BSBI News September 2014 No
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BSBI News September 2014 No. 127 Edited by Trevor James & Gwynn Ellis ISSN 0309-930X Ophrys tenthredinifera (Sawfly Orchid) at Purbeck, (v.c.9) in April. Habitat (l) and close up of first flower (r). Both photos M.R. Chalk © 2014 (see p. 32) Mary Briggs botanising in Slovenia, camera and umbrella at Mary Briggs in Wengen, Switzerland, the ready (photo taken by the late Betty Goddard, supplied photo taken by Dr Arthur Hollman and by Mary’s daughter, Jenny Grech) (see p. 59). reproduced with his permission CONTENTS Important Notices Plant ID: have you considered Leicester? From the President..................I. Denholm 2 .............................J.S. & M.V. Walton 52 From the Treasurer.................A. Timmins 2 Recorders’ Conference in Scotland 2015 Membership Subscriptions.......... 2 .........................................J. McIntosh 53 From the Head of Operations 2014 BSBI Photographic Competition .....................................J. Houldsworth 3 .........................................J. McIntosh 53 New Hon. General Secretary sought.... 3 News of members Notes from the Editors T. James & G. Ellis 4 Presidents’ Award 2013............................ 54 Notes...................................................... 5-51 Requests Survey of Parnassia palustris in v.c.59 Viola palustris and its subspecies.................. ..........................P.H. Smith & B. Deed 5 ........................................M.P. Wilcox 54 Stereoscopic photography of flowers Offers.................................................. 55-56 ........................................C. Metherell 18 The Scottish Naturalist: the new free on-line Fourth English site for Betula nana journal of Scottish natural history ..B. Burton, J Richards & G. Simpson 19 ........................................G. Thomson 55 Seeing double: a true Geum urbanum flore The Scottish Naturalist and the Western pleno?.........................T McCloughlin 20 Naturalist – free online access Tilia cordata in Surrey.............A Sankey 22 ...........................................A.G. Knox 55 Stellaria neglecta on the Isle of Bute Recorders and Recording.................. 56-58 ..........................................A. Hannah 24 Panel of Referees and Specialists.....J. Ison 56 Berwickshire’s scarce plants Panel of Vice-county Recorders P. Stroh 56 ....................................M. Braithwaite 26 Is Scotland on course for complete hectad Scarce grass protected by a traffic cone coverage for Atlas 2020?.J. McIntosh 56 ..........................................O. Leyshon 29 Atlas 2020 Recorders sought for East Thank you to contributors to the BSBI Lothian, v.c.82, and for Jura, v.c.102 Atlas...................................J. Hodson 30 .........................................J. McIntosh 58 Ophrys tenthredinifera on the Dorset coast Obituary Notes................................... 59-61 .............................................M. Chalk 32 Mary Briggs (1923-2014)........C. Lovatt 59 15th century poem on garden plants Keith Cunningham (1948-2014) .....................................J. Edmondson 33 ........................................A. Pickering 60 John Stephenson and his herbaria Clive Jermy (1932-2014)..........R. Walls 61 ..............................................G. Coles 37 Book Notes.............................................61-62 Adventives & Aliens News 3...M. Berry 41 Short Flora of Berwickshire Female Petasites fragrans....A.G. Hoare 43 ....................................M. Braithwaite 61 Scolymus hispanicus in Surrey Rare plant register of Cumbria ........................................G. Hounsome 44 .........................................M.S. Porter 61 Leersia oryzoides in New England, USA Wild Flowers of Spanish Pyrenees............62 ..............................................S. Smart 45 Notes from the Officers..................... 62-65 Diary for 2014.................J. Houldsworth 46 From the Welsh Officer............P. Green 62 Applying the 2014 Red List to Cornwall From theIrish Officer...............M. Long 63 ............................................C. French 47 From the Publicity & Outreach Officer Notices....................................................51-53 .............................................L. Marsh 65 A vascular plant Red List for England now Botanical Crossword 23...........Cruciada 66 available................................P. Stroh 51 Solution & crib for Crossword 23............67 Euphrasia Study Group......C. Metherell 52 Deadline for News 128............................. 67 2 Important Notices – From the President / From the Treasurer – 2015 Membership Subscriptions IMPORTANT NOTICES From the President IAN DENHOLM, Dept. of Human and Environmental Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Herts., AL10 9AB; ([email protected]) The tail-end of the field season beckons, unless busy and very successful year for BSBI and my you are in the fortunate position of being able to thanks go to all who contributed to it and super- switch attention to fungi and bryophytes! But at vised its production. The Review has tradition- least this season got off to an exceptionally early ally been circulated in April, but organisational start. Weather during winter and spring appears changes (especially those to BSBI’s financial to have favoured many plant and animal taxa, year) account for the later distribution. In altering and making their phenology very diffi- addition to informing our membership, the cult to predict. I confess to a certain bias but, in Review plays a valuable role in publicising the my experience, it has been an exceptional year Society and its activities to a much wider for orchids, with commoner species such as audience of external individuals and organisa- Bee, Pyramidal and Fragrant occurring in great tions. We remain very keen to broaden its circu- abundance and at new localities. lation, so if you have suggestions for additional Our team of field meetings organisers assem- recipients please forward these to Gwynn Ellis bled another very tempting programme of events (contact details are at the back of BSBI News). throughout England, Wales, Scotland and The Perthshire meeting in June also marked Ireland. I hope that everyone who attended one the conclusion of Lynne Farrell’s five-year or more of these found them inspiring and tenure as Hon. Gen. Sec. of the BSBI. Lynne informative. As always, we can re-live these has devoted a huge amount of her time to this adventures when field meeting reports are role and has made fantastic contributions. I published in the next Yearbook. Due to know that everyone joins me in heart-felt thanks competing commitments (i.e. work!), I could not for her commitment, enthusiasm and efficiency attend as many as I had hoped, but the summer (see inside back cover). We are still seeking a meeting, based at Birnam in Perthshire, was successor to Lynne in a post that is now consid- terrific. A stimulating indoor day of talks was erably less arduous, due to recently-appointed followed by a wide choice of excursions to suit staff taking on a number of the tasks. Please see all tastes and abilities: many thanks to Jim page 3 for further details of the HGS vacancy McIntosh and colleagues in Scotland who and consider volunteering for such an exciting worked hard to put this together and ensure its and rewarding position at the heart of the success. BSBI’s operations! A copy of the Annual Review 2013 is enclosed with this issue of BSBI News. It summarises a From the Treasurer ANTONY TIMMINS, 154A Warley Hill, Warley, BRENTWOOD, Essex, CM14 5HF; ([email protected]) 2015 Membership Subscriptions I last spoke about this topic in the 2012 Annual to our structure and governance. We have Review, where I mentioned that we had been therefore frozen subscriptions since 2009 trying to keep membership costs to an absolute during my entire time as Treasurer to the point minimum during the recession and as we got where the subscriptions are now by and large to grips with the changes which were needed completely absorbed in servicing the member- Important Notices – From the Treasurer – 2015 Membership Subscriptions / 3 From the Head of Operations – New Hon. Gen. Sec sought ship and do not, as they used to do, contribute and senior members, who we feel it is impor- to the wider scientific work of the society. tant to subsidise as much as possible. The In 2015 the reorganisation will be complete changes in organisation at the Society that and we will be turning to working on serving have taken place over the past year mean that our members better, making better use of your technically membership subscription rates skills and improving how we communicate need no longer need be agreed at the AGM, but with you, and developing other new initiatives. could be set by the trustees, as is the case for We also have challenges coming up such as the organisations like the National Trust. While new Atlas. We are therefore proposing to that is the letter of law, at the end of the day we increase ordinary subscriptions by £5 (which are incredibly reliant on you our members so seems a lot but is effectively the amount by we will include the item as hitherto in order to which they would have gone up over the years explain and consult with our members. At the since 2009, had we not frozen them). end of the day while the trustees have the The cost of membership per year would responsibility for balancing the books, the therefore be as follows in 2015: membership can sack the trustees,