I came along for an hour with Steve and around 10 visitors to the meeting at Cromwell Bottom LNR.
The "Courier" came along as well so we may be in the paper. The pictures below were taken during the morning. Steve may have more taken during the afternoon.
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| The "Courier" took a few pictures |
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| Barren Brome (Bromus sterilis) |
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| Flowering Rush |
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| Cromwell Lock |
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| Black Spleenwort. On the lock wall |
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| Broad Leaved Helleborine |
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| Broad Leaved Helleborine - Flower |
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| Speckled Wood Butterfly |
Post Script from Steve:
No, the grass is the graceful Barren Brome (Bromus sterilis), quite scarce, just in isolated patches, often along canals. Giant Fescue hasn't been found at Cromwell Bottom as far as I know.
Many other grasses were seen at their best, the predominant one being False Oat Grass, as everywhere on unmanaged grassland. The Flote-grass in the Top Pond on Tag Loop is Glaucous Sweet-grass(Glyceria declinata), the rarer of the two we see in Calderdale. The Reed canary Grass (Glyceria maxima),so common everywhere in water, was in its brief moment of glory with its new shiny flower-heads waving in the breeze.
The fern Bruce photoed is Black Spleenwort, Asplenium adiantum-nigrum, known in the early 1990s only at Ganny Lock, Brighouse, but now spreading all over on walls, along with other rarer Asplenium species.
The Flowering Rush, Butomus umbellatus, the 4th picture down, was a surprise to me, as I've only seen it in ornamental ponds before, but R.Goulder does list it in Calderdale canals in his article "Aquatic Plants in Yorkshire Canals" in the April edition of The Naturalist. (Available in Halifax Scientific Society Library.)
The pink flowered water plant
Many other grasses were seen at their best, the predominant one being False Oat Grass, as everywhere on unmanaged grassland. The Flote-grass in the Top Pond on Tag Loop is Glaucous Sweet-grass(Glyceria declinata), the rarer of the two we see in Calderdale. The Reed canary Grass (Glyceria maxima),so common everywhere in water, was in its brief moment of glory with its new shiny flower-heads waving in the breeze.
The fern Bruce photoed is Black Spleenwort, Asplenium adiantum-nigrum, known in the early 1990s only at Ganny Lock, Brighouse, but now spreading all over on walls, along with other rarer Asplenium species.
The Flowering Rush, Butomus umbellatus, the 4th picture down, was a surprise to me, as I've only seen it in ornamental ponds before, but R.Goulder does list it in Calderdale canals in his article "Aquatic Plants in Yorkshire Canals" in the April edition of The Naturalist. (Available in Halifax Scientific Society Library.)
The pink flowered water plant
Many Thanks Steve
3rd Picture down looks like Giant fescue, Festuca gigantea, just next to the duck's head.
ReplyDeleteThanks Philip
ReplyDeleteSteve did say what they were but I did not write them down.
No, the grass is the graceful Barren Brome (Bromus sterilis), quite scarce, just in isolated patches, often along canals. Giant Fescue hasn't been found at Cromwell Bottom as far as I know.
ReplyDeleteMany other grasses were seen at their best, the predominant one being False Oat Grass, as everywhere on unmanaged grassland. The Flote-grass in the Top Pond on Tag Loop is Glaucous Sweet-grass(Glyceria declinata), the rarer of the two we see in Calderdale. The Reed canary Grass (Glyceria maxima),so common everywhere in water, was in its brief moment of glory with its new shiny flower-heads waving in the breeze.
The fern Bruce photoed is Black Spleenwort, Asplenium adiantum-nigrum, known in the early 1990s only at Ganny Lock, Brighouse, but now spreading all over on walls, along with other rarer Asplenium species.
The Flowering Rush, Butomus umbellatus, the 4th picture down, was a surprise to me, as I've only seen it in ornamental ponds before, but R.Goulder does list it in Calderdale canals in his article "Aquatic Plants in Yorkshire Canals" in the April edition of The Naturalist. (Available in Halifax Scientific Society Library.)
The pink flowered water plant
Thanks Steve about the Barren Brome, it's easy to get it wrong from a photo. I remember seeing a lot of Barren Brome on the cobbled way up to Beacon Hill. Being an annual it seems to like bare ground and dusty sites. The seed heads often turn deep purple/black as they age. Sorry Bruce--you'll have to rename!
ReplyDelete