Shropshire - Botanical Society of the British Isles

If it was indeed C. diandra, Edward Williamsrecorded it at Cole Mere (SJ4333), HencottPool (SJ4816), Shomere Pool (SJ5007), and ona ditch in the Weald Moors, between Adeneyand Buttery (SJ6917) in about 1800. In 1834C.C. Babington and W.A. Leighton found it atBomere Pool (SJ4908). Also listed inLeighton’s 1841 Flora are additional recordsfor Cole Mere by J.E. Bowman and W.A.Leighton, one for ‘near Oswestry’ (ca. SJ2929)by T. Salwey, and one for The Mere atEllesmere (SJ4034) by Bowman. In 1882 W.E.Beckwith described it as plentiful at the lowerend of Colemere Mere.Carex diandraWith just 24 dots in the New Atlas, this is oneof Britain’s rarer sedges, occurring inlimestone woodlands from the lower Severnvalley northwards to Yorkshire and Cumbria.The only known location for it in Shropshire isat Tick Wood (SJ6302), where it wasdiscovered by Chris Walker in 1977, and is stillpresent. In a good year there can be about 100clumps present, but in 2003 fewer than a dozenwere seen by Sarah Whild. Tick Wood is anancient W8 Fraxinus excelsior-Acer campestre-Mercurialis perennis woodland,but it is privately owned and access isrestricted. It is one of the few sites inShropshire that was considered Grade 1 in theNature Conservation Review (Ratcliffe 1977).432109872 3 4 5 6 7 8A record for Whitchurch (SJ5441) given inSinker’s Flora is presumably from Hamilton’smissing Flora of 1913. The only other recordsfor the county date from 1956, when AllanMcGregor Stirling recorded it at The Mere,Ellesmere (SJ4034) and at Whixall (SJ53).Again, there are no voucher specimens. It is aplant of peaty soils that is shown in the NewAtlas to have declined almost to extinctionthroughout England and Wales, with many ofthe losses being a century ago or more. Thus,the records for Shropshire are entirely possible,but it would be very reassuring to find someherbarium specimens.Carex distans L.Distant SedgeNative. Extinct (ca. 1892).This is a mainly coastal species that sometimesoccurs in damp grasslands inland. Williamsrecorded it at Eaton Mascott (SJ5305), Golding(SJ5403), Pitchford (SJ5303), Shawbury Heath(SJ5420) and ‘under the Wrekin’ (SJ6308).These are all unconfirmed field records, butthey are widely accepted (see Sinker et al.1985 p. 302). Unfortunately the whereabouts ofany voucher specimen is unknown, so it is notpossible to confirm them. Beckwith apparentlycollected a specimen some time in the 19 thcentury at Eaton Constantine (SJ5906), whichis confirmed by Max Walters (SHY).Carex divulsa StokesGrey SedgeNative. Rare.Although this is a common species in the southof England and Ireland, Shropshire is just onthe edge of its range, and it seems to occur hereonly as a casual. Of the two subspecies, theonly one to have been found in Shropshire isssp. divulsa. It has been recorded on roadsides,ditch-banks, and along paths in gardens. Thefirst record was by Leighton (conf. R.W.David, BM) at Cloud Coppice (SJ5306) in1840. Phillips listed it as still there in 1878.Beckwith found it at Cressage (SJ5904) and atCarex digitata L.Pitchford Hall (SJ5204) in 1882. In Diamond’sFingered SedgeFl. Oswestry (1891) it is listed as having beenNative. Rare.recorded at Llynclys (SJ2824) by the OswestryRare Plants of Shropshire 33