Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

5cutellaria x hybrida (5. galericulata x minor). Hybrid skullcap.Hall (1980) has a single tetrad record, 43W, and there is a more recent record for thearea from 33V, A. G. Hoare, confirmed by A. C. Leslie (Briggs 1990).We have a total of 17 1-km square records, many more than the parent S.galericulata. The hybrids are especially locally abundant along the streams and ridesof the woodlands in the north-west corner of the Forest. They occur in dense shadeas well as in the open, and appear fairly uniform in cultivation but vary due toenvironmental conditions such as shade. The plants tend to form patches by thecreeping rhizomes, and many of the patches have probably spread vegetatively (no4 5seed has been found on any of the plants examined) and populations may be clones.They are rather shy-flowering and a good indicator of the hybrid is the presence of many non-flowering plants. Forexample, when AK first saw the colony in Plaw Wood in the late summer of 1993 hundreds of plants were presentbut none could be found in flower so confirmation had to wait until 1994 when a number of plants flowered.They can be distinguished as follows:147Number of teeth onmid-stem leavesFlowersFlower sizeFertility5. galericulata8-23.Deep blue.10-20 mm.Fertile.S. x hybrida6-13.Pale purplish-blue.7-12 mm.Sterile.S. minor1-4.Pink.6-10 mm.Fertile.This plant is certainly more common in and around our area than has been previously supposed and it is quitelikely that it may have been wrongly recorded as S. galericulata. Some examples of places to see it are as follows:abundant along public footpath, Plaw Wood (394.3331. 1994, PW, AK (neither parent could be found); north edgeof pond, Priory Road (413.339), 1995, TR; large patch beside path just west of the A22 with S. minor (419.336),1995, AK; abundant in the alder clearance area at Newbridge (458.3231. 1994, Flora meeting. The lack ofrecognition of this species means that its distribution is poorly known, and it could be much more widespread.5cutellaria minor. lesser skullcap.Bogs on Ashdown Forest (Coleman 1836). Ashdown Forest, M. R. Dixon, 1886(Arnold 1887). Near Nutley, 1957, R. A. Boniface (BRC). Common on the Forest(Hall 1980).Found over most of the Forest in our survey. This might be expected as the3 typical habitat for S. minor is damp heathland and woodland rides. It was abundantafter scrub clearance on A275, plants being pollinated by both honey and bumblebees (the bumblebees caused the whole plants to bend over). It varies from 5-10 cm4 5 tall in dry, open areas to nearly 70 cm tall in Molinia tussocks on Old Lodge Reserve.It is much less widely distributed than S. galericulata, being calcifuge and foundin England almost exclusivelY south of a line through Bristol and scattered throughout Wales. It is a westernEuropean endemic.Teucrium scorodonia. Wood sage.Ubiquitous, occurring in dry places in woodland, hedge banks and road or trackverges. Although very common in our area and most of Sussex, T. scorodonia isscarce in many areas in the south of West and East Sussex.It is a slow-growing perennial herb which forms patches and can be locallyabundant. It has physiologically distinct populations which differ in soil and shaderequirements (Hutchinson 1968). It occurs mainly on either calcareous (pH> 7) oracidic (pH 4-5) soil; clones from the two types grow best on their own soils. Plantsfrom woodland tend to put their resources into developing more leaves to catch morelight, whilst plants from the open sites develop extensive root systems to helpmaintain a water supply to survive drought. On the Forest it occurs mainly in the open and along woodland edgeswhich may be clones preferr'lng open conditions as most of the woodland is secondary.Distributed over most of Britain, much of Ireland and an endemic of south, west and central Europe as farnorth as Germany, the Netherlands and southern-most Norway.