iEEE i6i-i nclr.rdes no less than eiAhb species described for ihe first itime. Again, fron letters, I am reminded lhat she only .learned to drive in the 1960's, and gave BSMEdinburgh sone hair- raisinA rnonenls, if 6he spotted sone lnleresting plant on the road verge. Then she liould 'Nake offt for the weel of scotland or the west of Ireland, where she explored aon,: of the more remote ofa-shorc islands (Inrshark was one). and found a very hairy Sea Pink on Achi]l Island. It vas thought -o bF rew ro.h- Britlsh lsles al the tjr., as the nearest to her specimen came from PorNugal. Illas it ever sorted out? llhile bolanising, both indoors and oul, Win lost all sense of time. Her colleagues al RBCsay a ]ot of her work l,las done well into the nighl if she was purauing somethinS int,erest,ing, or merely 'calching upr afler a spelf asay. There was cne occasion when exploring the pinnacles below the Slorr in Skye lasted well into lhe eveninS, and we were looking for a B & B in Broadford long after 9 p.m. For suoh a quiet person, l,Jin found herself on various comnilLees. Her rnenbership of BsE uen! back lo 1947, and of t-he BSaI to 1952. Fron 1964-73 she was a nenber of lhe CSSFand led several field meet.in8s for them. In the dayg L,hen a handful of enthusiast.s were aLlowed lo be ln charge cf more than cne vice-county she had Cumberland (vc70) from 19{8, and lhe Inner group of lslay, Jura, Colonsay, Mu]] and Lhe smaller islands (VCs 102 & 103) fron 1951, anclkept, t,he last-named going unLil her flrsl stroke in 1980- She had rerired fron RBGon reaching 60 in 1975. Over lhe years her personal herbarium (of mossesas well as flowerin8 planf,s) arew t-o flll al leaBt one room of lhe St. Leonard's Bank holrse in Edinburah, and when she could no lcnger live there alcne, the pile of boxes v,,aataken down to Devon, lo her friend of Horticultural College days, Mrs Margaret l"]incolt, where her family hoped she would recover sufficiently t.o vrork on the arrangin8 of the coll- ect.ion. Bul by this tine lhe task uas loo daunling and lhe problen was 6o1ved by cfferinS lhe collectlon to 1t Plynouth Polylechnic, who were del-ighted to have it and have appointed soneone to uork on it, lJilh lhe help ol' two 'Youlh opportunityr schcol l€av.-rs. lllhen clf,ssified and arranged il ui]] be known as rhe 'Huirhead Ccllect. ior,' and be available lo all sludents for consult,aiion. I an indebled to Douglas McKean, RBC Edinbureh, and to Mrs Margaret Wincott, tor their assielance with this

IS CROENLANDIADENSA EXTINCT IN SCOTLAND?C.D. PRESTON

Groenlandia den6a, the opposite-leaved Pondweed,has elways been rare in Scot.land. The map in t-he At.las illus- tratea thia, bul does not distinguish old and recent. reco-ds anJ so glves no indicarion o' its pFpspni sratus norlh of the border. In updatin€ the records of C!'oenlandia recently, I realised t,hal almost ali the available records were oLd. I know of only teJo posN-war Scot.lir'h r,.cordB. This leads me to suspecl t,hat Groenlandia may be exlinct, in ,Scotland- I challenge Scoltish oclanists to prove ne $rron8 ! The headquarters of Croenlar,dia in .Scotland used to be the Lothians, Most specinens rere coflected from the vicinity of Holyrood Park, Edinburgh. Here il grew in at Ieasl three localitiea: ilunlerts , Dunsapie and Duddingston Loch. There is also a record fron a pond in Henderson's Nursery aL Meadoivbank.a furt,her Croenlandia Aite !Jl'hrn rhe.i:y of EdinbLrgn was Corst o rli-iii-Tl-IT 'f.he moet precisely labe'lLed collec:ion is from a pcnd at ihe foot of the Hil] The ]asl Edinburah record lnas made by W. Tueedje at Duusapie Lcch In 1854. In East LoLhian Groer,landiatas co1Iecl,!d al Gullane ancl at Haclclington, iiJ-GiT-Tf'ec irnen in 1912. The onry Bpecin,enslo alve habii.ar information Lreregrther..l - r',rm a lcch al Cullanl- L.inks and a mr.ll lade al HaddingLon. oulside the Lothlans all the Scott-ish records are of single occurrences. There are undaled specimens from t,he River Tweed at Kelso (VC80) and the Lake ol f4enreith (VC87) the letler specinenr fron t'.J. Hanbury's hero.rriun, is pariicularly unsaNidfaclory as it, also lacks a collecNor'g nane. ll, Young (1936) reported Croenlandla fron Ballo and Harperleas Reservoirs (vc85), 1-926-,buL rto specimens have yel been seen to support these records uh-ich mi8ht., there- lore be regarded wiih sone suspicion. In 1937 0roenlandia k/as coL.lecLed frorn a pond in the garden of Spa Hotel near 1t Strathpeffer (VC106). lJhenU.K. Duncanvisited the slte in 1971 she found t.hat the pond had been drained and the area bui lt on. The t.wo posl,-war recorda are widely Beparat,ed, Sir Geor8e Taylor collected croenlandia from a snalf pond at .ulz dn .dpr le {Vc75, in-T;trtl-flT sourer reported .it fron] Rcchooie neservoir south of Buckie (VCg4) in 1969. ThiB latest reccrd is alsc t-he most noriherly. It would be nost Inreres'ing tc knor rf GroenI.ndia is sti-tI present at either of these sites. lts apparenl failure to peraist at 6it,es cutside of the Lothians makes fie wonder if it is a species whjeh is occaalonally inlroduced int-o Scotllsh irat- ers but never survivea aor long. Uraula Duncan certa.inly considered that. il was inlroduced at the Stralhpeffer Bile. If anyone has recently viailed those sites uhere Croen- Iannia n ight sli-tl 8rou, or cdn add t"o trre recorOs I-;;i; lisled, I vould be interested to hear fron t,hen. llosl of the records f cite, incidentally, are taken fron the card index, compiled by J,8. Dandy, of Bpecimensdetermined by Dandy and Sir Ceorge Taylor.

Young, W. (1936). A list, of the flowerln8 plants and recorded fron Fife and Kinross (V.C.85). D, 146

(Dr C.D. Preston can be contacted al :- BioloSical Record8 Centre, l4onks Wood Exper-imental Station, Abbotts nipton, HUNTINCI)oN.Cambs. PE17 2LS)

HILD FLCIiFR}'EFK I7 - 26 I,IAY]986

The Rcynl Scciet-y fcr Nature Conservation js organlsinS a l/i1d Flower Weekas parr of their BriLish Wildllfe Appeal. 'Ilie ,:ressagewill be rrl\liId Flowers are llonderfulrr and will centre on the beauty and fascination of Briliah wild planis, and lhe need to pr.otect, them. In addit-ion io the firnd-rais- ing aspect RSNCr{i1I be particularly hi8rlaighting road- yerScs 3s parl or 3 carlpai8n lo persuade the relavant authorities Iro ddopt. synpalhet.ic m!nagement reglmes for the benefit of uild flowers- Various nalional events are proposed incfuding aeveral exh-ibllicns at e.e. Chelsea Flower Showand Sicke Carden Fest,ival, and the launch of several post,ers as well ag various articles and lnlerviews in the press and radlo etc, 15 Individual Trusts are or8anising a large number of events tncluding reserve open Days, Suicled vralks, slide

Any BSBI membersHho would like t,o help or parlicipate should contact lhe secretary of their 1ocal Trust.

Nick St.ewart, c. A.B. S. Ccnservalion 0fficer

PROBLEMSllTTH'ESCAPES' AI-ISONNUTHERFORD

Conpiling of the records fcr a local Flora really t.ests ihe knowledgeof vrriNer and helpers regarding nalura.tised non-native plants. During llork on t,he flora of Dunbarton (VC99) it is only in the pas! lwo or three years that. this group has been Siven the atLention it deserves by seeking oul garden escapes in rhe var io,ls odd .orners so eastly overlooked in the course of field wcrk. I have been inler- ested in garden escapes for many years and have found t,hal recording uith a basic unil of a 1 kilofleler square has oeen of Sreal- val.te in rhe more populalad areas of the county, particularly around Helensburghand lhe Careloch- side - a specially ]ucrative field. Having lived in this area for nany years I had knowledge of t-he places likely lo prove rewarding, and nost have lurned out to be so, but unfortunately for the plant-hunler much rgood' ground has been .Iost, 1rc development over the past, ten years. Today, increasingly, focal floras are concernedwilrh naning garden escapes nore accuraLe.Iy - nol, for exanple, calling aIl snowdropsGalanlhus nivalis, or a1-I daffocli-ts Narcisaus paeudonarclssusr,or always referring to lhe pheasant's-eye as N. poelricus. The .Lat.ter has been variously .listed as N. poeticus subsp. poeticus var. recurvus (Haerorth)Fernandes, or subsD. radiiflorus (:lalisb.)Baker var. exsertLrs i Hawor!h, Fernanoiil-fiiliEi rhese are tne same,-l-iiill know. Again, one must not conruse lhe comnon pheasant's-eye with the improved 'Aclaea'l/hi(.h is larger- florered, 1Jith neater, broader perianlh, but jusL as like1y to become naluralised. Nohradayssome aulhors include N. x inconparabills Mill,, the very double forms of whlch are lhe old iPoached Eggs' and isuphur and orange Phoenix'. Sone also include certain of the rtrurrpet' daffoclils. In the recently publlshed Flora of the Isle of reddish, purple and green flowered forms of Prinrula vul8aris are menLroneo. A neu Brit-ish Flora is baclly needed. The pasi lwenty 't6 years have seen a welcome increase in awareness of non- nat.ives, but- little guidance to lhe species l-tkely to be found or 1_.heirdistinguishing characlers. IL mj.8ht be supposed thal rhrubs would be easier lo identify accur- ately, but it seemsthat cvp,r the new 'Beanr -ts fallible in certain cases. Herbaceouspfants are inclined to be lricky, as mosl popular works tend Lo show only ll]ust- ralions of the very inproved kinds, ard Lhe species and clder culNivars are overlooked. Fortunaiely, two usefirl books ere pub-lished in 1984 covering large numbers of nerbaceous p larl.s . lhere ar. the special Lst sociel ies, b.r t.\ey can seldom ccpe rith lhe older cultivars or the species, I wonder, for inst.ance, hor,rlhe Fuchsia Society vould fare vith the not easily placed rwildr fuchsias about.our ? Somespecralis|s who are also botanislB have wreslled w.it.hceriain groups, so lhat il may be possible wlLh their help lo determine the species and prinary hybrids of Aster, for insLance, or the Ceraniurns so comnonly found as escapes. to name only lero. A-re your Astera all novi- !9lg:!, yct" blue Geraniums al] 0. x nagnificunl or G. x ibericum? - and your C. phaeummay be a subsp. or var. of uhich t.here are a bewildering number to master. Another teaser is the commonly escaped Ceraatiun rtomentoaun'. It seenrs from recenL investigaticns Nhat this, in the v.restof Scotland at least, is m.1e likely to be the very si&i1ar C. bieberst€inil, bul lhere are pr.rzzllngplants which do nol easily fiL eit.her of Ihese specres. Then lhere are the Solonon's Sea]s - in England and P. njrltiflcrum and P. odoratun are native, but in VC99 r.,/ehav;;nly F. x htbTldfifuru-sser. It is not, always rhe robust, shining-leaved planl ol illuslrations. We found a small, heavily-fruiijng fcrn in a wood.(the hybrid rarely relains ripe berries) and thoir/tht we had sonething dilferen!, but it proved, on subrnissionto a specialist, lo be a form of the hybrid. The conmonly naturalised Monlbret,ia (Tritonia x croc- .smirr.,i) rs olen.inc-Luded in roc"r rtoilE.--oi7-fr6i- many h.v€ l-f'F reoder, boldr'r Arrholy7.a {Aunl EIiza) - Curtonua paniculatus, or the hybrid !-:_IJe!99? These .rre not. hardy everywhere, bul ihey are in Dunbarlon Hhcre ue have 12 stalions for An'horyza and 3 for the hybrid. There is a useful way of teljing these t-rro fron l,Jcntbr!'t.ia.lliLh the lalLer it is qu.ite easy to pull up a.crn acci.ienlally, but vrill l, .:' rs ycu will oct 17 only the brorm skin of the corm. You may thlnk that to have !glfllggg__l_jl!i!! ,nd S. x geum for the garden London Prides is being very up to date, even erudile, bu! recently a specialist exanined our Dunbarton colonles and we now boasl a populatjon of S. hirsuta and lwo of S. x polita, as well as planls tent- raff. 'aff. atively determined as S. umbrosa' and lll!!!t' formr. I make no pretence to understand Nhese, being iusN grateful lbat soBeone else ls able and willing to do so. Finally, a vord about Soliclago species (lhe Sarden colden Rods). 11 ls now b.rins apprcclated lhal !__glgggEg (snooth-stemmed) is just as lLkely lc occur as an escape ( as !:_!glgg9!:lg downy-sternmed) . Rarely, other species rnay be found - we have S. ruSosa in Dunbarton. I hope t-hal lhese exanpl.es rrill al leasl €tive sone idea of the probfens likely to be encountered during lhe prep- aralion of a loca1 Plora if introduced plants are !o be Siven the altentron lrhey deserve.

Useful references : Flora of lhe Isle of Man. D.E. Allen (1984) Trees and Shrubs hard in the British Isles. W.J. Bean Vo1s ( 1970-1980) The DampCarden. Beth Chatlo ( 1982) FergusonI s Garden Nico Ia Ferauson ( 1984) The Conplete Book ol Carden Plants. Michaet LJrighl ( 1984) Hardy 0eraniums Peter Yeo ( 1985)

THE 1985 EXHIBITI0N MEETINC 2nd November 1985

1985 was Edinburgh's turn for the annual Scottish Exhibition Meetin8, arranged by the BSBI Scoltish Commiltee and lhe BSE, and held at the noyal Botanic Carden. fn the mcrn.ing the custonary assenbfy of Scoltish Recorders heard Lynne Farrell talk on her ''sumner's' rare plant recordlng in Scolland as parL of lhe Quj.nquennlal Revier,r, and Nlck Slewart outline t.he background to his appointment as the ne!,, Conservalion Association of Botan- ical Societles officer. The exhibits provided the usual variely, as is evidenti fron the fotlolring brief list, and Lhe day an all too short opportunity to exchange views and catch up wilh l,Jhatls going on. fnevirably. 'he firsl Irvo shod' fr! ihis parlicular meeting) involvin8 a comPuteroas on view, as uelL as lhe more ccnven!ional di.solavs. Tne exhibltorslS

C.ll. 8AI-I.ANTYNF:l{hich Scott.lsh county has nost branbles? (At present, Stirlingshire) J. BEVAN Hark{eeds in Scotland in 1985. M. BRAITHWAITE}Jlritadder WaLer survey (Berwlckshire) R.l,l.M. C0RNEn New records froo Roxburghshire Flonering Plants and Ferns of S€lkirkshire & Roxburghshire (Newpublication) J,H. DTCKSON& C. STEVEN Lale Glacial Plants now exLinct in Scotland. n , H. NOLTIE& A. WALK0n Recording the Flora clasaow, 1985- L. FARRELL0uinquennlal Review (NCC). C. FEnllEInA Rare .j\rt.herlandspecies.ecorded in 1985. c. HALLTDAY DistribuLion naps of recent Curnbrian recorda, including br"ambles. C. JERMY-FEoi6fr5ptrs PiluIaria in Scolland (mapdlstribution) R.E. (EMP of Fungi - mainly scottish coprinus. C. LECo Sedaesmade easy with a BBCcomputer. M. LlTTLE An interes!ing hybrid swarn of VioIa tricolor x arvensis ( VC80) D. MccoSH liiiilli lu tion of some Hieracia in south scotland. D.R. MCKEANTwo new namesfor lnsinckia menzlesil auc!, 0verlooked taxa in Parnassia and Odontitea- Neu and over.tcokeo reco.ds from L;;l;:- some int-AresrinS finds in the Lothlans. A. RUTHERFORDEstablished garden escapes (and sone olhers). N. STEWART& H. STACE Planl recording in (VC87) 0.M. STEWARTSome scot,tlsh records and flower painllngs. A.McC. STIRLING Recent plant recorda for Dunbartonahire. A. ItAI,KERThe FSBI Islay neer,ina, June 1985.

lhp Blifl Scot.tish Reglonal Acv occupied a full hour, much ofl it devoted to discrlssing conser"valion probfems. AdvanlaSe ras Naken of lthe presence of one of the Watsonia e.liNors to lalk about its contents. Trlbute l,las paid to tilizabe|h Conacher vho deoitted office after 14 years as Meelings organiser. Thanks were also exlended to Richard Thonascn his retiral as Cheirnan. I'Additlons Aft.er tea Dr Jim Dickson Save an address on t.o Lhe late and pos|-glacial flora of Scotland'r in which he templed us vith a nunber of alpine plants which have disappeared fron our ffora. The cold period of I 1,000 radiocarbon years agc was part.icularly interesling, with 't9 . a number of species more typical cf t-he steppes and Creerj . . land. Notable plants presen! lhen included ihe Polar Willovr . and Arclic Branb]e. . The evening,s buffet supper was fotlolred by a good variely of colour slides, several depicting the 1985 fietd neetings. These included numerous transparencies of lhe Beinn Udlaidh and CreaS l,lhor excursions (Fessers Lang, Brailhwaite, Slack and Thonas), ancl Islay (Messers Slack and Sti.rling). Ot,her outings leatured uere Dunfries-shire (M. Bralthwalt.e) and the annual hawkueedhunl (J. Bevan). Orchids fealured in several contributions, espec.ially Orchia norio (Ayrshire) and Anacamptis (Islay). The Borders I,ere covered by Rod Corner and M. Liltle, both of whom parlicularly hiAhlighted Snailholn Craig. The evening rrThings concfuded wilh that Arow on th.ings'r - rusts, gaIls, snuts and so on, by J. Muscott-

CRITTCALAIRA SPECIES OLCA I.,1.STEI.IART

At the Exhibition MeeLrngir Edrnburghand a! thF Eritish Museun in November 1985, Mr Len Mar8eits and I exhibited varlous speclrnens ofl the Aira caryophyllea agg- regate. Anon8 them llas one of A- armoricana Albers lound by Len Uargetts in June 1976, on a cliff top near Portreath, l.Iesl Cornvaff, VC 1. Lhen he flrsl found it he could no| assiSn it to either A, caryophyllea subsp. caryophyilea or subsp. mult.iculmis. The late Dr C.E- HubbardihoughN it was referrable to the latter, but senl seeds tc Dr Albers of Kiel, who grew them on. The plants proved lo be the same as others forrnd ln N.W. France, and in 19?9 (l'/illdenowia g:283 - 284) Dr Albers published the new ta xii-llli- -inarrnor;cana. A sacond site uas.ound in a similar-I;Eiiat VC 2. So far iL appears to be a plant or Cornwail, as specimens in the BM, also fron VCs 1 and 2 have been det- ermined as lhe new taxon. A. arinoricana haa a branched Danicle with flowers larcer lhan Lhose or A. caryophyllea, (l-0 - l-5nn as opposedlo 2.5 - 3.0mn), and $,ith very ahort, pedicles, usually much shorter that the lenSth of the sp.lkelets. Thc lwo subsp. of A. c.ryophyLlea are very diffi uLr.'o dj.fferentiate. Aa Dr Hubbard wrole to ne - ill is very difficult to dist.lnSuish between the ll,r'osubspecies except when one can call upon a cytologist. Ac. has 2n = 14 and A.n- has 2n = 28 chrornosomesr',(A. armoricana afso has 2n = 281, A. muLllcll4j.s has gre;ter slt;;;a luslerins of lhe spikelet.s at lhe tips of the branchesr,. fn the Edinbur8h herbariun there are Lwelve or so specimens rdenrrfred by him ano agreeina Hi!h ihrs descrlptlon. They alsc have their branches dlrecled upwards at 35 to 20 degrees from the verlica]. Len Margetts has specimens fron Uplon Towans, VC2 which he considers to be subsp. multiculnis (a]so ident- ,r';co by Dr ilubbard as sucn), ur-rr-il?ii-fiE very differenr from lhe nalerial in Edinburgh. Those frolo Upton Towans are very short - nol nore than 15cm high, very upri8hf, the br.nches at 10 Lo aboul 15 degrees fron the vertlcal, with the florels about 3nm. They are dlstinct, never tall and alr{ays tufted. There is one sheet at Edinburgh sith 9 specinens on it, t.hat were collected on Arthurta Seat in t-he early 1900s, which are similar to the ones fro|tl Upton Towans, bu! f have not been able to refind any there like them. Another variety of A. caryophyllea that I found in 1985 near Muir of Ord, VC106,was grorr'ingall over a bank and by a dam by ihe Fa116 of Orrin. It differed from both subspecles by lts slender grorlh, 25 - 30cns high, very djvaricate brancheB, and florets onLy 2 - 2-5nn. ( All other Aira specinens that I have measured xere 2.5nm

Having looked at the mat,erial in the Edinburgb herbar- ium and seen the great variation in lhe A. caryophyll.ea comprex! obvrousl, rhere is a great oeal-6T-iiiI-iE-T- done. I rculd be very interesled to know if anyone has itund eiLher cf lhe lrJo latter varielies in places other *-han those mentioned above, and also if they have noticed much variaLion in A. subsp. 93I_Lo_pI4lSg. I r.,outd be Srateful lo hear fron them and would repay Lhe postage.

BLUEBELLSIN ENGLANDAND SCOTLAND Ii.T. HUNTEN-ALAIR

Different- namesfor the sameplant wilhin BrlNain, and indeed elsewhere in Lhe wor]d. can cause some conlusion which is easily avoided by indicating Lhe plantrs acien-

An exampleol this is Endymionnon-scriptus (L. )Carcke which has been adopted aa the emblemcf Lhe BSBI. Thig att.ractlve woodland plant, conf.ined in the wild to N.I{, Burope, is knoHn in Enaland (and probably in l,lales, t,hough there is nc doubt a Welsh nane) as Bluebell. In Scolland however, lhe ndme B]uebell has been Bi.ven in the paat to Campanularolundifolia L. wilh its equally att,ractive bl ue21 floser, found in dry Brassy pfaces, and on fixed clunes, widely bhrou8hout North Teftperale re8ions. fn Scot,land E, non-scriptus has been knorn as Wild Hyacinth while the conmon nane Harebell, used in EnSland fo" 9-,_@, has I lhink never been greally used ln Scolland. I,Iith the increasinA, almost official, use of Bluebel] as lhe cotnnonname for E. non-scripLus, the nane Wild Hyaclnth for it is probably heard less than before in Scotland. However, lhe use of the nane Bluebell for remaina frequent 1n Scotland- T have a colour- ed card entitled IHarebeIla, or Scdttish Bluebells" r.{hich ls plrblished by the Natural HisLory Cenlre, Ardnarnurchan, Arayll. And doubtless Harry Lauder's song aboul "Mary, my Scots Bluebell" iB alill sung. The lesson to be learned fron the situalion is probably Lhat it is besl to Lrse the Latln or scienlific name $,here there ls any po6slbl]ily of doubt. Do ornitholcgisLa I $onder, who rarely seen to use Nhe Latin names of , find this caLrsesdifflcullles?

(Ellis - Flolrerlng Planls or wales- rvoJ, grves Llycnau r Co8 aB the Welsh nane for E. non-Bcriptus. Ed.)

BLUEBELLSIN SCOTLANDAND ENCLAND P. I,JACPH[FSON

The above article, "BluebeIIs in Enaland and Scotrland" has proved lhough! provoking and Btimulated action on ny parl. The aulhor sug8esls Lhat confusion in plant nonen- clature could easily be avoided by the use of scienlillc names. To be contraveralaf, iL -Ls ny oplnion that anyone wiLh aufficient knorledSe !o refer to Endyfiion non-scriptus r{ould knolr tha! it reffered to Bluebell and not Harebell- Also, I do not tblnk Nhere is nuch chance of Selling mem- bera of the general public to use a scientific rather thal a connon name- I rould go further and sLate Lhat any altenpt Lo make young people use only the Lat,in nanes would reduce conaiderab.l, the chance of their beccminA inleresied in Natural Hlstory. The use of a acienNific nane is no!, unfirtunately, lhe definitive lasl uord as lhese nanes chang not infrequently, even in the example quoted. E, non- scriptus has buen ]llSg!!&l!S!_j9l:j9!ig!gg, scilla non- sctiDtua and S. nuians, 22 ornithclogisls do noDhave difficulties becausethe nanes of blrds , v,jth fel, excepiions, are the sane in alL parta of lhe tsrjlish fsles and I cannot t,hink of any case where lhe saoe name is used for differnet, specjes. In contrast, each comnon plant has been differently naned in many parts of Brr:rin (e.9. Lctus corniculatus - CommonBi.rd's-fool Tre- foil has had at- leasl 82), and in many cases the sane nane has been used fcr different species (Crigson, 0- 1958 The Englishnan's Flora). l{hile regret-lin8 the loss of local names, lo avoid anbiguily, bul to mainlain general ldterest in wild flowers, I lhinkit woulcl be betler if each cones to be knorn by only cne namer and to thls end I relcome the .increa s i ns r.,se o f 3!gL!e[_lj9I9!_!.]!_MLll9!9Ig ( Dony, Perring and Rob, 1974) as the stanclard. I have always t-hought-i: to be a nisconception of sone English aut.hcrs cf popular floraa Nhat people in Scotland wor.rldmore commonly na.ne Canpanula rotundifolia iBluebell! t1.,. I,lculdnon-botanical people ln England; however I have shcu,n a pholo8raph of C. rotundifolia to cot parable groupa in thc tw. co,rnLries with lhe follovrlna results :-

Dcnrt know Harebell Bluebell SccLland 30% 25% 45X, England 31% 57% 12

This difference is statislrically significan!, so I have oeen proveo urong.

When lhose who had ans!,,ered nBluebellr were asked tc nane the plants !,jth blue flowers which carpeled eoodland in spring, most looked a Iitlle puzzlrl and then replied 8lowly aB,uFoelrs". 0nIy or,e sa:d '0f course, rhe oLher is 'he "Scctt.ish Bluebell" and ncne replied "Wild Hyacintht- The photograph was fron Nhe calendar cf a Norwegian clrug firm and ihe caption, which I had covered up, read 'Blaklokker - Bluebells". This problem of nornenclatureis, iherefore, nct ccnfi ned to BriLain! 2' SOMECONSERVATION ISSUES R.E. THOMAS

Al lhe November ACMa considerable porlion ol my report aa Chairnan l"las devoted to an accounL cf some con- servation isaues dealt with by your ScoNt.ishCommitlee dur.ing the previous year. The main oulstandin8 issue was lhe applica|ion by a private forest.ry company lo afforest sorneof Creag Meagaidh's loller slopes. My enquiries aboul Lhe statua of this application were in facl answered by t!,o reporls I read in ,The Times' - lhaN lhe apptication had been approved, and that the NCChad purchased a large acreage of these slopes, ai a considerablc + t.o them- sefves and an unearned prof.iL for the foresLry conpany. Al the 1984 ACMa nember had broughi lo my atlention an outline planning applicaLion by the Glenshee Chairlift Conpanylo erec! a puna ski-low in a corrie just N.W. of Clas Maol, attaining the L,atershed and also encroaching on the Caenlochan NNR- an NCCCrade I site. ObjecLions had lo be lodged wlth the Kincardine & Deeside District Councit (K. & D.D.C.) within a few days! I inmediately sought. bolanlcal lnformat.ion, hich was swiftly and comp- rehensively prov-ided by llr Sandy Payne who confirned the florlstic richness, nol onLy of lhe generel area bul also of the ski-to$ corrie and s.ile iLself. I also connunicaled with the Chairman and Secrelary of lhe BSBI Conservalion Connlltee who considered il nore appropriate for Lhe Conservation Conoittee (ralher than the Scottish Commitlee) No deat with lhreals to Grade l sites. The BSBI thereuDon jcined with a number of conservalion bodies, lncluding NCC, RSPBand SWTin outriSht opposition lo the app.lication. The K.&D.D.C's Plannrng CommitLee,and -tater its ful-L Conmiltee, approved the application which wae then sent io the Secretary of St.ate for Scotland. At Lhis slage lhe BSBI Cooservalion Coflrnlttee reached an agreement uith the Scottish commitlee rhaL we uould bF better placeo lo handle conservalion issues in Scolland, A lelLer I wrote to the Secretary of State elicited ihe reply that the planning appllcation had been ret.urned to Lhe K.& D-D-C- for further conaideratlon and con6ultalion, but my letter lo the latler body requestinS all further corfespondence with the BSBI to be addressed Lo myself eilher did not arrive or got lost within K.& D.D.C., for they called a sile meeling of all lnlerest,ed parliies on 2nd ttay to lrhich BSBI was noN inviled! (It laler emerAedthaL (.& D.D.C. 24 did no! consider iL apprcpriate to notify lhe BSBI's Conservaticn Conmittee as its address \rras in Huntlngdon, Enaland). Fort,unale.ly, Sandy Payne lras presen! uearinB anot.her hal and clid a good Job answering hostile queetions. Follcwing this sile neelina, K,& D.D.C. produced a nelr set cf planning condllions to be inposed, on lrhich they invited comment to be passed back to the Secretary of State again. This neo set represented a considerable inprovemenl on the alnost laissez-faire original. It re- s'riufeo'ne Cnairlift Companyin irs methodsof ski-!ow const,ruction, Line of t,he year for totJ use, use of vehicles in naintenance elc.. but stiIl failed to answer the fundament,al conservation objeciions that ski access to the walershed would open up a large area of sens.iLive botanicBl inlerest on both sides of the ridge to lhe effects of skiing, ol which ercsion and litter are lhe most de.lelerious. So I entered a renewedAeneral object- icn on behalf of the BSBI, adding a clause that in !]y opinion planning conditions for any sensitive area shouid provide for open, independen!, aulhoritatlve and regular (annual?) ecclogical assessments backed by legal sanct-

Only one thina has happened since - a 'Timesr report thal the Secreiary of Slate had declined to rcall in' lhe application and had returned it to lhe (.& D.D.C. to determine; vrhich action effectively destroted the incent- ;ve fLr !he Chairlifl Coflpa'lyLo concluoe furlher comp- ronises in discussions which were then current! The (.& D-D.C- nas ^onfirned ils approval of lhe applicatton, denons|raling clearly Lhat NNFSare not lnviolate. IL seems lhat. Iike Duich . Lhis one too has been ]oslr. ot.hers are slill lo come perhaps; e.g. skiing at Drum- cchter and on l,he Nevis ran8e, nining at Crussa Field ln Shelland have r11 heen proposed. There are sooc -opcrtant Lessons which are gradually bej ng learned : -

I ) The Scoltish Conmittee nust be t.he aclive body in Scotland. Not,hing raises every 1ocal author.it,y hack]e so much as rforeigners fron Englandr seeming to interfere jn potential enplcyment,opportunities ln tbe econonically inpoveri shed Ilighlands. 2) Planning authorities are sensit.ive to the weight or opinion expressed by the publlc. l,lemusl all be more 25 aclrlve in expresslng our opri,ions, and show that peopte care about the countryside and its flora.

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Earlier thls year Richard Thomaswrote lo ihe new Secretary of Slate expressing our disquiel at the apparent lack of concern of his predecessor for conservation lnLerests where these applica!ions kere concerned. He also iook the opporlunity to express the hope that the change of incunbent would also herald a change in atlitude lo representations by the conservation bodies. We would have liked to include lhls leLter as a Doslscr1Dt to Richard,s contribulion, but this would have further extended an already unusually fong lssue.

P-S. A lon8, but unconvlncing, reply has recently been received from a Mr E.R. Robertaon of Nev,,Si. Andrews House. Apparently, because Lhe intrusion at Caerjlochan only encroachesanLa 0-2% of the NNRarea. it is not sianiflcant!

POTENTIALFOR BIOLOGICAL CONTROL ffiERAcENTs A.P. BENNELL

The stoloniferous hawkweeds, Hieracium spp. (nrcre correctly Pilosella), originate fron Europe and UK. Many of ihe species have reached lhe stalus of weeds when inlro- duced to other parts of Nhe world - in particular nouse-ear hawkweed(Pilosella offlcin agg. : Hieraclurr piLosella) in Neu Zealand and oraoge harkueed (P. aurantiaca : H. auarLiacun) in eastern t':ortn mer tca-!ii-lE!!il--[ ruEt , Puccinia hieracii subsp. piloselloidarun) confined to these species has not yet spread to the weed affecled countries. FollowinB the succeaalul int,roduction into Australia of Chondrilla rust for the control ol their int.roduced uroa?ll?av-ea weeds, New z-alancl is undert.aking prelioinary investigat,ion of sinilar conirol of Pilosella by 3g99i43_Il9lg9ii subsp. p, I oseI I o i d. rum. lav'i?-Eo r-f of orasslands Divlaion, DSIR, New Zealand wilI be baaed at Lhe noyal Botanic Garden, Edinburah from April lo oclober 1986 and would be grateful !o hear of the locatlon of any substantial colonies of Pilosella specles, espec- lal]y where lhere is evidence of fungal infect.ion or aphid 26 cr gall insc.t. damage.Please ccntsct :-

l)r l)iv id llr'.t t ( /o Hoya.t!ol.,ri,r Uardcn EDTNBURGHEH3 5LN .ti{ 1.. r.3 1-452 -'7 17 1

{ Tl i:; to b,' hoped l-hat our llri t.ish ri roserta species do rr.t :,rl_i-.r'unduly from the combinedrtt..,nl iLns cf ":e - mi!rLr-bior.rrirt.s ar I Llgci|lia hieradil l.hey are, alrer a1l, rllrnclrivc plarilr,ii'.r1.lrer 1.han lroubLesome w,.eds hcrel