Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

161OROBANCHACEAEOrobanche rapum~genistae (0. major). Greater broomrape.Chelwood Common, N. J. Treutler, 1886 (Arnold 18871. Near Nutley, on Broom, W. E.Nicholson (Wolley-Dod 19371. Near Nutley, 1957, R. A. Boniface (BRCI.Refound just west of Chestnut Farm (44.271 in 1994 and reported to the Rangers by a3 --++--------'-+--local resident. One plant beside a minor path had two flowering spikes in 1994 and three in1995, but an adjacent plant in 1994 did not flower again, and another plant by the track with4 5three spikes in 1994 also did not flower again in 1995.O. rapum-genistae is a root parasite of both broom and gorse, and all the plants wereassociated with broom (the usual host). As both broom and gorse are frequent on the Forestits scarcity might seem surprising but this is typical of its behaviour nationally,It is a plant of western Europe and, in Britain, occurs most often in the south and west. It suffered a considerabledecline between the turn of the century and the early 1960s, especially in the east of the country (Rich & Woodruff 1996).Foley (1994) suggests that climatic changes may be the main cause of the decline in the early part of the century.However, there must have been a major loss of small patches of gorse and broom in most of England and it survives nowonly where those are still relatively frequent; habitat loss is a more likely explanation.It mainly occurs in western Europe, reaching its northern limit in Scotland. It also occurs in North Africa.Orobanche minor. Lesser broomrape.Tetrad 43R (Hall 1980).Presumed extinct. Not found during our survey despite being the commonest broomrape in East Sussex with recentrecords from nine 10-km squares in the county and it has for instance appeared in abundance on clover sown on the newA27 Brighton bypass. It is decreasing in England (Rich & Woodruff 1996). It occurs in Europe, Asia Minor and NorthAfrica.LENTIBULARIACEAEPinguicula vulgaris. Common butterwort.Ashdown Forest, 1894, E. G. Gilbert; Crowborough, 1922, Miss H. C. Underhill (possibly the same localityl (Wolley-Dod1937). Ashdown Forest, Miss E. M. Harding and members of the Tunbridge Wells Natural History Society "a notablediscovery" (Harding 1932). Notes in G. Dent'~ diary states that A. Morriss found it in Pippingford Park near gentians closeto a small gate, and that gentians flowered on 29 July 1945 near the Pinguicula place - no further details are given (Dent1928-1953).This 1932 record was the last record (misquoted by Hall 1980), and has almost certainly gone. It has been searchedfor since by many others including FR, to whom Wolley-Dod gave two different sites; whether it was in one or both weshall never know.It is widespread in north and western Britain, but is now very rare in the south and east due to agriculturalimprovements and habitat loss. Ashdown Forest was the most south-easterly site in Britain and it is now extinct in southeastEngland. Widespread in north, west and central Europe, northern Asia, North Africa and North America.*Utricularia austral is. Bladderwort.Plants flowering in an ornamental pond at Oldlands Hall (476.275), 1995, TR et a/., musthave been introduced with other aquatics.This species occurs scattered in Sussex, especially in the wetland areas such asAmberley Wild Brooks. It is probably widespread but scattered in Britain and Europe.3 --++__------'-_\_4 5[Utricularia minor. Lesser bladderwort.The record in Streeter (1961) appears to be a misunderstanding of an R. A. Boniface record for Chailey Common.]