B&BC Botanical Society Newsletter - Issue 4 (2017)

Newsletter Issue 4 | 2017
2017 included visits to some of the

very best sites in Birmingham and the
Black Country
…from designated SSSIs to diverse post-
industrial wastelands
We hope you enjoy reading about it and join

us next year for more recording!
In this Issue:
Sutton Park Flora
- An update on recording plus Lichen and Bryophyte surveys
Plus other highlights from 2017

including site visit reports from:
Dudley Zoo | Illey Pastures SSSI

Wren’s Nest & Mons Hill | Fens Pools
Birmingham Eastside | Staffs BSBI Recording
plus Fungi Foray at Warstone Lane Cemetery
And reports of notable species finds in B&BC

Greater Tussock-Sedge (Carex paniculata)
Sutton Park July 2017
SAVE THE DATE!

The 2018 AGM will take place Other dates for your diary:
at 11am on
Provisional Field Recording Dates 2018
Saturday 10th March 2018 Mid April - Balaam's Wood Woodland Flora ID
Winterbourne House and Garden, (date TBC)
University of Birmingham, Early June – Sutton Park Grass Species ID

(date TBC)
58 Edgbaston Park Road, Early August - Pelsall North Common
Birmingham, B15 2RT. (date TBC)
Note: entry into Winterbourne Gardens 16/09/2018 – Sutton Park Fungus Foray
will be free for this event!
06/10/2018 – Leasowes Park Fungus Foray
03/11/2018 – Sandwell Valley Fungus Foray
Hope to see you there!
2 │ B&BC Botanical Society Newsletter 2017
One to Look Out For:

Water Bent
Polypogon viridis
September 2017
Back in September Mike came across quite a few Water
Bent (Polypogon viridis) plants growing along the
pavement at the base of garden walls in Blackheath. This
represented a new 1km square for the species and
prompted Mike to keep an eye out for the plant
elsewhere.
This little grass is most likely to be found growing on

roadsides in urban areas, especially on pavements at the
foot of garden walls, although it can be found in more
obviously damp habitats such as the edges of canals.
Having discovered it growing a number of other new

squares we now suspect it to be widespread in this
habitat throughout the Black Country, but generally
overlooked.
This would be a good species for the B&BC Botanical Identification: Usually an annual, around 30 cm tall in flower,
Society members to keep an eye out for in 2018. the vegetative shoots are rather open and sprawling, with
trailing stolons, the leaves relatively wide, the sheaths loose.
The distribution map (opposite) shows the records we The panicles resemble those of bent grasses, but are very
have of this species so far. dense, with many branches and an overall rather narrow,
lobed appearance. All the branches are covered in spikelets
to the base. The spikelet is one-flowered, as in bents, but
when ripe it is shed whole complete with a distinct piece of
stalk below the glumes.
ILLEY PASTURES SSSI

9th June 2017
A cheerful group of around 20 met in the car park of the Black Horse pub in Illey Lane at SO983817. Simon Atkinson of the
Wildlife Trust, who had cleared our visit with the owners of the SSSI was to lead us and, after the staff at the Black Horse
kindly agreed that we could leave our cars in the car park, we set off down the lane towards Lower Illey. Very quickly we
found ourselves immersed in a completely rural landscape.
The hedgebanks included some species which don’t seem

to be able to cope very well with our urban roadsides, such
as Greater Stitchwort Stellaria holostea, Barren Strawberry
Potentilla sterilis, which resembles Wild Strawberry but
develops a dry fruit and in which the terminal tooth of each
leaflet is smaller than its neighbours and Hedge-bedstraw
Galium album.
One of the interesting insects spotted along the trackway was

this Wasp Beetle Clytus arietis
This is the SSSI meadow, which extends over two large fields
with medieval ridge and furrow still obvious from some
angles. It is in some ways a typical MG5 Centaurea nigra –
Cynosurus cristatus mesotrophic meadow, and in addition to
the characteristic Common Knapweed and Crested Dogs-tail
many of the other typical species are present, such as Betony
Betonica officinalis, Yellow-rattle Rhinanthus minor, Bugle
Ajuga reptans plus the beautiful Dyer’s Greenwood Genista
tinctoria and Devil’s-bit Scabious Succisa pratensis. There was
also a good range of sedges including Carnation Sedge Carex
panicea, Glaucous Sedge Carex flacca, Common Sedge Carex
Barren Strawberry Potentilla sterilis
nigra, and Oval Sedge Carex leporina.
A bank adjacent to a grass paddock had Rough Hawkbit

Leontodon hispidus, suggesting base-rich soils.
Past the farm we left SO9881 and entered SO9871. The

track descended picturesquely across a stream and areas of
wet woodland appeared alongside, with Opposite-leaved
Golden-saxifrage Chrysosplenium oppositifolium, Giant
Fescue Schedonorus giganteus and Wood Melick Melica
uniflora.
Beyond a curious (mock Tudor?) timber-framed building

the track veered west and we found ourselves, at around
SO9788811, on a grassy path traversing a beautiful
Common Spotted Orchid Crested Dog’s-tail
meadow, full of Common Spotted-orchids Dactylorhiza
Dactylorhiza fuchsii Cynosurus cristatus
fuchsii in full flower.
Ellen Pisolkar extracted a number of invertebrates from the

pond, Water Beetles including two species of Helophorus
and a Hydroporus species plus diving beetles (Dytiscidae),
Water Boatmen (Corixidae), and Pond Skaters (Gerridae).
Also spotted were Scorpion Fly Panorpa sp., Red-tailed
Bumble Bee Bombus lapidarius, Ashy Mining Bee Andrena
cineraria, Broad-bodied Chaser Dragonfly Libellula depressa,
Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans and nine species of
hoverfly. In addition, Simon was unlucky enough to be
bitten by a horsefly but unfortunately it was too quick for us
to identify the species!
Trailing Tormentil Potentilla anglica
The meadows are rather damper than some and Greater

Bird’s-foot-trefoil Lotus pedunculatus (with hollow stems
and the sepals curved outwards in the flower bud) rather
than Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil Lotus corniculatus (with
solid stems and sepals straight in the flower bud) was
typical. Also we saw Square-stalked St John’s-wort
Hypericum tetrapterum and quite a bit of Lesser Spearwort
Pond with Sphagnum
Ranunculus flammula.
A small pond in the first field held quite a few even more Beyond the meadow the path descends to a stream with old
typically wetland species including Trailing Tormentil woodland where we noted Common Valerian Valeriana
Potentilla anglica, Bog Pondweed Potamogeton officinalis and Large Bitter-cress Cardamine amara, the tall
polygonifolius, which is distinguished from the similar, but woodland sister of Cuckooflower with slightly smaller, white
usually larger Broad-leaved Pondweed Potamogeton natans flowers with violet rather than yellow stamens. Here at this
because the latter has a discoloured, flexible section in the stream we also came to the boundary between Dudley
leaf stalk just behind the blade which is missing in Bog Borough and the modern county of Worcestershire, beyond
Pondweed. Also present were stands of Sphagnum and both which we did not go!
Floating Sweetgrass Glyceria fluitans and Small Sweetgrass
While most of the group headed back across the meadows
Glyceria declinata. The flowers are smaller in the latter and
towards the car park, Andy, Mike and Ian skirted the furthest
the inner bract or palea around the flower has two points
field margins, and in doing so disturbed Chimney Sweeper
which stick up beyond the outer bract or lemma. Also Marsh
moths Odezia atrata, a new B&BC site for this small,
Ragwort Senecio aquaticus, which is similar to Common
distinctive day-flying moth, whose main caterpillar food
Ragwort Senecio jacobaea but the leaves have fewer lobes
and the terminal lobe is much larger, the flowers do not plant is Pignut Conopodium majus.
form a dense head and the ray florets are more prominent.
Ian Trueman
Dyer’s Greenwood Genista tinctoria B&BC Botanical Society examining the Dyer’s Greenweed slope
DUDLEY ZOO
March to October 2017
Early in 2017 I was approached by Chris Leeson, Dudley The first visits undertaken in March and April coincided
Zoo’s Conservation Officer, with an invitation to survey with the flowering of the spring-flowering bulbs which over
the flora of the zoo over a full season. . many years have become naturalised in grassland and
flower borders throughout the zoo’s grounds. Croci,
As Mike West, a local ornithologist, had been carrying out Daffodils, Scillas and Chionodoxas were all present, but of
bird surveys at the zoo over the winter months, the offer these, Common Snowdrop Galanthus nivalis, (both single
was accepted, and I joined Chris and Mike for a first visit in and double flowering), Early Crocus Crocus tommasinianus
March to coincide with the flowering of the early-spring and Daffodil Narcissus sp. are increasing naturally.
bulbs.
During the surveys parts of the zoo normally out of bounds

to the public were made accessible, with the obvious
exception of the animal enclosures, where recording was
limited to what could be seen from the paths. From the
outset it was agreed that only trees, shrubs, and herbs
which were originally planted and showing no signs of
spreading would be excluded from the species list. Fungi
were recorded if they could be positively identified in the
field, and I suggested that a survey of the zoo’s fungi
should be undertaken by a mycologist at some point in the
Winter Heliotrope Petasites fragrans
future.
Six visits to the zoo were carried out between early March Winter Heliotrope Petasites fragrans, as the common name
and late October, and as the BSBI is currently updating suggests, produces fragrant blooms during the winter
flora monad records for Atlas 2020, and all parts of the zoo months when little else is in flower and its introduction to
grounds are included in SO9490, all species could be the zoo probably dates back many years. This aggressive
entered onto one recording sheet. Some, but by no means coloniser of banks and roadside verges, particularly in the
all of what was found, is reported on here. south-west of Britain, where in places it forms a continuous
monoculture along many hundreds of metres of roadside
verge, is still relatively uncommon in Birmingham and the
Black Country, but here in the grounds of Dudley Zoo you
would not believe this to be so. In places, particularly in the
Lemur enclosure and on the bank near the Sea Lions pool,
extensive patches dominate the landscape
Other originally planted species increasing naturally around

the zoo grounds include, Ivy-leaved Cyclamen Cyclamen
hederifolia appearing on banks and in the grassland in one
or two places, Stinking Iris Iris foetidissima occasional on
banks and in wooded areas, Yellow Corydalis
Pseudofumaria lutea naturalised on the castle walls,
Aubretia Aubretia deltoidea, cascading down from

brickwork near the Sea Lion pool, French Crane’s-bill
Geranium endressii increasing vigorously wherever it has
been planted, Rubus tricolor sprawling across the roof
garden in front of the castle and on the bank near the
Giraffe house entrance, Bistort Persicaria bistorta,
spreading locally wherever it is planted, and Yellow
Archangel Lamiastrum galeobdolon subsp. argentatum, an
unwelcomed potential invasive near the lion enclosure.
Deadly Nighshade rosette in brickwork mortar of Dudley Castle
The woodland on the zoo site comprises mainly of inner courtyard
sycamore and ash with an occasional Pedunculate Oak Deadly Nightshade Atropa bella-donna has long been known
Quercus robur and Beech Fagus sylvatica, and an from the ramparts of Dudley Castle, with historical records
understorey of Hazel Corylus avellana and Elder Sambucus dating back to Victorian times. Perhaps the most intriguing,
nigra. The mature Beech trees could well have been and almost certainly the largest population in B&BC is found
originally planted but most of the secondary woodland here on the walls and along the steps around the approach
now covering the steep slopes has got here naturally. A to the castle entrance. On an early-summer visit two large
range of native woodland field-layer plants are found on plants were noted from brickwork mortar high up on the
the wooded banks around the zoo. They include, Bluebell inner walls of the castle courtyard. The many succulent,
Hyacinthoides non-scripta, Wood Avens Geum urbanum, shiny black fruit, well out of reach of inquisitive children,
Enchanter’s-nightshade Circaea lutetiana, Lesser Celandine appeared later in the summer. Plants high on the walls are
Ficaria verna, Wood Anemone Anemone nemorosa, relatively safe, but not so any that appear in the overgrown
Ramsons Allium ursinum, Garlic Mustard Alliaria petiolata, shrub border below, which for H&S reasons, are often
Lords-and-Ladies Arum maculatum, Wood Forget-me-not eradicated by the gardeners. More non-flowering rosettes,
Myosotis sylvatica, Male Fern Dryopteris filix-mas, Broad which go largely unnoticed by the on-site gardeners until
Buckler Fern Dryopteris dilatata and False Brome they produce fruit, can be seen at the sides of the approach
Brachypodium sylvaticum. steps to the castle entrance.
Dudley Castle Deadly Nighshade in fruit high up on the wall of

the inner courtyard
The open areas of the zoo tend to be either regularly
mown grassland, or steep, grassy banks of calcareous Blue Fleabane Erigeron acris, with pale-mauve flowers and
grassland surrounded by fencing to keep in exotic animals. creamy-white pappus hairs is always a ‘good’ plant to find,
Some of the species found in this habitat are Smooth and here at Dudley Zoo it is thriving, with hundreds of plants
Hawk’s-beard Crepis capillaris, Beaked Hawk’s-beard Crepis growing in the Red-necked Wallaby enclosure alongside
vesicaria, Lesser Trefoil Trifolium dubium, Black Medick Canadian Fleabane Conyza canadensis, a closely-related
Medicago lupulina, Bulbous Buttercup Ranunculus alien cousin with which it is known to hybridise. The resident
bulbosus, Oxeye Daisy Leucanthemum vulgare, Mouse-ear marsupials appear to avoid both fleabanes, as does the
Hawkweed Pilosella officinarum, Cat’s-ear Hypochaeris grass-grazing bachelor group of Gelada Baboons on the
radicata, Field Wood-rush Luzula campestris, and in a few nearby hillside where more plants were noted. Blue
places, Barren Strawberry Potentilla sterilis. Fleabane is apparently disliked by other herbivores too as
more were found in other enclosure across the zoo. Where
else would you go in B&BC to find out which plants are
are avoided by exotic animals! In all, 207 vascular plant species were recorded
over six visits, and our gratitude goes out to
Ploughman’s Spikenard Inula conyza is another ‘good’
plant that botanists are always pleased to find, and one
Chris Leeson and the zoo staff, without whose
was noted high up on the wall of the castle courtyard and
cooperation the surveys could not have been
another less healthy-looking specimen at the other end of possible.
the zoo near the camel enclosure.
Effects of grazing by Gelada Baboons (right) Blue Fleabane Erigeron acer

abundant in Red-necked Wallaby enclosure
As summer drifted into early-autumn, a final visit was

made, and on this occasion Ivy-leaved Cyclamen was
flowering profusely in the grassland and on top of a
nearby retaining wall near Kookaburra Corner. A few late-
flowerers were added to the species list, along with some
of the more easily recognisable fungi such as Turkeytail
Fungus Trametes versicolor, King Alfred’s Cakes Daldinia
concentrica, Yellow Stainer Agaricus xanthodermus,
Fairies Bonnets Fungi Coprinellus disseminatus and
Dryad’s Saddle Polyporus squamosus whose enormous
fruiting bodies were found in two places.
Rock-cress Aubrieta deltoidea

naturalised in brickwork above Sea-lion pool
Mike Poulton
Dryad’s Saddle Polyporus squamosus
DUDLEY RAILWAY STATION

& PEGGYS MEADOWS
Summer 2017
During one of my visits to Dudley Zoo in early summer, I
noticed a great deal of activity taking place on the old Dudley
railway station site. From research on the internet later I was
surprised to learn that a £28million, Very Light Rail Innovation
Centre is to be built on the land, which the website states could
be operational by 2019 http://www.verylightrail.com/the-
centre/ There are also plans for an extension of the Midland
Metro service through Dudley to Brierley Hill.
When I visited the zoo again in August, the earlier activity had
ceased, and the old station site was once again deserted.
Deciding that this might possibly be the one and only Dudley Station in 1908
opportunity to record the flora and take photographs before http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/d/dudley/index.shtml
development work started and access became impossible, I
made my way down to the old track bed.
For those unfamiliar with Dudley, the railway station stood at

the bottom of Castle Hill, between Trindle Road and Tipton
Road, no more than a hundred metres down the hill from the
old zoo entrance, with access to the ticket office and platforms
around the corner in Tipton Road. Closed to passenger traffic in
1964 under the Beeching Axe, the station was razed to the
ground in 1967 to make way for a new Freighliner Terminal.
The opening of the larger and more accessible Landor Street
terminal in Birmingham resulted in the closure of the Dudley
Freightliner terminal and the site has been mothballed since
1992. As it looks now
Two old photographs of Dudley Station are included in this

report for comparison. These were taken from the excellent,
‘Disused Stations’ website http://www.disused-
stations.org.uk/.
Peering over the Staffordshire blue-brick railway bridge wall in

Castle Hill, just a few metres down from the old Hippodrome, it
is difficult to imagine the scenes in these two old photographs
when the bustling Dudley Station would see trains coming and
going all day and night. Bradshaw’s Railway Guide of 1895
states that at that time, there were 168 Monday-to-Saturday
services either calling or terminating at Dudley Station and 37
services on Sundays.
A blend of the 1950s image and today
Stepping out onto the old track bed from the northern end of Vehicle parking for Dudley Zoo is now from an access road
Trindle Road is like stepping back in time. Most of the concrete crossing the old railway land linking up to the car parks at the
sleepers are still in place, but the rails have all been taken up rear of the old Hippodrome building on Castle Hill. The main car
and piled together. After 25 years, Silver Birch Betula pendula, parks near the zoo entrance fill up quickly during the summer
Buddleia Buddleja davidii and Goat Willow Salix caprea have months so to the south of these additional car parking areas
moved in, and in a few years, if left undisturbed, ‘Urban have been created as a back-up. These overspill car parks are
Woodland’ would completely cover the whole area. A more often empty other than at peak times during the summer, and
recent coloniser of open habitats in B&BC, Guernsey Fleabane their compacted surfaces and the low banks surrounding them,
Conyza sumatrensis is also here, along with the more familiar support an interesting flora.
plants of derelict railway tracks such as Common Toadflax
Linaria vulgaris, Bramble Rubus fruticosa agg., Ash Fraxinus Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil Lotus corniculatus, Black Medick
excelsior, Wormwood Artemisia absinthium, Oxford Ragwort Medicago lupulina and both Red and White Clover are
Senecio squalidus and Herb Robert Geranium robertianum. abundant here, and we can also find Hoary Mustard
Hirschfeldia incana, Chicory Cichorium intybus, Hedge Bedstraw
Galium album, Kidney Vetch Anthyllis vulneraria, Lesser
Hawkbit Leontodon taraxacoides and both Bristly Oxtongue
Picris hieracioides and Hawkweed Oxtongue Helminthotheca
echioides.
As we head further south beyond the car parks, large swathes

of unmanaged grassland are crossed by tarmac paths. Finger
post signage points the way to the Black Country Museum,
Castle Mill Woods and the Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust
Centre.
Ribbed Melilot Melilotus officinalis, Hoary Mustard and the

occasional White Melilot Melilotus alba are early colonists of
patches of land recovering from recent disturbance, and in
some places, Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil is abundant. There are
historical records for Dingy Skipper and when Six-belted
Dudley Station site looking north, with the old Hippodrome Clearwings pheromones were put down in patches of BFT
building (right background) and Station Hotel (left of centre) during the summer, moths were lured in several places.
The land covered by the railway once extended as far as the

Birmingham New Road to the south. There have been many
changes since its closure. Along Tipton Road we now have the
Dudley Archives and Local History Centre, the Black Country
Living Museum, a recently opened Travelodge Hotel, and on
the New Birmingham Road just around the corner, the Dudley
Canal and Tunnel Trust Centre.
Paths with information board about the Black Country Museum
Further south we reach a lower-lying area known as ‘Peggy’s

Meadow’. On a slope leading down into the meadow, three
Vervain Verbena officinalis, a perennial herb seldom seen in
these parts, was discovered in the grassland. Walking through
Peggy’s Meadow it becomes noticeably damp underfoot and
the path soon becomes obscured by head-high colonies of False
Oat-grass
Zoo overspill car park and low bank
Arrhenatherum elatius, Greater Willowherb Epilobium The track obviously gets cut back from time to time to control
hirsutum, Broad-leaved Dock Rumex obtusifolius and Canadian the woody species and along the track margins we can find a
Golden-rod Solidago canadensis, all competing for dominance. wide-range of mostly shade-tolerant herbs, such as Red
Campion Silene dioica, Agrimony Agrimonia eupatoria, False
Brome Brachypodium sylvaticum Water Figwort Scrophularia
auriculata and Common Figwort Scrophularia nodosa.
Interestingly, despite the soil along this track being dry, Water
Figwort appears to be the more frequent of the two figworts
found here.
Fingerposts pointing to various places of interest
The path through Peggy’s Meadow eventually finds another

path leading into the woodland on Castle Hill, but on this
occasion, we retrace our footsteps through the meadow and
pick up with the tarmac path heading towards Dudley Canal Old route of the railway towards Wolverhampton with Water
and Tunnel Trust Centre. On doing so we enter a long, wide and Figwort in foreground
relatively straight wooded track, which until the mid 1960s’ was
the railway line to Wolverhampton. Now immature ash and Having finally reached the New Birmingham Road, and being so
hazel line this track on both sides. close to Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust Centre, it seemed only
fitting before returning home to take advantage of The
Nearing the New Birmingham Road, we have Castle Mill Gongoozler restaurant in their new lottery grant-aided building.
Industrial Estate to the left and Dudley Canal Trust Centre just a A place I can highly recommend for a visit.
short distance along the road to the right.
Mike Poulton
Peggy’s Meadow
WARSTONE LANE CEMETERY

20th August 2017
Although fungi can be found throughout the year, most of the Next we headed over to a goat willow bush where there was a
larger fleshy gilled fungi and boletes appear in the autumn. group of Inkstain Boletes Cyanoboletus pulverulentus. This
However if the conditions are right flushes of fungi can appear attractive species has a dark brown, velvety to smooth cap,
earlier in the year. This was the case in August 2017 when a yellow pores and a reddish stem which turns yellow near the
period of hot weather was followed by a slight cooling and pores. All parts rapidly turn dark blue when handled. The cut
around a week of heavy rain which triggered an early fruiting of the flesh instantly goes a deep inky blue. Blueing can be a bit
fungi. To take advantage of these unusual conditions I less intense in dry specimens. This species isn't particularly
organised a foray to Warstone Lane Cemetery in Birmingham's common in B&BC but was one of the most commonly
Jewellery Quarter. encountered macrofungi we found.
The next species we came across was the Ascot Hat

Hortiboletus bubalinus, this is often seen in parks, usually
associated with limes or poplars. It’s most distinctive feature is
the colour change when cut in half. The flesh turns blue above
the pore surface and pinkish below the cap surface.
Inkstain Bolete
Cyanoboletus pulverulentus
We began the day at the Vyse street entrance and headed into
the cemetery. The first species we encountered was the
Mosaic Puffball Lycoperdon utriforme growing in a grassy area
under a poplar. This is a fairly large puffball which is covered
with small spines when young. As it ages these are quickly lost
and the surface develops a characteristic cracked appearance.
The base of the fruiting body is quite resistant to decay and can
last for a long time after most of the spores have been
Ascot Hat Hortiboletus bubalinus
dispersed.
We then searched a wooded strip along the cemetery edge.

Under an oak there was a small cluster of robust fungi with a
pinkish-brown cap which I didn't immediately recognise so I
collected a sample for later identification. Examination of the
spores confirmed this was the Tan Pinkgill Rhodocybe gemina.
This is only the second Warwickshire record and a first for
Birmingham and the Black Country.
Rotting wood was rare on this site but we did find a small tree
stump with the pinkish caps of the Burgundydrop Bonnet
Mycena haematopus emerging from near the top.
We then headed downhill towards the Middle Ring Road

passing several more patches of Inkstain Bolete and Ascot Hat
along the route.
Near a birch tree we found two large specimens of the Rollrim

Paxillus obscurisporus. This species was previously included
Ruby Bolete Hortiboletus rubellus under the name Paxillus involutus. This has now been split into
four species, three of which (P. ammoniavirescens, P. cuprinus
Almost completely hidden in a grassy hollow we found the Ruby and P. obscurisporus) are likely to occur in open places like
Bolete Hortiboletus rubellus. This is one of our most beautiful cemeteries. P. obscurisporus can be recognised in the field by its
boletes, characterised by a deep red cap contrasting with a robust habit, large size and persistently enrolled cap margin.
bright yellow pore surface. Other red capped species have
Returning towards Vyse Street we passed a small group of Scots
recently been recognised so identification is more a bit trickier
Pines which added to the fungal diversity with a Slippery Jack
that it used to be.
Suillus luteus.
Bolete Mould Hypomyces chrysospermus had started to affect
Under a nearby red oak there was a Sepia Bolete Xerocomellus
several of the specimens. It starts as a greyish bloom on the
porosporus. This species has a cracking cap, red band near the
surface of the fungus. The mould then consumes the fruiting
top of the stem and association with oaks. Other species also
bodies which are reduced to bright yellow goo. Fungi can
crack in dry weather so this is not a reliable character on its
appear relatively intact from a distance but disintegrate when
own.
poked.
This short foray was a fantastic example of how many
interesting fungi which can occur even in the heart of urban
Birmingham. It also illustrates the importance of having the
right conditions. When I returned a week later, the ground had
dried out and hardly any large fungi were visible.
Lukas Large
Tan Pinkgill Rhodocybe gemina

BIRMINGHAM EASTSIDE
20th May 2017
On an overcast Saturday morning with rain imminent around
30 enthusiastic botanists congregated inside Moor Street
Station. After leaving the station, we made our way to the
adjoining car park where a good half hour was spent
recording the flora on the car park bank, which included
Small-flowered Winter-cress Barbarea stricta – a first record
for VC38! By now the rain had already started and was to
continue off and on all day, becoming more persistent later.
Least Yellow Trefoil Trifolium micranthum
Crossing Banbury Street, where Birmingham Gun Barrel Proof

House is still in operation, we headed for the listed Curzon
Street Station building at the junction of New Canal Street. This
building and the land to the rear of the building are part of the
Birmingham Curzon HS2 Masterplan. Continuing along Curzon
Street, passing Millennium Point and briefly stopping to record
the vegetation along a fenced off track, we made our way onto
Recording on Moor Street embankment
the Digbeth Branch Canal towpath and headed south towards
the junction with the Grand Union Canal, passing beneath the
Crossing Park Street into Park Street Gardens the group were
railway through Curzon Tunnel. On reaching the junction we
set the task of searching in the short-mown grassland for
turned south-east on to the Grand Union Canal, and made for
Least Yellow Trefoil Trifolium micranthum a small,
the aqueduct crossing the River Rea, passing the Grade 2 Listed
insignificant, yellow-flowered pea-flower known to grow
Warwick Bar Stop Lock and the Banana Warehouse. Ivy-leaved
here. To confuse matters, Lesser Yellow Trefoil Trifolium
Toadflax Cymbalaria muralis was noted in the brickwork
dubium was abundant but with so many botanists spread out
mortar of the aqueduct and on the riverbank below, four of
across the grassland the first Least Yellow Trefoil plants were
our most pernicious invasives, Indian Balsam Impatiens
soon found.
glandulifera, Giant Hogweed Heracleum mantegazzianum,
Once everyone had familiarised themselves with the Japanese Knotweed Fallopia japonica, and Butterfly-bush
differences between the two, more plants soon came to Buddleja davidii, were all growing within metres of each other.
light. Moving on towards the old Staffordshire blue-brick railway
viaduct a little further on, we passed White-stemmed Bramble
Rubus cockburnianus naturalised along the base of a wall in the
towpath vegetation.
Columbine Aquilegia vulgaris, Field Penny-cress Thlaspi

perfoliata and an attractive bi-coloured Broom Cytisus
scoparius were present, along with common plants such as
Ribwort Plantain, Oxeye Daisy and Smooth Sow-thistle.
The rain by now was becoming quite heavy so we hastily made

our way to the nearby railway bridge at the entrance to
Bordesley Station to took shelter. While waiting for the rain to
cease we noted from the timetable outside the station
entrance that only one passenger train stopped at the station
each week, with additional trains stopping during the football
season when Birmingham City are playing at home. Does this
qualify Bordesley as the most underused station in Birmingham
and the Black Country we wondered?
Mike Poulton
White-stemmed Bramble Rubus cockburnianus
On the far bank of the canal we pondered on how the

enormous Fig Ficus carica, had arrived here and how many
years it had taken to achieve such a size.
As we left the canal at Coventry Road we were drawn towards

Flora group recording the flora near Coventry Road
the wasteland on the opposite side of Coventry Road where at
some time in the past buildings would have stood. Now
recovering from disturbances of the past the flora here turned
out to be quite interesting.
Bi-coloured Broom Cytisus scoparius Maidenhair Spleenwort Asplenium trichomanes

BSBI FLORA 2020

RECORDING SO99C
Several visits throughout 2017 The part of SO9095 in Wolverhampton is largely residential
suburban and several visits produced a good list of 150 or so
The new Atlas of the British and Irish flora will be based on the ruderals and garden escapes. It was nice to see Early Crocus
records for the 25 tetrads (each 2 km x 2km) which make up a Crocus tommasinianus flowering in garden lawns and even
10 km square, although, somewhat to the annoyance of street grass verges as early as February – so early it is often
recorders, BSBI has recently requested that all records should missed by recorders despite being, I think, quite widely
be located to 1 km squares. However this fits well with B&BC, naturalised.
since it is our normal recording practice.
This year I volunteered to re-record SO99C, which is the tetrad

which incorporates SO9094, 9095, 9194 and 9195. I was a bit
surprised to find from John Hawksford that there were only 143
post 2000 records for this area of the Black Country, but it is
rather in my back yard so probably all the records for the B&BC
Flora were made in the 1990s. In 2017 I managed several visits
in both spring and summer to each of the four 1 km squares.
The tetrad incorporates some really nice bits of the green

corridor which penetrates north-west between the
Wolverhampton and Dudley boroughs just north of Sedgley
from Penn Common in Staffordshire. Almost all of SO9094 is in
Staffordshire, which includes the eastern edge of Penn
Common Golf Course. Recording on golf courses requires some
agility and attention to the golfers, but having written a
management plan for it, I knew which way the balls were
coming (usually!). The patches of ‘rough’ between the fairways Early Crocus Crocus tommasinianus
support a good few heathland species such as Heather Calluna

vulgaris and Galium saxatile Heath Bedstraw and there are SO9194 contains a lot of relatively new suburbia: one
some small but remarkable base-flushed mires with Marsh interesting plant in a few garden lawns along The Northway is
Valerian Valeriana dioica, a good range of sedges and a tiny the yellow-flowered composite Lesser Hawkbit Leontodon
amount of Bog Pimpernel Anagallis tenella. saxatilis. A more delicate version of Rough Hawkbit Leontodon
hispidus its rosette of leaves is covered with tiny fork-tipped
Much of SO9095 is also outside B&BC and consists of the hairs, which distinguishes these two from all the other
relatively unimproved pastures and scrub of the Colton Hills ‘dandeliony’ herbs. Its flowering stems are almost hairless
with modest botanical interest, with Wood Sage Teucrium compared with Rough Hawkbit. To be sure, you need to look at
scorodonia in the hedges and, in patches of shallow soil, areas the fruits: in the Lesser Hawkbit the outer fruits in the head lack
of drought-resistant plants such as Early Hair-grass Aira the parachute of hairs and instead bear a ring of tiny scales.
praecox, Sheep’s Sorrel Rumex acetosella and Mouse-ear
Hawkweed Pilosella officinarum.
Sweet and bosky though Alder Coppice is, the botanical jewel
of SO9094 (and SO99C as a whole) is Sedgley Beacon, rising to
230 metres above sea level in the east of the square. This is an
outcrop of Silurian limestone, with a flora only matched by that
of the Wren’s Nest a mile or two to the south east. My main
visit was on 15th June. Entering the site from Beacon Lane and
skirting the summit, which is in SO9294, I walked down north-
east into SO9094 across currently unmanaged pastures and a
young plantation. These fields have been overgrazed in the
past but this year they are ungrazed and unmown with much
False Oat-grass Arrhenatherum elatius, indicating a fairly long
period of under-management. There is however enough
Crested Dog’s-tail Cynosurus cristatus, Yellow-rattle Rhinanthus
minor, Common Knapweed Centaurea nigra and Ox-eye Daisy
Lesser Hawkbit Leontodon saxatilis Leucanthemum vulgare to suggest that with appropriate
management these fields would revert to species-rich neutral
However the street flora of this square is eclipsed by that of grasslands. However further north one can access extensive
Alder Coppice and Sedgley Beacon. Alder Coppice runs west old quarry workings where the limestone is exposed or has
down to the Penn Brook. Except at the brook side (where it developed only a very shallow, drought-liable, calcareous soil
runs into SO9094) it is surrounded by housing, but it is and has a very rich limestone flora. The area had been in
cherished by many of the locals and retains an excellent ancient danger of losing its distinctive flora under Hawthorn scrub, but
woodland flora. Despite its name, except for the fringe along the Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust, as part of the
the Penn Brook, it is more an Oak wood than an Alder wood, conurbation-wide Nature Improvement Area, has been able to
with an appropriate field layer made up of Bluebell remove much of this and the site looks better and botanically
Hyacinthoides non-scriptus, with frequent Wood Melick Melica richer than I have ever seen it.
uniflora, Wood Sedge Carex sylvatica, Wood Speedwell
The dominant grass is Upright Brome Bromopsis erecta, only at
Veronica montana, Yellow Archangel Lamiastrum galeobdolon
all common elsewhere in B&BC at the Wren’s Nest, plus
subsp. montanum etc. I did see one large patch of the invasive
patches of the beautiful Quaking-grass Briza media.
Garden Yellow Archangel Lamiastrum galeobdolon subsp.
Everywhere under a thin sward of Upright Brome were patches
argentatum, with its larger flowers and persistently white-
of blue- and pink-flowered Common Milkwort Polygala
blotched leaves, also a few other garden escapes. The wood
vulgaris, with only six recent records from B&BC, the curious
also includes one or two specimens of the true native Crab
rosettes of Carline Thistle Carlina vulgaris with only two and
Apple Malus sylvestris, with rather smaller flowers and the leaf
everywhere the white stars of Fairy Flax Linum catharticum. I
and lower stalks glabrous unlike those of the much more
was too early for the full flowering of many of the site’s other
frequent garden Apple Malus pumila. There is much more
specialities but had no difficulty in finding Field Scabious
Alder by the stream and areas of Wood Anemone Anemone
Knautia arvensis, Hoary Ragwort Senecio erucifolius, Rough
nemorosa and Wild Garlic Allium ursinum.
Hawkbit Leontodon hispidus, Kidney Vetch Anthyllis vulneraria,
Greater Knapweed Centaurea scabiosa, Hawkweed Oxtongue
Picris hieracioides, plus Hoary Plantain Plantago media along
the trampled paths – all notable species in B&BC.
Garden Yellow Archangel

Lamiastrum galeobdolon subsp. argentatum Kidney-vetch Anthyllis vulneraria
False Oat-grass inflorescences This is not the end of the delights of SO9194: behind Alder
Coppice Primary School there is extensive ‘amenity’ grasslands
and plantation which include two ponds – standing water is rare
in SO99C. The area includes large flushed glades full of the
handsome Great Horsetail Equisetum telmateia. Also some of
the plantations are full of regenerating Portugal Laurel Prunus
lusitanica, an evergreen shrub and tree, similar to Cherry Laurel,
but with leaf stalks and first year twigs deep red, leaves more
strongly serrate and with longer racemes of flowers.
Downy Oat-grass inflorescences
I was particularly pleased to see two large patches of Downy

Oat-grass Avenula pubescens in full flower on one of the quarry
ridges – we only had old and rather vague records for it here. Park Coppice
This is very similar to the much commoner False Oat-grass, but
more uniformly and softly hairy, with larger spikelets. The most
SO9294 is almost all in Wolverhampton and mostly remains
obvious difference is in the dorsal awns borne on each floret:
green belt between Wolverhampton and Dudley. It constitutes
nearly always there are two or more bent awns in the Downy
Sedgley Deer Park ‘ye seat of John Ward esq.” in 1733. Mr
Oat-grass spikelet and one bent awn plus one shorter straight
Ward’s house is still present as a hotel and the farmland still
awn in False Oat-grass. includes many mediaeval field boundaries and two beautiful
The north-facing slopes of Sedgley Beacon are less rich: the soil Bluebell woods - Park Coppice and Ashen Coppice which are
is obviously deeper and they are mostly not currently grazed. both less constrained by housing than Alder Coppice, with a
Sedgley Beacon is worth visiting just for the views – the Penn similar flora and with margins completely unchanged since they
Common Green Wedge to the south and west and the were mapped for Mr Ward in 1733. Exploration is somewhat
conurbation to the east. Parking is not ideal but is probably best constrained by the absence of designated public footpaths.
There are many ‘desire line’ paths which were used without
along Beacon Road.
hindrance as far back as at least the 1980s to my knowledge but
a new owner has limited access to some extent.
Ian Trueman
Great Horsetail Equisetum telmateia

RECORDING FOR FLORA BSBI VC39 progress to

date (20/11/2017)
ATLAS 2020
The territory of Birmingham and the Black Country is
made up of parts of three of the Watsonian vice-
counties which are the recording units for the Botanical
Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI). BSBI is at present
engaged in recording for a new Atlas of the British and
Irish Flora, organised by the vice-county recorders.
All our records are being contributed to this effort, but we

have offered the vice-county recording teams the opportunity
to ask directly for help with this enormous project.
Vice-county 39 (Staffordshire)
The Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland are working towards

publishing maps and comments for all flowering plants and
ferns found wild on these islands. Records are being collected
from each county for the first two decades of the millenium,
using the boundaries in force in 1852. Using such areas allows
accurate comparisons with previous surveys. “Staffordshire”
thus includes all of the “Black Country” Metropolitan Districts
of Wolverhampton and Walsall & the northern parts of Dudley Vice-county 37 (Worcestershire)
and Sandwell.
We are setting up a new informal botanical group in
We were very fortunate in that seventy people recorded lists Worcestershire. This is an extension of an existing idea that
has been working in Herefordshire over the last 3 years. The
when we were preparing The Flora of Staffordshire in the
aim of the group, BoB (Bonkers on Botany), is to give people
period 1995-2008. Sadly, some of these have died and several the confidence to get out there and botanise whilst learning
others are too old or infirm to continue. In 2017, we have had from each other at the same time and is very informal. We
fourteen active botanists. Some have just worked in one small will be sending the records to the county recorder, but the
area; others in several monads (1km x 1km squares), or aim is more about the learning process. Please have a look
tetrads (2km x 2km). at our Facebook page for the Herefordshire group
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bonkers-on-
We would be very grateful to receive further contributions. Botany/1523931367886910
If you are interested get in touch with Katey Stephen
Please contact John Hawksford, if you can help:
at katey.stephen@naturalengland.org.uk
hawksfordjohn@gmail.com ; tel. 01663 742630.
Vice-county 38 (Warwickshire)
John and Monika Walton have a very active recording group

and would be very pleased to add potential volunteers to
their Newsletter circulation. There are six tetrads in SP08
and SP09 in particular need of further recording. Contact
the Vice-county Recorders at johnwalton46@tiscali.co.uk
FENS POOLS
27th July 2017
This visit was to examine a population of Yellow Bird’s Nest Mike Poulton and Paul Reade decided to visit the Fens pools
Hypopitys monotropa which had been found at Fens Pools in site last November to see if they could find any fruiting bodies
2016 by Des Dando and Brian Marsh but had only seen by us in of Tricholoma. Not only did they find a considerable
fruit. We have only two previous records for this plant in B&BC, number where the Yellow Bird's-nest had been found but they
one of which is now lost, although there is another yet to be also found the toadstools further along the track at the bottom
checked in an inaccessible place in Wolverhampton. We also of a steep bank and in woodland on the opposite side of the old
wanted if possible to ascribe the population to one of two track. This suggests that, with the presence of both Goat
subspecies. The Fens Pools site is along the old railway track on Willow and the fungus, Yellow Bird's-nest could well be more
the plateau above the ridge and furrow field north-east of Fens widespread on this site than first thought. Hence this 2017 visit
Pool itself. The plants are growing in shade on and around old to carry out a more thorough search at flowering time.
spoil heaps of railway ballast and brick rubble within close
proximity to mature Goat Willow Salix caprea scrub. Starting from the Warden’s Lodge in Pensnett Road, we headed
up Wide Waters and decided to examine the eastern end of the
Research on the internet and from an old BSBI News refer to spoil bank known as ‘Medical Bank’ which lies to the south of
the mycorrhizal association between Goat Willow and the Middle Pool and delimits the southern margin of the site as a
fungus Tricholoma cingulatum Girdled Knight. The modern whole. At the eastern end, before we started to climb the
interpretation of the life-style of the chlorophyll-free Yellow bank, we found a disturbed area around a shallow pool where
Bird’s-nest is that it is parasitic on the mycorrhiza of we recorded Red Goosefoot Chenopodium rubrum and Trifid
Tricholoma. Bur-marigold Bidens tripartita. Nowadays, one has to examine
every bit of Bur-marigold because the alien Beggarsticks Bidens
frondosa is so frequent. B. frondosa is distinct from B. tripartita
it that its leaves are pinnately divided: the leaflet stalks and
petioles are not or scarcely winged. In B. tripartita the leaf is
pinnately lobed; the leaflet stalks and petioles are broadly
winged. If you have fruit, the heads break up into individual
achenes which terminate in bristles with backward-pointing
barbs. However the barbs on the body of the achene are
backward-pointing in B. tripartita and forward-pointing in B.
frondosa.
This end of the bank has much scrub and a number of suicidal-
looking bike tracks, but we did note a number of the choicer
species of dry, base-rich post-industrial sites including Thyme-
leaved Sandwort Arenaria serpyllifolia, Hawkweed Ox-tongue
Picris hieracioides, and Blue Fleabane Erigeron acris, also some
fine patches of Cladonia lichen. Arenaria serpyllifolia sensu lato
is divided into two species: A. serpyllifolia and Slender
Sandwort A. leptoclados, the latter with a conical-shaped
Photo: Mark Williams capsule rather than a flask-shaped capsule and with smaller
seeds. We thought that ours was A. serpyllifolia sensu stricto.
Yellow Bird’s-nest Hypopitys monotropa
After scrambling up on to the bank we headed east along its

top, pausing only to re-find Tall Mouse-ear-hawkweed Pilosella
praealta. This was found here by Mike in 2007, only the second
record for B&BC. It has rosettes of leaves similar to those of
Mouse-ear-hawkweed but taller flowering stems with many
heads of flowers.
Back in 1986 Ian and Brian Jones found a little grass on this
bank called Dense Silky-bent Apera interrupta. At first glance it
looks like a Squirrel-tail Fescue Vulpia, but the spikelet consists
Ian and Simon walking along the shore of Fens Pool
of one flower. Only really common in the Brecklands, it also
mysteriously likes steel furnace spoil and has been found on
such both here and in Sheffield. It seems to have gone from We then descended on to the south bank of Fens Pool where
here and from B&BC as a whole. I include a (pretty poor) we noted extensive areas of Spear-leaved Orache Atriplex
prostrata and, rather more interestingly, amounts of Fennel
photograph below for reference.
Pondweed Potamogenon pectinatus, Nuttall’s Waterweed
Elodea nuttallii, and Creeping Yellow-cress Rorippa sylvestris –
it has petals distinctly longer than the sepals and fruit much
longer and narrower than in the similar Marsh Yellow-cress R.
palustris. We also argued about the Schoenoplectus at the
water’s edge: limited in height and quite glaucous we were
tempted to name it as Grey Clubrush Schoenoplectus
tabernaemontani, but the flowers pretty clearly had three
stigmas not two and the glumes sheathing the florets lacked
the prominent papillae of those Grey Clubrush so we had to
settle for Common Clubrush Schoenoplectus lacustris. We also
saw at this end of the pool Purple Willow Salix purpurea, with
the gall Eupontania viminalis on some of the leaves.
Photo: Simon Phipps
Pea Gall Sawfly Eupontania viminalis

on underside of Salix purpurea leaf
There is a quantity of Purple Willow at Fens, particularly at the

western end of Middle Pool. It is usually a largish many-
stemmed shrub, up to four or five metres tall, the leaf shape is
middling for a willow, between 4 and 8 times as long as broad.
The leaves are entire or very slightly serrate and the whole
plant is glabrous at maturity. As can be seen in the photo of
the gall, the leaves blacken after death, and usually, at the
shoot tip, there are a few which appear opposite or nearly so.
Dense Silky-bent Apera interrupta, Fens 1986
After a brief and (as always) fruitless search on the north shore We returned via the spoil banks north of Middle Pool, the site
of Fens Pool for Purple Small-reed Calamagrostis canescens, of Field Mouse-ear Cerastium arvense. We were too late to see
last seen here by Ian in 1999, we headed north and east into that but we did note several inflorescences of Pimpinella
the post-industrial area in search of Yellow Bird’s-nest, noting saxifraga in the same general area and Linum usitatissimum
Cyclamen Cyclamen hederifolia and Spiked Sedge Carex spicata flowering by the pool, presumably from flax seed used as
on the way. Spiked Sedge is one of the kind (subgenus Vignea) ground bait by anglers. As we gossiped in the car park we
in which the male and female florets are similar and there are noted considerable amounts of Polypogon viride around the
no distinct male and female spikes. It is a member of the Warden’s Lodge: this little grass is getting quite common – see
Prickly Sedge Carex muricata group. It is taller and more article on page 2 for more about this.
densely tufted than C. muricata itself, its ligules are distinctly Ian Trueman
longer than wide and there is a thickened, corky base beneath
the seed in the utricle.
Cyclamen Cyclamen hederifolia
We did eventually find Yellow Bird’s-nest, thinly scattered over

perhaps 20 square metres around SO922888, but frustratingly
too far into fruit to determine the subspecies. It does not seem
to spread anything like as widely as the Tricholoma, but we
need to visit again earlier in the season. At this site we were
also puzzled by an evergreen or semi-evergreen shrub with
quite broad holly-like leaves. Because of its stellate hairs it
came out quite easily in the key by J. Poland as Holme Oak
Quercus ilex, although the leaves are quite different from those
in the mature tree. How it got into this very post-industrial and
inaccessible site is another mystery!
WRENS NEST & MONS HILL

April & June 2017
Wren’s Nest is undeniably the most reliable place in B&BC to
Two visits to Wren’s Nest NNR were made in 2017.
see the parasitic Toothwort, yet it has still not been recorded
The first, in April to coincide with Toothwort from Mons Hill. Sweet Spurge Euphorbia dulcis is a new
Lathraea squamaria flowering, and the second at addition to the flora, and as far as we know, Choke fungus
the end of June when most of the limestone plants Epichloë typhina, found on the stem of Brachypodium
were in flower. sylvaticum, has not previously been recorded in B&BC. Trailing
Cinquefoil Potentilla anglica is a new record for the Wrens Nest
Wren’s Nest and Mons Hill are contained in two monads, site and Hairy Lady’s-mantle Alchemilla filicaulis subsp. vestita
SO9391 and SO9392, and a separate list was compiled for each. likewise for Mons Hill.
122 species were recorded in SO9391 and 160 in SO9392 A
combined total of 196 different vascular plant species were Here follows a brief description of the two visits:
recorded for the whole site. We were unable to access the
fenced off area above the Ripple Beds where Autumn Gentian Spring visit - 12th April 2017
Gentianella amarella and Hairy Violet Viola hirta are known
On a pleasant spring morning a group of fifteen enthusiasts
from, but one of the Wrens Nest Rangers, who was working on
assembled on the roadside outside Holden’s Brewery in
site when we were there in June, informed us that Autumn
Woodsetton and headed up Park Street into Mons Hill from
Gentian is still there and is possibly increasing in numbers.
where we all successfully negotiated the steep, densely-
Common Gromwell Lithospermum officinale, a plant unknown
wooded, winding path opening on to the main track across
from anywhere else in Birmingham and the Black Country, is
Mons Hill.
expanding its range across the Wren’s Nest site, and a new
colony of Small Scabious and Common Milkwort was A population of Barren Strawberry Potentilla sterilis, in the
discovered on the most easterly slope. grassland at the side of the track created interest as Wild
Strawberry is also found here. They can easily be separated by
looking at the tooth on the very end of the leaf of Barren
Strawberry, which is shorter than the teeth either side of it,
whereas the tooth at the end of the leaf on Wild Strawberry is
noticeably longer than the teeth on either side. In flower
Barren Strawberry has gaps between the petals which the wild
strawberry does not have, and later in the year, Wild
Strawberry produces succulent red fruit. A further observation,
an orange-coloured rust, believed to be Barren Strawberry Rust
Phragmidium fragariae was very noticeable on the petiole and
leaves of a few of the plants.
Common Gromwell Lithospermum officinale

woodland plants whose flowers appear during the summer.

However, as with most woods in B&BC, bramble and ivy are the
dominant field layer species.
Barren Strawberry Potentilla sterilis
Secondary woodland of mainly sycamore and ash cover the

slopes of the old quarries and the main botanical interest is
Soft Shield-fern Polystichum setiferum
found along the sides of the tracks. As we headed northwards
across Mons Hill, early maturing plants such as Wood Anemone
Anemone nemorosa, Common Dog-violet Viola riviniana, Bugle
Ajuga repens and Wayfaring-tree Viburnum lantana were
recorded on banks and along the hedgerow. There is some
debate as to whether the latter is native here or originally an
introduction to the site.
King Alfred's Cakes Daldinia concentrica
Wayfaring-tree Viburnum lantana
In the middle of the track, a specimen of Alchemilla filicaulis

subsp. vestita, one of the native smaller-leaved Lady’s-mantles,
was an unexpected find.
Ferns, being more shade-tolerant, are relatively common in the

woodland, with Male Fern Dryopteris filix-mas the more
frequent and Soft Shield-fern Polystichum setiferum occurring
here and there. Hard Shield-fern Polystichum aculeatum is
scarce in the Black Country so finding a specimen growing on a
low bank was rewarding. Patches of Ramsons Allium ursinum
and the occasional Lords-and-Ladies Arum maculatum appear
here and there along the woodland tracks but the commonest
shade-tolerant herb on Mons Hill is probably Enchanter’s-
Mons Hill Geological Exposures
nightshade Circaea lutetiana, one of our very few native
Emerging from Mons Hill we crossed over Wrens Hill Road into Moving on to the viewing platform overlooking the Seven
the Wren’s Nest site and headed towards the Ripple Beds. The Sisters Caverns, a high metal fence has been erected as a
old quarry slopes are a favourite haunt for fossil hunters and barrier from the filled-in entrances. Near the fence a Common
support a diverse limestone flora. However, few of them were Gromwell Lithospermum officinale with most of its porcelain-
showing any signs of growth this early in the season so only a like seeds still attached, stood out quite prominently, and at
short time was spent here. the end of the platform, overlooking the cave entrance that
was opened up as an alternative bat roost when the caverns
Climbing out of the quarry up the steep flight of steps we
were filled, several more Common Gromwell were noted from
headed in the direction of the Seven Sisters viewing platform
the steep-sided bank.
and a search for Toothwort began. As some of our group had
never seen toothwort, and in some years, none are found here, Continuing onwards in the direction of Murchison’s Viewpoint,
it was a relief when several creamy-white flowering spikes were patches of Early Dog-violet Viola reichenbachiana were
detected emerging from the soil around a large hazel at the flowering alongside the track and two more toothwort sites
side of the path. were discovered, one on roots of hazel and the other on
sycamore.
The barrier fence completely encloses the upper parts of the

Wren’s Nest and follows the contours of the land. At a point
where it descends a steep slope, an indistinct path follows the
fenceline, so a few of us decided to follow this path to see if it
led anywhere while the others continued on to Murchison’s
Viewpoint.
As we neared the bottom of the slope it was obvious that the

path was becoming more obscure and leading nowhere. Just as
we were about to turn around to come back, Simon Phipps who
was ahead of us, noticed a patch of spurge which we thought at
first could be Wood Spurge. As Wood Spurge is a spring-
flowering plant, and if it were this would be a new plant for
Birmingham and the Black Country, we had our doubts. With
no flowers or fruit present there was little to go on so decided
to return here again in June on our second visit to Wren’s Nest.
Joining back with the others, who by now were taking in the
views across Dudley and the Rowley Hills from Murchison’s
Toothwort Lathraea squammaria
Viewpoint, we descended the ‘Ninety-nine Steps’ onto the
lower track and headed into the tree-lined gully on the eastern
side. As we walked another two Toothwort colonies, with at
least thirty flowering spikes on each, were discovered around
the roots of two sycamore trees. Towards the end of the gully,
as the path rises, a small tree with shiny dark bark and fresh
green leaves was identified as Bird Cherry Prunus padus.
Leaving Wren’s Nest, and crossing Wrens Hill Road back onto
Mons Hill at a point further down the hill to where we had
earlier crossed, Ian pointed out a long-known about colony of
Sweet Violet Viola odorata, just inside the Mons Hill woodland.
From here it was a five-minute walk across the field and down
Park Street back to our cars.
Toothwort around the roots of Sycamore
Summer visit - 30th June 2017

For the second Wren’s Nest and Mons Hill visit on the 30th
June it was decided that the walk would be in the opposite
direction to the one held here in April.
After passing through the field off Park Street, where Common
Spotted-orchids were flowering in the grassland, we crossed
Wrens Hill Road into the Wren’s Nest site pausing to look at a Before making the descent into the quarry near the Ripple
colony of tall, hybrid willowherbs which were later determined Beds, we stopped for a while to read the sign and take in the
by Ian as Epilobium montanum × E ciliatum. Descending the view across Wren’s Nest housing estate. A few years ago,
track into the tree-lined gully it was noticeable how different it Pyramidal Orchid was discovered in this quarry, but has not
looked here when the trees are in full leaf. With relatively little been seen since. To maximise our chances of finding any that
botanical interest along the gully because it was so dark, it might be present we set off across the floor of the quarry in
came as a relief when a gap on the eastern side opened out different directions. Bee Orchids Ophrys apifera, Small
onto a steep-sided slope on the most easterly edge of Wren’s Scabious, Common Milkwort, Hedge Bedstraw Galium album,
Nest, Common Milkwort Polygala vulgaris Small Scabious Fairy-flax, Rough Hawkbit Leontodon hispidus, Hoary Plantain
Scabiosa columbaria Quaking-grass Briza media, Fairy Flax Plantago media, Glaucous Sedge, Quaking-grass, and Upright
Linum catharticum and the bryophyte Comb-moss Ctenidium Brome Bromus erectus, were all here, the latter a grass new to
molluscum were all found here along with many of the this quarry and one that is surprisingly scarce at Wren’s Nest
common plants of open grassland. Retracing our steps into the and elsewhere in B&BC despite it being widespread and
gully we headed in the direction of the ‘Ninety-nine Steps’ and common in limestone grassland in other parts of Britain.
Murchison’s Viewpoint. After the ascent of the steps we made Unfortunately, on this occasion, no Pyramidal Orchids were
our way to the barrier fence and the obscure path leading found.
down to where the mystery spurge had been found on the
Time was now pressing, but before we left Ian was keen to
earlier visit. Flowers and fruit were now present giving us a
show us the other Upright Brome colony that he knew of, so we
reasonable chance of an identification. A grid reference and
headed along the track towards the old lime-burners cottage
photographs were taken, and samples were collected. The
and cut in towards the fenced off part of the quarry. On the
spurge was later determined as Euphorbia dulcis Sweet Spurge,
way a specimen of Choke Epichloe typhina, a fungus that forms
new to B&BC. The purple-leaved form ‘Chameleon’ is often
a sterilising ‘collar’ round the stem of certain grasses, reducing
grown in gardens, and interestingly, this plant looked quite
flowering and seed production, was found in the grassland next
natural here among the native vegetation despite its non-
to the track. Interestingly, from research on the internet, until
native status in Britain. Back out on the main track and heading
recently it was thought that there was only one species, but
in the direction of the Seven Sisters Caverns, Wild Basil
DNA testing has shown that the fungus is often host specific.
Clinopodium vulgare, another of the B&BC rarities known only
Therefore, to identify the fungus you first need to identify the
as a native from Wren’s Nest, was recorded from grassland at
grass, in this instance Brachypodium sylvaticum. The fungus
the side of the track.
also has an interesting reproduction method. To reproduce it
has to cross-pollinate by attracting a fly of the genus
Botanophila. The fly feeds on the young ‘male and female’
fungal fruit bodies, ingesting the pollinating substances. It then
deposits the mixture on another fungus when it lays its eggs.
This pollinates that fungus enabling it to produce spores and
provide food for the fly larvae. This research therefore implies
that the fly too is found at Wrens Nest?
Returning to the cars this very enjoyable day out at one of the
Black Country’s top botanical sites concluded with a well-
deserved half pint of real ale in what is now becoming our local,
the nearby Park Inn PH.
Sweet Spurge Euphorbia dulcis
Mike Poulton
SUTTON PARK RECORDING 2017

LICHEN SURVEY
Previous detailed surveys have been undertaken by the presence or absence of any ‘fruiting bodies’, and simple
Peter James in 1977 and then by Peter James and chemical test carried out on the specimens to assist
identification. Many require microscopic examination to ensure
Mark Powell between 2008 and 2010. The intention
a definitive answer.
over the summer months this year was to revisit
many of the sites to establish how much the lichen
populations had changed both in terms of the
diversity and the abundance.
The opportunity to re-survey the lichen population distributed

across Sutton Park this year has proved most informative. A
small group of lichenologists from the Midlands met for visits
that were organised at relatively short notice. The experience
of the group ranged from those that considered themselves
absolute beginners to those with a great deal of practical
knowledge, confident to name many of the lichens in the field,
but also prepared to spend time, post-visit verifying the
material that didn’t fit the expected characteristics.
For those less experienced, the enthusiasm and patience shown

by Mark Powell and Paula Shipway when answering queries
and explaining the basis upon which identifications had been
made was gratefully received.
The encouragement to ask questions, however basic the topic

may seem was much appreciated. To be shown the differences
between look-alike pairs of lichen, having subtle differences,
was of particular value. It helped develop skills in recognition,
which was a key feature of the excursions. It’s quite small, but if you look closely…
Photo-documentation of many of the finds allows one to Demonstrations showing how to acquire and safely store
review the visual features that characterise many of the material for any post-visit investigations were given, including
lichens. However, it is still important to take note of the mounting the more fragile specimens on card, before enclosing
substrate, colour and shape of the thallus (body of the lichen), in prepared envelopes.
Inevitably, the group occasionally aroused the interest of the

passing ‘dog walker’ or ‘fitness fanatic’. Most people seemed
mildly surprised that there was such interesting material easily
There was a certain amount of equipment that was worth In summary, we have recognised that based on our findings
carrying out on the field trips, not least of which were light there have been significant changes even since 2008/10, with
snacks and sufficient drinks to sustain us for what could be a the appearance of several interesting species. It is not possible
long day out. Time was profitably spent kneeling, sometimes to make a reliable statistical analysis of the changes because
with our nose close to the ground or leaning up against a tree the fieldwork during the years 2008/10 amounted to
trunk or wall. The pace was leisurely but intensive. considerably more days of survey than the recent visits.
Inevitably, the group occasionally aroused the interest of the The changes are similar to those occurring across much of
passing ‘dog walker’ or ‘fitness fanatic’. Most people lowland England. By having a baseline survey from Peter James
seemedmildly surprised that there was such interesting in the 1970s’ it means that Sutton Park will always be a
material easily overlooked when introduced to the ‘lichen valuable site for monitoring changes, with a picture of what the
world’. Hopefully the lichens will continue to thrive, and more site was like before.
inquisitive observers will appreciate their beauty and value.
Micarea coppinsii is now quite a feature of old gorse stems and
was not seen at all in the earlier surveys.
On our first outing, Mark and Paula, active members of the
British Lichen Society, joined me at Streetly Gate for an early
start, just as the park entrance was opened at 07:30 on 15th
May 2017. On subsequent visits, we made arrangements so
that those wishing to join at a later time could meet us at a pre-
arranged location that was likely to be near where we had
reached based on the speed at which we tended to travel. It
can surprise many people that we may ‘loiter’ around a tree or
piece of ground for almost an hour when we identify a
particularly ‘rich vein’ of lichen material.
On this occasion we walked over past Little Bracebridge Pool

circled around Bracebridge Pool then crossed back over the
railway bridge through Darnel Hurst and up to the Jamboree
Micarea coppinsii
Memorial Stone then back alongside the golf links to finish off
in the evening at about 18:30 in Streetly Wood.
Normandina pulchella has appeared and its spread in lowland
The following monthly visits started from Town Gate, Visitors England mirrors that observed in the Netherlands over the past
Centre on June 21st 2017, to saunter up towards Keepers Pool 15 years.
then back towards Wyndley Pool and onto walk alongside
Powells Pool before heading back through Holly Hurst, to the
carpark.
Our next excursion begun at Banners Gate on July 19th 2017

took us initially through Westwood Coppice then over to
Rowton Bank and Rowton’s Well and back towards Longmoor
Pool. We backtracked after lunch to explore Queens Coppice
before returning down to the carpark.
Our last visit started from the carpark along the drive from the
Four Oaks Gate entrance on August 23rd 2017. We crossed the
railway line to walk through Nut Hurst up towards Blackroot
Pool. After a brief lunch stop, we crossed back and worked
through Pool Hollies past Bracebridge Pool and across the
heathland to skirt through Gum Slade and back down to the car
park. Normandina pulchella
Other additions include Caloplaca asserigena, Graphis elegans,

Melanohalea laciniatula, Psoroglaena stigonemoides, Punctelia
borreri and P reddenda. The addition of the two Punctelia
species is particularly interesting and results in a full set of the
British species being represented in Sutton Park. P reddenda
has, until recently, been considered an old woodland indicator
restricted to the south and west of the British Isles. In 2010 a
specimen was found growing on a fence rail at Whipsnade Tree
Cathedral in Bedfordshire, the first hint that this species might
be spreading and changing its ecology. The discovery of P.
reddenda at Sutton Park provides further evidence that it is
starting to behave as a colonist.
Punctelia reddenda
Have they lost something?

Punctelia subrudecta (with Parmelia sulcata in the upper right
No…They are just contented lichenologists!
corner of the image).
A concrete slab at SP1024.9863 (above) is an excellent example

of the rate at which knowledge of lichen taxonomy is moving. A reappraisal of some of the specimens collected between 2008
As recently as 2010, Caloplaca oasis was not widely recognised and 2010 has resulted in redeterminations. As one example, a
as a separate species and was recorded on concrete in Sutton putative specimen of Fellhanera bouteillei on evergreen leaves
Park as C. holocarpa. Caloplaca albolutescens was recognised proves to be Scoliciosporum curvatum. The identification of a
by few British lichenologists and was usually passed over as specimen is not a one-off irreversible event and retained
poorly-developed C. teicholyta, Lecania inundata was formerly specimens continue to provide useful information.
often clumped with L. erysibe, and until 2013,
The lichens of Sutton Park will provide fascinating studies for
Verrucaria ochrostoma was considered a great rarity (but is many decades.
now known to be a common colonist). Further refinements in
our species concepts are anticipated; Lecanora albescens
appears to comprise more than a single distinct taxon.
Shirley A. Hancock &
Mark Powell
BRYOPHYTE SURVEY
Field meeting of the Midlands Bryological Group
(MIDBRYG) in Sutton Park
11 November 2017
The morning of Saturday 11 November 2017 was mild and
overcast at the Blackroot Pool car park for the start of this
bryophytes field meeting.
Five people attended from MIDBRYG, the Midlands group of

the British Bryological Society and had come from all over the The route taken on the survey.
region; comprising both experienced bryologists and beginners.
Martin Godfrey, the author of the bryophytes chapter of the Recording began immediately on the path from the car park to
Birmingham and Black Country Flora was also present. Ian Blackroot Pool where common and widespread species were
Trueman had organised the day and set the route. The object identified; moss species such as Brachythecium rutabulum,
was to obtain records to increase knowledge of the park’s Bryum argenteum, Didymodon fallax and Tortula muralis. The
bryophyte communities for the Sutton Park Flora which is in latter three species are characteristic of bare disturbed soil and
preparation. Ian had chosen some less well surveyed areas of path edges.
the park which should support diverse bryophyte communities.
The hard-edged lake surrounds of both Blackroot and Keeper’s
The route started and ended at the car park at Blackroot Pool Pools were species-poor but the wet woodland habitat to the
(see plan, top right) and took in two 1 kilometre grid squares, north-west of Blackroot Pool was more diverse. In the wettest
SP1096 and SP1097. Of particular interest were the heathland streamside locations the liverwort Pellia epiphylla was present
and mire communities to the north-west of both Blackroot and growing just above the water level in more acidic conditions
Keeper’s Pools and the wet woodland to the north-west of and the closely related Pellia endiviifolia was found in more
Blackroot Pool. The route also took in part of Lower Nut Hurst base-rich places.
woodland.
Photo: Mike Poulton

It was initially intended to record at only 1km grid square level.
However, many of the records were assigned to more specific
areas.
Pellia sp. - a liverwort species typically growing beside a

watercourse close to Keeper’s Pool.
Photo: Simon Phipps
Other liverworts, for example, Lepidozia reptans, Lophocolea

bidentata and L. heterophylla were also present. Characteristic
mosses of this wet woodland habitat included Mnium hornum
Wet woodland to north west of Blackroot Pool. Habitat of a wide (predominantly male plants were seen) and Brachythecium
range of mosses and liverworts. rivulare. Kindbergia praelonga was also very common and
Martin Godfrey told us it was the most common moss in the
world.
Growing on wet shaded masonry were the liverwort Apart from Sphagnum mosses, the heathland and mire habitats
Conocephalum conicum (on brickwork on the footbridge supported a range of other bryophytes. The moss Aulacomnium
crossing the stream to the north-west of Blackroot Pool) and palustre and the liverworts Aneura pinguis and Calypogeia fissa
the moss Platyhypnidium riparioides (growing on the wet stone were found in the Keeper’s Pool mire in close proximity to
surround to Keeper’s Well). Sphagnum. In drier heathland habitats mosses such as
Pleurozium schreberi and the very common Hypnum
jutlandicum were recorded amongst the heather. Straddling a
range of wet and dry, shaded and unshaded acidic habitats
were patches of the common Polytrichastrum commune. The
closely related P. formosum was also found but in drier acidic
woodland.
Photo: Simon Phipps
The liverwort Conocephalum conicum growing on the brickwork of

a footbridge.
Photo: Simon Phipps

The wet woodland graded into birch woodland and then to
mire and heathland and the first Sphagnum mosses were
encountered. Sphagnum mosses have long been recorded from
Sutton Park and 13 species are known from the park as a
whole. The six species recorded during this visit have all been
periodically recorded in the park since the late 19th century.
Photo: Simon Phipps

Photo: Simon Phipps
Heathland and mire habitats to north-west of Blackroot Pool.

Sphagnum papillosum and S. teres were
both found in this area.
Keeper’s Well where the moss Platyhypnidium riparioides is Apart from the heath and mire habitats, much of the day was
growing on the stone surrounds. spent in woodland where many epiphytic species were seen.
These ranged from the very common Hypnum cupressiforme
In shaded areas under the birch, Sphagnum palustre and S. growing in extensive patches on the trunks of trees to the more
fimbriatum formed extensive carpets while, in the open mire delicate Ulota crispa and U. bruchii which grow on twigs and
habitats, S. capillifolium subsp. rubellum and S. fallax were both branches but can only be separated by slight differences in
common. Martin Godfrey also managed to find small amounts their capsules.
of S. papillosum and S. teres. (S. fimbriatum, S. palustre and S.
fallax were also recorded later in the day in the birch-shaded
mire habitats to the north-west of Keeper’s Pool).
4 species new to Sutton Park were recorded:
Photo: Mike Poulton

 Didymodon vinealis (moss)
 Ditrichum heteromallum (moss)
 Lophocolea semiteres (liverwort)
 Microlejeunea ulicina (liverwort)
(All these species are widespread nationally and their discovery

probably reflects the lack of systematic bryophyte recording in
the Birmingham and Black Country, although Sutton Park is
The moss Hypnum cupressiforme
better studied than most sites).
growing on the base of a tree.
10 new records were added to the 1km grid square SP1096
This field day was as much a tutorial in species identification as bringing the total number of bryophyte species recorded in this
a bryophyte survey. There was a lot of discussion on the square to 86.
subtleties of bryophyte identification throughout the day with
the most experienced imparting their knowledge to the rest. 17 new records were added to the 1km grid square SP1097
Nevertheless, the range of records secured was significant. bringing the total number of bryophyte species recorded in this
square to 85.
A list of all the species recorded is set out below.
Thank you to everyone who took part but particularly to Karen
49 species of mosses were recorded. Rogers of MIDBRYG who collated the records and Martin
Godfrey who confirmed identification of the more difficult
18 species of liverwort were recorded.
species.
Simon Phipps
SPECIES LIST 11/11/17 * Bryophyte species not previously recorded in Sutton Park.
MOSSES Hypnum jutlandicum Tetraphis pellucida

Amblystegium serpens Isothecium myosuroides Tortula muralis
Atrichum undulatum Kindbergia praelonga Ulota bruchii
Aulacomnium androgynum Mnium hornum Ulota crispa
Aulacomnium palustre Orthodontium lineare
Brachythecium rivulare Orthotrichum affine
Brachythecium rutabulum Orthotrichum diaphanum LIVERWORTS
Bryum argenteum Plagiomnium undulatum Aneura pinguis
Bryum capillare Plagiothecium undulatum Calypogeia fissa
Bryum dichotomum Platyhypnidium riparioides Calypogeia muelleriana
Calliergonella cuspidata Pleurozium schreberi Cephalozia bicuspidata
Campylopus flexuosus Polytrichastrum formosum Chiloscyphus polyanthos sens. lat.
Campylopus introflexus Polytrichum commune Conocephalum conicum
Ceratodon purpureus Pseudotaxiphyllum elegans Frullania dilatata
Cratoneuron filicinum Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus Lepidozia reptans
Cryphaea heteromalla Schistidium crassipilum Lophocolea bidentata
Dicranella heteromalla Sphagnum capillifolium subsp. Lophocolea heterophylla
Dicranoweisia cirrata rubellum Lophocolea semiteres*
Dicranum scoparium Sphagnum fallax Marchantia polymorpha
Didymodon fallax Sphagnum fimbriatum Metzgeria fruticulosa
Didymodon vinealis* Sphagnum palustre Metzgeria furcata
Ditrichum heteromallum* Sphagnum papillosum Microlejeunea ulicina*
Grimmia pulvinata Sphagnum teres Pellia endiviifolia
Hypnum cupressiforme Syntrichia latifolia Pellia epiphylla
Radula complanata
the bunkers and other very sandy parts of the Park. To this
SUTTON PARK GOLF COURSE extent, the bunker edge vegetation is conserving some of the
Botanical survey 2017 rarer species of Sutton Park.
The Sutton Coldfield golf course lies between the main

internal Sutton Park track south from Streetly Gate to the east
and Thornhill Road, B4138 to the west.
The course has two arms, which straddle the northern part of
the Longmoor Valley, and both arms extend a little further
south than the Ordnance Survey 9700 line.
With the active cooperation of the golf course managers, the

golf course was surveyed by Ian with John Handley, one of the
more eminent of the younger Shropshire botanists, on Bird’s-foot Ornithopus perpusillus
25/08/2017 and 01/09/2017. The same Ordnance Survey
quarter kilometre squares used in the wider Park survey were The most characteristic vegetation of the Park is dry heath and
used. The rough areas associated with the course were closely acid grassland. Axiophytes typical of these types include the
examined, using signs of management by the course following species, which are all widely present on the golf
management team as indications of the limit of the golf course. course:
The tees, fairways, bunkers and greens were examined insofar
as this did not interfere with the use of the course for golf and Brown Bent Heather
Agrostis vinealis Calluna vulgaris
was safe.
Pill Sedge Heath-grass
Carex pilulifera Danthonia decumbens
Numbers of species recorded per ¼ km square varied between
Wavy Hair-grass Fine-leaved Sheep’s-fescue
24 and 110, with a mean of 51.5. These are fairly low in relation Deschampsia flexuosa Festuca filiformis
to ¼ km squares across the Park as a whole, where the mean Heath Bedstraw Tormentil
value is 79.7. This partly reflects the fact that mostly the golf Galium saxatile Potentilla erecta
Western Gorse Bilberry
course only occupies parts of squares. SP0897NE, which is Ulex gallii Vaccinium myrtillus
almost filled with the golf course, has 110 species recorded.
Also the golf course squares mostly lack significant wetland and A much longer list of axiophyte species is associated with wet
only a single visit was made to each square. heath and more base-rich mire in the Park. Species of slightly
damper heaths which are widely distributed in the rough in
These records form a useful addition to the wider Sutton Park
most ¼ km squares of the golf course include:
survey. It is particularly interesting to look at the B&BC
axiophytes – the plant species with a more limited distribution
Green-ribbed Sedge Common Sedge
and which are considered to be characteristic of sites of nature Carex binervis Carex nigra
conservation interest – to give an impression of the extent to Narrow Buckler-fern Heath Rush
which the golf course is part of the nature conservation value Dryopteris carthusiana Juncus squarrosus
Heath Wood-rush Purple Moor-grass
of Sutton Park. Thirty-five axiophytes were found on the golf
Luzula multiflora Molinia caerulea
course, a reasonable proportion of the amazing 120 present in Mat-grass
Sutton Park as a whole. Three of the axiophytes found on the Nardus stricta
golf course: Bird’s-foot Ornithopus perpusillus, Silver Hair-grass
Aira caryophyllea and Slender Trefoil Trifolium micranthum This appropriate set of dry heath and slightly damp heath
were not recorded in the 2015-6 Sutton Park survey, although axiophytes suggests that, at least at the ¼ km level, the golf
all have been recorded previously in the Park. Slender Trefoil course resembles the rest of the Park. The widely-desired
and Silver Hair-grass were both considered to have still been dominance of Heather Calluna vulgaris in the dry heath is fairly
present in the Park as recently as 1991, but Bird’s-foot has not modest, but this is generally the case in the Park.
been recorded in the Park since 1876 and until now was
considered lost from the Park. All three species are part of the Axiophyte species of wetter mires are much more localised in
drought-tolerant flora associated particularly with the edges of the golf course (and in the Park as a whole). Cross-leaved Heath
Erica tetralix and Lady-fern Athyrium filix-femina have single At the other extreme, the list for the golf course includes some
records in the western arm of the course. A few more, such as alien species and ‘opportunistic’ or ‘ruderal’ species associated
Velvet Bent Agrostis canina, Sharp-flowered Rush Juncus with disturbance and eutrophication and which could be
acutiflorus, Water-pepper Persicaria hydropiper, Round-leaved associated with deterioration in conditions. The main alien tree
Crowfoot Ranunculus omiophyllus and Bog Stitchwort Stellaria and shrub species are Horse-chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum,
alsine have a more scattered distribution and there is a distinct Sweet Chestnut Castanea sativa, Cotoneaster Cotoneaster sp.,
cluster of most of these species in the eastern arm: i.e. in the Red Oak Quercus rubra and Rhododendron Rhododendron
western edge of SP0997SW and adjacent areas of SP0997NW, ponticum. Sweet Chestnut is widely distributed, as it is
where there are minor ditches and where the course abuts throughout Sutton Park, whilst the others are confined to the
onto the extensive mires of the Longmoor Valley. Species park margin where there more possibility of accidental
apparently confined to this area of the golf course are: introduction or deliberate planting. This is also largely the case
Common Sedge Carex nigra, Bottle Sedge Carex rostrata, elsewhere in the Park.
Common Cottongrass Eriophorum angustifolium, Hares-tail
Cottongrass Eriophorum vaginatum, Small Sweet-grass Glyceria The list of ‘opportunists’ is quite long and with a few exceptions
declinata and Bulbous Rush Juncus bulbosus. is characteristic of SP0897NE in the periphery of both the golf
course and the Park as a whole. All the ‘opportunists’ are
known elsewhere in the Park, mostly in a variety of marginal,
not typical heathland, situations. Lesser Duckweed Lemna
minor is present in the minor ditches of SP0997NW and
SP0997SW where it probably indicates lack of water flow rather
than significantly-raised fertility and these ditches also contain
the notable species Round-leaved Crowfoot.
Round-leaved Crowfoot Ranunculus omiophyllus
A few other species, such as Annual Meadow-grass Poa annua

and Ragwort Senecio jacobaea, are widely distributed across
Bottle Sedge Carex rostrata
the golf course, as they are throughout the Park, wherever
there is short, open or trampled vegetation. On the golf
This list of species from wetter mire habitats is short for the course, the vast majority of the other opportunists are confined
golf course relative to the Park as a whole. This is because the to SP0897NE in the margin of the Park where there is a major
golf course includes only the fringes of the appropriate wet path in the circumference of the Park and also a major ditch
habitats in squares SP0997SW and SP0997NW. Nevertheless importing water (and doubtless other externals) from outside
the list includes a few notable species such as Round-leaved the Park.
Crowfoot, Bottle Sedge, Common Cottongrass and Hares-tail
Cottongrass suggesting that these limited areas are in good
Ian Trueman
condition.
SUTTON PARK: AN UPDATE

2017 has been a season both of consolidation and expansion in We would be very grateful for any new or recent (2015 or
Sutton Park. Pam and Roger Parkes and Simon Phipps have later) records for any of these species.
started to look at the Bryophyte records and there has been a
bryophyte field day, reported elsewhere. Mark Powell and Eight-figure grid refs would be ideal but six-figure, quarter
Shirley Hancock are updating the Lichens, also reported kilometre square or even one kilometre square grid references
elsewhere. Mike and I have re-surveyed a few key sites and would be acceptable. We will follow up directions if you cannot
there has been a survey of Sutton Park Golf Course, also give a grid reference. Many of the species are opportunist
reported elsewhere. species likely to have a fairly transient existence in disturbed
situations in the Park. I have marked these with an asterisk
There is however still Boldmere Golf Course to do and also the after the Latin name. Others are likely to be garden escapes in
pools to survey, so I think that will have to be a fourth survey the Park and will have fairly random distributions and are
year, i.e. 2018. Also our hopes to get access to the railway line marked with a double asterisk. Yet others have critical
have come to nothing: we did make contact with Network Rail, identification problems, such as the Callitriche species, are
but they had a minimum charge of £3,000 for access! impossible to identify without mature fruits and/or pollen.
There are however quite a number which have in the past been
HAVE YOU SEEN THESE PLANTS? long-term components of semi-natural vegetation types in the
Park and we need to have a much clearer picture of why they
There is still a long list of plants known from Sutton Park until
have not been recorded. I have marked these, and also key
fairly recently – as recorded by R.C. Readett in 1971 and
rarities, in bold.
updated by Harold Fowkes and Peter Coxhead in 1991 – a few
have been found in 2017 but there are still 86 to be found.
These are all listed below with a few details.
Pond Water-crowfoot Ranunculus peltatus

Latin name English name Old records summarised

Aethusa cynapium* Fool's Parsey SP0995,1097 rough grass, waste places
Agrostis gigantea* Black Bent SP0895, 0995, 0996, 0997 Rough grassland
Alisma plantago-aquatica Water-plantain Locally frequent in lake margins etc. in 6 monads
Amaranthus sp.* Amaranth 1 record by Powell's Pool
Anagallis arvensis* Scarlet Pimpernel SP0995, a waste place
Artemisia absinthium* Wormwood SP0995, 0898, 1098 locally frequent in waste places and rough grass
Betonica officinalis Betony SP0897, 1095 rare in rough grassland
Brassica napus* Rape SP0998 waste
Brassica rapa* Wild Turnip SP0998 waste
Callitriche hamulata Intermediate Water-starwort SP0998 edge of lake
Callitriche hermaphroditica Autumnal Water-starwort Longmoor Pool
Callitriche obtusangula Blunt-fruited Water-starwort SP0998 ditches
Callitriche platycarpa Various-leaved Water-starwort SP0995, 0998, 1195 habitats as stagnalis
Campanula latifolia** Giant Bellflower grounds of Park House 1990
Carex hostiana x demissa Tawny SedgexYellow-sedge Longmoor Valley
Catabrosa aquatica Whorl-grass Longmoor Valley SP093962; SP0995, 0996, 0998, 1095
Convolvulus arvensis* Field Bindweed SP0995 rough grass
Elodea canadensis Canadian Waterweed SP0995, 0998 edges of lakes & ponds
SP0897, 0898, 0996, 1095,1096 marshes & watersides in 2008 from
Epilobium tetragonum* Square-stalked Willowherb
SP0995
Erica cinerea Bell Heather SP0896, 0995, 0996, 0997, 0998, 1097 Bog & heath
Euphorbia helioscopia* Sun Spurge SP0995 a waste place
Fallopia convolvulus* Black-bindweed SP0995, 0997, 1097 waste places & rough grass
Festuca ovina Sheep's-fescue Bagnall records only
Fumaria officinalis* Common Fumitory SP0995 waste place
Galeopsis tetrahit* Common Hemp-nettle SP0896, 0997, 1096 roadsides, rough grrass
Hesperis matrionalis** Dame's-violet SP0995 waste place
Hieracium sect Vulgata Hawkweed SP0898, 1097
Humulus lupulus Hop SP0995, 1196 scrub & hedges
Hypericum maculatum Imperforate St John's-wort SP0898, 0998 railway banks
Ligustrum vulgare Wild Privet SP0898, 0995, 1196 hedges and scrub
Lysimachia punctata** Dotted Loosestrife SP0998 rough grass
Mahonia aquifolium** Oregon-grape SP0997 woodland
Malva moschata Musk Mallow SP1096, 1097 waste places
Malva sylvestris Common Mallow SP0898, 0995 waste place
Matricaria recutita* Scented Mayweed SP0898 in a ditch
Melampyrum pratense Common Cow-wheat SP0897, 0898, 0997, 0998, 1097, 1098 mixed woods
Medicago sativa* Lucerne SP0998 railway banks
Myriophyllum alterniflorum Alternate Water-milfoil SP0995, SP0998 water margins
Ononis repens Common Restharrow SP0998 railway bank
Oxalis corniculata* Procumbent Yellow-sorrel SP10139787 raised banks by car park, Pool Hollies
Papaver dubium* Long-headed Poppy SP0995, 1095, 1196 railway banks and waste places
Papaver rhoeas* Common Poppy SP0898 roadside casual
Papaver somniferum* Opium Poppy SP0995
Pedicularis sylvatica Lousewort SP0995, 0996, 0998, 1096, 1097 marshes
Persicaria campanulata** Lesser Knotweed SP108974 above Blackroot Pool & railway
Persicaria lapathifolium* Pale Persicaria SP0898, 0997, 1098 ditches, marshes, woodland
Petasites fragrans** Winter Heliotrope SP11329649. Car park of Park House
Phleum bertolonii Smaller Cat's-tail SP1098 rough grass
Phragmites australis Common Reed SP1095 marsh
Polygala vulgaris Common Milkwort SP0898, 0998 railway banks, grassland, marshes
Polygala serpyllifolia Heath Milkwort SP0998 bogs
Populus × canadensis** Italian Poplar SP0995, 0997, 1097 Mixed woodlsnd

Potamogeton berchtoldii Small Pondweed SP0998 edge of pond
Potamogeton natans Broad-leaved Pondweed SP0996, 0997, 1096, 1097, 1195 Lakes, ponds, streams, ditches
Potamogeton obtusifolius Blunt-leaved Pondweed SP0997, 0998, 1195 lakes, ponds, streams
Potamogeton pectinatus Fennel Pondweed SP0995, 1096 lakes
Ranunculus peltatus Pond Water-crowfoot SP0995, 0996, 1097 lakes & stream sides
Raphanus raphanistrum* Wild Radish SP0897, 0995, 1095, 1195, 1196 rough grass & waste
Rosa arvensis Field-rose SP0898, 0995, 0997, 1097, 1195 woods, scrub etc
Rumex hydrolapathum Water-dock SP0898, 1097 marshes & shallow water
Salix viminalis Osier SP0995 hedgerow
Schedonorus pratensis Meadow Fescue SP1195 rare in rough grass
Senecio erucifolius Hoary Ragwort SP0897, 0995, 0997, 1097 grassland & waste, railway banks
Senecio squalidus* Oxford Ragwort SP0995, 0997, 0998, 1196 railway banks, roadsides
Senecio viscosus* Sticky Groundsel SP0898, 0998, 1097, 1098 rough grass, railway banks
Silene dioica Red Campion SP1095 rough grass
Silene latifolia* White Campion SP0895, 0995, 0996, 0998, 1096 rough grass, railway banks
Silene vulgaris* Bladder Campion SP0997, 0998 railway banks
Sinapis arvensis* Charlock SP1096 quarry
Sisymbrium altissimum* Tall Rocket SP0995 waste place
Sonchus arvensis* Perennial Sow-thistle SP0995, 0997, 1097 grassland, railway banks
Sparganium emersum Unbranched Bur-reed SP0998, 1096 edges of lakes & ponds
Symphytum × uplandicum** Russian Comfrey SP0995 rough grass
Tamus communis Black Bryony SP0998, 1098 Mixed woodland
Tanacetum vulgare** Tansy SP0995 rare in rough grass
SP0895, 0995, 0997, 1095, 1097, 1196, 1197 hedgerows, woods, railway
Teucrium scorodonia Wood Sage
banks
Tilia cordata Small-leaved Lime SP11219641 woodland path near pool
Tragopogon pratensis Goat's-beard SP0895, 0996, 0997, 0998, 1197 roadsides, railway banks, rough grass
Trichophorum germanicum Deergrass SP0996, 0998 Erica tetralix mires
Trifolium campestre Hop Trefoil SP0995 rough grass
Trifolium hybridum** Alsike Clover SP0997 rough grass
Trifolium medium Zigzag Clover SP0995, 0997, 0998 rough grass
Verbascum thapsus* Great Mullein SP1096 waste
Veronica polita* Grey Field-speedwell SP0995 waste place
Vicia sativa subsp. nigra* Narrow-leaved Vetch SP0998 railway bank
Vicia tetrasperma* Smooth Tare very old record
Considering the wetland species in the critical list, Pond Water- Longmoor Pool in the past and requires much more base-poor
crowfoot Ranunculus peltatus has not been seen, despite Ivy- waters has not been recorded by us. The red tinge usual in
leaved Crowfoot R. hederaceus and especially Round-leaved Spiked Water-milfoil flowers is missing in the yellowish-
Crowfoot R. omiophyllus being quite frequent. Maybe we have flowered Alternate Water-milfoil. The upper flowers are
not looked sufficiently carefully into shallow water in early June opposite or alternate rather than in in whorls and its leaves
when we might spot it flowering. have 6-18 segments rather than 13-38.
One would expect Water-plantain Alisma plantago-aquatica to

be present around unshaded parts of most of the pools and it is
very odd indeed that we have not seen it. Water-dock Rumex
hydrolapathum has a similar habitat but was never so
widespread. It could be difficult to spot when not flowering.
Deergrass Trichophorum germanicum
Turning to the drier heath, we have been looking for Bell

Heather Erica cinerea since 2002 with no success, despite the
fact that it is still quite common on Brownhills Common and
has been recently successfully introduced on Barr Beacon.
Water-dock Rumex hydrolapathum One would expect it in the driest parts of the heathland.
Despite the frequency of Marsh Lousewort Pedicularis
palustris in the mires of Little Bracebridge and Longmoor, the
Further out into open water, Unbranched Bur-reed
regionally-commoner Lousewort Pedicularis sylvatica, which
Sparganium emersum with its floating leaves and unbranched
has been frequent in rather drier places than Marsh
inflorescence, so common in the Black Country canals, seems
Lousewort, has not been seen by us. Lousewort is a
not to have been seen in our survey here. Also one might
usually multi-stemmed and procumbent, Marsh Lousewort is
expect to find Broad-leaved Pondweed Potamogeton natans,
usually a single erect stem. Marsh Lousewort has a hairy
which was clearly once widespread; it has not been recorded
calyx; in Lousewort the calyx is glabrous, except sometimes on
by us in the Park, it seems to be getting scarcer throughout
the angles.
B&BC. Bog Pondweed Potamogeton polygonifolius has still
been recorded from three quarter km squares in the Park and
grows especially in springs and streamlets in the mires. It can
look very much like Broad-leaved Pondweed when it grows
out into open water, so it is always worth checking whether
there is the flexible joint below the leaf-blade which
characterises Broad-leaved Pondweed. From the list it is
obvious that there are now very few records for any
pondweeds in the Park. We may come across more when we
take a boat into some of the pools but there does seem to be
a crash in pondweed populations throughout B&BC and even
further afield.
Considering submerged aquatics, Spiked Water-milfoil

Myriophyllum spicatum occurs in Keeper’s Pool, but Alternate
Water-milfoil Myriophyllum alterniflorum, which looks to Lousewort Pedicularis sylvatica
have been recorded from the Bracebridge complex and
Heath Milkwort Polygala serpyllifolia
Heath Milkwort Polygala serpyllifolia has been recorded here

but we have not seen it recently. It is a low, procumbent plant
with curious little tubular flowers, usually blue or white,
clasped between two enlarged oval wing-like sepals. After
producing a raceme of flowers, a branch from just behind
Common Cow-wheat Melampyrum pratense
grows out and develops leaves and a terminal raceme. This
process is repeated so that a low, spreading tangle of branches One last plant we should have seen is Field Rose Rosa
develops. It may be much more diffuse than in the picture. arvensis, usually easily distinguished from Dog Rose Rosa
Usually a few of the leaves are in opposite pairs. It will grow in canina by its different habit and its flower in which the styles
anything from dry heath to mire, but always in acid situations. are united into a tube. Surely this one must still be about!
Common Milkwort Polygala vulgaris has also been recorded in
the past in the more base-rich mires; it has a different growth
habit, with all flowering stems arising from one point on the
rootstock, and no opposite leaves.
Betony Betonica officinalis is not common in B&BC and has

never been common in the Park, but should be looked for in
rather less acid grasslands. Wood Sage Teucrium scorodonia
has a number of different habitats. In the Park one would
expect to find it particularly in semi-shaded woodland margins
and it appears to have been very widespread here in the past.
Where has it gone?
Another woodland margin plant which used to be quite

widespread in the Park is Common Cow-wheat Melampyrum
pratense. One of our members, Lucy Bastin, studied this plant
At Sutton Park and says that back in 1994 it used to be near
Four Oaks gate and pretty common in many of the clearings of
Streetly Wood to the left and right of the road. Mike and I, and
Lucy have all looked there pretty exhaustively this year without
success. The clearings are now much less open, she says.
Field Rose Rosa arvensis

2016 AGM OTHER NOTABLE RECORDS

The 2016 Birmingham and Black Country AGM Leasowes Park is the best site for grassland fungi in Birmingham and the Black
was held on 4th March 2017 in the lovely Country, with 28 species of Waxcaps and 6 different Earthtongues recorded
surrounding of Winterbourne House and there. Additionally, another three earthtongues have been detected in DNA
Gardens. soil sampling, but fruiting bodies of these have yet to be found.
The event, which was followed by an exploration This year saw the discovery of two new notable fungi in the park found by Nick
of the grounds was well attended and we very Williams and Lewis Yates.
much look forward to returning there for our
Tiered Tooth was discovered by Nick, and the earthtongue Microglossum
next AGM!
truncatum was found by Lewis Yates, who has recently joined the Leasowes
A big thank you to Winterbourne House and team. The earthtongue is possibly new to Britain.
Gardens for letting us use the meeting room!
Tiered Tooth Microglossum olivaceum

Hericium cirrhatum
With thanks to all those who provided content for this newsletter including articles, photographs and records!
Photographs featured in this bulletin were provided by Mike Poulton, Ian Trueman, Simon Phipps, Lukas Large, Shirley Hancock,
Mark Powell, Andy Slater, Nick Williams and Mark Williams.
Newsletter design by Andy Slater ©EcoRecord
Contact Us
General Enquiries:
To find out more about the society including information on upcoming events and how to get involved please email us at
enquiries@ecorecord.org.uk
Events Bookings:
Ian Trueman: i.c.trueman@wlv.ac.uk
Mike Poulton: Poulton_mike@yahoo.co.uk
B&BC Botanical Society is also on Twitter: Follow us: https://twitter.com/bbcbotsoc | @bbcbotsoc

B&amp;BC Botanical Society Newsletter - Issue 4 (2017)

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B&amp;BC Botanical Society Newsletter - Issue 4 (2017)

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Newsletter Issue 4 | 2017

2017 included visits to some of the

We hope you enjoy reading about it and join

Plus other highlights from 2017

Dudley Zoo | Illey Pastures SSSI

And reports of notable species finds in B&BC

SAVE THE DATE!

University of Birmingham, Early June – Sutton Park Grass Species ID

One to Look Out For:

This little grass is most likely to be found growing on

Having discovered it growing a number of other new

ILLEY PASTURES SSSI

The hedgebanks included some species which don’t seem

One of the interesting insects spotted along the trackway was

A bank adjacent to a grass paddock had Rough Hawkbit

Past the farm we left SO9881 and entered SO9871. The

Beyond a curious (mock Tudor?) timber-framed building

Ellen Pisolkar extracted a number of invertebrates from the

Trailing Tormentil Potentilla anglica

The meadows are rather damper than some and Greater

During the surveys parts of the zoo normally out of bounds

Other originally planted species increasing naturally around

Aubretia Aubretia deltoidea, cascading down from

Dudley Castle Deadly Nighshade in fruit high up on the wall of

Effects of grazing by Gelada Baboons (right) Blue Fleabane Erigeron acer

As summer drifted into early-autumn, a final visit was

Rock-cress Aubrieta deltoidea

DUDLEY RAILWAY STATION

For those unfamiliar with Dudley, the railway station stood at

Two old photographs of Dudley Station are included in this

Peering over the Staffordshire blue-brick railway bridge wall in

As we head further south beyond the car parks, large swathes

Ribbed Melilot Melilotus officinalis, Hoary Mustard and the

The land covered by the railway once extended as far as the

Paths with information board about the Black Country Museum

Further south we reach a lower-lying area known as ‘Peggy’s

Fingerposts pointing to various places of interest

The path through Peggy’s Meadow eventually finds another

WARSTONE LANE CEMETERY

The next species we came across was the Ascot Hat

We then searched a wooded strip along the cemetery edge.

We then headed downhill towards the Middle Ring Road

Near a birch tree we found two large specimens of the Rollrim

Tan Pinkgill Rhodocybe gemina

Least Yellow Trefoil Trifolium micranthum

Crossing Banbury Street, where Birmingham Gun Barrel Proof

Columbine Aquilegia vulgaris, Field Penny-cress Thlaspi

The rain by now was becoming quite heavy so we hastily made

White-stemmed Bramble Rubus cockburnianus

On the far bank of the canal we pondered on how the

As we left the canal at Coventry Road we were drawn towards

Bi-coloured Broom Cytisus scoparius Maidenhair Spleenwort Asplenium trichomanes

BSBI FLORA 2020

This year I volunteered to re-record SO99C, which is the tetrad

The tetrad incorporates some really nice bits of the green

support a good few heathland species such as Heather Calluna

Garden Yellow Archangel

Downy Oat-grass inflorescences

I was particularly pleased to see two large patches of Downy

Great Horsetail Equisetum telmateia

RECORDING FOR FLORA BSBI VC39 progress to

All our records are being contributed to this effort, but we

The Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland are working towards

John and Monika Walton have a very active recording group

B&BC Botanical Society Newsletter - Issue 4 (2017)

B&BC Botanical Society Newsletter - Issue 4 (2017)