Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

181Hieracium. Hawkweeds.3134 5Hieracium umbel/atumThis genus is one of the most difficult in Britain, with no upwto~date monograph to aididentification. There are about 25 species in the Weald which could occur in the Flora area,but most are quite rare. Our plants have been named by comparing specimens against namedmaterial in the Natural History Museum (BM), and with help from Rod Stern who has alsoproduced a key to southweast England hawk weeds (see BSB1 Hieracium study groupnewsletters). We have recorded four species and H. cantianum could also be present.There are very few records of Hieracium by F. J. Hanbury listed in Wolley-Dod (19371,despite the fact that he wrote a monograph on the genus in 1904 and lived at Brockhurst,East Grinstead; Wolley~Dod's plants were mainly named instead by H. W. Pugsley.Hieracium nomenclature follows Sell (19681.Ashdown Forest, 1841, J. Weaver (Wolley-Dod 1937). Var. coronopifolium was noted nearWych Cross on road to Nutley, C. H. Waddell (Wolley-Dod 1937) but it is no longerrecognised. Recorded as locally frequent in Hall (1980) with Ashdown Forest as the majorstronghold in East Sussex.We have found it on verges, scrub margins and hedgebanks. This is the last species onthe Forest to come into flower, and is immediately distinguished from the others by the erectphyllaries on the buds and many narrow leaves on the stem. It varies much in size of plantand flowers, and in leaf shape and size; our plants belong to the narrowwleaved typical groupof the east of Britain and are subsp. umbellatum.It occurs on heaths, grassy places and rocks throughout Britain (especially in the Weald).Hieracium sabaudum (H. borea/e, H. obliquum, H. perpropinquum).In a hedge near Forest Row, 1819, E. Forster; Ashdown Forest, J. Weaver; Nutley Road n~arWych Cross, R. S. Standen (Wolley-Dod 1937). Common on the Forest (Hall 1980).This is a variable species of open acidic woodland and heaths, on sandy soils.Throughout England and Wales and especially the Weald, where it is one of the3commonest species. It has many leaves on the stem which are very weakly toothed, andhave long hairs.4 5(A SS SI Monitoring Scheme record for H. strumosum on Twyford Lane verge (404.315)may have been H. sabaudum.)Hieracium trichocaulon (H. tridentatum sensu Pugsley).Near Wych Cross on road to Nutley, C. H. Waddell (Wolley-Dod 1937).This is the second species to come into flower, and is scattered around the Forest,usually on track or road verges or maybe that is where we have seen it most often. We didnot really understand it until 1995, and consequently it may have been underwrecorded. It has3 many stem leaves which usually have three strong teeth, and many fewer hairs than H.sabaudum.4 5Hieracium species, included in the H. exotericum aggregate (H. murorum aggregate).Ashdown Forest, 1899, T. Hilton (BTN). Tetrads 33W and 43R (Hall 1980).One site on the road bank opposite Pooh car park (472.331), 1995, TR (probably the43R record in Hall 1980). This is the first species to come into flower in June, andconsequently gets nobbled first by the verge cutters and later by ditch maintenance. It only3 has 0-1(-2) stem leaves and a marked basal rosette. Philp (1982) points out that thetaxonomy of these plants is not yet sorted Qut, and we have not taken the matter further.4 5Filago vulgaris. Common cudweed.Presumed extinct. Tetrad 42N (Hall 1980)?Not found in our survey. This plant is rather scarce in Sussex with only two reliable recent records from East Sussex.The map in Hall (1980) over~estimates its frequency as it is now known that in a number of cases it was recorded in errorfor Gnapha/ium u/iginosum (e.g. seven of the tetrad records in Hall are known to be incorrect; Briggs 1990) and the sameis probably true of some others, so the tetrad 42N record may not be correct. The source of the confusion seems to have