Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

112Lathyrus nissolia. Grass vetchling, Shoes-and-stockings.,--,---------,------, Several plants on dumped soil outside Twyford Farm (397.312), 1994, DB & TR, but wherethe soi! came from is another matter! This species can be very difficult to see amongst grassias its leaves match the grass leaves, but the red flowers or the pale brown pods usually give itiaway.IPredominantly recorded in south-east England and frequent in Sussex, It seems to belincreasing by spreading along major road verges (e.g. along the M4; Rich 1994c), a favouredlhabitat being the tall Arrhenatherum grassland. In Sussex it has a patchy distributionapparently unrelated to soils (Hall 1980), Widespread in west, central and southern Europe to45the Caucasus and Syria; North Africa.Lathyrus pratensis. Meadow vetchling, Tom thumb.,-,----===,-----,----, Frequent in meadows where not heavily grazed and on verges around the Forest and mostiabundant on the clays or in limed meadows where the soil pH is slightly higher. The map!]shows it occurs mainly around the edges of the Forest, and it is absent from the heathland andwoodland. :Ubiquitous in Sussex (Hall 1980), in Britain and widespread in Europe. It is also found inlAsia from Siberia south to the Himalaya, and in North Africa.i*Me/i/otus a/bus. White melilot.Tetrad 42Z (Hall 1980), not refound.Usually a casual scattered in Sussex on disturbed ground, and more established in the larger conurbations. Native inEurasia and North Africa.Medicago lupulina.4Black medick, Nonesuch.Our maps shows some interesting lines of records mainly related to the roads - it tends tooccur on the more base-rich soils in open grassland on the verges which agrees with theobservations of Grime et al. (1988) who note it is commonest on calcareous, moderately,disturbed infertile soils in Britain and is essentially a colonist of bare areas. Calcareous dustfrom limestone chippings used to surface the roads gets deposited on the verges.Recorded in Sussex in 90% of the tetrads (Hall 1980), and in lowland Britain.Widespread in Europe except the far north, temperate Asia and North Africa. Sometimescultivated for forage.5Medicago sativa subsp. sativa. Lucerne.A few plants in rough grass at the southern end of Duddleswell car park (466.273), 1995, TR;Newnham area (49.28), 1994, SBRS.Rarely grown now as a fodder crop though it was formerly commonly so, andconsequently decreasing as an escape from cultivation (Rich & Woodruff 1996). The plants at3 Duddleswell may have originated from seed used to sow the car park, and it is also sometimesfound in bird seed. Locally frequent on the chalk in Sussex, and scattered through lowlandEngland. Native in Eurasia and North Africa.4 5Medicago arabica. Spotted medick.Bank of Long car park on foreign soil (427.311), 1995, PW; Chelwood Vachery (43.30),1994, Flora meeting; dumped soil in Pippingford Park (444.303), 1993, SBRS; verge at TollLane (462.263), 1993, TR.Very much a warmth-loving plant, and scattered along the coastal region in Sussex with3 -++--'"'''"-----'__\_ fewer records in the Weald. Similarly in Britain it is only frequent in the extreme south-east ofEngland, and occurs scattered around the coast elsewhere. Mainly in southern Europe,4 5extending north to Britain and the Netherlands, and in North Africa. ,II