Available November 2009 at £24.95, from: WILDGuides Ltd., PO Box 680, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 9ST
Tel.: 01628 529297
Email: sales@wildguides.co.uk
Web site: www.wildguides.co.uk

The Forest enjoys strong populations of many special wildflowers because it retains a living tradition of free ranging domestic animals grazing its coastland, extensive commons and village greens. This book is an exploration of how the wildlife of the Forest is the natural expression of the lives and economy of the people of the Forest.

The book features:

• An introduction to the New Forest and how its commoning economy works.
• A description of the principal habitats of the Forest and how they relate to one another.
• Accounts of the people who have explored the Forest for wildflowers from the early 17th century to the present day.
• Descriptions of over 100 species of the rarer flowering plants and ferns currently known from the National Park, many of which are nationally or internationally rare, scarce or threatened.
• An account of Forest conservation issues by someone who has participated in the life of the Forest for over twenty years.

On Saturday 21st November 2009 Neil Sanderson is leading a Lichen Identification Training Day at Busketts Wood and Fair Cross in the New Forest. This will be a walk though one of the richest areas in Europe for lichens, where we will look at the diverse lichen flora of the old woodlands and, if we get far enough, dry heathland. The methods, tricks and jiz used in field identification of lichens will be explained along with the ecology and conservation of lichens. We will meet at the car park at the cricket pitch at Busketts Wood at SU 311 111. Bring picnic lunch and a hand lens if you have one. Contact: Neil Sanderson via e-mail on neilsand@dircon.co.uk

A key aim of the Wessex Bryology Group is to encourage those who are new to the subject to become more experienced and confident at identifying bryophytes, and in early 2010 there is a series of three meetings, each in a different habitat, specifically aimed at beginners. Two of these are in Hampshire. Beginners are, of course, most welcome at all our meetings. There is no formal membership or constitution and each person goes out at his/her own risk. The only equipment needed is a hand lens (x10 or x20) and some paper packets for collecting specimens. Many of the sites we plan to visit include wet and muddy areas so boots are advisable. We will usually eat a packed lunch on site. All meetings start at 10.30am and finish between 3pm and 4pm.

© Ginnie Copsey 2009

A scarce plant in Britain and on the Red Data List as Endangered, the beautiful Deptford Pink has always been uncommon in Hampshire and now appears to be lost from all but one of its twelve historic Hampshire sites.

At Avon Forest Park, between Matchams and St Leonards, two days of search failed to find any plants at one of its two recorded locations there, despite the extensive area it was once scattered over and plenty of good habitat remaining. It was therefore very gratifying to find 37 flowering stems at its other location nearby, where a single flowering stem had been found when last recorded 23 years ago. Still, this must remain one of the most vulnerable native species in the county.

Brown Galingale (Cyperus fuscus) is an even rarer plant in Britain than Deptford Pink, having only ever been known in twelve sites, and surviving in just six. The overwhelming bulk of the population is in two sites in the Avon Valley, Breamore Marsh being pre-eminent.

Clive Chatters, who monitors the populations here annually, reports an exceptional year for it with plants numbering into the tens of thousands. The grazing regime is key here, with cattle and geese providing the bare, damp, well-trodden ground it needs to germinate and flourish. This has been helped by clearing the ranker vegetation from some of the ditches.

At its other site around Kingston North Common, Clive reports just over 200 plants. Counts have been much higher here at times, but the grazing here is much less effective at keeping coarser vegetation down and many spots where clearance was carried out a few years ago are now closing in.

Brown Galingale is late to flower and fruit, and can be admired well into the autumn if the weather is not too harsh.

© [W] Krzysztof Ziarnek 2008

© Martin Rand 2009

A much less welcome event is the arrival of the stunningly beautiful but incredibly invasive South American waterweed Ludwigia urugayensis (Water-primrose) in one of the Breamore Marsh ponds. This species (also known as Ludwigia grandiflora) and its relative Ludwigia peploides have been making spectacular inroads into waterways on the Continent. Here it chokes channels, suppresses all other plant life and deoxygenates the shaded water beneath.

One can't be sure how it arrived here, and the plant is notorious for regenerating from very small stem fragments, so it may have come by natural means with waterfowl. However it seems more likely that it was a deliberate introduction, in which case it is an appallingly reckless action. I would like to say "criminally reckless", but this is not literally true as the species are not currently listed on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Hopefully they will soon be added, before we reach the point where it is pointless to ban them.

This is the fourth recorded occurrence of these two species in the wild in Hampshire. So far it has mercifully not turned up in any of the river systems. I urge all readers to report any sightings to the Environment Agency or Natural England; or if they prefer, they can mail me with the details and I will pass them on (please include a grid reference and as much detail as possible).