Hi all.
Today whilst driving along a narrow lane, I came upon a mass of Common Bistort, not daffodils! They looked beautiful…. But I’ve never seen them before, not where I live, south Wales. So just how common are they?

In message , PeterGreenMan
writes

Hi all.
Today whilst driving along a narrow lane, I came upon a mass of Common
Bistort, not daffodils! They looked beautiful…. But I’ve never seen
them before, not where I live, south Wales. So just how common are
they?

Not very common round here. I've been collecting observations on the
local flora for the last two years, and I've only found the one
locality, and that with only a few plants.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

On Sat, 23 May 2009 17:24:06 +0100, PeterGreenMan wrote
(in article ):

Hi all.
Today whilst driving along a narrow lane, I came upon a mass of
CommonBistort, not daffodils! They looked beautiful…. But I’ve never seenthem

before, not where I live, south Wales. So just how common arethey?--


We get a lot of it here in our wild garden, in Shropshire - not so far from
South Wales. Couldn't say for anywhere else.

--
Sally in Shropshire, UK
Posted through uk.rec.gardening

Hi all.
Today whilst driving along a narrow lane, I came upon a mass of Common
Bistort, not daffodils! They looked beautiful…. But I’ve never seen
them before, not where I live, south Wales. So just how common are
they?

Not very common round here. I've been collecting observations on the local
flora for the last two years, and I've only found the one locality, and
that with only a few plants.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

Its only when someone draws your attention to plants that you suddenly
notice them, for me anyway. I will have a good look around this morning and
have a wander down the lane. I don't think I will find anything down there
apart from Cow Parsley, one of my favorites.

kate

In message , Kate
Morgan writes


Hi all.
Today whilst driving along a narrow lane, I came upon a mass of Common
Bistort, not daffodils! They looked beautiful…. But I’ve never seen
them before, not where I live, south Wales. So just how common are
they?

Not very common round here. I've been collecting observations on the
local flora for the last two years, and I've only found the one
locality, and that with only a few plants.
-- Stewart Robert Hinsley

Its only when someone draws your attention to plants that you suddenly
notice them, for me anyway. I will have a good look around this morning
and have a wander down the lane. I don't think I will find anything
down there apart from Cow Parsley, one of my favorites.

kate

Yes, I've noticed that once you've learned to identify a plant you often
suddenly start noticing it. The last case being cornsalad. I found one
growing in a pavement edge a month of so ago - and it took me several
weeks to work out what it was - and since then I've seen it in the city
centre, and on the allotment site. Or last year, when I started noticing
spring beauty all over the place.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

In message , PeterGreenMan
writes

Hi all.
Today whilst driving along a narrow lane, I came upon a mass of Common
Bistort, not daffodils! They looked beautiful…. But I’ve never seen
them before, not where I live, south Wales. So just how common are
they?

They are an attractive sight in Etherow Park, Compstall, and there are
plenty bordering a path which runs between Keg pool and the river, so
they probably like the moist soil there.
--
Gordon H
Remove "invalid" to reply

Stewart Robert Hinsley writes
In message , Kate
Morgan writes


Hi all.
Today whilst driving along a narrow lane, I came upon a mass of Common
Bistort, not daffodils! They looked beautiful…. But I’ve never seen
them before, not where I live, south Wales. So just how common are
they?

Not very common round here. I've been collecting observations on the
local flora for the last two years, and I've only found the one
locality, and that with only a few plants.
-- Stewart Robert Hinsley

Its only when someone draws your attention to plants that you suddenly
notice them, for me anyway. I will have a good look around this
morning and have a wander down the lane. I don't think I will find
anything down there apart from Cow Parsley, one of my favorites.

I don't know if I'm right, but I've always associated with damper
areas... Indeed Fitter et al say "meadows and woods, usually away from
lime, often near water". So I guess it's one of these things which is
all over the country provided you look in the right habitat. I haven't
seen it in many places, but when I have seen it, it has been in
abundance!

Yes, I've noticed that once you've learned to identify a plant you
often suddenly start noticing it. The last case being cornsalad. I
found one growing in a pavement edge a month of so ago - and it took me
several weeks to work out what it was - and since then I've seen it in
the city centre, and on the allotment site. Or last year, when I
started noticing spring beauty all over the place.

Spring beauty? Claytonia perfoliata? Relative of Pink Purslane?

Two that I now notice more frequently are Pignut and Town Hall Clock -
because now I can recognise their leaves. All too often you need the
flower for the first identification, so for most of the year you can be
walking right past the plant, but without flowers you don't know what it
is.

I find it adds a lot for me to be able to identify a plants and know
where it fits in. Last year I finally got to grips with very basic grass
identification and walks where I used to think "no flowers - boring!"
are suddenly full of interest. I think this is somewhat of a defect in
me - other people can recognise beauty without the need to stick it into
a taxonomic structure.

--
Kay

In message , K
writes
Stewart Robert Hinsley writes
In message , Kate
Morgan writes


Hi all.
Today whilst driving along a narrow lane, I came upon a mass of Common
Bistort, not daffodils! They looked beautiful…. But I’ve never seen
them before, not where I live, south Wales. So just how common are
they?

Not very common round here. I've been collecting observations on
the local flora for the last two years, and I've only found the one
locality, and that with only a few plants.
-- Stewart Robert Hinsley

Its only when someone draws your attention to plants that you
suddenly notice them, for me anyway. I will have a good look around
this morning and have a wander down the lane. I don't think I will
find anything down there apart from Cow Parsley, one of my favorites.

I don't know if I'm right, but I've always associated with damper
areas... Indeed Fitter et al say "meadows and woods, usually away from
lime, often near water". So I guess it's one of these things which is
all over the country provided you look in the right habitat. I haven't
seen it in many places, but when I have seen it, it has been in abundance!

Yes, I've noticed that once you've learned to identify a plant you
often suddenly start noticing it. The last case being cornsalad. I
found one growing in a pavement edge a month of so ago - and it took
me several weeks to work out what it was - and since then I've seen it
in the city centre, and on the allotment site. Or last year, when I
started noticing spring beauty all over the place.

Spring beauty? Claytonia perfoliata? Relative of Pink Purslane?

Yes. It's quite common as a pavement weed.

Two that I now notice more frequently are Pignut and Town Hall Clock -
because now I can recognise their leaves. All too often you need the
flower for the first identification, so for most of the year you can be
walking right past the plant, but without flowers you don't know what
it is.

Pignut is another one I've been noticing more this year. Town Hall Clock
seems to be rare round here - I've seen it once, on a canal towpath
about ten miles away. I had a fair idea what it was at the time, but
confirmed it when I got home. It's supposed to be present in a nature
reserve about 4 miles away, but I haven't seen it there.

What I never see is hemlock - am I overlooking it as something else?

I find it adds a lot for me to be able to identify a plants and know
where it fits in. Last year I finally got to grips with very basic
grass identification and walks where I used to think "no flowers -
boring!" are suddenly full of interest. I think this is somewhat of a
defect in me - other people can recognise beauty without the need to
stick it into a taxonomic structure.

You're ahead of me there. My next step is to crack Salix (I can tell
that there's lots of different willows around - I just can't divide them
into groups).
I'm still having trouble with docks, willow herbs and trefoils/medicks
as well. When I've sorted those out I can make a start on grasses,
sedges and rushes.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

Stewart Robert Hinsley writes

Spring beauty? Claytonia perfoliata? Relative of Pink Purslane?

Yes. It's quite common as a pavement weed.

I can't recall ever seeing it. Is it more a southern thing? We have Pink
Purslane in the local woods in abundance, and also a tiny patch in the
urban nature reserve that I look after - but that patch is dying out as
the tree cover increases. I've tried transplanting bits of it without
success, so I think I'll just have to accept that things change.

Two that I now notice more frequently are Pignut and Town Hall Clock -
because now I can recognise their leaves. All too often you need the
flower for the first identification, so for most of the year you can
be walking right past the plant, but without flowers you don't know
what it is.

Pignut is another one I've been noticing more this year. Town Hall
Clock seems to be rare round here - I've seen it once, on a canal
towpath about ten miles away. I had a fair idea what it was at the
time, but confirmed it when I got home. It's supposed to be present in
a nature reserve about 4 miles away, but I haven't seen it there.

Whereabouts is 'round here'? Lots of it in Yorkshire Dales, in damp
woods on limestone.

What I never see is hemlock - am I overlooking it as something else?

Pass. I've not yet got into the umbellifers.

I find it adds a lot for me to be able to identify a plants and know
where it fits in. Last year I finally got to grips with very basic
grass identification and walks where I used to think "no flowers -
boring!" are suddenly full of interest. I think this is somewhat of a
defect in me - other people can recognise beauty without the need to
stick it into a taxonomic structure.

You're ahead of me there. My next step is to crack Salix (I can tell
that there's lots of different willows around - I just can't divide
them into groups).
I'm still having trouble with docks, willow herbs and trefoils/medicks
as well. When I've sorted those out I can make a start on grasses,
sedges and rushes.

I haven't even begun on trees! I played around with docks and
willowherbs last year, but will need to go back to the books this year.
Trefoils/medicks are in the 'too difficult' pile atm. Had a great time n
the Alentejo identifying little yellow legumes from their seedpods -
there are some really weird ones, lots of spirals, with or without
spines or warts, and various ones with chunks taken out of them.

The trouble I find is that I learnt a lot of wildflowers from my mother
when I was very young, but on the lines of 'dog violet', 'catsear',
'ragwort'. So things I didn't see as a child, like orchids, or just
about anything that grows on limestone, I get the books out and sort out
to species level. But the things I think I 'know' keep giving me a nasty
shock when I find out that there's more than one of them.
--
Kay