NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

It was an absolute pleasure to welcome Paul and Bridget James to the arable plant fields of Langley Vale today. We walked far and wide across the area and managed to find most of the notable species that we had targeted, including Night-flowering Catchfly, Blue Pimpernel, Field Gromwell, Field Woundwort and Red Hemp-nettle. The dry spring and early summer has certainly taken its toll on many species, with some crisped and stunted, while others that we expected to be in full flower were already clearly over. However, a most enjoyable day was had and it now remains for us three intrepid botanists to start picking all of the grass seeds out of our socks and footwear... Field Woundwort Red Hemp-nettle Round-headed Rampion Scarlet Pimpernel (blue flowered)

Scarlet Pimpernel of the blue-flowered form We've reached number two in the countdown of my 10 most enjoyable natural history events of the past five years. 2. Arable overload Nationally rare plants within a couple of miles from home is not a prize that is bestowed upon too many naturalists, but when the site that they occur on is opened up for access - and then proves to be an even better site than first thought - it is the stuff of botanical dreams. For the past five years I have had the absolute pleasure of visiting such a place. Langley Vale Farm occupied a large part of the chalk downland of Walton Downs. It was farmed sensitively and maintained a tremendous arable flora. For many years just a couple of footpaths crossed this land, with access onto the fields prohibited, but there were one of two spots where a wander along a field-edge could be made. And then, in 2014, the farm was put up for sale and purchased by The Woodland Trust (WT). The reaction to the buyer was...

It was too nice an afternoon to stay indoors and watch Brazil v Costa Rica, so I popped up to the farmland at Langley Vale, home to a wonderful arable flora. I didn't stay all that long and mostly checked the edge of the field where Field Gromwell (below) grows. It is still doing well, with maybe 100+ plants along the 100m section that I checked. It is aways worth checking the fields by Nohome Farm, where a profusion of flower is almost a certainty. Today's display was dominated by Ox-eye Daisy (top).

Gromwell. Sounds a bit miserable, doesn't it, like 'grumble' I suppose. Predictive text tries to turn it into 'growler'. But Gromwells are smart plants and not at all common. There are three species in the UK -  Common, Field and Purple. I've been lucky to see all three and have the first two quite close to home. I saw both of these today. First up is this Common. A few plants, not yet in flower, were found in a small copse at Walton Downs. It's the closest to home that I've seen them and was quite pleased with these. I'll go back to take some pictures of the flowers, not that they are showy, just neat. Next up is Field (also known as Corn) Gromwell, a decreasing plant and one that is a real find. One of my personal highlights of last summer was finding a large colony along the edge of a field at Langley Vale, on the edge of Epsom Downs. This was the first Surrey record for 25 years. Today several hundred were on show, many starting to f...

Sorry Dylan, more premature reminiscences and more flowers... In June I happened to bump into local botanist Peter Wakeham on Park Downs. He told me about the time that he had been spending at Langley Vale Farm, surveying the plants in light of the Woodland Trusts purchase. My ears pricked up at its mention, as I had spent some time birding the area (from public footpaths) and had botanised some of the field margins over the years (seeing such rarities as Night-flowering Catchfly). The WT had opened up access to a great deal of the farm and his offer of a guided tour was eagerly taken up. We met on a swelteringly hot July 1st, which was the start of my visiting the farm on a regular basis. On that initial visit, Peter showed me Narrow-fruited Cornsalad and Cat-mint, both new species for me. A couple of weeks later I found myself at a bare, chalky field edge on the north-western side of the farm. One of the first species that I spied was a sizeable Venus's Looking-glass...

Sorry, more arable plant stuff, I promise to get back to birding soon! Anyway, I returned to Langley Vale this morning, to take a closer look at the Field Gromwell and, blow me, found up to 30 additional plants along the 30m bare strip, with about half of them in flower (above, left). I sent this new information off to some local Surrey botanists that I am in contact with, and Dennis and Rosy immediately went to take a look - they then carried further along the edge of the field and found hundreds more! Plus, in the original chalky corner (where I had seen a single Venus's-looking-glass), they added another 13 plants of that species for good measure. Just shows you what my single pair of eyes had missed... I also visited the Narrow-fruited Cornsalad and Catmint field which is always a pleasure, with the latter species in good flower (above right). I couldn't resist crushing a leaf or two to get a feline hit! Apparently, these Field Gromwells are the first records for S...

After yesterday's success with the Venus's Looking Glass on Epsom Downs/Langley Vale I went back to take a closer look at the field corner in which it was present, and was glad that I did. I reckon that this is Field Gromwell (Lithospermum arvense), another declining arable species. It has clean white flowers and does not exhibit nerves on either side of the leaf - is this enough to eliminate Common Gromwell? I've seen the latter species but not the former. If anybody out there has an opinion, please share it! (Postscript: Ann Sankey, the Surrey botanical recorder, has agreed with the identification. I have also received thumbs-up from Peter Wakeham, John Peacock and Derek Faulkner. Thanks to them all for their input.)