Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

222*Polygonafum x hybridum (P. multiflorum x odoratum). Garden Solomon's-seal.This has been recorded in scattered localities, sometimes dumped in car parks but also onewell away from an obvious source of introduction: one plant in Warren car park (416.320),1994, TR; woodland edge opposite houses by A22 1429.309), 1994, TR; dumped spoilopposite Radio Station (473.292), 1994, SBRS; one clump in woodland away from house,Poundgate 1489.290), 1994, PD & TR. Also reported planted in woodland near the lakes in4 5Pippingford Park, A. Morriss.In 1995, two clumps were noted to be heavily damaged by Solomon's-seaJ sawfly larvaeand neither could be found later in the year. The female sawtlies use their ovipositors likeminiature saws, and put eggs directly into the tissues of the plant. The larvae are about 1 cmlong and look like green caterpillars. They begin feeding on the underside of the leaves, then they eat the tissue betweenthe veins, and finally entirely strip the plants of their leaves, sometimes defoliating whole plants.This plant probably originated in cultivation. The parents grow together in very few places in Britain but do so inhundreds of sites in Europe but natural hybrids are unknown in many countries. The nearest natural P. multiflorum isprobably in the woods east of Tunbridge Wells, and the nearest P. odoratum is in Gloucestershire.Probably quite widespread in Britain as a garden escape,Hyacinthoides non-scripta. Bluebell,Common on the Forest IHall 1980).Recorded in every square, where it occurs in woodland, on heath land in the open orunder bracken, in acidic grassland, in hedges and on hedgebanks (pH measurements 3.7, 4.7and 4.8), Bluebells are usually more abundant in the older areas of woodland than theadjacent areas of Forest - for instance it grows in sheets in the chestnut coppice on the southeastside of the road at Wood Eaves (483.318) whilst on the other side of the road on theopen Forest they are very sparse; but they are not restricted to ancient woodlands. Theywere noted to have flowered better in some sites which had been opened up in the 1987storm (AFN 15: 2-4).White-flowered plants occur naturally as scattered plants in woodland around the Forest, and at Highgate where theyhave probably escaped from gardens. Riding (1977) found white bluebells to have a lower reproductive output in the wildthough it was similar in the garden, and seed from white bluebells ultimately produced normal blue-flowered plantsindicating high rates of out-breeding. Prior to the First World War, bluebell bulbs were collected for export to Holland (MrsE. Vernon, Horney Common, pers. comm. to MR). Picking or pulling the flowers has no effect on the numbers of flowersin following years, but the associated trampling and damage to the leaves can result in a considerable reduction (Peace &Gilmour 1949).Populations of the introduced muntjac deer are increasing in the area. These deer eat both bluebell leaves arIdflowers, especially in early spring when there is little other food available, and damage to the plants leads to decreasedreproduction and loss of vigour in subsequent years. They also eat other plants such as Mercurialis perennis andDacty/orhiza fuchsli' (Cook et al. 1995, and pers. comm. 1996). We think the bluebells are more important than these aliendeer.Very common in Sussex and most of Britain. They are endemic to western Europe from north and west France toScotland and south-west Belgium, and our bluebell woods are internationally important.* Hyacinthoides hispanica x non-scripta. Hybrid bluebell.This is the commonest bluebell in gardens, and consequently was mainly found near housesaround the villages of Forest Row and Nutley. It is widely recorded in Britain and isincreasing.It differs from H. non-scripta in having blue anthers, broader leaves and open bell-shaped3 -+-+------LJ- flowers (Rich & Rich 1988). There is concern that introgression hybridisation between thebluebells could result in genetic erosion of one of our most important plants.4 5* Hyacinthoides hispanica. Spanish bluebell.Three records from Forest Row, Nutley and dumped soil at Gills Lap. Many of the records inthe Sussex Plant Atlas are likely to be of the hybrid.Increasing in England (Rich & Woodruff 1996). Native in south-west Europe and northwestAfrica. In Portugal the plants are less robust than our cultivated plants, implying some3 horticultural selection.4 5