Turf wars

This is an long overdue blogpost is all about the brilliant bunch of botanists (an official collective noun?) who visited the Gatwick Stream site, east of the railway line back in May of this year.

Ragged Robin (Silene flos-cuculi) along Gatwick Stream

(Photo by Brian Pitkin)

This was no turf war (see what I did there?), but instead a meeting of two friendly botanical recording societies - Surrey and Sussex. Gatwick falls slap-bang in the no-man's-land of two differnet types of county border; modern county Sussex, vice-county Surrey (VC17). More details on county boundaries and biological recording can be found here:  http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/vicecounties.php

Gatwick Airport's biodiversity sites

Watch out you Sussex lot, Arthur has a stick and knows how to use it

The Gatwick Stream flood attenuation (adjacent to Thames Water Sewage Treatment Works) is a section of re-aligned river and excavated flood plain, created for the retention of huge amounts of water (around 186,000 m3 apparently) in major flood events. The site was artificially seeded 3 years ago and is being managed as an area for wildflowers and wetland plants.

The re-aligned section of the Gatwick Stream, June 2015

Having so many eagle-eyed botanists on site meant the gang was able to pick out even the tiniest specimens, resulting in a brilliantly comprehensive species list to add to our growing database at Gatwick!

Riparian vegetation grows well on the silt bars. Linda photographs in-channel vegetation

Pond Water-crowfoot (Ranunculus peltatus)

An important thing to note is that this area was artificially seeded and planted; many of these species might not have been found here naturally, and several sub-species from the continent have been accidentally introduced into the mix. While continuing to settle, it is still a very interesting site with winter waters eroding banks edges and rich silt deposits allowing new life to colonise.

The following are a selection of excellent photographs taken on the day by Jon Wilson and Linda Pitkin...

Narrow-fruited Watercress (Nasturtium microphyllum) (stamens dehiscing outwardly)

Photo by Jon Wilson

Grass Vetchling (Lathyrus nissolia)

Photo by Jon Wilson

Smooth Tare (Vicia tetrasperma)

Photo by Jon Wilson

Ragged Robin (Silene flos-cuculi)

Photo by Linda Pitkin

Fodder Burnet (Sanguisorba minor ssp. balearicum)

Photo by Jon Wilson

Fodder Vetch (Vicia villosa?)

Photo by Linda Pitkin

Brooklime (Veronica beccabunga)

Photo by Jon Wilson

Lesser Trefoil (Trifolium dubium)

Photo by Jon Wilson

Last year's ecology placement student Elliott rejoined us for the day; always rewarding to see the return of a familiar face! Today he was learning about using a loupe hand lens, what features should be examined more closely between similar species... and, bless him, HYBRIDS!

...Docks can do what?!

A sudden scramble over the fence by Caroline and her crew; they must have spotted something pretty interesting here...

Wild Service Tree (Sorbus torminalis). 

A relatively rare find and useful indicator of ancient hedgerows

Finally, a few non-plants from the day:

Small Heath butterfly (Coenonympha pamphilus)

Striped Oak Bug (Rhabdomiris striatellus)

Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius) cuckoo-spit on Fodder Burnet

Furrow Orb-weaver (Larinioides cornutus) - a common spider usually found near water

Thank you to all of you who attended, it was a real privilege to spend the day with such a collective of knowledgeable folk. We hope to see you again sometime!

Final species list:

Agrostis stolonifera	Creeping Bent
Ajuga reptans	Bugle
Alnus glutinosa	Alder
Alopecurus geniculatus	Marsh Foxtail
Anthoxanthum odoratum	Sweet Vernal-grass
Anthriscus sylvestris	Cow Parsley
Arctium minus	Lesser Burdock
Bellis perennis	Daisy
Bromus hordeaceus	Soft-brome
Callitriche stagnalis	Common Water-starwort
Carex flacca	Glaucous Sedge
Centaurea nigra	Common Knapweed
Cerastium fontanum	Common Mouse-ear
Cerastium glomeratum	Sticky Mouse-ear
Cirsium arvense	Creeping Thistle
Cirsium vulgare	Spear Thistle
Crataegus monogyna	Hawthorn
Cynosurus cristatus	Crested Dog's-tail
Dactylis glomerata	Cock's-foot
Digitalis purpurea	Foxglove
Digitalis purpurea	Foxglove
Epilobium parviflorum	Hoary Willowherb
Epilobium tetragonum	Square-stalked Willowherb
Festuca rubra	Red Fescue
Galium aparine	Cleavers
Geranium dissectum	Cut-leaved Crane's-bill
Glechoma hederacea	Ground-ivy
Glyceria declinata	Small Sweet-grass
Glyceria fluitans	Floating Sweet-grass
Heracleum sphondylium	Hogweed
Holcus lanatus	Yorkshire-fog
Hyacinthoides non-scripta	Bluebell
Juncus bufonius	Toad Rush
Juncus conglomeratus	Compact Rush
Juncus effusus	Soft-rush
Juncus inflexus	Hard Rush
Lathyrus nissolia	Grass Vetchling
Lathyrus pratensis	Meadow Vetchling
Leucanthemum vulgare	Oxeye Daisy
Lolium multiflorum	Italian Rye-grass
Lotus corniculatus	Common Bird's-foot-trefoil
Medicago arabica	Spotted Medick
Moehringia trinervia	Three-nerved Sandwort
Myosotis arvensis	Field Forget-me-not
Odontites vernus	Red Bartsia
Plantago lanceolata	Ribwort Plantain
Plantago major	Greater Plantain
Poa annua	Annual Meadow-grass
Poa trivialis	Rough Meadow-grass
Polygonum aviculare agg.	Knotgrass
Populus tremula	Aspen
Prunella vulgaris	Selfheal
Prunus spinosa	Blackthorn
Pteridium aquilinum	Bracken
Quercus robur	Pedunculate Oak
Ranunculus acris	Meadow Buttercup
Ranunculus repens	Creeping Buttercup
Rhododendron ponticum	Rhododendron
Rorippa palustris	Marsh Yellow-cress
Rubus fruticosus agg.	Bramble
Rumex acetosa	Common Sorrel
Rumex conglomeratus	Clustered Dock
Rumex crispus	Curled Dock
Rumex obtusifolius	Broad-leaved Dock
Rumex sanguineus	Wood Dock
Rumex x pratensis	R. crispus x obtusifolius
Sagina procumbens	Procumbent Pearlwort
Schedonorus arundinaceus	Tall Fescue
Scrophularia nodosa	Common Figwort
Senecio jacobaea	Common Ragwort
Silene dioica	Red Campion
Solanum dulcamara	Bittersweet
Sonchus asper	Prickly Sow-thistle
Sorbus torminalis	Wild Service-tree
Stellaria graminea	Lesser Stitchwort
Stellaria holostea	Greater Stitchwort
Tamus communis	Black Bryony
Trifolium dubium	Lesser Trefoil
Trifolium pratense	Red Clover
Trifolium repens	White Clover
Typha latifolia	Bulrush
Veronica chamaedrys	Germander Speedwell
Veronica serpyllifolia	Thyme-leaved Speedwell
Vicia hirsuta	Hairy Tare
Vicia sativa subsp. nigra	Narrow-leaved Vetch
Vicia sativa subsp. sativa	Common Vetch
Vicia tetrasperma	Smooth Tare
Vicia villosa	Fodder Vetch