On Saturday 1st August, Sally Rankin led a walk round Nettlebed Common. The recent wet weather had brought out an early flush of fungi. The group were alerted to the presence of a Stinkhorn by a strong and unpleasant smell – it was covered with flies, which obviously found the scent attractive. The clay cap on Nettlebed Common used to be mined for the local brick industry and this has left a network of ponds. Acid soils are rare in Oxfordshire and this is one of the few sites in the county where Hard Fern and heather can be found. A Hard Fern plant with 2 kinds of fronds was found – sterile evergreen outer fronds and narrower inner fertile fronds. The group were shown areas on the Common where volunteers had opened up clearings and scraped away the bracken litter to enable the heather seedbank to regenerate. A Common Lizard which had lost its tail was spotted in one of the clearings.
List of plant species (identified by Janet Welsh)
Torilis japonica Upright hedge-parsley
Pteridium aquilinum Bracken
Dryopteris filix-mas Male-fern
Dryopteris dilatata Broad Buckler-fern
Blechnum spicant Hard Fern
Hypericum pulchrum Slender St John’s-wort
Fallopia japonica Japanese Knotweed
Viburnum opulus Guelder-rose
Rosa canina Dog-rose
Cytisus scoparius Broom
Prunus avium Wild Cherry
Potentilla erecta Tormentil
Artemisia vulgaris Mugwort
Cirsium palustre Marsh Thistle
Rumex sanguineus Wood Dock
Dipsacus fullonum Teasel
Carex pendula Pendulous Sedge
Oxalis acetosella Wood-sorrel
Populus tremula Aspen
Sorbus aucuparia Rowan
Betula pendula Silver Birch
Prunus spinosa Blackthorn
Ilex aquifolium Holly
Quercus robur Oak
Fagus sylvatica Beech
Corylus avellana Hazel
Luzula pilosa Hairy Wood-rush
Deschampsia flexuosa Wavy Hair-grass
Juncus effusus Soft-rush
Calluna vulgaris Heather
Lonicera periclymenum Honeysuckle
Galium saxatile Heath Bedstraw
Deschampsia caespitosa Tufted Hair-grass
Digitalis purpurea Foxglove
Veronica serpyllifolia Thyme-leaved Speedwell
Ulex europaeus Gorse
Lotus pedunculatus Greater Bird’s-foot-trefoil
Sphagnum mosses
Juncus bulbosus Bulbous Rush
Erica cineria Bell Heather
Carex pilulifera Pill Sedge
Nymphaea alba White Water-lily
Iris pseudacorus Yellow Iris
Ranunculus flammula Lesser Spearwort
One sedge to be confirmed
List of fungi ( identified by Gordon Crutchfield)
Boletus chrysenteron
Paxillus involutus
Collybia dryophila
Stropharia coronila
Stropharia semiglobata
Russula ?vesca
Russula cyanoxantha
Amanita rubescens The Blusher
Mycena fibula
Phallus impudicus Common Stinkhorn