Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

114Trifolium pratense. Red clover.Recorded in Sussex in every tetrad (Hall 1980), and we have only failed to find it in onesquare where there are no road verges and the fields are all heavily improved.Widespread in Britain, Europe, western Asia and North Africa. A very variable species,with many cultivars.Trifolium medium. Zigzag clover.Common on the Forest (Hall 1980).Locally frequent on road verges on the Forest, and only rarely in grassland.In Sussex locally frequent on heavy soils in the east and much scarcer in the west.Widespread in lowland Britain, also usually in grassland on heavy soils with intermediate3 fertility (Grime et aI, 1988). It tends to occur in older grasslands and can be long-lived, to iform clonal patches. These clones are self-incompatible and some isolated clones may not setseed. Widespread in Europe except the extreme north and south, Caucasus and westernSiberia.4 jTrifolium arvense. Hare's-foot clover.Tetrad 42U (Hall 19801, but we have not recorded it.An annual species very characteristic of dry, sandy ground and only occasional in East Sussex though locally frequenton the Lower Greensand in West Sussex. It is locally frequent in suitable sandy places in lowland Britain and Europe. Italso occurs in north and west Asia and North Africa.*Lupinus x rega/is. Russelllupin.Single plant on grassy verge near Sutton's Farm (401.3121, 1994, DB. Probably now thecommonest lupin naturalized in Britain and often confused with one of its parents, L.polyphyflus.It originated in cultivation from American parents.3 -++-~~~----'-+-4 j*Laburnum anagyroides. Laburnum.Presumably planted in hedge, St John's (50.31 I, 1993, TR.Widely established in Britain. Native in central and southern Europe.3 -++-------l-l-4 jCytisus scoparius. Broom.Recorded in every tetrad on the Forest except 33W (Hall 19801.Widely recorded now on roadsides, woodland rides and disturbed areas, and muchincreased over the last 30 years. It is locally abundant in several areas east of Nutley, possiblyon the sandier soils. At the turn of the century on Ashdown Forest it was used by commonersas a short-term thatch for animal shelters. Broomhill and Broom Farm are local names.Very common in the Weald on well-drained, acidic soils, and widespread in similar placesin Britain but rare in intensively farmed areas. It requires open conditions for establishment butcan persist for some time in bracken. Widespread in west, central and southern Europe.