This year I again took part in the BSBI's New Year flowering plant hunt. I organised a trip to Adel Dam nature reserve for members of the proposed new University of Leeds union society for biological recording #LUUBRS. Due to the restrictions of the event running over the first four days in January, most students were home for the holidays so just a couple of us turned up on the day. Discounting plants in the parkland, there were few flowering plants found in the woodland. This was perhaps a mistake of mine in choosing the site, as the woodland must have a dense canopy as there was little ground flora. We did find nine species though, the most exciting probably being Wild Angelica (Angelica sylvestris) which was only found twice last year across all of the UK.Given the poor results, I also carried out a few surveys on my own in my local area. It rained pretty much throughout the first week of January, and I was slightly hampered by a dog that was accompanying me, but I did have some success.
On a countryside walk I found just five species, including holly, ivy, and the bright yellow flowers of gorse.
However, I had most luck just wandering around my suburban housing estate where I found twenty species - many ruderals and 'weeds' growing in the pavement or on grass verges. Perhaps the strangest of these was a dead nettle that had white flowers. However the shape of the leaf looked odd to me - as it was rounded and scallopped rather than coarse toothed and pointed - so I queried it on iSpot. It was suggested it might be a white form of red dead nettle (Lamium purpureum) but after consulting with vegetative expert John Poland, the BSBI has now confirmed it was just an atypical form of L. album after all. So whilst I didn't find anything terribly exciting, I've learnt a bit more about dead nettles.
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