Unfortunately the morning was wet but by 2.00 pm it turned out to be a lovely day. Sadly, this event did not attract any members other than those of us leading it, possibly due to the wet morning. Rather than give up, four of us decided to look at what was in flower along Beauchief Drive and then do a survey of species flowering in the Nature Park meadow. This proved to be quite a difficult job due to the sheer density of the vegetation. We were amazed at just how many species were in flower and the profusion of some of them. Prominent species in the hedges and hedge bottoms along Beauchief Drive were, Wood avens, White dead nettle, Silverweed, Dog’s mercury, Hedge woundwort, Cleavers, Bindweed, not all species were in flower. The bindweed flowers however were much in evidence and there was a great display of field roses at various places along the hedgerows. We did find white bryony but it was not in flower. There were lots of species flowering in the Nature Park meadow, some of which came as a surprise as you couldn’t see them from the track. We were particularly pleased to see that Yellow rattle was present, both in the meadow and in the orchard as the seeds had only been introduced last year.
Non-grass species identified: A= abundant, F= frequent, O= occasional, R= rare
Yellow rattle (O); Cornflower (F); Meadow cranesbill (F); Yarrow (A); Red clover (A); Black knapweed (A)
Birds wood trefoil(F); Meadow vetchling (F); Tufted vetch (A); Bush vetch (A); Ox-eye daisy (A);
Corncockle (O); Hedge Bedstraw (F); Hairy tare (F); White campion (R).