Janet Welsh led a field trip at Peppard and Kingwood Commons on Saturday 30th July. The walk started in welcome shade on Peppard Common. Oak, rowan, holly and birch trees were indicators of the acid soil conditions. In the first sunny clearing, Dwarf Gorse and heather were in flower, while Purple Hairstreaks and Holly Blues were flying round the oak trees and an Essex Skipper was resting on a bramble leaf. Back in the shade, a Hard Shield-fern with leathery leaves was an unusual sighting for South Oxfordshire. The route dropped down to the chalk of the valley bottom, where butterflies included numerous Gatekeepers, plus single specimens of Brimstone, Comma and Peacock. The track then passed through the shady beeches of Littlebottom and Greatbottom Woods, before climbing up to Kingwood Common. Violet and Broad-leaved Helleborine were found on the bank beside the lane at the top. Open clearings on the common had flowering heather, white Heath Milkwort, the delicate yellow Slender St John’s-wort and drifts of blue Harebells. Fibrous strands at the base of a greyish brown fungus helped Gordon Crutchfield to identify it as Tricholomopsis platyphylla. Finally, Martagon Lilies, probably garden escapes, were a surprising sighting towards the end of the walk.
Pictures by Rob Stallard and Jan Haseler
RDNHS excursion to Peppard Common and adjacent woods on Sat. 30th July 2011
led by Janet and Jerry Welsh.
Plant species observed:
| Acer campestre | Field Maple |
| Agrimonia eupatoria | Agrimony |
| Alliaria petiolata | Garlic Mustard (in fruit) |
| Artemisia vulgaris | Mugwort |
| Arum maculatum | Lords-and-Ladies |
| Calluna vulgaris | Heather |
| Campanula rotundifolia | Harebell |
| Centaurea scabiosa | Greater Knapweed |
| Chamerion angustifolium | Rosebay Willowherb |
| Circaea lutetiana | Enchanter’s-nightshade |
| Cirsium vulgare | Spear Thistle |
| Clinopodium vulgare | Wild Basil |
| Convolvulus arvensis | Field Bindweed |
| Crataegus monogyna | Hawthorn |
| Dactylus glomerata | Cock’s-foot |
| Deschampsia flexuosa | Wavy Hair-grass |
| Digitalis purpurea | Foxglove |
| Epilobium montanum | Broad-leaved Willowherb |
| Epipactis purpurata | Violet Helleborine |
| Erica cinerea | Bell Heather |
| Euphorbia amygdaloides | Wood Spurge |
| Fagus sylvatica | Beech |
| Fraxinus excelsior | Ash |
| Galeopsis tetrahit | Common Hemp-nettle |
| Galium mollugo | Hedge-bedstraw (in fruit) |
| Galium odoratum | Woodruff (in fruit) |
| Galium saxatile | Heath Bedstraw |
| Geranium robertianum | Herb-Robert |
| Geum urbanum | Wood Avens |
| Glechoma hederacea | Ground Ivy |
| Hedera helix | Ivy |
| Hyacinthoides non-scripta | Bluebell (in fruit) |
| Hypericum perforatum | Perforate St John’s-wort (in bud) |
| Hypericum pulchrum | Slender St John’s-wort |
| Ilex aquifolium | Holly |
| Knautia arvensis | Field Scabious |
| Lamiastrum galeobdolon | Yellow Archangel |
| Lapsana communis | Nipplewort |
| Linaria vulgaris | Common Toadflax |
| Matricaria discoides | Pineappleweed |
| Melica uniflora | Wood Melick |
| Mercurialis perennis | Dog’s Mercury |
| Odontites vernus | Red Bartsia |
| Persicaria hydropiper | Water-pepper |
| Plantago major | Greater Plantain |
| Polygala serpyllifolia | Heath Milkwort |
| Polystichum aculeatum | Hard Shield-fern |
| Potentilla erecta | Tormentil |
| Prunella vulgaris | Selfheal |
| Pteridium aquilinum | Bracken |
| Quercus robur | Pedunculate Oak |
| Rubus fruticosus agg. | Bramble |
| Rumex acetosella | Sheep’s Sorrel |
| Rumex crispus | Curled Dock |
| Rumex sanguineus | Wood Dock |
| Sambucus nigra | Elder |
| Sanicula europaea | Sanicle |
| Scrophularia nodosa | Common Figwort |
| Senecio jacobaea | Common Ragwort |
| Sorbus aucuparia | Rowan |
| Stellaria alsine | Bog Stitchwort |
| Stellaria graminea | Lesser Stitchwort |
| Taxus baccata | Yew |
| Torilis japonica | Upright Hedge-parsley |
| Ulex minor | Dwarf Gorse |
| Ulmus glabra | Wych Elm |
| Veronica montana | Wood Speedwell |
Lepidoptera:
| Thymelicus lineola | Essex Skipper |
| Pieris brassicae | Large White |
| Pieris napi | Green-veined White |
| Celastrina argiola | Holly Blue |
| Gonepteryx rhamni | Brimstone |
| Inachis io | Peacock |
| Maniola jurtina | Meadow Brown |
| Polygonia c-album | Comma |
| Quercusia quercus | Purple Hairstreak |
| Pararge aegeria | Speckled Wood |
| Pyronia tithonus | Gatekeeper |
| Maniola jurtina | Meadow Brown |
Birds:
| Picus viridis | Green Woodpecker |
List compiled by Renee Grayer