Botanical Discoveries No.5 (2003) Bob Ellis
Three 'new' vascular plants 'turned up' at Wheatfen up this year. Ted had
recorded Arrowhead, Sagittaria sagittifolia, during his 1934 survey of what is now
the reserve, but it had not been seen recently until it was discovered in Crake's
Dyke this year by our observant warden. Late in autumn, I came across a small
tuft of Bristle Club-rush, Isolepis setacea, in the south-west corner of Surlingham
Wood - is this another consequence of the coppicing work? Earlier in the year,
Fred Rumsey of the Natural History Museum found Hard Shield-Fern, Polystichum
aculeatum, amongst the sallows, deep in Pool Carr - and this leads me rapidly on
to the mossy part of this report.
Fred was here, along with many other national moss and liverwort specialists, as
part of the British Bryological Society's spring excursion. With so many expert
eyes on the prowl, it was hardly surprising that several 'new' bryological finds were
made. It was Fred who found the Many-flowered Leskea, Pylasia polyantha on the
edges of Pool Carr. Having been shown the characteristics of this pretty little
pleurocarp, several others made their own discoveries of it in other parts of the
Pool area. Lyell's Bristle-moss, Orthotrichum lyellii, was reported from two
localities. This was particularly pleasing as
Ted had recorded it in the past, but the
only indication I have of his record is a
pencil mark in one of his copies of
Nicholson's Flora of Norfolk.
Chris Preston spotted another epiphytic
moss that I thought ought to be present,
but which had always eluded me, namely
Ulota phyllantha. This species has been
honoured with the rather apt English
name 'Frizzled Pincushion'. Many of our
guests had come to see Timmia
megapolitana, which, in this country, is
presently unique to Wheatfen -
thanks go to David Griffin who had
a busy day ferrying people across
to the main colony on the edge of
Pool Carr. Timmia was also found by
Mark Hill in a new locality to the west of
Wheatfen Broad. Finally, and perhaps
most importantly, mature fruits of Timmia were found for the first time, by both
Chris Preston and Ron Porley.
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