Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

171We suspect that Leontodon hispidus has been over-recorded for this species; Hypochaeris can be easily distinguishedin that it has simple not forked hairs on the leaves, and has pale yellow, triangular scales on the receptacle - this can beseen by plucking the florets out to leave the scales behind.Recorded in 92% of the Sussex tetrads (Hall 1980). Widely distributed throughout Britain, mainly on neutral tomoderately acidic, well-drained soils in grazed or mown pastures and on verges. Widespread in Europe, northern Asia andNorth Africa.Leontodon autumnalis subsp. autumns/is. Autumn hawkbit.Common on the Forest (Hall 1980).Widespread and locally frequent on road verges, pastures, rides and waste places on wetor acidic soils. It flowers in late summer and is a very variable species, some plants havingalmost entire leaves and others almost pinnate.It is easily distinguished from the other Leontodon species by the branched floweringstems and has only simple hairs on the leaves. It is separated from Hypochaeris by theabsence of receptacular scales.Very common in Sussex and Britain. Widespread in Europe though rarer in the south. InAsia, North~west Africa and Greenland.Leontodon hispidus. Rough hawkbit.Recorded in ten tetrads in Hall (1980), but surely over~recorded, perhaps for Hypochaeris?Poundgate road verge where chalk may have been used to build the road (484.285), pH7.7, 1993 +, Flora meeting; Rystwood Road on clay (441.344), pH 6.6, 1995, TR; Nutleychurchyard, pH 6.6, Coleman's Hatch churchyard, pH 6.5, and St John's churchyard, pH 6.S,3 1995, PD.The rarity with which we have found this species compared to the apparent frequency inthe Sussex Plant Atlas is surprising, and only two of the tetrads are in common. It is mostabundant on chalk and limestone soils of mid to high pH, and would not be expected to be4 5common on the Forest except in places with raised pH such as road verges as, ourmeasurements indicate. It is also characteristic of the churchyards; raised pH in soils around churches may be a result ofcalcium leaching from mortar either directly from the buildings or from discarded material when they are rebuilt, or perhapsfrom the tombstones. L. hispidus could have been present around Coleman's Hatch, where the soils are base~rich clay, andat Nutley, but must have been introduced elsewhere.It is similar to L. saxatliis in having forked hairs on the leaves, a single stem and drooping buds, but all the acheneshave a pappus, and the involucre is darker in colour and it is much more hairy (though L. saxatilis can sometimes be veryhairy too). Hybrids between the two have been recorded in Britain but we have not found any.Widespread in lowland Britain on calcareous soils and clays in unimproved pastures. Widespread in Europe and AsiaMinor.Leontodon saxatilis (L. taraxacoides). Lesser hawkbit.Locally frequent on the east side of the Forest (Hall 1980).Although it is common on the Forest on road verges, tracks, lawns and open, drygrassland it is very often overlooked as an intensive search in East Sussex by PO proved,resulting in a large increase in records (Briggs 1990).It is easily identified when in flower by the outer achenes which have no pappus, whilstthe inner ones do. These outer fruits persist long after the inner ones have been blown awayand the stem is dead (even as late as November).Widespread in Sussex on heaths, on bare, open, generally acidic or sandy soils.Ubiquitous in Britain. Widespread in southern, central and western Europe.Picris echioides. Bristly oxtongue.Scattered around the Forest on dumped soil, road verges and in car parks, but usually only afew plants at a time, and not recorded in Hall (1980).Common on the chalk and on clays, especially on roadsides and near the coast in Sussex.Locally abundant in south~easte.rn Britain and widespread in southern Europe and South~west3 Asia.4 5