Shropshire - Botanical Society of the British Isles

woodland on Wenlock Edge is owned by theNational Trust and is open to the public; butmany of the rarities, including Basil ThymeClinopodium acinos, Venus’s Looking-glassLegousia hybrida and Dwarf Thistle Cirsiumacaule, are found only on private land.Crose Mere, Sweat Mere and Whattal Mosstogether make up what once must have been asuperb wetland that included raised mire, abase-rich lake and ancient woodland. Thewhole area was drained by several metresabout 200 years ago, and Sweat Mere andWhattal Moss have since been largelyafforested. Almost the whole area is fenced offand turning to scrub, and rare species continueto be lost at a startling rate. The north shore ofCrose Mere is still largely open, however, andthis is the only site in the county where GreatFen-sedge Cladium mariscus still occurs insome abundance.Titterstone Clee has lost few of its rarities, soalthough it comes just eighth in the table ofbest sites ever, it rises to joint first place (withthe Wyre Forest) if the analysis is repeatedusing just the post-1994 records. It isparticularly important as the most southeasterlyoutpost of some of the montane floraof north-west Britain, with such species as FirClubmoss Huperzia selago, Parsley FernCryptogramma crispa, and Mountain MaleFern Dryopteris oreades. It is mostly commonland and is open to the public.Brown Moss is interesting because manyspecies that were once widespread in the meresand mosses survived longer at this site thanelsewhere. Unfortunately, they seem to havedisappeared in the last decade or so, and therare plants still there, such as Small WaterpepperPersicaria minor, Orange FoxtailAlopecurus aequalis and Nodding BurmarigoldBidens cernua var. radiata aretolerant of eutrophic conditions.Rednal Moss (SJ3427) was once a fine raisedmire (here taken to include Twyford Vownog),but it was drained when the Montgomery Canalcame through in about 1800, and no longer hasany rare plants. White Mere (SJ4132) has asuite of species typical of the meres, butnothing very special.The Montgomery Canal was once one of thefinest canals in Britain for aquatic vegetation.Most notably, it had until recently three rarespecies of pondweed as well as Floating Waterplantain.Unfortunately, it has lost almost all itsaquatic plants as a consequence of itsredevelopment for modern leisure boating, andthere does not seem to be any way (or will) toreconcile boating with the nature conservationimportance of canals.Blake Mere (SJ4133) and Hencott Pool(SJ4916) are two more meres that havesuffered from succession to woodland. Neitheris of any particular interest in its current state.Earl’s Hill (SJ4004) is the Wildlife Trust’sfinest nature reserve, with a host of interestingplants, including Mountain Male-fernDryopteris oreades and Upland Enchanter’snightshadeCircaeax intermedia. There isconvenient parking near Pontesbury and goodpublic access. Since the reserve wasestablished the Trust has managed to maintainthe main areas of grassland by sheep grazing,but the most important areas – the cliffs andscrees – have largely succeeded to woodland,and characteristic species such as RockStonecrop Sedum forsterianum are becomingvery rare.Shawbury Heath (SJ5420) is now an airfieldand farmland, and the last rare plant record forthere was in 1942. It would, however, be aninteresting place for an agriculturalextensification programme, given the sandysoils.Wem Moss is another Wildlife Trust reserve. Itis a sizeable peat bog – the southernmost partof the Whixall Moss complex. Unfortunately, ithas dried out significantly, and is now mostlywoodland and scrub. Royal Fern Osmundaregalis, Bog Myrtle Myrica gale and WhiteBeak-sedge Rhynchospora alba still remain,but the list of rare species there is rapidlygetting shorter. There is a footpath around themoss, but access is difficult due to the densevegetation.Berrington Pool (SJ5207) is a typical mere thatis most notable for its Slender Sedge Carexlasiocarpa. Blodwel Rocks (SJ2622) is alimestone escarpment with some ancientwoodland, but also a lot of plantation. Bothhave public footpaths. Clarepool Moss wasonce a fabulous raised mire (the last site forBog Sedge Carex limosa) but is now mostlyRare Plants of Shropshire 15