Settle Wildflowers 137: Hoffmann Kiln: 6 June 2024: Rosa canina, Medicago lupulina,

 Might write a bit about my walk later.

The next Eco Explorers walk on 19 June will be to this place, at 4pm

First picture of a dog-rose this year.

The Hieracia make a bonny show.

 

  

Settle Wildflowers 136: Greenfoot Car Park: Carex spicata, Epilobium ciliatum and luxuriant weeds

Having exhausted Ashfield Car Park, for the present, for finding "Plants in flower that have come in",  I set off for Green Foot Car Park; at 7pm Mon 3 June to avoid the parking charges. It was rather a grey evening

I found: - A host of weeds most not quite yet flowering yet, with Exceedingly Super luxuriant growth - I'll talk about them lower down.

My key delight was a tuft of Carex spicata  (map) growing at the tarmac kirb near the speed traffic hump separating the two halves of the car park. I have not found this in Settle before.

Carex spicata has dark green long leaves,  4-6mm wide and grows in a tuft, often beside footpaths.  The base of the stem is supposed to be reddish/purplish.  The head consists of several spiky spikes.

The utricle is distinctive in that there is a spongey bit at its base (the bottom third in the utricle above is whitish - the middle third that is brownish is where the nutlet is, and the top third is the utricle beak. 

I know two places where it still might grow in SD86 and two more places where I have seen it but it no longer grows. Definitely a new plant to add to my Lockdown list... though it most probably wasn't there in 2020. 

 Back the the weeds.

 I surmise their luxuriance is due to

rich soil,

lots and lots of rain since March

Lack of competition from other species (I wondered what had happened to the Chenopodiums and Atriplexes I had seen maybe two years ago.. though there is a lot of small "Fat Hen"  plants just starting to grow, and maybe they are late growing plants).

(I wondered if they (the council?)  have herbicided out previous weeds? - thereby reducing competition. The main planned vegetation is shrubs and trees) 

I puzzled over the Willowherbs: odd patches of Rosebay and Greater Willowherb yes, and one plant of Broadleaved Willowherb (very common garden weed round here).

But there was lots of another Willowherb, bordering the tarmac and in patches of soil, which I conclude is just VERY large American Willoherb - Epilobium ciliatum.  

I found this very helpful BSBI willowherb key:  (Thank you Bob Leaney).  BSBI willowherb key:  (Thank you Bob Leaney)

My American willowherb Epilobium ciliatum had a club shaped stigma, petioles that are 3mm longs, a squarish stem in some places, and almost cordate (heart shaped) bases to some of its leaves. and fine, erect, very short but glandular hairs on its stem.

In contrast a similar plant (that has been recorded in this part of Settle) - is Epilobium roseum which is very similar but has petioles longer than 4mm and has leaf base that are more cuneate. Both species are only supposed to grow to 75cm, and these plants were over 1m tall - but then so were the creeping thistles, false oat grass and sycamore saplings. 

Other weeds growing but not yet in flower are: Sticky Groundsel, Fat Hen, Creeping Thistle, Greater Willowherb, Rosebay Willowherb, False Oat-grass, Miscanthus (planted?) Broad-leaved Willowherb. 

Index of Wildflowers around Settle posts

Settle Wildflowers 135: Horton in Ribblesdale: Hester Cox's prints at North Yorkshire Open Studios, and Horton Church Wildflowers

 1-2  and 8-9 June 2024 is North Yorkshire Open Studios. Doris and I visited Horton in Ribblesdale. We went to see Hester Cox's beautiful prints of wild flowers and nature (at The Knoll on the main road through Horton).  She is now making exquisite prints on card the size of a domino.

See Hester's website and future exhibitions including at the Folly (6 July - 28 Sep) and at Harlow Carr Gardens (13 June - 14 July) and at Kendal (Cry of the Curlew 21 June - 17 Aug)

I know Hester from Settle Harriers. This morning I discovered this video of her enjoying Pen y Ghent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI0OBvUNhjw

I bought two cards - which may get used as birthday cards, but will probably just sit on my own mantelpiece for a while.

We discussed Cloudberry - what time of year does it flower - will it still be out? Yes I think it will - but it is very uncommon around here and needs to grow in very wet bogs very high up.

Next stop was Horton Church yard for the Mother's Union Annual Teddy Bear's Picnic event. It is also Environment Sunday Here the children had activities - pointing birdboxes and planting some "Wild flower seed bombs" - which they (and grownups) did by the path. The seed bombs include Oxe-eye daisy, Meadow Buttercup and Ragged Robin.  I wandered round the churchyard looking for new flowers (this year) to photograph and found Oxe-eye Daisy and Fox and Cubs... Both of these occur in quite a few churchyards.

 Click here for index to  more flowers from those seen on 2020 Lockdown Walks. around Settle to recent posts

Settle Wild flowers 132c: River Ribble River Blitz: 1 June 2024

The Ribble Rivers Trust organised a training day and survey of the Ribble at Settle and its tributaries.

I thought "O good I can survey a new bit of Ribble for Wildflowers" - and to may amazement found that the location me my work partner and I were assigned to was exactly the same stretch of Ribble that I had visited and thoroughly surveyed two days earlier. - This was great. It meant I was not distracted by other things and could concentrate on the job in hand. It meant that I would learn more about this stretched of water that I had mused on two days earlier.

The morning was spent in Settle Social Club learning about the organisms we might see, about ways of describing the river and riverbank features and about techniques and about safety. (Do not go in water that is more than knee deep even if you have waders. There can be strong currents. Use you long net handle to prod the rock/gravel/silt/water just in front of you to test the depth.  Wear the rubber gloves provided (in case of Weil's disease or in case someone had put in chemicals upstream. The second person who is not doing the kick sampling is to watch the kick sampler and to watch the river upstream (for Canoes? Alligators?   Floating logs?  Increasing river level?)

There were a couple of families with children, There were retired people, there were fishermen,

There was a girl there from Lancaster University who wanted to test out a method for Citizen Science people to use using Algae to indicate water quality.

My partner for the afternoon is a fisherman and knew this stretch of water well. He explained how the field upstream used to be a rubbish tip where people came to search for old bottles. He pointed out a deep pool that was good for fish. He encouraged me to wear my wellies and do the kick sampling, saying he had had plenty of experience wading in water whilst fishing. So he filled in the extensive record sheet. 

The water level was a useful level - The country and this area has had the wettest spring for umpteen years (Global warming?), but we have had two days with no rain so the water has lowered a little. The day got sunnier as the afternoon progressed.

We found a side part of the river where it was not too deep. The river base was mostly boulders and cobbles, but on some steps I found enough pebbles and gravel to "Kick" amongst the cobbles, releasing creatures and algae and detritus that would then get carried into the net. Three of the ten kicks were in places where the water rushed between pairs of small boulders so a good deal of water went through the net there.  We lifted a cobble and scraped the Flat Mayfly and Cased Caddis of into our collecting tray.

A heron flew away as we arrived.

We found one big bullhead which we released after videoing it.

There was lots of very long strands of a dark blackish green alga about 1 mm wide with knobbles on it - |About the thickness of Chara strands. This I was later informed by Katrina was a species of Lemanea - a red Alga.  It seems most like Lemanea ...

I scooped up other bits of alga - but Katrina's response was "Diatoms" -- maybe what I call diatomous sludge.

We arrived back at the Social Club afterwards first, before any other group - not just because our location was the closest, but because Tim was very efficient.

We identified 

Settle Wildflowers 134: 1 June 2024: Malham Tarn Fen Globeflower, Carex lasiocarpa, Climate Walk, 20 Days wild, Hawthorn

I led a walk for six people. (Seven including myself). We met at 9am. I needed to finish by 11am as I had another meeting down in Settle - as did two others of the party.  We have these as joint walks for Churches Together in Settle and for Craven Conservation Group.

On the way driving up I noted that the hawthorns both at Winskill Stones Reserve, and on the road below Globeflower Wood were just breaking into flower - they still had lots of buds too.

The Globeflowers that we had come to see were looking fine, though I was told that they had been looking even better one or two weeks earlier.

I noted seeing ten species of sedge in flower near the part of the path that we walked on. And pleased that one member is keen on them and spotting them often ahead of me.

I just show one : Carex lasiocarpa - the slender sedge. Some years it does not flower at all. It has very slender leaves so is be easy to miss.

The previous day on facebook Wendy English wrote that she had heard it was flowering well in Ascomb Bog so she had searched for it flowering in Fen Bog and found it.  I said I would look out for it at Malham Tarn - and it is there. flowering well this year.. The flowers will be bigger in two weeks time.  Is has hairy utricles, 

Montane Eyebright

Salix pentandra is out showing its five anthered flowers and gleaming regular edged sweet smelling leaves

Salix pentandra - Bay Willow

Salix pentandra - Bay Willow

The tiny Cranberry is a beauty
 - its tiny leaved shoots trail over the Sphagnum moss.

We pause to read today's Pray and Fast for the Climate sheet. Click though and see what issues are high lighted today 1 June 2024Click though and see what issues are high lighted today 1 June 2024. 
This is a beautiful nature reserve. Let us be thankful for it.

We saw and heard Reed Bunting and Blackcap.  We saw the ponies out on the mire. There may be 6 now.  We saw five lizards, sitting on the ridge of the -now plastic - boardwalk. M recalled that she came up in c1967 in a work party of conservation volunteers the year the board walk was fist built - then out of wooden slats. 

Here is a list of flowers we saw: 

Crepis paludosa just coming out

Salix pentandra male flowers out - must have been out a week.

Saxifraga hypnoides on the tussocks.. though the tussock area looked a bit grazed by the ponies

Pyrenean Scurvy grass

Globeflower fully open but probably a week or two past its best

Northern Marsh-orchid just coming out

Lychnis flos-cuculi- only just coming out, most ot out,

Menyanthes trifoliata just right.. must have been out at least a week

Vaccinium vitis-idae out

Other willows now in fruit.

Luzula multiflora some still with anthers

Carex rostrata -in flower

Carex lasiocarpa - a good year for flowering - only just coming out  (Rare in England, less rare in LadkeDistrict, Scotland and N Wales) 

Carex disticha

Carex appropinquata (a very rare species)

Carex diandra (a rare species)

Carex canescens

 Carex panicea

Carex flacca getting old in car park

Carex nigra

Carex rostrata

(And I can think of eleven more species in different parts of the estate that we did not see.)

Euphrasia officinalis subsp. monticola  in flower - Montane Eyebright, Silverside, showing well on west side of the board walk (horse grazing keeping other stuff down?) (A Rare species) . (Alan Silverside whose name is the author citation for this species , showed me this species -here- back in c1981. I am privileged to have met him!!)  https://plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9h.7mm6zd

Serratula tinctoria -only in bud -needs at least two more weeks till it will flower)

Juncus actuiflorus not flowering. grazed by ponies.

Equisetum fluviatile some with cones in "Paul Holmes Pond"

Potentilla erecta.

Ranunculus flamula

Goldlocks buttercup - over (only saw one flower)

Ranunculus acris

Ajuga reptans

Deschampsia flexuosa only just coming out.

Calamgrostis stricta -out  (A rare species) 

Schedonorus giganteus - in pothole lane itself and increasing in plants numbers - but not yet flowering.

Festuca rubra

Eriophorum and vaginatum and angustifolium both in fruit with white heads

Mare's-tail. (Too far away to check for flowers).

Index of Wildflowers around Settle posts