SUSTAINABILITY

AROUND THE REGIONS
15
Monmouthshire
Caerwent
Grass vetchling Lathyrus nissolia © Gemma Wood
Caerwent Training Area which covers
600ha is renowned for
Monmouthshire’s largest remaining
area of limestone grassland and
supports a wide range of interesting
and unusual plants; elsewhere in the
county most limestone grassland has
been lost to agricultural intensification.
The site receives frequent visits by the
joint vice county recorders for the
Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland
(BSBI) to record plants for the planned
National Atlas due to be published in
2020. This involves checking historical
locations of rare or uncommon plants,
and monitoring and recording
important species that are restricted
to the county.
Caerwent is the only site in the vice
county for the small-flowered
buttercup Ranunculus par viflorus; this is
thriving in two areas but it is hoped
that it will be found elsewhere.
There have been apparent losses of
three species – wild liquorice
Astragalus glycophyllus, wild pear Pyrus
pyraster and the green-winged orchid
Anacamptis morio. Other orchids seem
to be flourishing though, early purple
orchid Orchis mascula in areas of
woodland scrub and in open areas and
both bee orchids Ophr ys apifera and
southern marsh orchids Dact ylorhiza
praetermissa on gravel areas around
buildings and banks.
The woodland to the north also has
one of the largest populations of our
native columbine Aquilegia vulgaris.
Everyone knows Granny’s bonnet as a
popular garden plant in many forms
and colours but the plants on the base
are the true native species with large
deep purple single flowers.
The uncommon fern Adder’s tongue
Ophioglossum vulgatum grows in
profusion in one field. The field and
woodland margin habitats are also a
stronghold for hairy violet Viola hirta.
A plant more at home along the coast,
the diminutive sea storksbill Erodium
marinum used to be scarce at
Caerwent but has undergone an
amazing expansion and is now found
along the edges of tracks and roads.
Common cudweed Filago vulgaris,
actually a rare plant despite its name,
also now flourishes along some road
edges and on the old railway line.
There are four species of grass on the
base that are in the County Rare Plant
Register: upright brome Bromopsis
erecta; wood small-reed Calamagrostis
epigejos; meadow oat-grass Avenula
pratense and the downy oat-grass
Avenula pubescens, the latter having
increased significantly on the base
over the last few years.
Madder Rubia peregrina, gromwell
Lithospermum offcinale, fragrant
agrimony Agrimonia procera , Viper’s
bugloss Echium vulgare , large thyme
Thymus pulegoides , grass vetchling
Lathyrus nissolia and Dyer’s greenweed
Genista tinctoria are among the
treasures that occur on the base whilst
commoner plants such as ragwort
Senecio jacobea and field scabious
Knautia ar vensis thrive and provide
important sources of nectar and pollen
for a range of insects.
Recent discoveries in 2014 included
moth mullein Verbascum blattaria and
a stonewort Nitella flexilis found in a
pond at the northern edge; this had
not previously been recorded away
from the coastal reens. Common
whitlow grass Erophila verna was also
recorded for the first time.
Stephanie Tyler and Elsa Wood
Caerwent Conservation Committee and
Joint Recorders for the Botanical Society
for Britain and Ireland
Dyer ’s greenweed Genista tinctoria © Crown
88
Sanctuary 44 • 2015