Botanical Trips

This page links to brief reports of local botanical trips I have made, usually in search of particular, often rare, plants at known locations, rather than field trips organised as part of the Ryedale Natural History Society’s summer programme. The notes are rather brief, and the layout basic, as my min concern here is to record the plants and have the pictures available as soon as possible after my visits.

All photos are copyright (© Gill Smith unless otherwise credited). If you would like to use them for any purpose please email Gill Smith. Our normal policy is to allow free but acknowledged use of pictures for non-commercial purposes. Some of the photos are available at higher resolutions.

Trip reports

25th July 2009	Sievedale Fen Fragrant orchid Gymnodenia conopsea subsp. densiflora and marsh helleborine Epipactis palustris in damp grassland and fen.
19th July 2009	Gundale Dodder Cuscuta epithymum, basil thyme Clinopodium acinos and various insects in dry limestone grassland and scree / old quarry.
21st June 2009	Sutherbruff and Sand-dale Yellow birdsnest Monotropa hypopyti, bee orchid Ophrys apifera, mountain everlasting Antennaria dioica and marsh orchids Dactylorhiza spp. in old limestone quarry, damp grassland and fen.
14th June 2009	Hutton Common and Yatts Butterfly orchids (Platanthera spp.), deadly nightshade (Atropa bella-donna), burnt-tip orchid (Orchis ustulata) fly orchids (Ophrys insectivora) in limestone grassland and woods
17th May 2009	Goathland Lesser twayblade (Listera cordata) in moorland gill
9th August 2008	Hawnby YNU excursion, woods and grassland, including herb paris (Paris quadrifolia) and stone bramble (Rubus saxatilis) in fruit.
9th June 2007	Gormire Lake side for tufted loosestrife (Lysimachia thyrsiflora) and marsh cinquefoil (Potentilla palustris).
25th June 2006	Cayton Bay and Scarborough Sandy beach, marshland with hemlock water dropwort, and limestone grassland with clary and marjoram.
30th July 2005	Silpho Old limestone quarry with pale St. John’s wort (Hypericum montanum) growing with many other colourful species including small scabious (Scabiosa columbaria), lady’s bedstraw (Galium verum) and knapweed (Centaurea nigra). Also gipsywort (Lycopus europaeus) at a nearby man-made lake.
23rd July 2005	Broughton & Whitwell Limestone grassland verges with knapweed broomrape (Orobanche elatior), sand leek (Allium scorodoprasum) and other exciting species; verge with broad-leafed helleborine; and farmland with cornfield “weeds”.