Settle Wildflowers - Day 73 - Green 6 - Sun Spurge, Greater Plantain, Marchantia polymorpha and more in Upper Settle

It is nearly three months since I was on colour "Green" - on 8 June  - as I walked past the Green in Upper Settle to the start of Mitchell Lane where I saw the Good King Henry.  

One month ago - 3 August - I walked up the road from Watery  Lane to the Green where I met Sally, Ken and Angela from Craven Conservation Group and saw these plants, which are still there.  Between the Green and the Start of Watery Lane we recorded 60 species of flowering plant! Here are some green ones:

If you would like to join me for a walk around Settle or nearby do get in touch!  I would be especially happy to show people the plants in the streets of fields or gardens near where they live. 

1. Sun spurge: Euphorbia helioscopia which I found after our Craven Conservation Group walk in Upper Settle on 3 August

It was growing at the foot of the garden walls beside the road just above Watery Lane.

1a. Marchantia polymorpha- Common Liverwort

OK its not a flower, its a thallose liverwort  - but it's big and pretty.

Looking down to the Watery Lane Turn-off

2. Rat's-tail Plantain - Plantago major

This is on the Green itself. See the hill beyond.

3.  Lesser Meadow Rue - Thalictrum minus 

This was in Ken and Angela's garden . OK it's here as a garden plant.  One day I might find some if I climb up to Attermire or Victoria Cave -- yes there are still some places I haven't walked to yet!!.

Thalictrum minus - Lesser Meadow-rue

3a.  Lunularia cruciata : Crescent-cup Liverwort 

In a flowerpot in their garden we found another liverwort: 

Can you see the two crescent moon shaped receptacles which contain green dis-like gemmae (things which drop off and form new plants vegetatively)

Same picture - just learned how to do oval crops 

I looked in to the Telephone Box Gallery On The Green to see what exhibition was up this month:  Ah it's a theme on the Colour Pink:   Do pop in if you are on the Green. in Upper Settle 

In the telephone box: Current Exhibition till  11 Sept; Alison Medd and Paul Rogers: Talking Pink

The Exhibition from September to November is 12 September – 6 November 2020 is "Frontline Faces"- The portraits in this exhibition by Julie Sobczak honour the true heroes of the Covid-19 pandemic – the people who put their own safety at risk to look after us all.

For the rest of September there are still Flowerpot People on the Green: 

We carried on up to Mitchell Lane. This is the view back down onto Upper Settle 

We carried on up to Mitchell Lane. This is the view back down onto Upper Settle 

4. Aphanes arvensis-  Parsley Piert - Which I found in June but is still around. It is tiny. this was on a well trodden path up to Lower Winskill on 12 June. But it may well be on the footpaths up above Upper Settle too

I went back to Upper Settle on 3 Sept to check all the plants are there. Yes they are. AND I refound another green plant, a special grass called: Compressed Meadow Grass in a couryard entrance beside the Green.. but that plant is for Day 74.

Click here for more flowers coming out around Settle 

Distinguishing Punctelia subrudecta and Parmela sulcata

Hello

I am having difficulty telling the difference between Punctelia subrudecta and Parmelia sulcata.

I am going to ask some experts to help me.

It is OK if the Parmelia sulcata ridges are young and do not yet have soralia.

and if the Punctelia is young and the spots are still very small.

However when the soralia get large, they all look the same to me.

Or maybe it is possible that the two lichens often  grow together so there is one lobe of one next to a lobe of the other species.

1. Please can you tell me any other way I an tell the difference if the spots look as if they could be either lichen?

2. Please can you go through the pictures below and say which ones are identified incorrectly and if so why.  (With a couple of Punctelia jeckeri thrown in)

This first picture is taken from The lichens of Ireland website from the Parmelia sulcata page

 http://www.habitas.org.uk/lichenireland/photo.asp?item=Parmelia-sulcata-mjs

1.  According to Lichen Ireland - Parmelia sulcata

 http://www.habitas.org.uk/lichenireland/photo.asp?item=Parmelia-sulcata-mjs

If I had found the above, I would have called it Punctelia subrudecta

I will now divide up my pictures into what I think is correct:

2. Don't know:  left and lower centre left

3. Parmelia sulcata - St Chads

4. Punctelia-jeckeri?

Punctelia jeckeri - Top of the Mains, Settle

punctelia-subrudecta-arthonia-radiata-rowan-keasden-head-shooting-lodge

punctelia-subrudecta-wood-abovehofman-stainforth-path-lichens

Punctelia subrudecta - Apple tree at The Benns house, Settle

Bottom left  Punctelia subrudecta - top right Parmelia sulcata

usnea-subfloridana-parmelia-sulcata-melanahelia-glabratula-hawthorn-stainforth

Settle Wildflowers - Day 72 - Yellow 19 - St John's-worts: various species

This post is "under development" - The more Hypericums I find, the more complex it gets.

Including hybrids, 9 species and hybrids are included here

So far..

St John's-worts - Hypericum - belong to the St John's-wort family - Clusiaceae.

I now find they are members of the family Hyperaceae - which were formerly considered a subfamily of the Clusiaceae

 Members of the family are easy to recognise because they have: 

•  Opposite simple leaves with translucent or coloured glands. 
•  5 yellow petals and numerous stamens grouped into bundles. 

There is lots more about Hypericum and the Hyperaceae on wikipedia

But then it gets much harder working out which one is which.

Fortunately most of them flower relatively late in the year- July and August - so I don't have to worry about them till then. but "then" is now"

Here are the plants I have found near Settle:

1. Hypericum  hirsutum: Hairy St John's-wort
which I found on 12 August in Lord's Pasture.  It also grows at the Hoffman Kiln. (29 August-almost over)

Hairy St John's-wort at Lord's Pasture.
You can see from the leaves of plants nearby what a good field Lord's Pasture is. See Salad Burnet, Rock-rose, Bird's-foot trefoil, Lady's-mantle

Hairy St John's-wort has a hairy stem and leaves. It has translucent holes in the blades and black dots along the edge of the sepals.

Hairy St John's-wort leaf

2. Hypericum desertangsii,

I hereby declare that all the other common St John's-worts that we get around Settle are Hypericum desertangsii, which is a cross between

3. Imperforate St-John's-wort   
Hypericum maculatum - ssp obtusiusculum. 

 and 

4. Hypericum perforatum. Perforate St John's-wort

or else a back cross.

From the southend of the bypass to the north end, including at the Runlley Bridge and at Giggleswick Station there are this hypbrid, but it looks more like its  like Hypericum maculatum - ssp obtusiusculum Imperforate St John's-wort parent.

The Hypericums along the bypass from the north end to the south end including at Giggleswick Station could be this hyprid.

The hybrid has sort of four ridges on the stem but two of them are much bigger than the others. 

the sepals are relatively blunt - just slightly acute - and with a microscope the sepals have teeth. 

Beside the bypass - at the south eastern junction with settle and on the path down to the river at the NW side of Runley Bridge  there are plants of Imperforate St-John's-wort

It is rhizomatous, glabours perennial with tetraquetrous wingless stems. there are black glands on the leaves.

Hypericum maculatum - ssp obtusiusculum

It has  black glands on the petals mainly as superficial lines.

Only the very top heaves have translucent spots in them.

The sepals are relatively blunt. With a microscope teeth can be seen on the sepals.

They are different to the plants found at the Hoffman Kiln (See lower)

4. Perforate St John's-wort

Hoffman Kiln Hypericums:

There are lots of Hairy St Johns'-worts - easy - hairy. (See above)

The other plant is much more delicate. All its leaves have translucent spots; The sepals are very acute and the teeth are bigger than in the bypass plants. It has two ridges on the stem 

It could key out to the hyprid  Hypericum desertangsii but it is different to the Bypass Plants

You can see all the leaves have translucent spots

You can see the sepals are pointed. Under the microscope they had teeth.

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5. Trailing St John's-wort - Hypericum humisiferum 

This looks much different to the other St John's-worts. It is small and trails and grows on acid soils.

And is definitely what it is.

I actually found this in 16 July 2019 11/2 mile north of Rathmell - perhaps 1/2 mile outside my self-imposed limit of 2 miles radius of Settle - but it is so pretty I would like to include it. I found it with a group from the BSBI field week at Malham Tarn whilst we were surveying that monad.

Trailing St John's-wort - Hypericum humisiferum

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6. Tutsan - H androsaemum 

I found this on a limestone cliff near Stainforth  16 June, in a natural habitat. I have also seen it in Angela B's garden and in front of Edith D's Garden.

Distribution map in UK

Tutsan - cliff near Stainforth

Tutsan - garden Upper Settle

Tutsan - garden Upper Settle

                              -----------------------------------

7. Hypericum x inodorum - Tall Tutsan - 

H androsaemum x H hircinum

This plant - a small shrub - grows at the Mill Pond at Langcliffe Mill. At least that is the name Mike Canaway gave it.

I also think it is a bit similar to the plant -small shrub- which grows beside the Ribble in the field just south of Station Road, Settle. However David Broughton describes it that one as H hircinum = Stinking Tustsan. further work is needed.

I examined them both this week. 

They both do smell slightly and similar. I don't know what Goats smell like to say if that is what the smell it.

The Langciffe plant (inodorum)  was taller 1.6m?. It had smaller petals c 12mm than the the river Ribble plant - and the stamens and styles were very long relative to the length of the petals. The stems could be said to have 2 ridges as required by the book.

However the styles were three times as long as the ovary which was a feature that should have been claimed by the hircinum.  The leaves were slightly smaller and narrower than the hircinum. The bush flowered earlier

Tall Tutusan
Hypericum inodum at Langcliffe Millpond 13 July 2020

Hypericum inodorum  Fruit and remaining flower 1 Sept

8. Hypericum hircinum  Stinking Tutsan

Stinking Tutsan, by the River Ribble South of Station Road in Settle
 1 Sept 2020 

The petals are larger than in H inodorum the stamen filaments are about the same length

9. Hypericum pseudohenryi - Irish Tutsan?

Ah. 

David-Müzeyyen Merrick

suggests:

9. Hypericum 'Hidcote'
from the orange anthers?

Yes it does indeed look like Hypericum x hidcoteense 
more

This is planted on the Roundabout at the south end of the bypass.

it also grows in front of E.D's House on Stackhouse Lane.

Hypericum x hidcote

Settle Wildflowers - added to each week of 2020

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