Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

76Cardamine flexuosa. Wavy bittercress.Common on the Forest (Hall 1980).We have recorded it in every square in its typical habitats. It is common in open, damp,shady places such as riverbanks and shady flushes in Britain, and as a garden weed especiallyin the north and west. It is increasing in England (Rich & Woodruff 1996) and is widespreadin Europe and across Asia.It probably arose as a hybrid between C. impatiens and C. hirsuta, and consequently isdifficult to tell from the latter which also occurs on the Forest. C. flexuosa has flowers withusually six stamens, hairy stems and four or more stem leaves. C. hirsuta usually has mostflowers with four stamens, glabrous stems and 1 ~4 stem leaves.Cardamine hirsuta. Hairy bittercress, Hairy-leaved Lady's smock.~---------_ Frequent on the south~east side of the Forest (Hall 1980).This species is much less frequent than C. flexuosa on the Forest and may have been alittle over~recorded, but after the 1995 drought plants appeared in many places on verges andbanks where they had not been seen before. It is much more a plant of dry, sandy places,wall tops and rocks, and often as a garden weed, and the predominantly damp, silty soils ofthe Forest may suit C. flexuosa more.Widespread in Britain and most of the northern hemisphere. Increasing in England (Rich& Woodruff 1996).4 5* Lunaria annua. Honesty.3 -++--------'+-Recorded from three squares around Nutley, where the plants are garden escapes.It is occasionally naturalized in Sussex (Hall 1980) and is probably increasing in Britain(Rich & Woodruff 1996). Probably native in south~east Europe, but now widely spreadthrough the world.The most significant feature of this plant is that the fruits are used as TR's logo!4 5Erophila verna sensu lata. Common whitlowgrass.Tetrad 42T (Hall 1980).Two plants of E, verna var, verna sensu Filfilan & Elkington on the gravel, FairwarpChurch (466.267), 1995, TR. Erophila has been present in the churchyard from at least 1985,and this site could also be the origin of the record in the Sussex Plant Atlas, It is an early-3 flowering annual of dry sandy places, walls and anthills and is easily overlooked, but it doesseem to be absent or very rare on the Forest.Erophila sensu lato is widespread in dry open habitats in Britain and Europe. The4 5 taxonomy of this group has now been clarified by Filfilan & Elkington in Rich (1991) but thedistribution of the taxa still requires elucidation.In Sussex, E. verna 5.5. is the commonest taxon, with a few records of E. glabrescens from dry soils. There are veryfew records of E. majuscula.*Capsella bursa-pastaris. Shepherd's~purse, Pickpocket.We have records of this annual weed scattered around the Forest on roads ides, gateways,gardens and waste ground in disturbed open places. It generally occurs as groups of a fewplants.Ubiquitous in Sussex (Hall 1980). It is a common cosmopolitan weed.4 5