Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

74*Hesperis matronalis. Dame's-violet.Scattered down the Medway near Forest Row for many years (e.g. tetrads 43H and 43M inHall 1980).Dumped soil on roadside at Marlpits corner, Fairwarp (467.265), one spike in 1994,two in 1995, B. Hoath & A. Main; garden escape near Lines Farm (44.34), 1993, TR & EL.3 -++----~'+- This species is now widely established in the countryside, often along rivers, and is',ncreasing in England (Rich & Woodruff 1996). Eric Philp suggested that it increased4 5dramatically in Kent a few years after seeds were distributed with a women's magazine(pers. comm. 1987). It is probably native in southern Europe and Asia but is widelyintroduced.Barbarea vulgaris. Wintercress, Yellow rocket.Four tetrad records in Hall (1980).We have records from Warren car park (415.320), 1994, TR; banks of the Medway(44.34), 1995, TR & PA; and Poundgate/Training camp area (49.29), 1995, RN.Widespread in Britain on riverbanks (possibly the native habitat) and on waste ground.3-++----~- Widespread in Europe, Asia and North Africa.Wintercress and other cresses were once important parts of the winter diet ofpeasants in the sixteenth century when scurvy was a widespread, predominant disease4 5 (Drummond & Wilbraham 1939). The cultivated wintercress is now American wintercress(Barbarea vernal which tastes nicer.Barbarea intermedia. Medium-flowered wintercress.A few dwarf plants in closely grazed pasture near Greenwood Gate (482.305), 1995, TR,an odd habitat; Friar's Gate, a swath in a field of new grass (499.333), 1988, PW & RW.Rare and scattered in Sussex, often associated with construction works, andincreasing in England (Rich & Woodruff 1996). Scattered throughout Britain, and native in3 -++-----''"L..J- southern and central Europe.4 5Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum (Nasturtium officina/e) agg. Watercress group.This aggregate is composed of Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum S.S., R. microphylla and the hybrid between them, R. xsterilis. It is difficult to identify non-fruiting material, and consequently most records are for the aggregate.Recorded in tetrads 42Z and 43R in Hall (1980), the former re-recorded.It makes good sandwiches to take on 'expotitions' on Ashdown Forest.Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticumagg.Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum s.s.Rorippa x sterilis3 -++----c~--'-+- 3 -++---""-----...L(- 3 -t-t------Lj-4 5 4 5 4 5Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum (Nasturtium officina/e) sensu stricto. Watercress.Confirmed from two squares, and probably the commonest taxon in wet places, ditches and on pond edges.Widespread in Sussex, Britain, Europe, western Asia and North Africa and widely cultivated throughout the world ..Most watercress cultivated in Britain is derived from American seed; the wild watercress is much more tasty than thecultivated plants, which like most things American are bigger and greener, and have no sense of culture.Rorippa x sterilis (R. microphylla x naslurtium-aquaticum). Hybrid watercress.Pond on edge of golf course at Forest Row (436.342), 1993, TR. The pond was dredged in 1995 and the plant wasmissing.Very scattered in Sussex and Britain but probably under-recorded, and sometimes also mis-identified for sterile formsof either parent. Widespread in Europe, and also cultivated throughout the world.