Italian Arum Lilies

Bill Keatley found an interesting Arum with white veined leaves near Ryde and asked 'Could it be Arum italicum ssp neglectum?'. Actually it looks like the even rarer Arum italicum subspecies italicum which appears to be increasing in the northern part of the Island.

Pear on Tapnell Down

Hilary Higgins sent us some records of Pear trees found around the Island and accompanying them a photo of one from Tapnell Down which might be a native species, Wild Pear (Pyrus pyraster). If so we will be pleased to hear of it as little is known about its occurrence here.

Sightings from around the Island

Keith and Anne Marston sent us some pictures taken on walks. A varied and interesting collection.

The weather was so bad even Lobsters got out of the sea for a stroll along the beach.

Long-leaved Lungwort, one of our Island specialities in woods north of the chalk in spring.

This plant is pretty frequent in woodland here on the Island and around the New Forest but is absent from the rest of the country. In the case of the Forest it is like many other species which have persisted there but been wiped out in the rest of the south of England. Here we are just lucky.

You might know our special butterfly, the Glanville Fritillary, but do you know its caterpillars?

Here they are seen on their usual foodplant Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) one of the commonest species in Britain, unlike the Fritillary, our Society emblem.

Harlequins

Gary Taylor found a Harlequin Ladybird in Apse Heath and sent us some pictures.
Our Beetles Recorder, Bill Shepard, was pleased to receive the record as this is a species he is particularly interested in which seems to be increasing on the Island in recent years.

Milk Thistles

Back in December some unusual rosettes of leaves were noticed on unused ground near Sandown High School, with leaves showing an elegant pattern of white variegation.

By April quite spectacular flowers had appeared. The grounds nearby were strimmed but clearly whoever did it liked them too, because the thistles escaped the strim and can still (June) be seen there, at the corner of Station Approach and The Fairway, Sandown.

HEAP - Good meeting

The Botany Group came out in force to survey Froglands Lane for the HEAP Project and compiled a list of over 100 species of plants between the Priory and Carisbrooke Castle, along Froglands and Millers Lanes.

An interesting record was of Goldilocks Buttercup (Ranunculus auricomus) outside its usual woodland habitat, on a shady field border.

Dwarf Sedge (Carex humilis)

In April a few hardy members of the Botany Group visited the site of this recently discovered rarity, looking for flowers. Only the merest hint was to be found of the beginning of a flowering shoot.

In early May another visit was made by Colin Pope, and he was rewarded by quite a few short spikes of flower showing amongst the grass. This is quite a late date for this species, especially interesting in view of the advancement of the season this year with many species showing a couple of weeks earlier than usual.

Rare Broomrapes on the upsurge.

Within less than a week two new sites have been found for one of our rarest plants, the Purple Broomrape (Orobanche purpurea). Flowering at the beginning of the month, an earlier time in the season than usual.

This is definitely worth looking out for. If you find any please let us know!

...and Oxtongue Broomrape,

(Orobanche artemisiae-campestris) which used to be confined to one small and precipitous part of the cliffs at High Down, is extending its range at a phenomenal rate eastwards, seen here on Compton Down.

This is an extremely rare species in Britain and protected by law. Since 1970 it has been found in only two other locations both on the south coast of Britain, east of Wight, in Sussex and Kent.

An exciting find at Yaverland.

A flint blade has been discovered recently at Yaverland by Chris Ratsey of the Archaeology Group, in connection with a hearth of the same period. It is thought to date from late Mesolithic to early Neolithic times and was found along with other burnt flakes and scraps of flint. This is a very important find.

Bleak Down restoration

The botany group were informed about work being undertaken by Wight Nature to restore part of what was the best inland heath in the County. Its use as a rubbish dump in the past has degraded the habitats of most of the area but a small part survives at the north end. Here the native open heath had been scrubbing over with natural succession towards woodland. Clearance of the scrub has allowed several species like Blue Water-Speedwell (Veronica anagallis-aquatica) to re-appear for the first time in many years.

The pond, an old gravel-pit, had been gloomy and dark with much Willow. The sunny margins now have Floating Club-rush (Eleogiton fluitans), which had been thought extinct on the Island, and Thread-leaved Water-crowfoot (Ranunculus trichophyllus), both returned possibly from impoverished survivors, or from seed perhaps at the limit of its fertile lifetime.

False Cleavers in the Central Downs

At the beginning of the month visiting and resident botanists looked at some of the less well known parts of the Island's Central Downs, west of the Bowcombe Road. Amongst other interesting arable weeds, like Dense-flowered Fumitory (Fumaria densiflora) and Rough Poppy (Papaver hybridum), was found a spectacular rarity, False Cleavers (Galium spurium). The two populations of plants, although just under a mile apart, were each amongst the same type of crop, a seed mix designed for game birds, and it is likely that they came in with the mix.

This species has been seen in the uk only once in the last eight years and only three times in the twelve years previous to that. It is an interesting new addition to the Island's Flora.

Spectacular it may be, in terms of rarity, but it looks almost exactly the same as Cleavers which is one of the commonest plants in Britain; a plant which few would describe as beautiful. The flowers of False Cleavers are small and yellow-green and the fruiting stems are straight and spread at angles to each other. Cleavers, the common species, is also known as Goosegrass or Sticky-weed. It has slightly larger white flowers and fruit with strongly-hooked bristles which are bulbous at the base.

Stop press : There has been another sighting this year in Cumberland. We have yet to learn the details...

Fungus Forays in parkhurst Forest.

The annual fungus forays of the Society began with a visit to Parkhurst Forest, one of our best Island sites. The visiting expert was kept busy by an enthusiastic group of all ages.