I can thoroughly recommend the annual BSBI/BSS event to forumists. I went along and was made extremely welcome (despite being a member of neither society). The event is open to
anyone with an interest in plants.
The day commenced at 10am with a short review of the many exhibitions, of which more later. At 1015 the ringing of a yak herding bell summoned 140+ plants people (drawn from Cornwall to Orkney) to the RBGE lecture theatre. After a characteristically enthusiastic welcome from Heather McHaffie (RBGE) the proceedings commenced.
Michael Braithwaite provided a short review of the recording necessary to inform the latest atlas of the British and Irish flora, which will cover the period up and until 2020. This is an ambitious project and records are required particularly for the distribution of alpine plants. As one would imagine, coverage in the Highlands is scarcer than say the English Home counties. More information on the survey and how you can help can be obtained from
www.bsbi.org.uk. or by contacting Jim Mcintosh at
j.mcintosh@rbge.ac.uk
Barbara Sumner, President of the Botanical Society of Scotland then followed with a celebration of diversity in community woodlands which was then followed by an excellent talk by Jeff Waddell, Forest Enterprise’s ecologist on plant and habitat conservation, on the national forest estate. About 40% of the estate is actually open ground being either mountain, moorland or bog and it was fascinating to hear at first hand the practical work being done to conserve species. There were also some mighty fine shots of upland species.
A mid-morning break ensued providing an opportunity to review the many exhibits produced by the meeting’s participants. There must have been about 20 displays by amateurs and professionals including publicity stands by SNH, Plantlife, BSS, BSBI and the Fern Society. It was great to be able to review the conservation work on
Woodsia ilvensis, to identify moorland grasses, to consider the spread of New Zealand carex species in Glasgow, to see herbarium sheets of new species records for Midlothian, Wester Ross, Perth, and Fife, to be challenged on the concept of axiophytes as a means of determining appropriate conservation areas, and much, much more. There were also microscopes set up to assist with morphological assessment of orchids and a table of experts available to determine fungi, lichen, plants and fruits (oh, if only I’d brought those photos!)
After the break we reconvened to hear Kevin Walker’s entertaining and informative lecture on county Flora. Apparently the largest flora was published in 2005 with over 1200 pages (Hertfordshire) and the Cardigan Flora took one person over 30 years to produce before publication in 2010. Apparently, 3.5 floras are produced on average each year. This could have been a dry exposition but was enliven by Kevin’s delivery and his mock statistics in respect of various publications (time to produce, weight, pages etc). Jim McIntosh then gave a short review of the work of BSBI in Scotland and then it was luncheon and another opportunity to view the exhibits or visit Summerfield Books stand.
After luncheon, trips were organised to either the Scottish Rare plant nursery or to the RBGE Herbarium. Only six of us chose the herbarium where we were guided by both the former curator of UK plants, Douglas McKean, and the assistant curator of the Herbarium, Dr Elspeth Haston. For those who have never visited the herbarium I thoroughly recommend a visit – Elspeth actively welcomes interested folk - you merely have to give prior notification and ensure that you have no plant material on your person (or beetles). Anyhow, we learned much i.e. that all dry specimens on receipt are subject to 72hrs enclosure within a freezer set at -18c. The low temperature apparently kills off organic life through desiccation. Specimens are then left to re-hydrate within plastic bags before being set on herbarium sheets. There are over 2 million specimens within the herbarium covering algae, lichens, mosses as well as higher plants and fungi. There is also a separate area for fruits. The herbarium is organised in accordance with APG II (there is no intention to update to APG III in the near future because of the logistical difficulties and time such a serious reorganisation would cause). There are small photographic studios, as the intention is to digitise the collection over the coming years and make it freely available on the web. We were fortunate to see herbarium sheets by Charles Darwin (who, interestingly was not good at conserving and presenting his specimens) as well as type specimens of many UK plants including
Sagina boydii (which as most know attracts a lot of speculation as to its origin, as it has never been relocated in the wild in the UK). We were also shown recent dried specimens collected from plant hunting trips to Belize as well as China. It was a truly fascinated tour enlivened by the enthusiasm and knowledge of Douglas and Elspeth to whom I extend many thanks. The herbarium is always on the look out for voluntary assistance….so if you able to assist please contact RBGE.
Anyhow, I’ll return to the talks.
In the afternoon Richard Clarkson, NTS Property Manager at Grey Mare’s Tail (near Moffat) provided a superb review of that spectacular area of southern Scotland. As he advised, one can see many of the upland species at a relatively low level and for English visitors the scree beds and rock faces provide a marvellous introduction to alpine flora. Many salix and saxifrage species are recorded and the site is the most southerly known British location for a range of alpine species. Angus Hannah then followed with a discussion on the merits of axiophytes as indicators for sites suitable for conservation status. [
For those without a classical education, axious means worthy and phytos plant]. Next up was Alison Murfitt on Waxcap Grasslands. Alison is on the Natural Talent apprentice scheme, which seeks to ensure that there are future botanists/naturalists in difficult subject areas such as lichens, mosses and fungi – apparently, without this new natural talent the average age of experts in such subject areas would be over 70years! Anyhow, Alison served up a great talk and we were – in the words of youth – “blown away” by the vibrancy of CHEG species (C- Clavaroids, H – Hygrocybes, E – Entolomaceae (pink-spored gill fungi) and G – Geoglossaceae (Earth tongues)). If you’ve not seen Hygrocybes or Geoglossaceae before, then – in the words of youth – “check them out” on the web. A good site to start is
www.nifg.org.uk. It was refreshing to see someone in their early twenties talking so knowledgeably of her interest: Alison certainly stimulated a great deal of interest, for as her talk concluded there was a run on the Hygrocybe identification guide at Summerfield Books (and yes I have to admit I was tempted, if only to admire the brilliant scarlets, glossy greens, sulphorus yellows
http://www.summerfieldbooks.com/showdetails.asp?id=2717). As Alison said, Hygrocybes and Geoglossaceae produce the gardens of October and November and would be an ideal winter accompaniment to any botanical interest.
There then followed another short break to review the exhibits, have a tea/ coffee (£1 bought unlimited cups all day!), make further book purchases or simply blether with like minds.
The final talk – the key lecture - was on Hybridisation and British Fern Flora by Fred Rumsey. Alas, I could not stay (due to the competing demands of a rugger match) but I’m confident that it would have been excellent talk.
This proved to be a splendid day and I thoroughly recommend others attending next year if they are able to do so. I
liked the exhibits – some professional, some very personal, but all informative; I
liked also that the lectures were about 20-25 minutes (aside from the key which was 1hr); I
liked the fact that the schedule mixed pictorial journalism with scholarship; I
particularly liked being able to browse what must surely have been the most comprehensive books sales at any show/event in UK (the range from Summerfield Books was astounding with publications drawn from across the world) and which catered for every interest. (There were also second-hand books and lenses); and I was
pleased that there was no expectation or pressure to join the BSBI or BSS, but rather a joyful welcome to anyone with an interest in plants to come and enjoy the day (and therefore similar to the approach taken by the SRGC).
Some pictures follow:
BSBI Display
Recent finds in Midlothian VC
Table display
New Zealand carex species samples found growing wild in Glasgow
In the herbarium
Sagina boydii x2
Display on ferns
Checkout the BSBI website next autumn and
get along to this event next year - you will not be disappointed. I'l definitely be going again!!
