Solomon's Seal

Today was the second meeting of the South Lincolnshire Flora Group, and was spent exploring Hartsholme Country Park and Swanholme Lakes, just to south-west of Lincoln. Luckily I set off early, as somehow I missed the A46 turn and only realised when I was well up the A1, approaching the turn-off for Sheffield! 

We were lucky with the weather, and had a most enjoyable day wandering round the site, which has a mix of  Victorian landscaped gardens, woodland, acid grassland and heath and open water. A number of species that were presumably introduced by the Victorians have now become naturalised, and there were large areas of Solomon's Seal, looking perfect along the edge of one of the lakes. Lots of interesting species were recorded from Swanholme Lakes, including two plants of Glabrous Whitlow-grass, only the second record for VC53. The plants were only a couple of centimetres in height, so it could easily be overlooked!

We arrived back at the tearoom about four o'clock, and after a sustaining cuppa most people headed home. I stayed for another couple of hours and recorded in the vicinity of Birchwood, a housing estate with associated nature park, that added quite a few additional species to the day's tally, including a single plant of Common Ramping-fumitory,  a fairly common species of acid, sandy soils in southern and western Britain,  but very local in the east and not recorded from South Lincolnshire for fifteen years. .