Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

56SteJ/aria u/iginosa (5. a/sine), Bog stitchwort.Common on Ashdown Forest IHall 19801.On the Forest it occurs mainly on rides and tracks in damp, open places. Later in theseason when other vegetation has grown up it needs to be searched for under other plants.In Sussex it is very much a plant of wet, acidic soils. It is widespread in Britain, Europe,temperate Asia and North America.Cerastium fontanum. Common mouse~ear.Recorded in every square, where it can be found on grassland, verges, tracks, car parks anddisturbed areas.Recorded in 98% of the tetrads in Sussex (Hall 1980), widespread in Britain andcosmopolitan,It is a very variable species found throughout Europe. Three subspecies are now thoughtto occur in Britain; the four Ashdown Forest populations investigated have been subsp.vu/gare which has leaves hairy on both sides and the stem hairy all round, but subsp.h%steoides could also occur.* Cerastium glomeratum. Sticky mouse~ear.Common on the Forest IHal1 19801.Quite frequent in disturbed places such as gateways, road drains, car parks andcultivated ground, often on nutrient~rich soils. It is absent from shady and wet places.This species has increased markedly in Britain between the 1950s and the late 1980s,which may be due to herbicide-tolerant plants occurring in fertilised rye grass pastures (Rich &Woodruff 1990, 1996). It is widespread in Britain, Europe and temperate Asia.Myosoton aquaticum. Water chickweed.Tetrads 42P, 43V and 536 IHal1 1980).Marshy vegetation on lake side, Twyrord (394.312), 1994, DB; one plant on bank abovestream, Marden's Hill 149.321, 1987, PW & RW, and probably scattered along this stream butun"recorded as our locality is between two of Hall's tetrads.In Sussex it is usually a plant of damp, nutrient~rich places along the rivers and streams,often in shade and sometimes on stonework. It is widespread in lowland Britain and Europe.4 5Moenchia erecta. Upright chickweed, Starry chickweed.On Ashdown Forest (Coleman 18361. Ashdown Forest, 1892, E. H. Farr IBTNI. In dry places the rather rare little starrychickweed ... is likely to be found IPickard 19301.Probably extinct. Moenchia erecta normally occurs in very short grass on shallow soils and there is still plenty ofapparently suitable habitat on the Forest. However, because it is inconspicuous and flowers very early in the year, oftenbefore the end of April, it could be overlooked.It is very rare in the county with only three sites in East Sussex and one in West Sussex. It was formerly widespreadin southern Britain but is becoming rare inland except in central Wales and the New Forest. It appears to be declining, likeso many of its associates, due to the lack of open ground created by grazing (Chatters 1994). Also found in central andsouthern Europe.Sagina subulata. Heath pearlwort.In a warren on Ashdown Forest, on the east of the Stone Quarry above Kidbrook (Coleman 1836). Forest Row, W. Borrer(Hemsley 18751. Near Duddleswell, 1895, J. H. A. Jenner IWolley-Dod 19371. Probably extinct on the Forest, and lastrecorded in Sussex in c. 1931 (Hall 19801.This is an unusual species which likes stony or gravelly soils in open, disturbed places which are often at least dampin winter. Borrer's site is may be the same as Coleman's which is now beech woodland, and few likely places are left for itat Duddleswell. It is close to extinction on the inland heaths of southern England and has gone from Norfolk, but stilloccurs frequently in the New Forest and around the rocky coasts in the west and in uplands in Scotland. It has an oddpatchy distribution in western Europe.