Newsletter of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust’s Flora Group Autumn 2003 Dear Flora Group Member We look forward to seeing you at some of the forthcoming events. Please let Catherine Chatters (Flora Group Secretary) know of any ideas for future events – training sessions, practical conservation tasks or places to visit. Catherine’s contact details are given at the end of this newsletter Andover. Refreshments will be About 30 members of the served during the interval. Hampshire Flora Group and guests took the rare opportunity of access Sunday 21 September 2003 Sunday 16 May 2004 to the seldom recorded Herriard 10.30 am 10.30 am Estate south west of Basingstoke to Marsh Clubmoss hunt at Woolmer Porton Down and AGM re-visit old records and seek new Forest/Weavers Down area Leader: Tony Mundell ones. Leader: Neil Sanderson Tony Mundell has kindly organised Following the interesting and a visit to DSTL (Defence Science The morning commenced with enjoyable marsh clubmoss and Technology Laboratories) exploration of hazel woodland, Lycopodiella inundata event held in Porton Down to see the Lady Orchid some of which was coppiced on clay The New Forest in September 2002, Orchis purpurea, first found here in with flints overlying chalk. The the Flora Group Committee has 2003 and to search the adjacent ground flora here was dominated by agreed it would be useful to re- woodland to see if any more Lady a spectacular display of bluebells survey the Woolmer Forest area Orchids can be found. This is early Endymion non-scripta. Where there where large populations of this advance notice but please note that were openings in the canopy, species have been recorded in the numbers may be limited. You can ground flora was more diverse past. The Ministry of Defence has only be admitted if you book a place including common Solomon’s seal kindly given us permission to visit with Tony beforehand as he needs to Polygonatum multiflorum and in one the military training area during the provide a list to DSTL Porton Down restricted patch wood cudweed morning. In the afternoon we will at least a fortnight prior to the visit. Gnaphalium sylvaticum. At move on to land owned by Old Tony can be contacted at 38 Conifer locations where the chalk was more Thorns Golf Club who have kindly Close, Church Crookham, Fleet, superficial the carpets of dogs allowed us to use their bar facilities Hampshire, GU52 6LS mercury Mercurialis perennis were at lunchtime. [email protected]. interspersed with early purple orchid Meet at 10.30 am in the informal car Directions : Turn off the A30 at SU Orchis mascula, twayblade Listera park at grid reference SU 785 319 230347 and take the entrance road ovata, cowslip Primula veris, just to the east of the A325 by to DSTL which runs north from SU primrose Primula vulgaris and the Woolmer Pond. 205 361. Meet at 10.30 in the car hybrid of these two. Just before park on the left a few yards before lunch in a slightly more open spot in Thursday 16 October 2003 the security gate. Bring a picnic chalky rubble soils under beech a 7.30pm lunch. During the lunch break we few clumps of what has been ‘Britain’s Rare and Localised will hold a brief and informal AGM. tentatively identified as lesser hairy Plants’ – a talk by Brian Laney. brome Bromopsis benekenii were The Harris Hall, Church Close, discovered, associated with hairy Andover. brome Bromopsis ramosus. if this The Wildlife Trust’s North West provisional identification proves Area Group has invited Flora Group correct it represents a first county members to attend a talk by Brian Herriard Park – report of record for this overlooked species Laney titled ‘Britain’s Rare and Annual General Meeting and and would be a link in distribution Localised Plants’. The talk will be Field Meeting held on 26 April between known sites in the North held in the Harris Hall (opposite 2003 Andover Museum) in Church Close, Flora News Page 1 Spring 2003 Downs in Surrey and the Chilterns weather. Unfortunately I was not From the reports I have received it in South Oxfordshire. there myself due to a rescheduled sounds like it was an interesting and trip abroad. Thanks are due to Ian enjoyable visit. I would like to thank After lunch a brisk stroll led to the Thirwell and Eric Clement as guides Hampshire County Council for location of one of the proposed in my absence and to Martin Rand permission to visit the nature highlights of the day: sword leaved for producing a species list. reserve. helleborine Cephalanthera longifolia. Although the habitat had The party spent most of the day See Appendix for full list of species. undergone significant modification looking at the Black Point to John Norton the overall site still remained Eastoke Point area on the south- suitable but despite a thorough eastern tip of the island, including a Sword Leaved Helleborines at search we failed to find a specimen visit to the HCC Sandy Point nature Chappett's. on this occasion. By way of reserve. They also nipped off later The Wildlife Trust’s Nature Reserve compensation plants of white to see the Childing Pink at Chappett’s Copse is subject to helleborine Cephalanthera Petrorhagia nanteuilii at West detailed management and damasonium and greater butterfly Town. monitoring of the Sword Leaved orchid Platanthera chlorantha were Black Point produced a number of Helleborine Cephalanthera admired in this locality. sand specialities including Bur longifolia led by Volunteer Reserve Subsequently an area of mostly Parsley Anthriscus caucalis, Sea Warden Richard Hedley. secondary woodland was Holly Eryngium maritimum and the investigated with many more grasses Hare’s-tail Lagurus ovatus, Richard reports that this has been a specimens of early purple orchid Sand Cat’s-tail Phleum arenarium particularly good year. The number appearing in a diverse ground flora. and Dune Fescue Vulpia fasciculata of flowering spikes, at 2185, was the However the highlight of this - the first two locally abundant here. highest recorded since detailed location was a mature wych elm population monitoring Ulmus glabra many hundreds of The Sea Knotgrass Polygonum recommenced in 1995. The only years old with a serendipitous maritimum and Sea Spurge higher record was of 2689 flowering growth of toothwort Lathraea Euphorbia paralias were re-located spikes recorded by Michael Bryant squamaria on its roots. This at Sandy Point beach, and nearby, a in 1970. The flowers need sunshine provided a fitting end to a very number of acid grassland and open glades to achieve enjoyable day’s botanising. Grateful diminutives were seen including pollination by bees. After a thanks must go to the land owner for Smooth Cat's-ear Hypochaeris prolonged cloudy period, during allowing us access to this glabra, Shepherd's Cress Teesdalia which the flowers looked sequestered region of the Hampshire nudicaulis, Small Cudweed Filago magnificent but did not set seed, the chalk. minima and Suffocated Clover weather improved in late May. Paul Stanley Trifolium suffocatum. There was then a week of dry sunny weather and a good seed set is The nature reserve supports a range anticipated. of habitats from dry heathland to wet marshland and supports a Away from Chappett’s a single number of interesting species. It is plant of sword leaved helleborine famed in Hampshire for its colonies has colonised the former arable land of the nationally scarce Sharp Rush of Coulters Dean nature reserve. In Juncus acutus and out-of-range England this orchid is at its Western Gorse Ulex gallii. These strongest in East Hampshire with were both seen on the day, along Chappett’s being possibly the with a small patch of Dwarf Gorse largest population. The growing U. minor, Heath Dog-violet Viola appreciation of the coastal woods of canina, Spring Vetch Vicia north west Scotland is bringing with lathyroides, Common and Heath it reports of intriguing populations Milkworts Polygala vulgaris & P. as far north as Assynt. serpyllifolia, Lousewort Pedicularis Clive Chatters sylvatica and Heath Pearlwort Sagina subulata. Many of these Noar Hill were widespread and abundant over Francis Rose once memorably Hayling Island 11 May 2003 the reserve. remarked that ‘the JCB is this About 12 people joined the trip to interglacial’s Woolly Mammoth’. Hayling despite unseasonably cold Both localised broken ground and Flora News Page 2 Spring 2003 occasional gross disturbance are and was thought to have been lost Reserve. Would it be too much to natural features with many of our along with other specialist fen hope that Cladium persists there too, more interesting habitats and species species such as the moss unseen and unrecorded? associated with early stage Cratoneuron commutatum var. Clive Chatters succession. The absence of large commutatum due to the progressive wild animals or catastrophic colonisation of the spring heads and Conifer Clearance landscape scale events does rather tufa seepages of the fen by trees. It Regular visitors to the New Forest limit these niches in our modern is excellent news that the species will be aware that the Forestry manicured lowland landscapes. has survived and we wish the Commission are progressively About six years ago David Sharrod County Council well in restoring the removing some of their conifer arranged for one of the scrubbed Fen to its former glory. Our plantations on heaths. We are over parts of the former chalk experience in scrub clearances from shortly to see this programme working at Noar Hill Nature fens in our Greywell Moors reserve expanded with European funding Reserve to be opened up with heavy and on the Crown lands of the New under LIFE III supporting earth moving equipment.