Did you have a go at Dr M’s brownfield botany quiz? If not try it out here and come back to check the answers below.
Post-industrial brownfield land is home to a host of colonising species both native and non-native species. Amongst the non-natives are many non-invasive naturalised species as well as some more pernicious alien invasive species, several of which are listed on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act which means it is an offence to cause these to spread.
Below are the images as a reminder, click each for the Latin name and check the table below for Latin and common names and some ID and general notes. A few of the Schedule 9 species appear in the quiz as are indicated in the table below.
-
- 1 and 2
-
- 3
-
- 4
-
- 5
-
- 6
-
- 7
-
- 8
-
- 9
-
- 10
-
- 11
-
- 12
-
- 13
-
- 14
-
- 15
-
- 16
-
- 17
-
- 18
-
- 19
-
- 20
| Species and common name | Notes |
| 1. Salix × sepulcralis (Weeping Willow) | Classic water side weeper – hybrid willow |
| 2. Lythrum salicaria (Purple-loosestrife) | Only just starting to grow (early April) but recognisable from waterside location and last years inflorescences |
| 3. Geranium robertianum (Herb-Robert) | Palmate leaves with stipules (Geranium characters), reddish petiole and fetid smell (G robertianum characters) |
| 4. Cotoneaster sp. (A Cotoneaster) | Tricky group, this one awaiting ID! (Schedule 9 invasive) |
| 5. Aphanes arvensis (Parsley-piert) | Tiny little plant of dry sandy places, the stipules and toothed leaves indicate Rosaceae |
| 6. Rumex cristatus (Greek Dock) | Big introduced species of waste ground, leaves NOT cordate so easily separated from R obtusifolius |
| 7. Senecio inaequidens (Narrow-leaved Ragwort) | Another introduced species, this one increasing in the London area, the linear leaves are unusual for Senecio |
| 8. Geranium rotundifolium (Round-leaved Cranesbill) | Petiole has abundant short glandular hairs which tells it apart from other similar annual Geranium |
| 9. Hyacinthoides hispanica (Spanish Bluebell) | The non-native garden variety, quite aggressive and much less delicate than the native bluebell, common on waste ground and wood edges due to dumping of garden waste |
| 10. Impatiens glandulifera (Indian Balsam) | Invasive plant, the large seedlings develop into a very tall often dominant waterside plant with attractive zygomorphic helmet-shaped flowers (Schedule 9 invasive) |
| 11. Saxifraga tridactylites (Rue-leaved Saxifrage) | Tiny plant of walls and rocky places, the leaves have three finger-like lobes hence the Latin specific epithet |
| 12. Veronica hederifolia (Ivy-leaved Speedwell) | Speedwells have 4 petals, but this one is tricking us with the lower petal divided into two making it look like 5 petals! |
| 13. Heracleum mantegazzianum (Giant Hogweed) | Big non-native Apiaceae with toxic sap which causes photodematitis and nasty blisters. The taxonomy has recently been revised (Schedule 9 invasive) |
| 14. Centaurium erythraea (Common Centaury) | Biennial in the Gentianaceae, opposite leaves with characteristic prominent midrib, just as at home on waste ground as it is in calcareous grassland and other native habitats |
| 15. Artemisia vulgaris (Mugwort) | Classic aromatic Asteraceae, related to the plant that flavours Absinthe (Artemsia absinthium) |
| 16. Picris hieracioides (Hawkweed Oxtongue) | One of those damned elusive yellow Compositae! This one has undulate leaf margins and forked, hooked hairs |
| 17. Phragmites australis (Common Reed) | Big grass of reed beds, the ligule is a fringe of hairs, the plant here is growing through tarmac by the sheer force of hydraulic pressure as the rhizomes expand and grow! |
| 18. Carduus tenuiflorus (Slender Thistle) | Thistle with spiny winged stem, relatively small capitula and simple phyllaries. The pappus is of simple hairs (feathery in the related Cirsium thistles) |
| 19. Calamagrostis epigejos (Wood Small Reed) | Rhizomatous grass, the key feature of the genus is a conspicuous basal tuft of hairs in the spikelet (check image here) |
| 20. Buddleja davidii (Butterfly-bush) | Classic non-native shrub of waste ground with dense inflorescence of honey-scented flowers much loved by butterflies (and hence also by people!) a very invasive species but not on Schedule 9, though many, including Plantlife, would like it to be! |
Acknowledegements: Thanks to Dr Fred of the Natural History Museum for assistance in the identification of #18
April 18, 2016
