Led by Charles Kessler & Mike LeRoy

On Saturday 18th May eight of us met at Stockgrove car-park to explore areas north of Brickhill Road, away from the crowds in Rushmere Country Park. The group included keen plant explorers and a bird expert. Before we crossed the road from the car-park we heard a Cuckoo calling from King’s Wood. As soon as we had crossed the road we were in a very shallow grassy valley (Jenny Mercer explained  it is indicative of glaciation) we noticed surprisingly fresh-looking – for mid-May – Bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta in an open area of Bracken Pteridium aquilinum with woodland beyond them. Those we saw later under woodland tree canopy were largely over, but those in more open ground were still looking good; but will these ones be gradually engulfed by bracken?

May was a good time to be visiting King’s Wood, because one of this woodland’s specialities was coming into flower. We may be used to seeing Lily-of-the-valley Convallaria majalis in gardens but not in woods. It is a rare plant in Buckinghamshire but is found in King’s Wood on the Bucks/Beds County border and in the south of the county at Black Park, because these sites have the right soil and growing conditions. Some of King’s Wood is on the sandy soils of the county border beyond the Brickhills. These are part of a substantial National Nature Reserve, protected for its distinctive and historic habitats of heathland and Semi-Natural Ancient Woodland.

Lily-of-the-valley Convallaria majalis (Photo © Charles Kessler)

Charles Kessler had planned a varied figure-of-eight route that took us first to the hilltop heathland of Rammamere Heath. The heath had many clumps of ‘Ling’ which is a colloquial name for Heather – although it is also the name of a species of fish, so this is another reason for using its scientific name Calluna vulgaris. The core area of Rammamere Heath is managed by a stylish flock of Manx Loaghtan sheep, which have elegant, curved horns and their rams have impressive double horns.

From the heathland we passed the edge of Bragenham Wood, then alongside a massive boundary wood bank and ditch at the edge of King’s Wood. This is unlike other woodlands in the MK area because its lower parts are on well-drained sands and upper areas are on boulder clay. The range of trees we saw lower down is different from those in our wet, clay, hilltop Ancient Woodlands of MK. In King’s Wood we saw Small-leaved Lime Tilia cordata which is thought to have been one of the earlier trees to spread in Britain following the last ice-age but declined after 3000 BC largely from human activity. It is native to much of Europe but is now uncommon in British woods. Another lime is widely planted in parklands and as avenues in Britain: this is the hybrid of Small and Large-leaved Lime Tilia x europaea.

In some parts of King’s Wood, we saw Sessile Oak Quercus petraea (which has almost stalkless acorns but leaves with long stalks, petioles) and in other parts of the wood the oak we are more used to, the Pedunculate Oak Quercus robur (which has acorns on long stalks and leaves almost stalkless). The form of these trees tends to differ, with the Sessile Oak having more ascending branches and narrower crown. There were also Hornbeam Carpinus betulus, and numerous Silver Birch Betula pendula some of which were exceptionally large; Downy Birch Betula pubescens is also present but we didn’t notice any. Mature Scots Pine Pinus sylvestris are also scattered through the wood and several other conifer species. There were signs of Grey Squirrel damage to oak tree flowers, but few were in view.

The handout included over 40 plant species that Charles Kessler had seen a couple of days before, most of which we found. Richard Schmidt provided a further list of flora we saw as a group on Saturday that were not on the list attached to our handout, so there are 55 species in the attached Plant Species List, which doesn’t include very common species such as Nettles.

Yellow Archangel Lamiastrum galeobdolon (Photo © Charles Kessler)

Some time was spent checking the difference between Common Sorrel Rumex acetosa and Sheep’s Sorrel Rumex acetosella. Another plant of interest, added by Richard Schmidt, was Wood Sage Teucrium scorodonia and is said to be ‘characteristic of dry open woods & grassy places on heathy soils and scarce in Buckinghamshire’ according to Roy Maycock & Aaron Woods in A Checklist of the Plants of Buckinghamshire published by MKNHS in 2005.

Wood Sage Teucrium scorodonia (Photo © Richard Schmidt)

There was much debate about some young tree suckers at the west edge of King’s Wood, which were of the Poplar Populus genus (of the Willow Salix family). Were they the Aspen Populus tremula species or were they Grey Poplar Populus x canescens, a hybrid between Aspen and White Poplar Populus alba? The leaf shape was Aspen-like, with their more rounded (orbicular) leaves with undulating (undulate) edges compared to the more jagged toothed (serrate) edges and more heart-shaped (cordate) leaves of White Poplar or Grey Poplar. But the petioles (the stalk of a leaf) were only slightly flattened: this flatness makes leaves of Aspen unstable, so they flutter from side to side in the wind in a distinctive way. There are other features to compare such as the dense, matted hairiness (tomentose) of the underside of young Grey Poplar leaves and un-hairy (glabrous) or sparsely-hairy underside of Aspen leaves. But Grey Poplar leaf undersides become much less hairy later on and hybrids tend to be variable. Perhaps these young trees require closer examination on our next visit?’

Although trees and other flowering plants were a main focus of interest, we also saw a huge European Hornet Vespa crabro fly past us and later a queen Hornet dropped to the ground close to us (definitely not an invasive Asian Hornet Vespa velutina). Birds heard and seen included: Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Great Spotted Woodpecker and the delightful descending song of a Willow Warbler, but most of the group seemed to be looking rather than listening. There are many other areas of these woodlands and heath that are well worth exploring when we next make a return visit here.

Mike LeRoy & Charles Kessler

The Plant Species List can be found and downloaded here.