Flora of Monmouthshire
Trevor Evans Flora of Monmouthshire by T. G. Evans
The Flora of Monmouthshire describes the flowering plants and ferns of the Watsonian vice-county of Monmouthshire (v.c. 35) in south-east Wales. The vice-county covers the modern counties of Monmouthshire and Newport, and parts of Blaenau Gwent, Cardiff, Caerphilly and Tor- faen. The text has been written by Trevor Evans, who has lived in the vice- county of Monmouthshire all his life. He developed an interest in wild flowers in the 1940s, and was appointed Vice-county Recorder by the Bo- tanical Society of the British Isles in 1972. Following his retirement from teaching in 1984, he and his band of botanists have recorded the plants in the county to produce the first Flora of Monmouthshire to show the distri- bution of plants using maps. This book describes the flora in detail as he knows it today, and tells of the changes seen during his lifetime. There are accounts of the geology for botanists by Dr Naylor Firth, and of habi- tats by Drs Stephanie Tyler and George Peterken. The contents include the Introduction, Geology, Habitats, Botanical sites, Changes in the flora, Recorders, Species accounts, Extinctions, Bib- liography and Index. Each species has a Latin and English name, and a brief description of its diagnostic characters. The distribution is then shown in Monmouthshire as a tetrad (2 x 2 km square) map or with a list of localities for the rarer plants, including detailed grid references. There are 637 pages including 48 black and white line drawings and 145 colour plates. The page size is B5. The book has a colour, laminated board cover and is printed on good quality paper. The flora is available for £19.50 (inclusive of postage and packing in Britain and Ireland) for orders received by 31 March 2008; after this time the price will be £25. Please use the order form on the leaflet to order your copy from the author. The flora will be published in November-December 2007 by the Chepstow Society, with financial assistance from Monmouthshire County Council, Monmouthshire Meadows Group, South-east Wales Biological Records Centre and the Wild Flower Society.
ISBN 0 900278 49 8 EXAMPLE OF WHAT THE FLORA WILL LOOK LIKE
Introduced from the Americas, it has spread on Juncus compressus Round-fruited Rush damp, barish ground particularly on paths and This perennial has firmly-rooted, short rhizomes tracks. Wade (1970) described it as very rare and that produce a tufted plant with erect, slender gave what must be the first vice-county record on stems to 50 cm bearing a terminal inflorescence damp ground by an old colliery tip, Crosskeys, *, exceeded by the lowest bract; the slender leaves 1968. I saw it first in wet hollows in Newport are mostly basal; the outer 3 tepals are obtuse or Docks, ST/306.862, 1972, and about the same round-tipped; the anthers are up to 1 mm long time in wet woodland near Monmouth, and about as long as the filaments; the capsule is SO/542.142, 1972, CT. Since then it has been re- semi-globose and contains seeds to 0.5 mm corded more and more, though the bulk of records long. have come from the western valleys. Three exam- It grows in marshes, wet meadows, on the upper ples are: trackside, coal tips, Talywain, SO/25.04, edges of saltmarshes and sandy or muddy edges 1986, RH; track, Mynydd Machen, ST/217.905, of the sea. In vc 35 the first and only site is in a 1994, TGE; near R. Sirhowy, Hollybush, small, wet hollow by a small bridge taking SO/166.037, 1994, PAS. 65 t Figure 29 White House farm track to the nearby B4233 road, SO/425.147, 1966, EM-R; 1991, PCH, JH; 1991 and 2003, TGE. 1 t
Juncus gerardii Saltmarsh Rush This is similar to J. compressus but its anthers are 1-2 mm long, and 2-3 times as long as the filaments, the 0.5-0.8 mm style is about as long as the stigmas and the seeds are 0.5-0.7 mm long.
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This dark green Rush grows in damp, shallow, hollows on the grassy edges of saltmarshes and on the banks of brackish reens and other ditches. To complicate the separation of these two simi- lar Rushes, J. gerardii turns up inland on verges of roads where sea sand has been used in winter and J. compressus is sometimes found on the edges of saltmarshes. In vc 35 the main popula- tions are found close to the Severn but there is a scattering of sites inland near roads. 47 t
Juncus foliosus Leafy Rush Figure 29 Juncus tenuis Slender Rush This has a simple, fibrous root system; it has a much-branched slender stem with leaves over ORDER FORM
Publication date expected November-December 2007
Please post with your remittance to: T. G. Evans, La Cuesta, Mounton Road, Chepstow, Gwent NP16 5BS
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