Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

39AngiospermsLAURACEAE* Laurus nobilis. Bay.] -++-~~~-----'-+-Seedlings were found on a path and verge outside a garden near a bush at Cackle Street(452.266), 1995, RN & ER.This widely used pot herb is occasionally established in the wild in sheltered locations inBritain. As a native it occurs on the limestone along the Mediterranean coast and possibly theAtlantic coasts of Portugal and Spain, and is often now confined to inaccessible rocky cliffs.4 5NYMPHAEACEAE*Nymphaea alba. White water-lily.Cackle Street, 1933, G. Dent (Dent 1928-1953). Tetrads 42U and 43K (Hall 1980).Probably native in some localities in Sussex, but our records are probably always of liliesplanted in ponds and lakes. Sometimes the flowers are pink, as at Braberry Hatch and many]-++-.....'"--'"--L.j-other locations, and sometimes white as at Mill Wood, the pond by Ridge Road, and Ellison'sPond. During the 1995 drought some ponds dried out leaving whole plants exposed on drying4 5mud; they seem to have survived quite well although a few were eaten by deer.The water in the ponds is often quite murky and dark, and the only other species to growwith it at all frequently is Potamogeton natans. The poor nutrient status of the ponds on theacidic soils probably also suits this species compared to Nuphar lutea, and indeed smallerNymphaea plants, sometimes distinguished as a separate subspecies, are widespread in the acidic poor waters of lochs andlochans in the north and west of Britain and Ireland.Widespread in Britain and Europe, though rare in the far north.Nuphar lutea. Yellow water-lily, Brandy bottle.Forest Row, Miss P. Stockdale (undated but c. 1910-1916; SEX). Still known in this area, withlarge patches possibly planted in a lake at Forest Row (421.347), 1995, TR, and probablynative as non-flowering submerged leaves in River Medway east of Forest Row (441.349),1995, TR & PA.] -++-~~~--'-+-This water-lily tends to occur in more nutrient-rich, calcareous waters than the whitewater-lily, and is often also found in deeper and running water. As well as the floating leavesit has submerged ones which are not best suited to muddy water, and its absence from the4 5Forest ponds may be due to their generally murky nutrient-poor water; it could also be absentbecause it has not been introduced.Common and widespread in Britain and Europe, though rare in the far north.CERATOPHYLLACEAECeratophyllum demersum. Rigid hornwort.Pond on the edge of the golf course at Forest Row (437.342), 1994; pond by Ridge Road(448.329), 1995; mucky pond by farm at Pricketts Hatch (443.270), 1995; north side ofpond at Ashdown Park (431.320), 1995, all found by TR with a grapnel.This species floats freely in the water just below the surface, and can occur in open3 conditions or lurk under dense mats of duckweed, as at Prickets Hatch, where it seems to bequite shade-tolerant, an unusual characteristic for a water plant. It often occurs in nutrientrich45water, and is often abundant in arable areas where there is high inorganic nitrogen in thewater, probably from fertiliser run-off (Goulder & Boatman 1971). The widespread increase ineutrophic water due to fertilisers may have resulted in an increase in this species in thelowlands.Occasional but probably under-recorded in Sussex (Briggs 1990 had about twice as many records as Hall 1980). Fewbotanists regularly carry a grapnel or are prepared to use it in smelly, dirty water, a potential habitat for both the hornwortand Weil's disease. Widespread in Britain, Europe, North Africa, Asia and North America,