Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

146Common throughout most of south-eastern Britain but becoming rarer in the west and restricted to nutrientrichsites. Widespread over much of Europe except the far north and south. Also found in Himalaya and Japan.Lamium purpureum. Red deadnettle.This species was recorded in 90% of the tetrads in Sussex by Hall (1980) and isextremely common all over southern England. It is, however, present in only 30% ofthe 1-km squares in our area. Its sites on the Forest are strongly associated withhuman activity, occurring in gardens, disturbed areas on road verges and track sidesor as a pavement weed in the villages. It is absent from large areas of woodland andheathland.Very common throughout Britain and much of Europe.4 5Ga/eopsis tetrahit s./. Hemp~nettles.This aggregate is composed of G. tetrahit sensu stricto and G. bifida. They can only be distinguished in flower soour vegetative plants have been mapped as the aggregate. The aggregate is shown as common in Hall (1980) butthere is little reliable indication of the relative frequencies of the two segregates.Plants of the aggregate generally occur in disturbed habitats such as paths ides, the edges of arable fields andheaths, in light secondary woodland and by hedges. They are usually summer annuals and flower late in theseason.Ga/eopsis tetrahit s.s. Common hemp~nettle.Confirmed in only three localities around the edge of the Forest during our survey.Common throughout Britain and Europe except the far south-east.Ga/eopsis bifida. Bifid hemp~nettle.Found to be more common than G. tetrahit during our survey despite the fact that Hall (1980) has no records forthe area. This is certainly due to under-recording of this species in the past. The national distribution is not clearbut it is certainly present over much of the range of G. tetrahit s.s.In Finland, studies have shown that 96-100% of the seeds are dormant for at least ten years (Hintikka 1987).Seeds are probably stimulated to germinate by clear-felling and burning, and plants can dominate areas afterforestry work has been carried out. This strategy enables it to colonise disturbed competition-free habitats, Itbehaves similarly on Ashdown Forest, occurring on small disturbed areas and retreating into the seed bank as thevegetation closes over again.Ga/eopsis tetrahit s./, Galeopsis tetrahit 5.5, Ga/eopsis bifida3 +~-..------"Bf- 3-++_---~+- 3-++----~-+-4 5 4 5 4 5ScuteJ/aria ga/ericulata. Skullcap.Bogs near Gills Lap, Ashdown Forest (Coleman 1836). Forest Row, 1910, Miss P.Stockdale (BEX). Occasional (Hall 1980).We have only accepted two modern records, but there could be more: Old Mill(48.30), 1995, AK; stream woodland near Cowfield (49.31), 1995, TR & PA. In3 -++_----'"'-+_ 1993 vegetative plants with toothed leaves were recorded widely in woodland, rides,ditches and streams and ponds, but were withdrawn in 1994 after we had discoveredthat S. x hybrida was much more common. It is quite possible that some of therecords in Hall may be for the hybrid (see below).4 5S. galer/culata is a plant of rather wet, swampy places, favouring the edges ofstreams and ponds or wet grassland. It is a lowland plant with a wide distribution, occurring throughout Europe,in Asia, Algeria and North America, In the UK it is widely distributed over most of the country except in north-eastEngland and eastern Scotland. It is decreasing in England (Rich & Woodruff 1996).