SID VALLEY HERBACEOUS FLOWER SURVEY 2021, JUNE UPDATE

For those who have not read our previous monthly reports, the Sid Valley Biodiversity Group is carrying out a year-long survey of the valley’s herbaceous plants recording what is in flower each month.

This is a citizen scientist project with volunteers from the group noting which flowers they see when out walking around the town and in the countryside. This is not totally random, apart from casual walks, a number of sites around the valley have been selected for regular survey to represent a range of habitats including the beach, hedgerows, heath, and open grassland, the sites are spread to cover the valley from north to south and east to west.

As the name suggests, the group is interested in recording and promoting the biodiversity of the valley and there is plenty of plant biodiversity. This month, the volunteers have recorded 192 species in flower, 83 of them for the first time this year. In all, they have recorded 275 species of herbaceous flowering plants this year. See Appendix 1 for this month’s newcomers and Appendix 2 for the full list and the months in which the individual species have been recorded.

The herbaceous flowering plants are only a part of the plant biodiversity. There are some species, the grasses, rushes, and sedges, that have escaped recording because the volunteers do not yet have the skill to distinguish these tricky groups, training is earmarked for next year. The valley is also home to non-flowering plants such as mosses and ferns, and woody tree and shrub species. Sidmouth Arboretum has 149 tree and shrub species in its database. The total number of plant species is believed to be more than six hundred.

Some of the common plants have been with us all year, Dandelions and Daisies on the grass verges, Herb Robert and Red Campion in the hedgerows, and Ivy Leaved Toadflax lodged in the cracks of garden walls. This makes them vital contributors to the valley’s total biodiversity because there will be insects that rely on them as an ongoing food source.

There tends to be great excitement about pretty species such as wild Roses and others such as Bee Orchids (see right) that are unusual or rare. While these species are important, rather like the celebrity culture that occupies so much media space, the reality is that these celebrity species are no more important than the common or garden dandelion and daisy. From a biodiversity point of view, the celebrities contribute less to the whole. Orchids are fascinating, partly because they are highly evolved to synchronise their lives with particular insects. In many cases, they are pollinated by just one species of insect and so they support only that species which will have its breeding cycle fitted to the short flowering period of the orchids. Dandelions and daisies are open to most pollen and nectar feeders, and they flower across much of the year, their presence is the basis for a much more extensive food chain.

Another advantage for biodiversity that the Dandelions and Daisies have is that they have what are called composite flowers. Each yellow ray of a dandelion and each little yellow bump on the disc of a daisy is a floret, a complete flower with its own nectar to attract an insect and hence transfer the pollen. Mexican Fleabane is an exotic (non-native) composite species that thrives around Sidmouth. I was fascinated recently to stand for five minutes watching a Meadow Brown butterfly sat on a Mexican Fleabane flower head, the butterfly’s proboscis working round from floret to floret sucking up the nectar.

The composite flower family is very extensive, and the Dandelion and Daisy flowers have been joined by at least eleven cousins this month. There is Goat’s Beard which looks like a tall Dandelion but, as the common name Go-to-Bed-at-Noon suggests, its flower heads only open in the morning. When pollinated, the seed heads (see left) look like Dandelions on steroids with each achene, a fruit with a single seed inside, having a large parachute pappus.

Much less showy is Pineapple Weed (see right). Usually treated as a weed, this cousin of Chamomile is a rich nectar source for small solitary bees and beetles which it attracts

with its rich smell of pineapple rather than a show of floral brilliance. The flower heads can be added to salads, and it is used as a herbal remedy for upset stomachs, I cannot say whether or not it works.

If you can imagine a Dandelion flower head in Wedgwood blue then you have Chicory which just made it onto the June list, but it is in full bloom through July. It is one of the species sown in Sid Meadow in The Byes and, as a perennial, it is now established firmly. Chicory leaves are eaten in salads, cultivated varieties include Endive and Radicchio. When dried, roasted, and ground, the root is a coffee substitute, but not to my taste.

Another branch of the composite flower family that comes into full flower in June are the Thistles with four species being recorded in June. Seen by many as a scourge to be eradicated, Thistles are very important if you want the joy of butterflies, especially Painted Ladies. Thistles produce more nectar per flower head than almost all other summer flowers. Another plus is that the fluffy seed heads are a particular favourite of Goldfinches. Of course, if you sit on one, Thistles can be painful.

Creeping Thistle is one of the June four. It can be an invasive weed and needs to be controlled in parks and gardens. The Creeping Thistle spreads by underground rhizomes, the three other June species are more well behaved. As the name suggests, Marsh Thistle (see right) grows in damp ground, and it sends up a single flowering stem to an impressive 2m (6ft+). Spear Thistles are not as tall, but the spines are very impressive. Melancholy Thistle is a northern species and probably a garden escape in the Sid valley. It gets its name because the developing flower heads hang down as if the plant is sad and then perk up. Medieval herbalists thought this was a sign that it would cure melancholy. Culpepper considered that a decoction of this Thistle in wine ‘being drank expels superfluous melancholy out of the body and makes a man as merry as a cricket’. There is no evidence it will work other than the joy gained by seeing the beautiful flowers feeding lots of insects.

Orchids are not the only plants with flowers that have evolved complex mechanisms to promote pollination by flying insects. The Clover and Vetch family continues to have several species in flower, and they have been joined by two more, Meadow and Grass Vetchling (see left). The latter has elegant single flowers held at the end of long, springy stalks so that only small solitary wasps can pollinate them. Two petals of the flower protrude as a keel that is a landing stage for visiting insects. As the insect lands, the keel dips down to open the flower and admit the insect where it will either pick up or deliver pollen depending on the maturity of the flower.

The flowers of the Mint and Deadnettle family also have a landing stage for visiting insects (see left) that trips a pollinating mechanism in the hood, although the flower is more open than Vetch flowers. The family used to be called Labiates which means Lipped. Two family members, Hedge and Marsh Woundwort have joined the list this month. The two species are very similar, the leaves of Hedge Woundwort have petioles or stalks while Marsh Woundwort has sessile leaves, they have no petiole. It is no surprise that Hedge Woundwort can be found in the valley’s hedgerows, but Marsh Woundwort has taken up residence on the beach around the outfall of Bickwell Brook by the Belmont Hotel. It grows in the boggy meadows up on Bulverton Hill and the seeds have probably been carried down in the stream.

Marsh Woundwort is not the only plant on the beach. A shingle beach is a challenging environment for any plant, the instability of the shifting pebbles, salt spray, lack of fresh water and strong winds being the main challenges. There are several plants that have adapted and colonised this niche environment, but many are endangered by environmental changes. The plants have deep roots to reach fresh groundwater deep below the shingle, leaves that are reduced or covered in waxy scales to cut down water lost through transpiration, and they tend to keep their heads down to avoid the wind. A group of local botanists created a beach garden several years ago to provide a home for some of these endangered species. Some did not make it, but there are two areas where several are thriving, by the Bickwell Brook outfall and alongside the Millennium Walkway.

The two areas are dominated by stands of Sea Beet with its sturdy, deep green leaves and spikes of sticky flowers. Also, there are clumps of Sea Kale, (see left) the wild ancestor of many cabbage types. It has large leaves with their waxy coat making them silvery grey. The large spikes of white flowers give way to round seed pods that look like strings of pearls.

There is a carpet of the delightful Sea Campion (see right) on the southern side of the Millennium Walkway area, but the flowers have nearly all gone to seed as June closes. It is a cousin to the familiar Red Campion present in so many of our hedgerows and the Bladder Campion that can be found on Alma Field, but it is prostrate, spreading out across the shingle.

The Sea Campion is ringed by clumps of the intense blue Viper’s Bugloss , a great favourite with Buff-tailed and Red-tailed Bumblebees. It is happy growing on beaches and sand dunes, but also occurs in chalk grassland. The unusual name is a combination of the spotted stem supposedly looking like a Viper and Bu-gloss is Greek for Ox tongue which relates to the bristly leaves.

Below the railings at the western end of the Esplanade you will find the impressive flowers of the Yellow Horned Poppy. On the walkway up from Jacob’s Ladder beach the tiny Rock Sea-Spurrey can be found. One seaside plant that does not to keep its head down is the Tree Mallow. This tough character is a perennial, and the tough stem bears the scars of previous years’ leaves.

If you visit the July project on iNaturalist you can see all of the species that we have recorded and there is a map that will show you where the plants were seen.

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/june-sidmouth-hedgerow-herbaceous

Month on month we get a fuller picture of the natural wealth of our valley and July has made an equally impressive start with many new flowers being found in the first week, a full report will be available in early August.

Ed Dolphin

Appendix 1, species recorded for the first time in June 2021