A good week for plants; botanist gets a soaking

Not a good week for botany - got soaked four times on the cycle to or from work this week.  Plants seem to be lapping it up and the prospects of a productive May onwards look excellent.  Found Cochlearia danica in flower alongside the main road from Basingstoke town centre towards the west and sorted out Veronica filiformis and Pentaglottis sempervirens both in flower near the Milestones Museum.  This together with a white-flowered variety of Lunaria annua at the entrance to the Harvester Restaurant brings my total to 299, so just two to go to reach 25%.

     Veronica filiformis showing the long elongated (filiform) stalks to the flowers and young fruit

Fritillaria in a Basingstoke roundabout

No botany in Hampshire in the last week due to a much needed holiday.  Went to Tunisia and got acquainted with some of the Mediterranean flora along with archaeology and a rest.  Just before going I spotted the local council had done a mixed planting in the roundabout outside the Basingstoke Leisure Centre which included Fritillaria meleagris.  On returning I tried to find marsh marigold in Glebe Gardens in the centre of Basingstoke but it wasn't apparent this year.  Cardamine pratensis and Carex acutiformis were in flower so they were added to my list which now stands at 293 species.  Just eight more species to reach the 25% mark.

Fritillaria melagris in a Basingstoke roundabout

Euphorbia amygdaloides - wood spurge

Just thought I'd post this photograph of the wood spurge from Pamber Forest as it seemed to capture something of the plant

The project overview

I've set myself a two-year challenge of photographing and compiling identification guides to the plants that grow in North Hampshire, UK.  Last year I condensed down the standard UK plant keys from Clapham, Tutin and Warburg to include just the species that occur in North Hampshire.  I then had to add to these as there were a number of plants not included in that work.  I consulted the Botanical Society of the British Isles website which gives listings of species occurring and then edited the list taking out hybrids, casuals and the members of the large genera of dandelions, brambles and hawkweeds.  Having done this it left 1203 species.  In the last part of last year and the early part of this year I have photographed a total of 284 species. 

Today a short visit to Pamber Forest added Oxalis acetosella, Anemone nemorosa, Euphorbia amygdaloides, Viola reichenbachiana, (shown above) Ranunculus poeticus and Callitriche platycarpa.  This means the running total is now 290 species (just over 24%)