British & Irish Botany
type: channel
description: British & Irish Botany (ISSN: 2632-4970) is an Open Access, online journal from the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. The journal aims to provide a new forum for publishing papers and articles relating to the vascular plants and charophytes of Britain and Ireland.
publisher: Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland
language: en
publication name: British & Irish Botany
issn: 2632-4970
copyright: Copyright and licence: Authors (or their employers) retain their copyright in articles and images published in British & Irish Botany and are not required to assign this to the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (BSBI). All that BSBI requires from authors is a license to publish the article in British & Irish Botany and make it freely available to all in pdf format under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License, which also enables BSBI to reproduce components of the article in other BSBI outputs (eg. BSBI News, the BSBI website and/or the BSBI News & Views blog) for publicity purposes. The licence code can be accessed here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
items: Coccoloba (Polygonaceae) achenes stranded on European Atlantic exposed shores
items: Symphytum × ferrariense (S. officinale × S. orientale, Boraginaceae) in Cambridgeshire, Cheshire and Norfolk: first records for England
items: Three new British species of Hieracium (Asteraceae)
items: Past lessons and future requirements of reintroduction programmes for Cypripedium calceolus (Lady's-slipper Orchid, Orchidaceae)
items: New names in British Sorbus (Rosaceae)
items: Charlotte Grace O’Brien (1845-1909), her botanical interests and achievements
items: Combinations in Pyrus (Rosaceae) required for inclusion in the second edition of Whitebeams, Rowans and Service Trees, BSBI Handbook No. 14.
items: Summary of the current status of the Montane and sub Montane plants of the Moffat Hills in Dumfriesshire.
items: CORRECTION: A new species of Aria (Rosaceae) from the Wye Valley, Wales
items: Ipomoea tiliacea (Convolvulaceae) seeds stranded on the south-west coast of Ireland
items: The first British record of Oxalis corniculata (Oxalidaceae)
items: More evidence gaps than grikes: how limestone pavements have fallen through the cracks of British conservation
items: New records of New Zealand Pigmyweed, Crassula helmsii (Crassulaceae), in two Irish lakes
items: Bellflowers as bellwethers: how many unappreciated early records are there in herbarium collections?
items: A review of plants treated as Hieracium angustatum (Asteraceae) in Britain
items: Conservation of Britain’s biodiversity: Status of the rare English endemic Hieracium mammidens (Breast-toothed Hawkweed; Asteraceae)
items: The site of the Westminster Physic Garden
items: Variation in the Ononis repens group (Fabaceae): implications for species determination and conservation
items: Emily Margaret Wood: Botany, illustration, nature writing and teaching in Liverpool at the end of the long nineteenth century
items: Sambucus canadensis × S. nigra (Sambucaceae): a hybrid Elder in northern Scotland
items: Tree and scrub species of the Treeline Ecotone in the Cairngorms National Park, Scotland
items: Hieracium gothicum (Asteraceae): a forgotten species
items: A new species of Aria (Rosaceae) from the Wye Valley, Wales
items: Names and descriptions of two hybrid scurvygrasses (Cochlearia; Brassicaceae)
items: Clematis vitalba (Traveller’s-joy) (Ranunculaceae) is invasive on the Sefton Coast sand-dunes, north Merseyside, UK
items: Is Artemisia campestris subsp. maritima (syn. Artemisia crithmifolia), Asteraceae native in Britain?
items: The shifting ecology and distribution of one of Britain’s rarest plants: Orobanche picridis (Orobanchaceae)
items: Edward Morgan (c.1615-1689) and his botanical pupil Edward Lhwyd (c.1660-1709)
items: Validation of the binomials Hieracium aristidens, Hieracium kintyricum and Hieracium sowadeense (Asteraceae)
items: Teasing Tansley? A 'tremendus' caricature from the launch party for the Flora of the British Isles

Coccoloba (Polygonaceae) achenes stranded on European Atlantic exposed shores
type: item
description: The sea-grape genus, Coccoloba P.Browne, commonly occurs on Atlantic coasts of the Americas from Bermuda south to Argentina. Achenes that resemble those of this genus were found with drift on the high shores in Cos. Sligo (VCH28) and Cork (VCH3) where disseminules from the Americas are known to have collected, and likely to have crossed the North Atlantic Ocean. A further achene was found on an exposed Lanzarote Beach, Canary Islands, most probably C. uvifera that may have drifted from a nearby island, where it has been planted following its introduction. These represent the first known records of achenes considered to represent Coccoloba found on European shores.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: disseminule
  topic: keywords
subject: long-distance dispersal
  topic: keywords
subject: Ireland
  topic: keywords
subject: Spain
  topic: keywords
subject: ocean drift
  topic: keywords
creator: Dan Minchin
creator: Declan Quigley
creator: Edward Perry
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Dan Minchin, Declan Quigley, Edward Perry https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2025-08-14
publication date: 2025-08-14
starting page: 90
ending page: 97
doi: 10.33928/bib.2025.07.090

Symphytum × ferrariense (S. officinale × S. orientale, Boraginaceae) in Cambridgeshire, Cheshire and Norfolk: first records for England
type: item
description: Three populations of Symphytum × ferrariense C.Massal., the hybrid between S. officinale L. and S. orientale L. are described, in Cheshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, all involving a cream flowered form of S. officinale. This is the first time S. × ferrariense has been reported in England, and the first time it has been found in the wild outside the coastal department of Var in southern France, where it has not been seen since 1892. All the late 19th century occurrences were close to the port of Toulon and it is suggested that they were escapes or relics from horticulture, having been inadvertently imported along with S. officinale for herbal purposes, probably from the Black Sea coast of Russia. The three populations described here, however, seem to be the result of hybridisation in the wild, which is likely to occur more often now that S. orientale is spreading from its original urban sites into rural areas close to the wetland habitats favoured by S. officinale. The Cambridgeshire population consists of two very different forms, one probably an F1 hybrid and the other the result of backcrossing of this F1 plant with the presumed pollen parent population of S. officinale nearby; the Cheshire and Norfolk populations are also quite distinct. All four forms show good intermediacy between S. officinale and S. orientale, but differ in habit, upper stem leaf shape and leaf and stem indumentum; they are given separate descriptions, but with a combined description in the Conclusion section. All four resemble a cream flowered form of S. officinale, but a quick check for the half-dissected calyx and shorter stem winging should suggest Symphytum × ferrariense rather than pure S. officinale; another helpful spotting feature is that the open flowers are pure white or greenish yellow, rather than cream in colour. Material from the Cambridgeshire population has been deposited in CGE.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Boraginaceae
  topic: keywords
subject: Comfrey
  topic: keywords
subject: diagnostic characters
  topic: keywords
subject: reproductive isolation
  topic: keywords
subject: horticultural hybrid
  topic: keywords
creator: Robert Leaney
creator: Alan Leslie
creator: Stewart Hinsley
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Robert Leaney, Alan Leslie, Stewart Hinsley https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2025-08-14
publication date: 2025-08-14
starting page: 73
ending page: 89
doi: 10.33928/bib.2025.07.073

Three new British species of Hieracium (Asteraceae)
type: item
description: Three new endemic British species of Hieracium are described. Hieracium dentdalense B.Burrow sp. nov. and Hieracium langscariense B.Burrow sp. nov. are described from Yorkshire. Hieracium aithense B.Burrow & J.Crossley sp. nov. is described from Orkney.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Hawkweed
  topic: keywords
subject: Orkney
  topic: keywords
subject: section Hieracium
  topic: keywords
subject: section Stelligera Zahn
  topic: keywords
subject: Yorkshire
  topic: keywords
creator: Brian Burrow
creator: John Crossley
creator: Tim Rich
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Brian Burrow, John Crossley, Tim Rich https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2025-08-14
publication date: 2025-08-14
starting page: 133
ending page: 142
doi: 10.33928/bib.2025.07.133

Past lessons and future requirements of reintroduction programmes for Cypripedium calceolus (Lady's-slipper Orchid, Orchidaceae)
type: item
description: In the past Cypripedium calceolus was widespread in a narrow band on limestone soils in north England, but by the 1930’s only one plant was left in the wild. Current efforts to re-introduce it into areas where it previously grew are having limited success. It is suggested that that the programme of re-introduction should be extended to areas further north, that the genetic basis of the introductions should be widened, and that seed should be used as the main means of introduction as it has several advantages over plants. The Cypripedium Committee needs to be more open and the involvement of local communities and organisations increased.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Cypripedium Committee
  topic: keywords
subject: guidelines
  topic: keywords
subject: ecology
  topic: keywords
subject: climate change
  topic: keywords
subject: introduction as seed
  topic: keywords
subject: assisted migration
  topic: keywords
creator: David Trudgill
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 David Trudgill https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2025-08-14
publication date: 2025-08-14
starting page: 60
ending page: 72
doi: 10.33928/bib.2025.07.060

New names in British Sorbus (Rosaceae)
type: item
description: A new triploid species Sorbus fayana L.Houston & T.C.G.Rich is named from the Mendips. A new name is given for Sorbus aria × S. porrigentiformis hybrids = Sorbus × pseudoporrigentiformis T.C.G.Rich & L.Houston. A new combination Sorbus wyensis (D.Green) T.C.G.Rich is made. Sorbus incana Hedl., a cultivated species recently discovered introduced in Dorset, is neotypified.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: hybrid
  topic: keywords
subject: neotype
  topic: keywords
subject: new species
  topic: keywords
creator: Tim Rich
creator: L. Houston
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 T.C.G. Rich, L. Houston https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2025-03-07
publication date: 2025-03-07
starting page: 30
ending page: 36
doi: 10.33928/bib.2025.07.030

Charlotte Grace O’Brien (1845-1909), her botanical interests and achievements
type: item
description: Charlotte Grace O’Brien, whose father William Smith O’Brien was the parliamentarian and revolutionary, was best known for her campaigning work to improve conditions for emigrants from Ireland to America in the first half of the 1880s. Apart from her political writings, her poems, essays and a novel were also published. A Memoir of her life was written in the year she died (1909), but little was known about her considerable contribution to Irish botany, including many of her plant records accepted by Robert Lloyd Praeger. She always had a great love and knowledge of the countryside and its wildlife. For several years towards the end of her life, she collaborated with professional botanist Matilda Knowles doing fieldwork in the north-west of Co. Limerick, collecting numerous plant specimens (now in the National Herbarium at the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin) and resulting in their publication ‘The Flora of the Barony of Shanid’ in 1907. Miss O’Brien’s botanical achievements and legacy are discussed along with relevant work, mainly by relatives.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Limerick botany
  topic: keywords
subject: Limerick Field Club
  topic: keywords
subject: Matilda Knowles
  topic: keywords
subject: Robert Lloyd Praeger
  topic: keywords
subject: National Herbarium Dublin (DBN)
  topic: keywords
creator: Sylvia Reynolds
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Sylvia C.P. Reynolds https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2025-03-07
publication date: 2025-03-07
starting page: 10
ending page: 29
doi: 10.33928/bib.2025.07.010

Combinations in Pyrus (Rosaceae) required for inclusion in the second edition of Whitebeams, Rowans and Service Trees, BSBI Handbook No. 14.
type: item
description: In preparation for the second edition of Whitebeams, Rowans and Service Trees, BSBI Handbook No. 14., eight new combinations and one new name are provided to establish a complete set of names in Pyrus, covering taxa of Sorbus sensu lato. Additionally, one new combination is proposed for a species of Cotoneaster that is naturalised in Kent.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: generic delimitation
  topic: keywords
subject: monophyly
  topic: keywords
subject: taxonomy
  topic: keywords
subject: synonymy
  topic: keywords
creator: Michael F. Fay
creator: Maarten J. M. Christenhusz
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Michael F. Fay; Maarten J. M. Christenhusz https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2025-08-14
publication date: 2025-08-14
starting page: 143
ending page: 147
doi: 10.33928/bib.2025.07.143

Summary of the current status of the Montane and sub Montane plants of the Moffat Hills in Dumfriesshire.
type: item
description: In 1958 Derek Ratcliffe described the relict montane and submontane flora in the Moffat Hills. He gave a fuller account of 63 of the species in an unpublished listing in 1990. Recent survey work has attempted to refind all of these species and determine their full distribution in these hills.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: relict montane flora
  topic: keywords
subject: Derek Ratcliffe
  topic: keywords
subject: species rediscovery
  topic: keywords
subject: rare plants
  topic: keywords
subject: plant conservation
  topic: keywords
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
creator: Christopher Miles
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Christopher Miles https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2025-08-14
publication date: 2025-08-14
starting page: 116
ending page: 132
doi: 10.33928/bib.2025.07.116

CORRECTION: A new species of Aria (Rosaceae) from the Wye Valley, Wales
type: item
description: Correction to the article ‘A new species of Aria (Rosaceae) from the Wye Valley, Wales’ by Green (2024), which appeared in the last issue of British & Irish Botany (6.1). Grid reference of holotype of Aria wyensis D.Green was given as ‘SO5307797377’, when in fact it is ‘ST5307797377’.
subject: Corrections
  topic: section
subject: Correction
  topic: keywords
creator: D Green
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 D. Green https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2024-12-20
publication date: 2024-12-20
starting page: 184
ending page: 184
doi: 10.33928/bib.2024.06.184

Ipomoea tiliacea (Convolvulaceae) seeds stranded on the south-west coast of Ireland
type: item
description: Three 4 mm drift seeds collected from St Finan’s Bay on the south-west coast of Ireland were cultivated to produce climbing plants with cordate to trilobed leaves. The sequence of the Internal Transcribed Spacer region of ribosomal DNA of these plants provided a match for Ipomoea tiliacea (Willd.) Choisy. This plant is native from the Bahamas to southern Brazil, commonly occurring in maritime regions of the mainland and islands. This is the first record of seeds of this species likely to have been carried across the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean. Records of this plant, elsewhere in Europe, require confirmation.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Ocean drift; ribosomal DNA; germination; disseminule; long-distance dispersal
  topic: keywords
creator: Dan Minchin
creator: Claire Griffin
creator: Mark Carine
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Dan Minchin, Claire Griffin, Mark Carine https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2024-12-20
publication date: 2024-12-20
starting page: 133
ending page: 142
doi: 10.33928/bib.2024.06.133

The first British record of Oxalis corniculata (Oxalidaceae)
type: item
description: In a letter written to Thomas Penny in the late 1570s or 1580s, the physician William Brewer described a plant which had appeared in his garden in Chard, S. Somerset. Though it occurred throughout his garden, he could not find it elsewhere in the neighbourhood. He identified it as Oxys flore luteo of Clusius. His account of the plant, which included an original description of its explosive seed dispersal, is sufficiently detailed to support its identification as the current Oxalis corniculata L. It is much the earliest British record of this species.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Explosive seed dispersal
  topic: keywords
subject: Somerset
  topic: keywords
subject: Theatrum insectorum
  topic: keywords
subject: Thomas Penny
  topic: keywords
subject: William Brewer
  topic: keywords
subject: world-wide weed
  topic: keywords
creator: Christopher D. Preston
creator: David A. Pearman
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Christopher D. Preston, David A. Pearman https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2025-03-07
publication date: 2025-03-07
starting page: 43
ending page: 49
doi: 10.33928/bib.2025.07.043

More evidence gaps than grikes: how limestone pavements have fallen through the cracks of British conservation
type: item
description: Limestone pavements in Great Britain are a rare and internationally important habitat. They are highly protected for geological and ecological conservation. However, there are many knowledge gaps around conservation of this habitat as a consequence of a lack of research. The British National Vegetation Classification (NVC) scheme is difficult to apply to limestone pavements with no widely used alternative available, which contributes to the lack of available information. Together with the lack of research, this contributes to a lack of management advice targeted at the variety of British pavements. Habitat Directive reporting assessment criteria are out of date and at times, difficult to interpret or inappropriate. However, using existing criteria we can see that negative indicator species have increased over the last 50 years. These factors, combined with a lack of incentives for land owners, may be contributing to the poor condition of British limestone pavements.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Alvar
  topic: keywords
subject: Common Standards Monitoring
  topic: keywords
subject: Habitat management
  topic: keywords
subject: Karren
  topic: keywords
subject: Karst
  topic: keywords
subject: Lapaiz
  topic: keywords
creator: Carly Stevens
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Carly J. Stevens https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2025-03-07
publication date: 2025-03-07
starting page: 1
ending page: 9
doi: 10.33928/bib.2025.07.001

New records of New Zealand Pigmyweed, Crassula helmsii (Crassulaceae), in two Irish lakes
type: item
description: Crassula helmsii (Kirk) Cockayne (New Zealand Pigmyweed) is an invasive aquatic macrophyte first recorded on the island of Ireland in 1984. Since then, it has been found at numerous sites on the island, mostly in the east and south. This note provides information on new records collected in the Summer of 2023 in two Irish lakes. The records show a continued spread from east to west and provide confirmation of its presence in the headwaters of the largest riverine system on the island.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Invasive aquatic plant
  topic: keywords
subject: Lough Gowna
  topic: keywords
subject: Lough Caragh
  topic: keywords
creator: Caroline Plant
creator: Hugh Feeley
creator: Neasa McDonnell
creator: Ruth Little
creator: Deirdre Tierney
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Caroline Plant, Hugh B. Feeley, Neasa McDonnell, Ruth Little, Deirdre Tierney https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2025-03-07
publication date: 2025-03-07
starting page: 37
ending page: 42
doi: 10.33928/bib.2025.07.037

Bellflowers as bellwethers: how many unappreciated early records are there in herbarium collections?
type: item
description: A comparison of specimens of British and Irish Campanulaceae in the Natural History Museum herbarium revealed many specimens pre-dating the first vice-county (v.c.) record on the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (BSBI) Distribution Database. A total of 232 new first vice-county records were recognised, out of the 1860 species–v.c. combinations available in this family. These specimens encompassed a wide range of collectors, dates and localities. The mean age difference was 60 years (55 years for neophytes; 61 years for native species), and the greatest increase was 156 years.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
creator: Christopher Dixon
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Christopher J. Dixon https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2024-12-20
publication date: 2024-12-20
starting page: 167
ending page: 183
doi: 10.33928/bib.2024.06.167

A review of plants treated as Hieracium angustatum (Asteraceae) in Britain
type: item
description: Hieracium subangustatum, Lesser-leaved Hawkweed, is described as a new English Lake District endemic; it was formerly included under the Norwegian H. angustatum Lindeb. in Blytt (1874) (=H. angustatum (Lindeb.) Lindeb., 1877). A lectotype is selected for H. caesium Fr. var. angustatum Lindeb. (1872), the basionym of H. angustatum Lindeb.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Hieracium caesium Fr. var. angustatum; Hieracium angustatum (Lindeb.) Lindeb.; Hieracium subangustatum T.C.G.Rich; holotype; lectotype.
  topic: keywords
creator: Tim Rich
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 T.C.G. Rich https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2025-03-07
publication date: 2025-03-07
starting page: 50
ending page: 59
doi: 10.33928/bib.2025.07.050

Conservation of Britain’s biodiversity: Status of the rare English endemic Hieracium mammidens (Breast-toothed Hawkweed; Asteraceae)
type: item
description: Hieracium mammidens P.D.Sell, Breast-toothed Hawkweed, is a rare South-east England endemic. Common garden experiments showed that minor differences between populations at Waltham Park and Caesar’s Camp are not sufficient to recognise separate taxa. Excision of florets on five plants showed that seed is produced in similar amounts to control heads, thus demonstrating it is apomictic. A survey of all sites in 2024 found 162 plants in four populations; it was not refound in seven sites and is unconfirmed in another four sites. It is IUCN Threat Status ‘Endangered’.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: apomixis
  topic: keywords
subject: IUCN threat status
  topic: keywords
creator: Tim Rich
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Timothy C.G. Rich https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2024-12-20
publication date: 2024-12-20
starting page: 153
ending page: 166
doi: 10.33928/bib.2024.06.153

The site of the Westminster Physic Garden
type: item
description: There has been a considerable amount of speculation about the site of the Westminster Physic Garden (WPG) over the years. The actual site is here defined as the area bound by Great College Street (Dead Wall) to the north, Bowling Alley to the west, Wood Street to the south and Mill Bank to the east. The background to the setting up of the WPG is discussed in the context of How(e)'s Phytologia Britannica, 1650, and Merrett's Pinax, 1666, and the end of the English Civil war.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Morgan; How(e); Morison; Phytologia; Pinax; Abbey
  topic: keywords
creator: Frank Horsman
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 F. Horsman https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2024-06-21
publication date: 2024-06-21
starting page: 93
ending page: 97
doi: 10.33928/bib.2024.093

Variation in the Ononis repens group (Fabaceae): implications for species determination and conservation
type: item
description: Whilst going through the Ononis L. specimens in the British & Irish Herbarium at the Natural History Museum, London (BM), problems were encountered with distinguishing some specimens of O. repens L. from O. spinosa L. due to conflicting morphological characteristics. This may come as no surprise to those familiar with identifying Ononis, but it did prompt an interesting investigation into the herbarium specimens at BM, as well as a survey of relevant literature and field observations. What emerged is an interesting story in which both genetic and environmental factors appear to influence Ononis morphology in ways that could have implications for recording accuracy and conservation. To further explore this, the ploidy levels of putative hybrids collected in the field were assessed using flow cytometry. As expected, O. spinosa was confirmed to be diploid and O. repens tetraploid, suggesting that any F₁ hybrids should be triploid. However, all morphologically intermediate specimens analysed were diploid. It is therefore hypothesised that these diploid intermediates are a form of O. spinosa displaying some morphological features of O. repens due to phenotypic adaptation or introgression. The ecological and taxonomic implications of these findings are discussed.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: phenotypic plasticity
  topic: keywords
subject: hybrids
  topic: keywords
subject: polyploidy
  topic: keywords
subject: Restharrows
  topic: keywords
creator: Christopher A. Skilbeck
creator: Michael Wilcox
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Christopher A. Skilbeck, Michael Wilcox https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2025-08-14
publication date: 2025-08-14
starting page: 98
ending page: 115
doi: 10.33928/bib.2025.07.098

Emily Margaret Wood: Botany, illustration, nature writing and teaching in Liverpool at the end of the long nineteenth century
type: item
description: Emily Margaret Wood (1865-1907) is today best known to botanists for her extensive set of illustrations in the 1902 Flora of the Liverpool District. In addition, she is a minor name in the history of British ceramics as an artist working at the Della Robbia Pottery in Birkenhead. Here we outline her life and career, showing that she had a much wider influence on botany in Liverpool around 1900, especially via the Liverpool Naturalists’ Field Club. Her botanical illustration work was more extensive than just the Flora illustrations – and includes a set of surviving water colours of fungi of the Liverpool area. She also worked in local journalism, writing country diary style essays for local papers, and as a teacher of botany and Nature Study. In addition, she produced a British edition of George Atkinson’s Nature Study text, First Studies of Plant Life, a couple of years before her premature death aged 42.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Local flora
  topic: keywords
subject: Botanical illustration
  topic: keywords
subject: Della Robbia
  topic: keywords
subject: Nature Study
  topic: keywords
subject: 'painting one's Bentham'
  topic: keywords
creator: David Wilkinson
creator: Janet O'Regan
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 David M. Wilkinson, Janet O’Regan https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2024-12-20
publication date: 2024-12-20
starting page: 116
ending page: 132
doi: 10.33928/bib.2024.06.116

Sambucus canadensis × S. nigra (Sambucaceae): a hybrid Elder in northern Scotland
type: item
description: A Sambucus (Elder) taxon is reported from four locations in northern Scotland. On morphological grounds this is considered to be the hybrid of S. canadensis and S. nigra. It is likely that some records of S. canadensis from Great Britain actually refer to this hybrid.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Beachen wood
  topic: keywords
subject: neophyte
  topic: keywords
subject: morphological evidence
  topic: keywords
creator: Andy Amphlett
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Andy Amphlett https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2024-12-20
publication date: 2024-12-20
starting page: 98
ending page: 115
doi: 10.33928/bib.2024.06.098

Tree and scrub species of the Treeline Ecotone in the Cairngorms National Park, Scotland
type: item
description: Expansion of native woodland, in places up to a natural treeline with montane scrub above, is a priority within the Cairngorms National Park (CNP). Thirty native and six non-native tree and scrub species (phanerophytes and nano-phanerophytes) have records within the CNP treeline ecotone, defined as between 500 and 1000 m altitude. The altitudinal distribution (using a 25 m altitude interval) of the native species is analysed at monad (1 km grid square) precision. Results are displayed as the raw monad counts, monad counts calibrated to take account of altitudinal recording bias, and calibrated monad counts as a percentage of monads within the CNP. Summing the calibrated species monad counts in each altitude (25 m) class provides a combined measure of spatial and altitudinal frequency. The same ten species occupy the top ten rank frequency positions in each of the altitudinal zones (forest line, treeline woodland and montane scrub). Therefore, across the whole treeline ecotone, we can expect woodland and scrub to comprise the same mix of species, though their proportions will vary, both altitudinally and geographically. Juniperus communis and Sorbus aucuparia are the two most widespread species in all three zones, Pinus sylvestris is in 4th or 5th place, while Betula pubescens is in 7th or 8th place. In Norway there is typically a 'birch belt', in which Betula pubescens var. pumila (L.) Govaerts forms the highest treeline, above the altitudinal limit of Pinus sylvestris. It has recently been argued that an equivalent birch belt used to be present in Scotland, and should be a target for conservation interventions to restore it. The present analysis does not provide support for this view. While the low rank position of B. pubescens may reflect lack of seed sources and browsing pressure, that P. sylvestris occurs to very high altitudes, and comprises a higher percentage of the combined CNP calibrated taxon monad totals above 700 m than it does from 500-700 m strongly su…
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: forest line; scrub line; montane scrub; mountain birch; birch belt; introgression
  topic: keywords
creator: Andy Amphlett
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Andy Amphlett https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2024-06-21
publication date: 2024-06-21
starting page: 7
ending page: 70
doi: 10.33928/bib.2024.06.007

Hieracium gothicum (Asteraceae): a forgotten species
type: item
description: The history of recording H. gothicum Fr. in the 19th and 20th centuries in Britain is given, and the rediscovery of specimens supporting the record by Dr. Druce in 1931 is reported. This Berkshire record is accepted as H. gothicum Fr. A link to digital images of Dahlstedt’s Herb. Hierac. Skand. XI:73 & 75 (1899), from the type locality, is provided. Images of a recently collected Swedish specimen, together with the 1931 English specimens, are included below and help to confirm the identification by Dr. Zahn.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: hawkweed; Fries; Druce; Pugsley; Zahn
  topic: keywords
creator: James Bevan
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 J. Bevan https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2024-06-21
publication date: 2024-06-21
starting page: 78
ending page: 90
doi: 10.33928/bib.2024.06.078

A new species of Aria (Rosaceae) from the Wye Valley, Wales
type: item
description: Aria wyensis D.Green is a new endemic species of whitebeam from the Wye Valley, Wales. It is a member of the Aria porrigentiformis group with small (6–9 cm), broadly obtrullate to oblanceolate leaves with few (5–7) pairs of lateral veins, prominent, forward-facing, acuminate, biserrate lobes and small (5–6 cm across), few-flowered inflorescences. Flow cytometry indicates it is tetraploid. The population when first found consisted of 16 trees but this number has subsequently been reduced due to inappropriate action by climbers to 12 trees. Conservation action is required to prevent further loss.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Aria wyensis; Critically Endangered; endemic; Sorbus; whitebeam
  topic: keywords
creator: David Green
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 D. Green https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2024-06-21
publication date: 2024-06-21
starting page: 1
ending page: 6
doi: 10.33928/bib.2024.06.001

Names and descriptions of two hybrid scurvygrasses (Cochlearia; Brassicaceae)
type: item
description: Binomials are provided for two Cochlearia (Brassicaceae) hybrids: C. danica × C. officinalis = C. × stacei T.C.G.Rich and C. atlantica × C. danica = C. × occidentalis T.C.G.Rich. Full descriptions are given together with pointers to differentiate between the two hybrids.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Cochlearia atlantica; Cochlearia danica; Cochlearia officinalis; holotype
  topic: keywords
creator: Tim Rich
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Timothy C.G. Rich https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2024-06-21
publication date: 2024-06-21
starting page: 71
ending page: 77
doi: 10.33928/bib.2024.06.071

Clematis vitalba (Traveller’s-joy) (Ranunculaceae) is invasive on the Sefton Coast sand-dunes, north Merseyside, UK
type: item
description: Increasing concern about the apparent spread of Clematis vitalba (Traveller’s-joy) in the Sefton Coast sand-dune system, north Merseyside, led to a survey in the summer of 2023 to determine its status. A total of 117 patches of the plant was mapped, covering about 0.64 ha of protected fixed and semi-fixed dune habitats. The pattern of distribution suggested spread by both woody stems and seed. A positive skewness towards smaller and therefore younger patches indicated an early stage in colonisation. The known invasive character of C. vitalba on sand-dunes elsewhere provides a strong case for management action. Methods for controlling C. vitalba are discussed.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: clusters
  topic: keywords
subject: control
  topic: keywords
subject: fixed-dune
  topic: keywords
subject: herbicides
  topic: keywords
subject: increase
  topic: keywords
subject: patch-areas
  topic: keywords
creator: Philip Howard Smith
creator: Joyce Jarvis
creator: David Jarvis
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Philip H. Smith, Joyce Jarvis, David Jarvis https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2024-12-20
publication date: 2024-12-20
starting page: 143
ending page: 152
doi: 10.33928/bib.2024.06.143

Is Artemisia campestris subsp. maritima (syn. Artemisia crithmifolia), Asteraceae native in Britain?
type: item
description: The recent discovery of Artemisia campestris L. subsp. maritima Arcang. (syn. A. crithmifolia L.) in Britain raises questions over its native status, with possibly significant consequences for the conservation agencies. This review finds difficulties, however, in the biogeographic and ecological arguments for native status, and better evidence for non-native status in the molecular genetic data. These arguments carry different weight but, on balance, A. campestris subsp. maritima seems more likely to have arrived relatively recently in Britain, by anthropogenic means, and is therefore best understood as a neophyte.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: native/non-native assessment
  topic: keywords
subject: molecular genetics
  topic: keywords
subject: neophyte
  topic: keywords
subject: conservation significance of subspecies
  topic: keywords
creator: Andy Jones
creator: Fred Rumsey
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Andy Jones, Fred Rumsey https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2024-01-05
publication date: 2024-01-05
doi: 10.33928/bib.2023.05.295

The shifting ecology and distribution of one of Britain’s rarest plants: Orobanche picridis (Orobanchaceae)
type: item
description: Orobanche picridis F.W. Schultz (Picris Broomrape) is perhaps the rarest and certainly the most misidentified British broomrape. This rare plant was perceived to have a distinct ecology in Britain where, until recently, extant populations were virtually restricted to high, chalk sea cliffs. Though widely recorded across Southern England, most records have proven to be erroneous due to confusion with the similar, often co-occurring, common broomrape (O. minor). The preference of O. picridis for steep and inaccessible chalky ledges affords it some protection from collection, however encroachment of scrub and coastal erosion pose a conservation risk. We present data from a 20-year survey of populations in Kent revealing a fifteenfold fluctuation in annual abundance. We also report the astonishing recent discovery of a thriving meta-population of O. picridis in brownfield sites in South Wales. Finally, in light of these dynamics, we provide practical recommendations for conservation of one of Britain’s most elusive and unpredictable species.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: taxonomy
  topic: keywords
subject: British Isles
  topic: keywords
subject: host race
  topic: keywords
subject: parasitic plant
  topic: keywords
subject: range expansion
  topic: keywords
creator: F.J. Rumsey
creator: C.J. Thorogood
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 F.J. Rumsey, C.J. Thorogood https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2024-01-05
publication date: 2024-01-05
doi: 10.33928/bib.2023.05.303

Edward Morgan (c.1615-1689) and his botanical pupil Edward Lhwyd (c.1660-1709)
type: item
description: Edward Morgan introduced Edward Lhwyd to field botany but this has never been recognised. Lhwyd attracts the highest praise as a botanist, antiquary and philologist. He is profoundly recognised. This paper seeks to redress this imbalance. Little is known about Morgan principally because he never ventured into print. He is thought to have trained as a gardener possibly with John Tradescant Snr. (c.1570-1638), Jacob Bobart the elder (c.1599-1680) and Robert Morison (1620-1683). Morgan knew the Tradescants, the Bobarts, Robert Morison, John Parkinson and others of the contemporary British botanical elite. He accompanied Thomas Johnson (1600- or 1604-1644) on his Snowdon herborizing[1] as interpreter when, at age about 20, Johnson described him as a “student of botany”. He knew William How (1620-1656), the anonymous author of Phytologia Botannica, 1650, and with him set up the Westminster Physic Garden (henceforth WPG) in 1650/51. It attracted many well-known botanists, for example, John Tradescant the elder & younger, Jacob Bobart the elder & younger, Robert Morison, Edward Lhwyd, Thomas Lawson, James Petiver, Leonard Plukenet, John Ray, Thomas Willisel, Sam Doody, William Coles, Sam Brewer etc. Evelyn and Pepys also visited. Morgan was a well-respected botanist and gardener for a long period in London. He left the WPG in 1678 to return to North Wales. He met Lhwyd and introduced him to, and tutored him in, field botany. Lhwyd was later to become a field botanist with the highest of reputations. Morgan was his major botanical influence in Lhwyd's early days as a field botanist. An attempt is made to document what is known of Morgan's life and his achievements, bearing in mind that his circumstances were such that he left little behind. Morgan was probably more influential in the discovery of the Welsh flora than he is given credit. His skill as a botanist is gauged by the high respect shown to him by his botanical peers in his lifetime.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Westminster Physic Garden
  topic: keywords
subject: Thomas Johnson
  topic: keywords
subject: Bobart
  topic: keywords
subject: John Ward
  topic: keywords
subject: Robert Morison
  topic: keywords
subject: Westminster Abbey Muniments
  topic: keywords
creator: Frank Horsman
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Frank Horsman https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2024-01-05
publication date: 2024-01-05
doi: 10.33928/bib.2023.05.276

Validation of the binomials Hieracium aristidens, Hieracium kintyricum and Hieracium sowadeense (Asteraceae)
type: item
description: Hieracium aristidens P.D.Sell, H. kintyricum P.D.Sell and H. sowadeense P.D.Sell (Asteraceae), binomials illegitimately published without the location of the holotypes, are validated on P.D. Sell’s behalf.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: International Code of Botanical Nomenclature; holotype
  topic: keywords
creator: Tim Rich
creator: John Crossley
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Timothy C.G. Rich, John Crossley https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2024-06-21
publication date: 2024-06-21
starting page: 91
ending page: 92
doi: 10.33928/bib.2024.06.091

Teasing Tansley? A 'tremendus' caricature from the launch party for the Flora of the British Isles
type: item
description: On the 24th March 1952 a celebratory luncheon was held to mark the publication of Clapham, Tutin and Warburg’s Flora of the British Isles. The cover of the menu shows a caricature of what appears to be the plant ecologist Arthur Tansley drawn as a tree, and labelled ‘supercilius tremendus’. Using this, and other lines of evidence (both written and interviews), we discuss how his colleagues viewed Tansley, and the role of humour in helping to cement groups of scientists.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Arthur Tansley
  topic: keywords
subject: history of ecology
  topic: keywords
subject: humour
  topic: keywords
subject: British flora
  topic: keywords
creator: David M Wilkinson
creator: Laura Jean Cameron
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 David M Wilkinson, Laura Jean Cameron https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
date: 2024-01-05
publication date: 2024-01-05
doi: 10.33928/bib.2023.05.259