Adventuring Solo

Ghostie was busy this morning, so I had the day to myself. I had a shortlist of target plants I intended to twitch and I fancied mooching about a bit too, simply doing a bit of generalised botanising someplace that looked good. But first the twitching! 

I headed into nearby Winchester in search of polypodies. The Hants Flora Group had undertaken a survey of polypodies in Hampshire and, though not a member, I somehow stumbled across their Newsletter detailing the results of this survey. If you click here and scroll down to p17, you can read the article for yourself. What caught my eye was Winchester's Polypodium x mantoniae, which is the sterile hybrid between Common Polypody and Intermediate Polypody. Back on Skye, we've started our own Polypodium survey, and one of the main aims is to rediscover and confirm the single old record for P. x mantoniae on Skye and to determine if it exists elsewhere. Clapping eyes on the Winchester plants would be a useful exercise for me. 

I'm not sure quite what I was expecting when I found the plants, but 2ft long fronds bursting up out of the pavement certainly wasn't it!

Oh wow, not exactly 'diminutive' are they?

Possibly the longest Polypodium stipe I've ever seen!

Sori look deceptively normal on this frond

And a bit under-developed on this frond. The few that have even formed, that is

To be taken back to the lab for microscopy. Do excuse the crumbs....

These are fascinating-looking fronds, really quite variable even though they are growing side by side and are presumably all part of the same plant. I've yet to check the spores beneath a compound microscope, but I'm expecting at least half of them to be deformed/shrivelled. 

I had a bit of fun trying to find Southern Polypody by the river that runs through Winchester. The given grid references didn't really make sense - until I realised the plants were growing on the wooden bridge over the river itself - duh! 

All of these plants, on seperate footbridges, have been microscopically confirmed by Hants Flora Group

I had a quick wander around a churchyard in search of the Yellow Figwort I've seen there before, but to no avail. Last time I looked for it was a couple of years ago in late February, I can only assume that I'm simply too early this year and it isn't up yet. 

Sticking with churchyards, my next plant was also in a churchyard - though this one was more sort of on the church itself rather than in the yard. There were lots of cars parked outside and I could hear voices coming from within the church, so I didn't stay for very long. Long enough to find and pap the plant though!

Pink-headed Persicaria Persicaria capitata growing in the cracks at the bottom of a church wall

I had a quick scout around in an effort to find more plants elsewhere in the churchyard, but could see no sign of where these plants could have come from. Not wanting to be collared by any church folk, I snuck back out and headed off on yet another plant hunt. And I thought my twitching days were behind me...

Two days ago I had been looking at Algerian Ivy, a lifer for both Ghostie and myself. Today I was chasing the second large alien ivy that occurs in North Hampshire. This time I was after Persian Ivy, a real beast of a plant that had apparently made a section of Hampshire hedgerow its home. After coming head to head with a fuel lorry in a very narrow, winding lane (and having to reverse maybe 200 metres, then realising that he only had to reverse 30ft...) I finally found myself in the right lane. I needed to pull over and check the directions, but a quick glance out of the car window told me all I needed to know - I was here!

Persian Ivy Hedera colchica - alongside Common Ivy in the bottom image

That was simple enough, once I'd found the place (seems to be a recurring theme with these alien ivies). I was struck by the way the larger leaves had the edges draped inwards on themselves, almost as though they were too heavy to support their own weight. Very different from the Algerian Ivy, though leaf size was similar. I walked a length of the hedgerow, I reckon there must be about 120 feet of Persian Ivy dominated hedgerow. It's going up the trees as well as along the ground, the Algerian Ivy was only on the ground, but then again it was quite a small patch. Maybe it too will climb trees given time? What I did notice was the paleness of some of the leaves. Usually it would be all of the leaves along a short length of stem, maybe fresher growth, maybe stressed growth, I just don't know. Happy that I'd gotten to grips with a few features of this ivy, I headed elsewhere in search of yet another alien plant, all the time hoping I didn't come head to head with anything larger than a pheasant in these winding lanes.

Unbelievably, my next desination was yet another churchyard. Seeing as I don't generally 'do' churches and religion, to find myself visiting three churchyards in one day was just a bit shocking. At least this one was not in use

And the plant that I was here to see was Siberian Stonecrop (and not Siberian Stonechat as I wrote in my notebook - duh!) I soon realised that there's at least two species of stonecrop that grow on the remains of the chapel. Ignore the stuff on the first wall and head to the back wall, that's where the Siberian Stonecrop lives. In the summer months it has bright yellow flowers, which should make it pretty obvious. Today it was less blousy.

Siberian Stonecrop Phedimus hybridus on the rear wall of the chapel

I hadn't anticipated being in the chapel for very long so had neglected to put my coat on. In t-shirt and jumper I quickly noticed the cold. The inside of the chapel was in shadow and a cold wind was gusting through. What I ought to have done was grab a bit of the second stonecrop and keyed it through from the comfort of my car. What I actually did was take a few pics and scramble back for warmth. Meh. Here's the second stonecrop, probably White Stonecrop but possibly something more interesting. One for next time.

Answers on a postcard, please

I had one last plant to twitch and then I hoped to do a bit of proper botanising, if time allowed. Already it was mid-afternoon and not the brightest of days. I parked up near the end of a long lane, jumped a fence and wandered through some bramble-infested grassland at the edge of a dense woodland. Eventually I cut into the wood, discovered a proper footpath, and headed off in search of yet another alien plant. It really didn't take too long, the gen I had stated one plant in the woods just south of the footpath. I found over a dozen of them scattered along maybe 100 metres of footpath

This thorny beast is Gagnepain's Barberry Berberis gagnepainii

Gagnepain's Barberry is more often found planted around the edges of private housing estates and in supermarket carparks than in the middle of a woodland. I initially presumed it was birdsown, the berry stones crapped out by a bird that had earier feasted on a garden/carpark plant. But as I continued through the woodland I started finding more and more bushes, then a few seedlings. I guess the birdsown theory does hold up, but I started to wonder if these had been deliberately planted out rather than birdsown. I couldn't see anything to suggest the soil around them had been brought in, but they were, more or less, in a line just several metres back from the footpath. 

A smaller example. I guess the age differences would hint more at being birdsown than planted

I stopped to stare across the river that runs alongside this wood, I'd heard a Kingfisher calling and hoped it would provide me with a colourful fly-by, even though I'd left my binoculars in the car. No such luck with the Kingfisher, but I caught sight of a small Mahonia by my feet. It didn't look anything like the usual Oregon-grape that I'm used to seeing, so I took some pics and a sprig to key through and then continued back to the car. 

Note the abundant teeth around the leaf margin

For once, Poland let me down and it was Stace 4 that led me to an identification for this plant. This is Newmarket Oregon-grape Mahonia x decumbens, which is listed on the BSBI database as occuring at one site in South Hampshire (Ringwood area, 2021), but isn't listed for North Hampshire at all. Get in, I've found a new for VC plant!! What you can't see in these images is that the underside of the leaves are minutely papillose (vaguely looking like very closely-packed goosebumps) which, combined with the high number of teeth on the leaf margins and the fact that the whole plant was only about a foot tall, clinch the identity. Grid reference for anybody who wants to check it out for themselves is SU49875 32139. I now need to submit this to the VC recorder, I think he prefers iRecord. 

I had a nice wander around the area, finding lots of suckering elm which I couldn't identify. I've had five new plants today, six if you count the hybrid polypody. Poor ol' Ghostie will be well jealous. With luck... 

The song seemed appropriate, and I guess at least most of you will have heard of this guy (not that I've had complaints....) Hope you enjoy!