Endorse It

Quitting Cornwall, I headed eastwards into Devon and eventually arrived by a river somewhere south of Yealmpton. I quickly learned that a private estate owned the land hereabouts, a large sign made mention of non-members being escorted out by the warden if caught. Sod it, my gen told me there was a naturalised Strawberry Tree about a mile down the track and I really hoped to find it. I just needed to be a little circumspect if approached. I strode onwards as though I owned the place, quietly hoping for the best. 

Quite some while later I arrived in the 100 x 100 metre square which reputedly held the Strawberry Tree. All I could see was lots and lots of Evergreen Oak Quercus ilex, frustratingly in full leaf and largely blocking my view of anything else. An elderly couple walking their dogs nodded politely, I nodded back just as politely. No sign of the warden yet... Long story short, I failed to find the Strawberry Tree. I cut inland from the track and came face to face with a multitude of signs warning that I was in private woodland and that live archery could be in progress. Bugger. Annoyed that I'd wasted a lot of time, I stomped my way back to the car. As I was taking pics of Chromatomyia scolopendri mines in a Hart's-tongue Fern, the warden rocked up in his wagon. Ha, at least I was spared the ignominy of being escorted off site! Actually, I bet that old couple with their dogs called him.

The sinuous mine of Chromatomyia scolopendri, a tiny fly maggot in Hart's-tongue Asplenium scolopendrium

A little miffed with my Devonshire success rate, or lack of, I sped onwards towards my beloved Portland Bill in Dorset. I have vague memories of seeing Bay trees growing along the paths through Lodmoor or Radipole RSPB reserves in Weymouth. At the time I blithely assumed they'd been planted, so I didn't bother ticking them. I've since learned that Bay is widely naturalised across southern England, hence the trees on the reserve would be a lifer for me. I headed into the streets behind Lodmoor and criss-crossed through the reserve. Nada. Seems my memories are from Radipole, hey ho. I was due to meet Dorset Pete at the Bird Obs at Portland Bill, but I had an hour or so to kill beforhand, not quite enough time to wander Radipole. Cutting my losses, I figured I'd try for Bay when I quit Portland in a few days' time. I headed to Ferrybridge to pick up a few choice plants that I knew I wouldn't likely find anywhere else. 

Lots and lots of fully naturalised Euphorbia characias

This is the edge of the coast path in front of the Sailing Academy, at the Portland end of Ferrybridge. When these huge buildings were erected, they added lots of plants into the shrubbery beds. By the time a very lost Brunnich's Guillemot turned up a couple of years later, the shrubbery had started to really take a hold and had self-seeded into the shingle opposite. I, along with hundreds of others, twitched that Brunnich's wherupon I bumped into John Martin, an avid twitcher and an extraordinarily good botanist. It was he who pointed out the Mediterranean Spurge seedlings growing up amongst the rocks between us and the Brunnich's. Now, a decade or so later, the Mediterranean Spurge has fully colonised the shingle. In fact, the original plantings, which are to the right of the path in the images above, are all but dead. Clearly they prefer shingle to soil! There's a second ornamental spurge species that has colonised the shingle, also originating from the plantings on the other side of the footpath. It's far less prolific than the Mediterranean Spurge, in fact I found just two plants, though I'm sure a more thorough search would reveal others. This is it, shown here in its typical semi-prostrate form

This is Broad-leaved Glaucous-spurge Euphorbia myrsinites

I self-found this a couple of years after John Martin had pointed out the Mediterranean Spurge seedlings and it then took quite a bit of searching on my part to come to an identification. It's in Stace 4 as 'Other spp', noted as being commonly used in public planting areas. Yup, I reckon that about sums it up!

The other plant I needed to pay homage to was what was once Dorset's sole remaining plant of Wild Asparagus. Again, I have John Martin to thank for showing this to me. Wild Asparagus was always traditionally rare in Dorset, with most plants being lost to quarrying on Portland. Eventually just a single female plant, thought to be around 70 years old, was known in all of Dorset. The obvious issue being that, without a nearby male plant, she would be unable to produce fruit and once she died the species would be lost from the county. Happily a solution was found - several male plants from Cornwall were carefully pruned and their flowering shoots transported 175 miles to our lonesome female in Dorset. The Cornish anthers were shaken over the Dorset stigmas and the waiting began. Later that year the female plant produced abundant berries, the seed was collected and the resultant seedlings planted out at secret sites on Portland. The following year she produced yet more berries and, as a bonus surprise to the conservationists, several seedlings of both sexes cropped up around the mother plant. Almost all of the seedlings that were translocated to Portland continue to thrive and it now seems likely that the species has been saved from local extinction. 

I've seen the mother plant several times, surrounded by smaller plants. But Wild Asparagus reduces to insignificant leafless sticks at this time of year, and it's an easy plant to overlook at the best of times. I arrived at the appointed spot and - very carefully! - tip-toed through the vegetation in search of the plants. Happily for me, the mother plant had again produced berries, which I quickly found. Otherwise I think I may have failed to locate it. 

Berries of the mother plant Wild Asparagus Asparagus prostratus at Ferrybridge, Dorset

I headed off to Portland Bird Obs where I had a good ol' catch up with Martin Cade. Not too long afterwards, Dorset Pete arrived and we duly demolished enough food and drink to sink a battleship. In the morning, Pete was taking me on a whistlestop tour of his neck of the woods on mainand Dorset. I could see a merry twinkle in his eye, either he had good gen for some very decent plants or he was getting rather tipsy. I hoped it was the former, tomorrow would tell...

And why the blog title? Many years back, I was explaining to my wee sis about Portland Bird Obs in Dorset. She butted in with "the lighthouse is amazing, the views are fantastic, the people there are so friendly..." Puzzled I continued about Portland Bird Obs in Dorset and she again butted in with "the wildlife is amazing, the fossils are fantastic, you'll love it there..." When I asked what the hell she was going on about she replied, "You keep saying endorse it, so I am!" She really is one pure daft kiddo...

I've chosen this track as an obtuse reference to the berries of the Wild Asparagus (hey, it was the best I could do at short notice...) This is Mad Season performing Artificial Red featuring Layne Staley on vocals. Hope you enjoy.!