BSBINEWS April 2003 Edited by No.93 LeanderWolstenholme Gwynn Ellis Chenopodiumquinoa del. G.M.S. Easy O 2002(see page 56) Administration and ImDortantAddresses ADMINISTRATIONAND IMPORTANTADDRESSES PRESIDENT Mr Richard Pryce Trevethin, School Road, Pwll, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, SAl5 4AL Tel. & Fax: 01554775847: e-mail: [email protected] HON. cENERAL SECRETARY (CeneralEnquiries) MissAilsa Burns 3 Rosliston Road, Stapenhill, Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire DE15 9RJ Tel.: 01283-568136:e-mail: [email protected] HON. TREASURER (All financialmatters except Subscriptions) Mr Michael Braithwaite l9 BuccleuchStreet, Hawick, Roxburghshire, TD9 0HL T el.:01450-372267; Fax: 0 1450-37359 I BSBI NEWS RECEIVING EDITOR Dr LeanderWolstenholme c/o Botany Section,Liverpool Museum, William Brown Street, Liverpool L3 8EN Tel: 0l5l 478 4278:Fax: 0l5l 478 4350\e-mail: [email protected] ,,S'/ NE'Y.s'GENERAL EDITOR Mr Gwvnn Ellis ,.,u';#;'rT-"r;"."r:l,illl,lii'i;ff:H:ffi:?'il:H MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY (Payment of Subs and changesoiaddress) UNTIL May 31" lir tr'tiitraetWatpote 68 Outwoods Road, Loughborough, Leics. LEll 3LY Tel.: 01509-215598;e-mail: [email protected] FROM June l" Mr Gwynn Ellis (Please quote membership number on all conespondence; it is on the address label on yow mailings, md in the Lisl ofMembers in YearBook 2003). HON. FIELD SECRETARY (Enquirieson Field Meetings) Mrs Jane Croft 12 Spaldwick Road, Stow Longa, Huntingdon, Cambs. PE28 0TL E-mail : j [email protected] BSBI PROJECT MANAGER rheord Rectorv' Mr David Pearman T:i:;il*:;:fi;1.:lil,ilii:,l,lliil#3,:Tj BSBI CO-ORDINATOR Mr Alex Lockton 66 North Street, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SYI 2JL Tel. & Fu: 01743 343789;,Mobile: 0585 700368;e-mail: [email protected] BSBI VOLUNTEERS OFFICER Mr Pete Selby l2 Sedgwick Road, Bishopstoke,Eastleigh, Hampshire SO50 6FH Tel. 02380 644368;e-mail: [email protected] WATSONIA RECEIVING EDITOR Mr Martin N. Sanford c/o SBRC, Ipswich Museum, High Str€et, Ipswich, Suffolk IPI 3QH Tel.: 0 I 473 433547 : fax: 0 I 473 433558; e-mail:[email protected] RESEARCH FUND APPLICATIONS Mrs Sarah Whild 66 North Street, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SYI 2JL Tef. & Fax: 01743 343'189l.Mobile: 0585 700368;e-mail: [email protected] BSBI YEAR BOOr( (Ceneral comments to the Editor:) Mrs Mary Briggs 9 Arun Prospect, Pulborough, West SussexRH20 IAL Tel.: 01798-873234 BSBI PUBLICATIONS Mr Jon Atkins c/oSummerfield Books, Main Street,Brough, Cumbria CAlT 4AX Tel.:017683 415771 Fzx: 017683 41687; e-mail: [email protected] BSBI WEB SITE ADDRISS w.bsbi.ore.uk CONTRIBUTIONSINTENDED FOR BSBI NEWSq4 shouldreach the ReceivingEditor before AUGUSTI" 2OO3 ImDortantNotices IMPORTANTNOTICES FROMTHE PRESIDENT The BSBI has gained about 500 new members as a result of the offers associatedr',ith the publication of the Atev,Atlas. I am very aware that to some of these new members, the Society's plant recording activities which are taken for granted by many of the'old hands', must seem daunting. Whilst field recording, for most of us. is enjoyable and fun and, when undertaken in a small group, a means of leaming from each other, ifyou are ne\\'to the activiry or lack confidence in your identification ability, it mal, discourage Iou from taking part. Ifthis sounds lamiliar may l urge you to contact your county recorder, if he or she has not alread)' been in touch with you, as I am certain that with the increasing responsibility of maintaining the county records your help will be most welcome. Incidentally I am told by one relatively new' member that her experience of BSBI field meetings has been that everyone is very keen to give assistance,in a most patient, knowledgeable and unpatronising wa-v. Both ner.r'and established members will by norv be familiar with the HLF funded Local Change project which the BSBI is undertaking over the next two field seasons. The areas which witl be revisited in order to record changeswhich have taken place since the I 986-88 Monitoring Scheme will each need, ideally, to be visited 3 times. during the different seasons. This affords an ideal opportunity for the less krou,ledgeable to accompan) old hands to improve their plant recognition. But I am sure that not all the infomration exchange *'ill be one wav - even tlle most experiencedalways have room to leam more! 'user For those who find the use of identification keys intimidating, there are more friendly', illustrated books available which most of us use quite frequently, often to augment the books which only contain keys. My personal favourites are The lVildJlower Ke1' by Francis Rose and lre Ilild;flor+'ersoJtheBritishlslesbl' Ganard&Streeter. Buttherearealsoidentificationaidsappearing on the Web. If you log on to the BSBI websitewwl.bsbi.org.uk there are various'leads'including 'Records' Quentin Groom's excellent and easy multi-access key which can be used from the button. Ihere is also an excellent tree identification web-site promoted by Franklyn Pening which can be found at u.wrv-saps.olantsci.cam.ac.uk\trees.This is being expanded in the near future to also include winter tw,igs,and a kev to herbaceousplants is also projected. For those of you not so keen on ticking off record cards, the BSBI have some other. rnore demanding projects in the pipeline. These include researchto establish to which National Vegetation Classification (IJVC) communities the large number of plant species not so-far included in any such communities belong. Prof. Johr Rodwell, editor of the five-volume NVC account, is very enthusiastic about launching this project which be promoted initially by Prof. Mick Crar','ley,Chaimran of the "viil BSBI Scienceand ResearchCommittee. Other projects will be concemed with nore accurately ascertaining the altitudinal limits of all species and more detailed recording of infra-specific taxa. hybrids and the like. With regard to the latter. Prof. Clive Stace points out, lor instance, that the recording ofthe subspeciesof Ranunculu.s ficaria (.LesserCelandine) tbr the ,Veu'Atlas was remarkably patchy and couid easily be rectified by more clcrseexamination of the plants in the field. This is just one of many examples. Incidentally, Clive's retirement, after a lifetime's work in plant taxonomy, will be marked by a conference at Leicester on 13'h September entitled (,'urrent taxonomic research work on the European Flora. Io which -vouare all invited (see leaflet enclosedwith this mailing lor details). i look tbrward to seeing you at the AGM in Cambome in May or at one or other of the meetings during the year. Good luck with your Local Change recording! Rrcs,rnn Pnycr,.President lmponantNotices CHANGEOF MEMBERSHIPSECRETARY After some 24 years in post. Mike and Ann Walpole have decided to retire from the position of Membership Secretary at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. Mr Gwynn Ellis has been appointed as the neu'membership secretar)'andthe change will become eff-ectiveon l" June 2003. Applications for menrbership,changes ofaddress and payment ofsubscriptions should continue to be senl to Mike Walpole unlil i1' May. After that date membership correspondenceshould be sent to Gwlnn Ellis in Cardiff(see page 2 for addresses). This marks the end of an era for BSBI. Mike and Am have been the backbone of the Society for a quarler of a century, both in the role of treasurer and membership secretary and we owe them both a huge dept of gratitude. T hank -vouAnn and Mike. fbr all that you have done for us. Ailsa Bums. Hon. GeneralSecretan NEW ATLAS OF THE BRITISH& /R/SH FLORA All orders for the .,\ew Atlu.r of the British & Irish Flora should nor.v have been fulfilled. Copies are being despatched by Oxford Universitv Press using Securicor. All orders should no*'have been fullfiled so if you have not 1'etreceived your cop) or have received a defective copy please take the following action: Contacl Norma Short and Nicola Connery at Oxford University Press. You should write or phone Nicola Connery (OUP. Distribution Centre. Saxon Way West. Corby, Northants. NN18 9ES, Telephone:01536 454560. Fax:01536 454518) or e-mail either (with copy to Gwynn Ellis) at: [email protected] or [email protected] 1. Give your name and full addressAND phone number, 2. Confirm that your copy \\'as ordered through the BSBI (they can check against the list of the addressesprovided.l 3. Clearly slale what the problem is. eg non delivery, damaged in transit, or missing CD (NOTE: the latter is affixed to the inside ofthe back cover, pleasecheck there first). 4. Be patient if she does no1 get back to you immediately. GwyNrr Er-r-rs.General Editor MEMBERSE-MAIL ADDRESSES At the last meeting of Council it nas suggestedthat members e-nrail addressesbe included in the Menrbership List in BSB-/)'ear Book and elsewhere,if they agreed. The purpose of this nole is to ask members to e-mail me their e-mail addressesif they have no ob.iectionto them being included in future. Gwvu Errts. General Editor. [email protected] IRISHBSBI AGM _ 2OO3 The date of the lrish BSBI AGM has changed. 11will now take place on 4tr' October, at National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. Dublin. It will commence at I 1.00 a.m., and is due to finish at 4.30 p.m. Guy:il [:r.r.rs.General Editor Awardsto BSBI MembersI Diaw I Editorial AWARDSTO BSBIMEMBERS MARSHCHRISTIAN TRUST Founded in 1981, the Trust makes a number of awards each year, especially in the field of nature conservatlon. 'a One of these, the award for Botanical Conservation, is for lifetime's achievement to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution in the field of botanical conservation'.