Huntingdonshire - Botanical Society of the British Isles

Chara canescens Desv. & Lois.
Bearded Stonewort
National Status: Nationally Rare,
Endangered, Schedule 8, BAP
County Status: Rare (3 sites, 3 tetrads)
Site Grid Reference Last Record
Norman Cross West Pit TL161906 1999 (NS)
Beeby’s Pit (CP) TL189935 1999 (NS)
Orton Pit SSSI (CP) TL1694 2009 (SL)
This rare species is more typically found in brackish base-rich lagoons near the coast; as
such, the sites in Huntingdonshire are very unusual in being found so far inland. This species
was first recorded from the Peterborough area in 1970 (Stewart, 2004).
Chara curta Nolte ex Kütz.
Lesser Bearded Stonewort
National Status: Nationally Scarce
County Status: Rare (1 site, 1 tetrad)
Site Grid Reference Last Record
Orton Pit SSSI (CP) TL158941 2009 (SL)
This scarce species is a plant of calcareous waters (Stewart & Church, 1992) and is one of
the specialties of the old clay (brick) pits in the Peterborough area. These pits are increasingly
facing a range of direct and indirect development pressures.
Chenopodium bonus-henricus L.
Good-King-Henry
National Status: Vulnerable
County Status: Rare (1 site, 1 tetrad)
Site Grid Reference Last Record
Manor Farm TL1388 2003 (KW)
Technically an archaeophyte, but how one would go about distinguishing long-standing
colonies from more recent garden escapes would be open to debate. Seed of this pot-herb is
still commercially available and this species might be expected to occur as a more recent
garden escape or throwout.
Cirsium dissectum (L.) Hill
Meadow Thistle
National Status: Not scarce, not threatened
County Status: Rare (1 site, 1 tetrad)
Woodwalton Fen SSSI & SAC,
Compartment 76
Site Grid Reference Last Record
TL227837
2003 (DW & MW)
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