BSBINews - BSBI Archive - Botanical Society of the British Isles

Report of overseas field meeting - 2009 - Paramos of Northern Castile (Spain) 57
We ate Teresa's last splendid picnic lunch in
the attractive gardens of El Convento, after
which some of us flitted between flowerbeds,
just like the butterflies we were trying to
photograph. Not surprisingly, garden varieties
of Dianthus barbatus (Sweet-William) and
Hesperis matronalis (Dame's-violet) attracted
the most insects, including Hummingbird
Hawk-moths (Macroglossum stellatarum),
Queen of Spain Fritillaries and a rather
languid Cardinal (Argynnis pandora) , whose
image was captured beautifully by Liz.
After lunch we headed for the hills for the
last time, our destination the magnificent twotiered
limestone buttresses of Pefia Amaya.
On the way, we stopped briefly in the extensive
arable fields to the south, finding Pisum
sativum (Garden Pea) and Vaccaria hispanica
(Cow Basil), plus many of our old favourites:
Ranunculus arvensis, Papaver argemone,
Scandix pecten-veneris and S. australis.
From the village of Amaya we drove almost
to the top of the buttress, where the more agile
members of the group made a beeline for the
high crags. Most of us, however, lingered on
the limestone pavement, where the greatest
diversity of flowers was to be found. Here we
encountered Ranunculus ollissiponensis, the
clump-forming Dianthus pungens ssp. brachyanthus,
Paronychia kapela ssp. kapela, with
its white, papery bracts, an abundance of
Arabis scabra and Draba dedeana, the
delightful little Legousia hybrida (Venus'slooking-glass)
and a scattering of the diminutive
Senecio minutus. More spectacularly,
Annette and Shirley located some splendid
specimens of the Iberian endemic stork's-bill
Erodium glandulosum. Our journey home
was interrupted by a visit to the fabulous
portico of the church in Rebolledo de La
Torre: one of the most magnificent examples
of Romanesque architecture in the province.
The chef had prepared a splendid paella for
our last meal at El Convento. It was tinged
with regret, however, as we contemplated
having to leave this extraordinary region, with
its dramatic scenery and myriad places where
botanical treasures were still flourishing.
20 th May - Milagros (Bu) and Embalse de
Pedrezuela (M)
An early start gave us a little time in hand as
we headed back to Madrid, so we stopped for
coffee in Milagros, where a quick examination
of the car park turned up the ruderal crucifers
Descurainia sophia (Flixweed) and Calepina
irregularis (White Ball Mustard), as well as
Matthiola fruticulosa (Sad Stock), Reseda
phyteuma (Corn Mignonette) and Lithodora
fruticosa (Shrubby Gromwell).
Once through the tunnel that traverses the
Guadarrama at Somosierra, we turned off west
for one last foray into the dry Mediterranean
vegetation near the Embalse de Pedrezuela.
The sandy soils here supported shrubby
Lavandula stoechas, Thymus mastichina
(Round-headed Thyme) and Osyris alba
(Osyris), between which flourished more
colourful Lupinus angustifolius (Narrowleaved
Lupin), the annual, yellow-flowered
toadflax Linaria spartea, Campanula rapunculus
(Rampion Bellflower), C. lusitanica and
the lemon-yellow composite Andryala integrifolia.
Here Gerard collected a Stipa species taller
than he was, which Arthur said was probably
S. gigantea, and promptly added it to his
bulging suitcase, full of specimens. Arthur
has attended four of the five previous BSBI
trips to Spain led by Teresa, from which he has
furnished her with herbarium specimens of no
less than 167 taxa of rushes, grasses and
sedges, with Eric Clement providing confirmation
of the identification of critical or
doubtful material. No doubt many more taxa
were added during this most recent foray, and
Teresa looks forward to receiving the latest
batch in due course.
This report was written by Paul Bartlett, Liz
Clark, Arthur Copping, Gerard Dirkse, John
Edgington, Teresa Farino, Lynne Farrell,
Annette Ford, Sue Helm, Sophie Hochstenbach,
Martin and Clare Rand, Leslie Tucker
and Shirley Watson, and was edited by Teresa
Farino.