Renée Grayer led a walk at Olddean Common, near Camberley, on Saturday 21st September. Members gathered at the end of King’s Ride, then set out across the common. Dwarf Gorse was in flower beside the track, together with both Bell Heather and Ling. Pearl Everlasting, a garden escape, has become established beside the track. Red Bartsia, Eyebright, Common Fleabane, Hoary Ragwort and a very good-sized Wild Strawberry were also amongst the sightings here. The walk was enlivened by pairs of extremely polite runners in different coloured t-shirts, who all had enough breath to spare to call out ‘Good Afternoon’ and smile as they passed. Then another pair, with blackened faces and headgear camouflaged as small pine trees, dashed off the path and (almost) melted away into the undergrowth.
Continuing along the track, a large, hairy, black and ginger Fox Moth caterpillar was spotted on the bank. Flowering Fairy Flax was a surprise find for such an acid site. It was suggested that it might have been introduced with the road-building material. Blue Fleabane was also growing nearby. At least 25 tall orchid spikes, long past flowering, were growing in the ditch at the side of the track. A few had spotted leaves and were presumably Common or Heath Spotted-orchids. The majority had leaves without spots and were perhaps Southern Marsh-orchids, or some form of hybrid. Another visit to the site earlier in the season might solve the mystery.
The route then turned downhill through a stretch of pine trees. This proved to be a good area for fungi. Brown Birch Bolete, Boletus luridus, False Chanterelle, Blusher and Shaggy Inkcap were all found here. At the bottom of the slope, the path crossed the Wishmoor Brook. Slender rush, Water-pepper, Hard-fern, Cross-leaved Heath and the orange spikes of Bog Asphodel were found in the wetter ground of the stream valley. An attractive purplish-red Russula fungus was also found here. A large mixed flock of birds passed through the streamside willows, including Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits and Long-tailed Tits. On the return walk, Marsh Cudweed was found growing in a damp hollow in the track.
RDNHS excursion to Olddean Common, nr Sandhurst (Surrey), 21th September 2013
(mainly SU8762; Blue Fleabane, orchids and Wood Sage in SU8862)
Plant species seen:
| Anaphalis margaritacea | Pearl Everlasting |
| Erica cinerea | Bell Heather |
| Calluna vulgaris | Heather |
| Ulex minor | Dwarf Gorse |
| Odontites vernus | Red Bartsia |
| Hypericum perforatum | Perforate St John’s-wort |
| Hieracium agg. | Hawkweed |
| Euphrasia officinalis | Eyebright |
| Pulicaria dysenterica | Common Fleabane |
| Polygonum aviculare | Knottgrass |
| Melilotus officinalis | Ribbed Melilot |
| Fragaria vesca | Wild Strawberry |
| Tussilago farfara | Colt’s-foot (leaves only) |
| Dryopteris filix-mas | Male-fern |
| Pteridium aquilinum | Bracken |
| Rubus fruticosus | Bramble |
| Achillea millefolium | Yarrow |
| Alchemilla mollis | Alchemilla |
| Centaurium erythraea | Common Centaury |
| Veronica chamaedrys | Germander Speedwell (leaves only) |
| Cotoneaster spec. | Cotoneaster |
| Juncus effuses | Soft-rush |
| Leontodon autumnalis | Autumn Hawkbit |
| Linum catharticum | Fairy Flax |
| Salix repens | Creeping Willow |
| Pilosella officinarum | Mouse-ear Hawkweed |
| Senecio erucifolius | Hoary Ragwort |
| Daucus carota | Wild Carrot |
| Agrimonia eupatoria | Agrimony |
| Erigeron acer | Blue Fleabane |
| Teucrium scorodonia | Wood Sage |
| Juncus tenuis | Slender Rush |
| Persicaria hydropiper | Water-pepper |
| Potentilla erecta | Tormentil |
| Blechnum spicant | Hard-fern |
| Potamogeton spec. | Pondweed |
| Erica tetralix | Cross-leaved Heath |
| Narthecium ossifragum | Bog Asphodel |
| Iris pseudacorus | Yellow Iris |
| Rumex obtusifolius | Broad-leaved Dock |
| Persicaria maculosa | Redshank |
| Gnaphalium uliginosum | Marsh Cudweed |
At least 25 orchids in fruit, some with spotted leaves; hybrid swarm of Dactylorhiza fuchsia (Common Spotted-orchid) and Dactylorhiza praetermissa (Southern Marsh-orchid)?
List by Renée Grayer