Sally Rankin led a field trip at Lambridge Wood near Henley on Sunday 7th August. The walk started out through classic Chilterns beech woodland with a dense canopy and sparse understorey, then passed through an area where holly was prolific. Thin-spiked Wood-sedge Carex strigosa was found by the eastern end of the large ditch that runs through the woods. The group then headed along the open ride at the valley bottom where Pale St John’s-wort Hypericum montanum and Silver-washed Fritillary Argynnis paphia were seen. The ride was dominated by raspberries and had recently been cut but, towards the Henley end, Vervain Verbena officinalis and a lot of very sick looking Japanese Knotweed were found. It was good to see evidence of attempts to control this invasive alien.
The route then climbed out of the valley to the Wild Service-tree Sorbus torminalis and returned through more diverse woodland containing elm and silver birch. On the banks beside the main road through the wood, Green-flowered Helleborine Epipactis phyllanthes and Yellow Bird’s-nest Monotropa hypopitys were found. The latter was a pleasant surprise, as although good numbers had been recorded a few years ago, it had not been seen for a year or two. The Carex, Hypericum, Sorbus, Epipactis and Monotropa are all plants that that were on the Oxfordshire Rare Plants Register, although the Sorbus was removed when enough of them were recorded for the resister that is currently in production.