Water-purslane

Today I led a very damp SLFG field trip to Stapleford Woods. The BBC and Met Office forecasts were both wrong, with persistent heavy rain setting in during mid-morning, though by lunchtime the worst had passed, and there was even some blue sky! Long, wet vegetation just compounded the discomfort!

Nevertheless, our trip was very worthwhile and we updated records for many of the characteristic species of the site including Green-ribbed Sedge, Pill Sedge, Oval Sedge, Slender St John's-wort, Climbing Corydalis and Water-purslane - doing very well in this particularly wet year. Sadly we didn't find any of the rarest target species, but that's not surprising...

We recorded several species with no post-2000 records for the tetrad including Corn Mint, Tufted Forget-me not and Marsh Cudweed, and added some new tetrad records - Maidenhair Spleenwort on the stonework of a stream culvert, Marsh Foxtail on the ride next to the stream, and a single plant of Heath Groundsel growing alongside a small population of Common Cudweed.

Despite the rain, it was a very enjoyable and productive meeting, and we even got to see a Birch Sawfly (thanks to Mary-Anne) and a Rhododendron Leafhopper (thanks to Richard D)!