Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

Sagina procumbens. Procumbent pearlwort, Bird's-eye.Common on the Forest IHall 1980}.Recorded in all but two squares on the Forest, where it is typical of short, damp, opengrassland, lawns, car parks, and disturbed ground.Common and widespread in Sussex, Britain, Europe, Asia, North America and Greenland.3574 5Sagina apetala. Annual pearlwort.Common on the Forest IHall 1980}.We have it mainly on the west side of the Forest where it occurs on disturbed soils in carparks, where it may have been introduced with gravel, on tracks, and around the villages. Wehave recorded both subsp. apetala and subsp. erecta and agree with Hall (1980) that the3 latter is commoner, but have not looked at their distributions in detail.Widespread in Britain but mainly south-western in Europe, and also in western Asia.4 5Scleranthus annuus. Annual knawel.Forest Row, Miss P. Stockdale, 1910 IBEX; WolleY-Dod 1937}.Not refound on the forest, and probably declining in Sussex. It is most persistent on dry, open, light, sandy soils andmay not have liked our damp, silty soils.Scattered patchily through most of Britain on suitable acidic soils but decreasing (Rich & Woodruff 1996), thoughwidespread in Europe, Asia and North Africa.Spergula arvensis. Corn spurrey.Nine tetrads in Hall 11980}.We only have five records from open disturbed ground, and it does seem rare.It is a phenotypically and genetically variable species. In Britain the two main varietiesshow an interesting difference in distribution, which New & Herriott (1981) ascribe to3 -++-_.!IL.._--'"JLjdifferentgermination characteristics; plants examined from two sites on the Forest were var.arvensis which lacks papillae and is the commoner one in south-east England, whilst var.sativa which has papillae occurs more frequently in the north and west.Locally frequent on sandy soils in lowland Britain but decreasing (Rich & Woodruff 1996)4 5and widespread in Europe except around the Mediterranean. It is cosmopolitan indistribution and reportedly one of the world's worst weeds, especially in cereal crops.*Spergularia marina. Lesser sea-spurrey.One plant of this seaside plant was found on bare soil on the A22 verge at Kidbrooke Hill1418.335}, 1995, TR & PA.As a native it occurs on salt marshes and saline places around the coast of Britain andEurope and the temperate northern hemisphere. It also occurs scattered inland in England on3 -++-___...-..L+_road verges, presumably spreading with the use of de-icing salt. What is surprising is thatneither Danish scurvy-grass (Cochlearia danica) nor saltmarsh grass (Puccinellia distans) havebeen found on the Forest verges although we have looked for them; they are classic roadsidesalt plants which are now widespread on verges.4 5Spergularia rubr8. Sand-spurrey.Ashdown Forest, 1895, T. Hilton IBTN}.We only have three records; on cinders in car park, Isle of Thorns (418.303), 1995, Florameeting; track in Streeter's Rough 142.291, 1993, TR; Black Hill area 147.31}, 1994, SBRS.This is yet another annual which is more frequent on light, freely-drained sands, and it3 -f-.,......-----l...j- may not grow well on the siltier soils of Ashdown Forest.It is scattered through Britain and decreasing (Rich & Woodruff 1996). It occurs inEurope, Asia, North Africa and North America.4 5