BSBI New Year Plant Hunt - Part 1 Clapham- 3 Jan - Settle Harriers Winter Handicap

The North West Yorkshire Botany Group had told me they were going on a walk beside the Tees on 2nd Jan as part of the BSBI New Year Plant Hunt. (1-4 Jan)- Aim" to see how many plants in flower can be seen in three hours."

So when I took part in the Settle Harriers Winter Handicap from Clapham on 3 Jan  (c. 7 miles) I decided to use that as my recording trip.

I saw no plant in full flower at all - The hazel catkins were still in bud. It was wild countryside we ran through, not a place for garden weeds.

I did see a bedraggled Crimson Waxcap (Hygrocybe punicea) (a fungus) at Norber Erratics, and the filamentous alga Klebsormidium crenulatum on the stone wall above the Clapper Bridge, and patches of Map Lichen (Rhizocarpon geographicum) But nothing with anthers and stigmas.

Back in the village after lunch, and the prize giving, I went to collect my car which I had parked in my friend Elga's drive.

There was lots of Poa annua (Annual Meadow-grass) in flower on the roadside. There was Petty Spurge (Euphorbia peplus) in flower in her garden. and her first three snowdrops were just coming out. We failed to find the daisy which she said was growing in her lawn.

The Settle Harriers are a very friendly group. They gave me a large handicap.. and I still came last!!. (And I hadn't run slower to look for flowers, honest)

Half a mile from home.

There were 42 people in the race this year - a record. The handicap winner was 12 years old! (the youngest ever - another record- accompanied by his Dad). And the fastest runner on this day was the son of the record holder for the race- who also took part, his record still not beaten.

But back to plants.. Perhaps more searching in Clapham village would have revealed a few more weeds. But it started raining and I decided to save my efforts for the bigger town of Settle the following day.

Klebsormidium near Langcliffe Locks

I took these three photos on 16 Oct, just over a week ago. This wall is close to the River Ribble, in the second fiedl above the Locks at Langcliffe. You can see Langclffe Qarry and Scar in the background. It surprised me how much Klebsormidium crenulatum there is on the rocks.

This velvetty filamentous alga is spreading and grows because of nitrogen compounds in the air.

Why is there so much here?

Here are four reasons

1) This field does have cow muck applied in winter

2) On the other side of the river is a large field leading up to a farm that still has dairy cattle. (All the other farms higher up int the valley now only have beef). Perhaps ammonia and nitrogen compounds come from the farm.

3) Most of the walls around here are made of limestone which does not let Klebsormidium grow on it.

but in the soil of the valley floor lots of rocks of the Yoredale series rocks  have been deposited, so the walls have quite a lot of sandstone rocks in them.

4) We are having an amazingly warm autumn - in that we have not had a frost yet. so plants and algae are continuing to grow.

Klebsormidium crenulatum - near Helwith Bridge

This wall is above the road from Helwith Bridge to Wharf and Austwick. The ridge of rock near the skyline is greywacke - a sort of metamorphosed sandstone.
I think this must be its most south-westerly occurrence.
The green alga on the stones in the wall is Klebsormidium crenualatum.   
Taken on 2nd Feb 2013