Welsh Bulletin Are Still Avarlable on Request(Originals Or Photocopies).Please Send Cheque (Made Payable to Bsbiwales), @ F 1 Perissue, Whichincludes P & P, to - Dr G
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
BOTANICALSOCIETY OF THE BRITISHISLES WELSHBULLETIN Editor:R. D, Pryce No.65, SUMMER1999 Photocopy of specimen ot Hypeicum hicinum at NMW (x i ) It is new to Denbs.(v.c. 50):see Welsh Planl Records Contents Editoriar ::111': 3 AnnualGeneral Meeting, 1998 .............. ........................4 Hon.Secretary's Report ...............4 Hon.Treasurer's Reoort ................5 Elections ............5 AGM& ExhibitionMeeting and Field Meetings 1999......................................5 Committeefor Wales, 1998-1999 .......................6 Chairman'sOpening Remarks - Welsh AGM, 1998 .................6 37thWelsh Annual General Meeting and'l7th Exhibition Meeting, 1999 ...................8 WelshField Meetings - 1999 ........... ..............................9 CardaminecorymbosaHook.f.- NewZealandBitter-cress ............12 WelshPlant Records - 1997 ........... ............................14 Allback issues of theBSBI Welsh Bulletin are still avarlable on request(originals or photocopies).Please send cheque (made payable to BSBIWales), @ f 1 perissue, whichincludes p & p, to - Dr G. Hutchinson,Department of Biodiversity& Systematic Biology,National Museum & Gallery,Cathays Park, Cardiff CF1 3NP,specifying the issuenumber, or year (whichwould have to includethe seasonor month).Large runs- pricenegotiable. Editorial EDITORIAL It is with much sadnessthat I have to reportthe death of GordonKnight. Gordon lived in Trevine,North Pembrokeshireand as well as being a very activemember of the Wildlife Trust West Wales (WTWW) and honorarywarden of the LlangloffanFen NNR,he wrote severalarticles for both BSBI News and the Welsh Bulletin.His subiectsencompassed such subjectsas pollinationand floraland faunal associationsand were basedon his own observationsalong the Pembrokeshirecoast. Indeed he wrote prolificallyboth for the local pressas well as for wider audiences.For most of his workinglife he was a biologyteacher at LymingtonCollege for Boys and it was this professionalbackground which enabled him to wnte his often provocativearticles in which he invited answers to the searching questionshe posed.He was skilledand thoroughwhen doingfieldwork and his wry sense of humourwould come through when, for example,the horsefliesbecame overuvhelming or, on one occasion,when he perceivedthe new high-lechtill in the Trust shopto be beyond him. He was a gentlemanand a true naturalistin the old sense and to be with him was always a delight. He will be sadly missed. A fuller obituaryappears in the WTWW'S summer'1999 issue of Wildlifemaoazine. This yeadsBSBI Welsh AGM is beingheld at TrinityCollege, Carmarthen from Friday20th to Monday 23rd August. Participantsare invitedto bring along exhibitsor postersfor display during the weekend. A programme of field meetings at sites in both Carmarthenshireand Pembrokeshirehas been ananged for the Saturdaymoming and Sunday,whilst Saturdayaftemoon and eveningwill be taken up with the AGM, talks by local botanistsand lhe exhibition.Those wishingto help with Atlas 2000 and local flora recording will have their opportunityon the Monday when they can assist with site monitonngor tetradbashing. Many members have expresseda wish to attendbut haveyet to book.A choiceof accommodationis availablein eitherstandard or en suit roomsin the college'shalls of residencebut pleaseacl now as the closingdate for bookingsis August 1st. For your conveniencea bookingform is enclosedwith this bulletin. My plea in a recenteditorial that all localfield meetings(additional to thoseorganised by BSBI)be utilisedto providevaluable new, or monitoringdata for sitesvisited seems to have fallenon deaf ears. In Carmarthenshire,I have not receivedany records,let alonespecies lists, recordeddunng such events.As I explainedbefore, the opportunityfor contributing valuable records is being lost. Generallythe excuse is given that participantsdo not possessthe necessaryexpertise, but quite often this is an excusefor.iust going along for 'jolly'. the lt is impossiblefor only one or two people to completeall the recordingin a countyand data from these eventscould providea valuableaddition to both nationaland localrecording schemes. Remember - it onlyrequires one participantto act as scrib€. In additionto the noticesand reportsincluded in this Bulletin,a shortarticle on Cadamine corymbosa(New Zealand Bitter-cress) has been contributedby TrevorEvans. However the maiorpart of this issueis taken up with Welsh Plant Recordsfor '1997compiled by Gwynn Ellis to whom, as always,I am very gratefulas I know he is heavilyoverloaded with his BSBIHon. Gen. Sec. duties. Please continue to submit articlesfor inclusionin future issues in order to ensure lhe Bulletin'sregular appearance. Finally,several very stimulatingfield meetingshave alreadytaken place this season,so may I urge you to attendas many of the remaining1999 meetingsas possibleand llook fon'rrardto seeing you at the CarmarthenAGM. Richard Pryce 11th July 1999 AnnualGeneral Meeting 1998 ANNUALGENERAL MEETING, 1998 The 36thAnnual General Meeting and 16thExhibition Meeting of BSBIWaleswas heldat ColegHarlech, Harlech, Merionethshire on Saturday22nd August 1998. The day beganwith a wellattended field meeting in fineweather, led by Peter Benoit,to LlechweddWood (SH/588.316)and LasynysMarsh (SH/598.327). Trichomanesspeciosum gametophytes (now known to be fairly widespreadin Wales,unlike the extremelyrare sporophyte)were seenat one site.The AGM was held in Coleg Harlechat the end of the afternoon,with 40 memberspresent. Apologiesfor inabilityto attendthe meetingwere receivedfrom MaryBriggs, Nigel Brown,Trevor Evans, David Pearman, Joe Phillipsand ElsaWood. The minutesof the last AGM, published in Welsh Bulletin 63: 4-7, were accepted without amendment. The retiringChairman, Paul Day,thanked Goronwy Wynne for findingthe excellentvenue for the 1998AGM weekend at ColegHarlech, Wendy McCarthy for organisrngthe meeting,and Peter Benoit,the VC Recorderfor Merioneth,for leadingthe field meeting.He welcomedTrevor Dines,the BSBI Atlas 2000 organiser,and SarahWhild, the new BSBI Co-ordinator, both of whomwere present at theAGM. Paul expressed his sadness at steppingdown as Chairmanat theend of his four-yearstint and wishedwell to the Chairman-Elect,Richard Pryce, in his newrole. During his periodas Chairmanhe had beenespecially grateful to Gwynn Ellisfor his hardwork as Secretary,to PeterJones, the Treasurer,for keepingBSBI Walessolvent, and to DavidHumphreys for organising Field Meetings. In a wide-rangingsurvey, he describedthe involvementof BSBIWales with manysignificant projects and developmentsduring this period;the compilationof CountyRare Plant Registerswith their importantrole for local BiodiversityAction Plans;Atlas 2000; SACs (Special Areas of Conservation)in Wales;the Millennium Seed Bank project;the new NationalBotanic Garden of Wales,which had progressedwell and is taking shape, with the conservationof the Welsh flora formingan importantpart of itswork; Tir Gofal,the newall-Wales Agri-Environment schemewhich will extendTir Cymento the wholeof Wales;and the opportunities and difficultiesarising from the reorganisationof local governmentin Wales, especiallyin relationto theprogress of localBiodiversity Action Plans. HON. SECRETARY'SREPORT TheHonorary Secretary, Gwynn Ellis, then recalled that when he hadtaken over as Secretaryin 1977 it was part of his task to reviewthe past year'swork after the Chairmanhad made a fewbrief remarks. He wasglad to saythat, at leastduring the past two years, this situationhad largelyreversed itself! In addition,the task of minutingwas now beingundertaken on a rota basisby other membersof the Committeefor Wales,each acting as MinutesSecretary for a singlemeeting (for the presentAGM, Quentin Kay). As the Chairmanhad described,the progressof the Government's biodiversityinitiative, including species, habitat and localbiodiversity action plans, hadformed an importantpart of BSBIWales's work during 1998, and hadbeen the subject of a special meeting of the BSBI Committeefor Wales in April. The Committeefor Wales now includedrepresentatives of additionalorganisations includingCCW and the National Botanic Garden of Wales. AnnualGeneral Meeting 1998 Thankswere due to allwho had helped the work of theBSBI in Walesduring the year. Especialthanks were due to JulranWoodman for his hard work in organisingthe 1998(British and lrish) AGM of theBSBI in Cardiffon May8-11, and also to Gill Barterfor organisingthe AGM fieldexcursion to Flat Holme,and to RichardPryce for organisingthe AGM field meeting at theNational Botanic Garden, Middletonand at Pembrey.Welsh Plant Records for 1996was in preparationand shouldappear in Welsh Bulletin63 in December.The 1999Welsh AGM was plannedto take place at Carmarthen,and would includefield meetingsin Carmarthenshireand Pembrokeshire. HON.TREASURER'S REPORT TheHon. Treasurer, Peter Jones, reported that the financial situation of BSBIWales continuedto be satisfactory.Unlike the otherregions of the BSBI,whrch required substantialsubsidies from the BSBIcentral budget, BSBI Wales continued to be self-financing,with the AGMs contributinguseful profits and the Bul/etinbeing producedin the mostcost-effective fashion. Excluding receipts from the 1998AGM, whichstill had to be finalisedbut should contribute substantially, the present balance in the currentaccount was f186.95and in the depositaccount E354.72. Many thankswere due to TrevorEvans for his excellentorganisation and managementof the 1997AGM includingthe financialdetails - and to GeorgeHutchinson for his efficientorganisation