In article ,
K wrote:
Stewart Robert Hinsley writes

The little pink one is field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), so I
presume that's what Nick means.. The big white one is large bindweed
(Calystegia silvatica). The less big white one is hedge bindweed
(Calystegia sepium). The big pink one is hairy bindweed (Calystegia
pulchra). The very little whitish one is black bindweed (Fallopia
convolvulus), a relative of Japanese knotweed.

The little pink one seems to like relatively light dryish soil., the
big white one is happiest when it has something to climb up.

It may be that much of the soil round here is too heavy for field
bindweed - there's a lot of boulder clay about.

Not a lot here - millstone grit overlain by clay. The only plants I know
are growing in stone walls.

A lot here, on 60% sand and only 18% clay.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:
I've been making notes about the local flora. Should this be of mild
interest, these are the 20 most widespread (not necessarily the
commonest) species - the figures in brackets are the number of "sites"
in which they are present, where a site averages about a square
kilometre. No grasses, as I can't tell them apart. There are also biases
against late-flowering plants, and arable weeds, so take the figures
with a pinch of salt.

1. Nettle - Urtica dioica (93)
2. Cleavers - Galium aparine (89)
3. Creeping Buttercup - Ranunculus repens (75)
4. Elder - Sambucus nigra (75)
5. Dandelion - Taraxacum officinale agg (73)
6. Hogweed - Heracleum sphondylium (72)
7. White Clover - Trifolium repens (71)
8. Broad-leaved Dock - Rumex obtusifolius (65)
9. Cow Parsley - Anthriscus sylvestris (63)
10. Daisy - Bellis perennis (63)
11. Bramble - Rubus fruticosus agg. (62)
12. Sycamore - Acer pseudoplatanus (61)
13. Common Ragwort - Senecio jacobaea (60)
14. Creeping Thistle - Cirsium arvense (59)
15. Ribwort (Plantain) - Plantago lanceolata (59)
16. Garlic Mustard - Alliaria petiolata (57)
17. Foxglove - Digitalis purpurea (57)
18. Ash - Fraxinus excelsior (57)
19. Spear Thistle - Cirsium vulgare (56)
20. Rosebay Willow-herb - Chamaerion angustifolium (55)

Interesting. Shows the difference between "wild" weeds and garden weeds. I
would say that the most common weed in my garden is one of the bittercresses
(probably Hairy Bittercress - Cardamine hirsuta). Yet you are right, I
rarely remember seeing this "in the wild".

I'm somewhat surprised to see that a violet is missing. Would I be right in
saying that, in general, the sites you visited are open ground rather than
scrub or woodland?

--
Jeff

In message , Jeff Layman
writes
Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:
I've been making notes about the local flora. Should this be of mild
interest, these are the 20 most widespread (not necessarily the
commonest) species - the figures in brackets are the number of "sites"
in which they are present, where a site averages about a square
kilometre. No grasses, as I can't tell them apart. There are also biases
against late-flowering plants, and arable weeds, so take the figures
with a pinch of salt.

1. Nettle - Urtica dioica (93)
2. Cleavers - Galium aparine (89)
3. Creeping Buttercup - Ranunculus repens (75)
4. Elder - Sambucus nigra (75)
5. Dandelion - Taraxacum officinale agg (73)
6. Hogweed - Heracleum sphondylium (72)
7. White Clover - Trifolium repens (71)
8. Broad-leaved Dock - Rumex obtusifolius (65)
9. Cow Parsley - Anthriscus sylvestris (63)
10. Daisy - Bellis perennis (63)
11. Bramble - Rubus fruticosus agg. (62)
12. Sycamore - Acer pseudoplatanus (61)
13. Common Ragwort - Senecio jacobaea (60)
14. Creeping Thistle - Cirsium arvense (59)
15. Ribwort (Plantain) - Plantago lanceolata (59)
16. Garlic Mustard - Alliaria petiolata (57)
17. Foxglove - Digitalis purpurea (57)
18. Ash - Fraxinus excelsior (57)
19. Spear Thistle - Cirsium vulgare (56)
20. Rosebay Willow-herb - Chamaerion angustifolium (55)

Interesting. Shows the difference between "wild" weeds and garden weeds. I
would say that the most common weed in my garden is one of the bittercresses
(probably Hairy Bittercress - Cardamine hirsuta). Yet you are right, I
rarely remember seeing this "in the wild".

I'm not yet trained to distinguish hairy bitter cress (C. hirsuta) from
wavy bitter cress (C. flexuosa), short of using a hand lens or a camera
macro feature to count stamens, but I suspect that overall the latter is
more common. Consequently both are underrecorded, but I don't think
either would make the list even so. C. hirsuta is a plant of disturbed
ground, and turns up in gardens, allotments and pavement cracks.

It turns out that about half of these plants turn up in my garden and/or
my allotment.

I'm somewhat surprised to see that a violet is missing. Would I be right in
saying that, in general, the sites you visited are open ground rather than
scrub or woodland?

A lot of sites are residential areas. Other than that a lot of records
are from roadside verges and hedges, which mimic the natural woodland
edge/glade ecotone. There are 5 sites that are only woodland, 8 if you
include 3 stretches of old railway line, and several others with areas
of woodland. But violets don't seem to be common woodland plants around
here -
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

Stewart Robert Hinsley writes
I've been making notes about the local flora. Should this be of mild
interest, these are the 20 most widespread (not necessarily the
commonest) species - the figures in brackets are the number of "sites"
in which they are present, where a site averages about a square
kilometre. No grasses, as I can't tell them apart. There are also
biases against late-flowering plants, and arable weeds, so take the
figures with a pinch of salt.

The wildflower charity Plantlife has for several years run a 'common
plants' survey, some results of which are he
http://tinyurl.com/n4d2c3

It can't be compared with Stewarts records, since the Plantlife survey
includes just 65 specified species, rather than noting the occurrences
of *all* the common species. They are looking for trends over the
years, and had enough data to look at trends for 55 of the species.

Over the 5 years of the survey up to 2007:

Nettles, Lords and Ladies, Lesser Celandine and Travellers Joy have
increased

Common Chickweed, Butterburr, Red Clover, Harebell and tufted vetch all
showed a steep decline - a decline of more than 5% a year. 11 species
were listed as showing a moderate decline.
--
Kay

"Stewart Robert Hinsley" wrote in message
...
I've been making notes about the local flora. Should this be of mild
interest, these are the 20 most widespread (not necessarily the commonest)
species - the figures in brackets are the number of "sites" in which they
are present, where a site averages about a square kilometre. No grasses,
as I can't tell them apart. There are also biases against late-flowering
plants, and arable weeds, so take the figures with a pinch of salt.

1. Nettle - Urtica dioica (93)
2. Cleavers - Galium aparine (89)
3. Creeping Buttercup - Ranunculus repens (75)
4. Elder - Sambucus nigra (75)
5. Dandelion - Taraxacum officinale agg (73)
6. Hogweed - Heracleum sphondylium (72)
7. White Clover - Trifolium repens (71)
8. Broad-leaved Dock - Rumex obtusifolius (65)
9. Cow Parsley - Anthriscus sylvestris (63)
10. Daisy - Bellis perennis (63)
11. Bramble - Rubus fruticosus agg. (62)
12. Sycamore - Acer pseudoplatanus (61)
13. Common Ragwort - Senecio jacobaea (60)
14. Creeping Thistle - Cirsium arvense (59)
15. Ribwort (Plantain) - Plantago lanceolata (59)
16. Garlic Mustard - Alliaria petiolata (57)
17. Foxglove - Digitalis purpurea (57)
18. Ash - Fraxinus excelsior (57)
19. Spear Thistle - Cirsium vulgare (56)
20. Rosebay Willow-herb - Chamaerion angustifolium (55)

--
Stewart Robert Hinsley



This list will soon include poppies apparently.
I read in my local paper that farmers are no longer allowed to use the
weedkiller that controls poppies.

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