BSBINews - BSBI Archive - Botanical Society of the British Isles

52 Report of overseas field meeting - 2009 - Paramos of Northern Castile (Spain)
14th May 2009 - Las Tuerces (P)
Our first full day in the field dawned fair, but
with a brisk north-easterly wind. We drove
just a short distance to the foot of the
limestone 'sculpture city' of Las Tuerces,
where Leslie gave us a succinct introduction to
the willows growing along the margins of the
Rio Pisuerga, for the most part Salix atrocinerea,
Salix fragilis (Crack Willow) and
S. purpurea (Purple Willow). The river itself
sported lush ribbons of Ranunculus penicillatus
(Stream Water-Crowfoot).
We spent the morning strolling through the
village of Villaescusa de las Torres, where the
dry-stone walls were festooned with Sedum
dasyphyllum (Thick-leaved Stonecrop),
Telephium imperati, Saxifraga tridactylites
(Rue-leaved Saxifrage) and Campanula erinus
(Annual Bellflower). The more natural rockgardens,
by contrast, were a gloriously colourful
melange of yellow-flowered Stachys recta
(Perennial Yellow Woundwort), the Iberian
endemic toadflax Linaria badalii and the
composite Pallenis spinosa, startling blue
Linum narbonense (Beautiful Flax), Marrubium
vulgare (White Horehound) and the starof-Bethlehem
Ornithogalum narbonense.
The dominant shrubs here were the horribly
spiny Genista scorpius, Amelanchier ova lis
and Jasminumfruticans (Wild Jasmine), while
the margins of the track hosted annuals such as
Papaver argemone (Prickly Poppy), Silene
conica (Sand Catchfly), Petrorhagia prolifera
(Proliferous Pink), Euphorbia serrata,
Scandix pecten-veneris (Shepherd's-needle),
Anchusa arvensis (Bugloss) and Centranthus
calcitrapae (Annual Valerian). Those of the
group who were investigating a parallel route
along the crest of the adjacent limestone ridge
were rewarded with a brief glimpse of a small
Lataste's Viper, as well as that rare British
umbellifer Bupleurum baldense (Small
Hare's-ear).
After lunch we explored the labyrinth of
limestone pillars and buttresses on the summit
ofLas Tuerces. One of our target species was
the curious little fern Asplenium seelosii ssp.
glabrum - a rather scarce species in Spain -
for which Teresa had found an old record from
the area, despite it not being listed as present
in Palencia in Flora Iberica. Martin's sharp
eyes soon located the first specimen, and we
went on to discover a dozen or so clumps
growing in shady nooks on the north-facing
exposures of several outcrops.
The wind-swept upper plateau of Las
Tuerces boasted Ranunculus gramineus and
R. paludosus (Grass-leaved and Jersey Buttercups),
silvery-leaved Plantago monosperma
ssp. discolor, Valeriana tuberosa, with small,
pink heads, the montane cornflower Centaurea
triumfetti, the conspicuous yellow flowers
of the viper's-grass Scorzonera hispanica, the
Afro-Iberian endemic Poa ligulata and
Ophrys fusca (Dull Ophrys), as well as drifts
of diminutive Muscari neglectum (Common
Grape-hyacinth) and Tulipa sylvestris ssp.
australis (Wild Tulip), the latter unfortunately
past their best. Areas of seepage harboured
Schoenus nigricans (Black Bog-rush) and
Adiantum capillus-veneris (Maidenhair Fern).
15 th May - Fontibre and Alto Campoo (S)
For a complete change of scenery, we drove
north to Alto Campoo, at the head of the valley
that runs west from Reinosa towards the peak
of Tres Mares, stopping briefly en route at
Fontibre: the source of the Rio Ebro, from
which the Iberian Peninsula gets its name.
Despite being essentially a poplar plantation,
Fontibre boasts a rather rich ground flora,
among which we located Ophioglossum
vulgatum (Adder's-tongue), Helleborus
foetidus (Green Hellebore), Saxifraga granulata
(Meadow Saxifrage), Cruciata laevipes
(Crosswort) and many other shade-tolerant
species familiar from the UK. Brighter
splashes of colour announced the presence of
purplish Pulmonaria longifolia (Narrowleaved
Lungwort) and yellow Symphytum
tuberosum (Tuberous Comfrey).
More interesting, however, for most of us,
were the splendid specimens of Orchis pallens
(Pale-flowered Orchid) and O. provincialis
(Provence Orchid), the former with broad,
unspotted leaves and robust spikes of lemonyellow
flowers, and the latter with short,
relatively few-flowered spikes of delicate,
long-spurred flowers, the lip of each being