Shropshire Botanical Society Newsletter - Botanical Society of the ...

County RecordsSarah Whild and Alex LocktonThis has been a quiet year for recording, with most of our effort now going into thepreparation of the Flora. There wereabout 2,500 species accounts to be4written, most of which are now done, but3there is a lot more work before it is readyfor printing. Ideally, it is best to finish2your recording period when writing aFlora, because otherwise the data keeps1changing and errors creep in undetected,but we are continuing to input at least the0more valuable data that arrives. The restis piling up for inputting another day, and9the plan is to establish a group ofMapmate users to take on this task.8In the meantime, here are some of themore interesting records that have beenmade this year:Lisa Barlow found a new site forLycopodium clavatum, Stag’s-hornClubmoss, on an area of regeneratingheathland, following clearance of aplantation at Nipstone Rock(SO35779674, 21 st August 2012) – theother side of the hill from where DanWrench found three species of clubmossearlier in the year. Yet another site wherethere is an association with conifers. JohnClayfield confirmed that it is still presentat Purslow Wood (SO3679, 2012), albeitfurther along the track than the originalpopulation, and it is still present on thetrack by Gatten Plantation (SO37009818,Whild & Lockton, 25 th July 2012). Thisbrings the total number of dots sinceSinker’s Flora to eight, but it is very rareor even gone from some of those sites.72 3 4 5 6 7 8Lycopodium clavatum432109872 3 4 5 6 7 8Fumaria bastardiiMark Duffell found a plant of Fumaria bastardii, Tall Ramping-fumitory, in ashrubbery at Battlefield in April. This brings the number of recent sites to nine, and itcould be a species that is spreading rapidly. There have been records of it since the19 th century, but some of those are known to be incorrect, and others are unconfirmed.So the first good records date from 2007, when it turned up in several places aroundShrewsbury and Baschurch.Salix repens, Creeping Willow, is typically a coastal plant, but it also occurs on peatbogs inland, and it has been known on Whixall Moss since Leighton’s Flora of 1841.6