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[Species lists are given below]
About a dozen members joined the trip to Pry Rigg, a very good turn-out considering the unkind weather: it was wet and cold, but we had a good day, led by Don Buckle and Gordon Simpson, with Jim Pewtress and Nan Sykes on hand to identify the birds and plants respectively. The area is forested, with a mixture of coniferous and broadleaved trees, but there are also clearings with a meadowland flora, and an old quarry which proved particularly rich. The area is mostly on limestone, although there was one slope which was on more acid soil, and the difference in the ground flora was striking, being dominated by ferns rather than herbs such as bluebells and/or wild garlic and dog’s mercury.
Don explained how over the years some of the trees have been felled and the resulting clearings managed for conservation, In one particular case a single specimen of herb paris appeared, and has now multiplied to cover an area several yards across. This unusual plant (left) 
was in full flower, and it was heartening to see it thriving here. Similarly the area around the old quarry has a wonderful colony of fly orchids (picture above, right), and later in the summer pyramidal orchids also flower there; and we saw several patches of lily-of-the-valley, one of which was flowering splendidly (detail, right).
Don also showed us the site where Bird’s nest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis) was found flowering last year – now there was nothing to be seen except bare earth in deep shade under conifers. This curious plant has no chlorophyll, growing with the aid of a fungus feeding off dead wood. Apparently it favours hazel or beech, which is curious as neither was growing nearby. It is hoped that another flower-spike will appear this year.
There were very few insects about, although we did see a small weevil on Figwort; also there were few birds about, no doubt because of the weather. We saw various fungi, including rust fungi on bramble, dog’s mercury and creeping thistle plants; and some unusual small galls on birch leaves.
We saw or heard:
Goldcrest, Chaffinch, Jay, Blackcap, Bullfinch, Woodpigeon, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Dunnock, Robin, Chiff Chaff, Willow Warbler.
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The list below is split into those plants seen in bud or flower, those where only leaves were seen, non-flowering plants (ferns, mosses and liverworts), fungi, grasses and sedges and trees. It is not a complete list of all the plants seen, for instance I did not list all the common species present. I have not listed all the grasses or sedges but have included the easily recognised ones. Nor have I listed trees in any detail. We saw one horsetail (Equisetum sp.), probably marsh horsetail ((Equisetum palustris).
Back to the TopPlants in Flower
There were over 50 plants in bloom, mostly the species you would expect to see in woodland on neutral or limy soil (e.g. the fly orchid left), with a few preferring more acid conditions, such as the lemon-scented fern and bilberry, and several “weeds” such as the mouse-ear or wintercress, both of which were growing on the side of a forestry track.
| English Name | Latin Name |
|---|---|
| Flowers | |
| Bilberry | Vaccinium myrtillus |
| Bird’s-foot Trefoil | Lotus corniculata |
| Black Medick | Medicago lupulina |
| Bluebell (incl. white variety) | Hyacinthoides non-scripta |
| Brooklime | Veronica beccabunga |
| Bugle (incl. pink variety) | Ajuga reptans |
| Bush Vetch | Vicia sepium |
| Common Mouse-ear | Cerastium fontanum |
| Common Wintercress | Barbarea vulgaris |
| Cowslip | Primula veris |
| Creeping Buttercup | Ranunculus repens |
| Crosswort | Galium cruciata |
| Daisy | Bellis perennis |
| Dandelion | Taraxacum sp. |
| Dog’s Mercury | Mercurialis perennis |
| Dog Violet | Viola riviniana |
| Early Purple Orchid | Orchis mascula |
| Fly Orchid | Ophrys insectifera |
| Fly Orchid | Ophrys insectifera |
| Golden Saxifrage | Chrysosplenium oppositifolium |
| Gorse or Whin | Ulex europaeus |
| Great Stitchwort | Stellaria holostea |
| Hairy Woodrush | Luzula pilosa |
| Herb Paris | Paris quadrifolia |
| Herb Robert | Geranium robertianum |
| Lady’s Mantle | Alchemilla sp. (probably xanthochlora) |
| Lily of the Valley | Convallaria majalis |
| Lords and Ladies | Arum maculatum |
| Meadow Buttercup | Ranunculus acris |
| Mouse Ear Hawkweed | Hieracium pilosella |
| Oxlip (false) | Primula vulgaris×veris |
| Pignut | Conopodium majus |
| Primrose | Primula vulgaris |
| Ransoms or Wild Garlic | Allium ursinum |
| Ribwort Plantain | Plantago lanceolata |
| Salad Burnet | Sanguisorba minor |
| Sanicle | Sanicula europaea |
| Silverweed | Potentilla anserina |
| Thyme-leaved Sandwort | Arenaria serpyllifolia |
| Thyme-leaved Speedwell | Veronica serpyllifolia |
| Tormentil | Potentilla erecta |
| Twayblade | Listera ovata |
| Water Avens | Geum rivale |
| Wavy Bittercress | Cardamine flexuosa |
| White Deadnettle | Lamium album |
| Wild Strawberry | Fragaria vesca |
| Wood Anemone | Anemone nemorosa |
| Wood Avens | Geum urbanum |
| Wood Forgetmenot | Myosotis sylvatica |
| Woodruff | Galium odoratum |
| Wood Sorrel | Oxalis acetosella |
| Wood Speedwell | Veronica montana |
| Yellow Pimpernel | Lysimachia nemorum |
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There were a further 33 plants we recorded by their leaves, mostly summer flowers which are still to bloom. It was interesting to see the three commonest species of thistle growing more or less together so we could compare the leaves and habit of growth.
| English Name | Latin Name |
|---|---|
| Plants in leaf | |
| Agrimony | Agrimonia eupatoria |
| Barren Strawberry | Potentilla sterilis |
| Bramble | Rubus sp. |
| Broad-leaved Dock | Rumex obtusifolius |
| Broad-leaved Willowherb | Epilobium montanum |
| Burdock | Arctium sp. |
| Creeping cinquefoil | Potentilla reptans |
| Creeping Thistle | Cirsium arvense |
| Dewberry | Rubus caesius |
| Dog Rose | Rosa canina |
| Downy Rose | Rosa mollis agg. |
| Enchanter’s Nightshade | Circaea lutetiana |
| Fairy Flax | Linum catharticum |
| Figwort | Scrophularia nodosa |
| Goosegrass or Cleavers | Galium aparine |
| Hairy St. John’s Wort | Hypericum hirsutum |
| Hairy Violet | Viola hirta |
| Hedge Woundwort | Stachys sylvatica |
| Hogweed | Heracleum sphondylium |
| Honeysuckle | Lonicera periclymenum |
| Knapweed, common | Centaurea nigra |
| Marjoram | Origanum vulgare |
| Marsh Thistle | Cirsium palustre |
| Meadowsweet | Filipendula ulmaria |
| Nettle | Urtica dioica |
| Ragwort | Senecio jacobea |
| Raspberry | Rubus idaeus |
| Rosebay Willow Herb | Chamaenerion angustifolium |
| Rush | Juncus, probalby effusus |
| Spear Thistle | Cirsium vulgare |
| Wild Angelica | Angelica sylvestris |
| Wood Sage | Teucrium scorodonia |
| Yarrow or Milfoil | Achillea millefolium |
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We did not see many fungi, but there were some interesting ones, including rust fungi on different plants, for instance creeping thistle. This particular fungus goes through several stages in its life-cycle, one of which produced an orangey powder and a strong smell which some members thought was like honey and pleasant, and others found strong and unpleasant!
| English Name | Latin Name |
|---|---|
| Fungi | |
| [Fungus] | Callocera pallidospathulata |
| [Fungus] | Lycogala epidendron |
| [Fungus] | Phragmitum (?) on Bramble |
| [Fungus] | Stereum hirsutum |
| Birch Bracket Fungus | Piptoporus betulinus |
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Ferns, mosses and liverworts form a related group of “primitive” plants that reproduce with spores rather than flowers and seeds. There were plenty of ferns in the wood, but they were mostly male fern or common buckler fern, with a good number of hard ferns along the path-sides. We found a couple of lady ferns and a few lemon-scented ferns, the latter indicating relatively acid soil conditions. Some of the mosses were identified, and we saw two liverworts as well, growing in amongst the moss
| English Name | Latin Name |
|---|---|
| Ferns | |
| Bracken | Pteridium aquilinum |
| Common Buckler Fern | Dryopteris dilatata |
| Hard Fern | Blechnum spicant |
| Lady Fern | Athyrium fillix-femina |
| Lemon-scented Fern | Oreopteris limbosperma |
| Male Fern | Dryopteris filix-mas |
| Mosses and Liverworts | |
| [Liverwort] | Lophocola bidentata |
| [Liverwort] | Plagiochila porelloides |
| [Moss] | Mnium hornum |
| [Moss] | Polytrichum sp. |
| [Moss] | Rhytidiodelphis squarrosus |
| [Moss] | Rhytidiodelphis triquetris |
| [Moss] | Thuidium tamariscinum |
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We only saw three different sedges (and the Carex nigra may have been mis-identified). There were several different grasses, but many of them were not yet in flower, so were impossible to identify; the ones we managed to pin down are listed below.
| English Name | Latin Name |
|---|---|
| Grasses | |
| Bush Grass | Calamagrostis epigejos |
| Cocksfoot | Dactylis glomerata |
| Meadow Foxtail | Alopecurus pratensis |
| Slender False Brome | Brachypodium sylvaticum |
| Tufted Hair Grass | Deschampsia caespitosa |
| Wood Meadow Grass | Poa nemorosa |
| Sedges | |
| Common Sedge [?] | Carex nigra |
| Glaucous Sedge | Carex flacca |
| Wood Sedge | Carex sylvatica |
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There is a wide variety of trees in the woodland, much of it planted. The conifers are introduced (except Scots Pine). The broad-leaves are native species, and probably naturally seeded here.
| Trees | |
| Ash | Fraxinus excelsior |
| Beech | Fagus sylvatica |
| Blackthorn | Prunus spinosa |
| Corsican Pine | Pinus nigra var. maritima |
| Crab Apple | Malus sylvestris |
| Dogwood | Cornus sanguinea |
| Douglas Fir | Pseudotsuga menziesii |
| Elder | Sambucus nigra |
| Field Maple | Acer campestre |
| Goat Willow | Salix caprea |
| Hawthorn | Crataegus monogyna |
| Hazel | Corylus avellana |
| Holly | Ilex aquifolium |
| Larch | Larix sp |
| Oak | Quercus sp. |
| Rowan | Sorbus aucuparia |
| Scots Pine | Pinus sylvestris |
| Serbian Spruce | Picea omorika |
| Silver Birch | Betula pendula |
| Sycamore | Acer pseudoplatanus |
| Western Hemlock | Tsuga heterophylla |
| Western Red Cedar | Thuja plicata |
| Wild Cherry | Prunus avium |
| Wych Elm | Ulmus glabra |
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All photos © copyright 2000 Gill & Adrian Smith
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© Ryedale Natural History Society 1999