Mistletoe

 

Mistletoe is, of course, one of those plants associated with Christmas. I had a couple of encounters with Mistletoe during this festive season, but, alas, I regret to report that none of these encounters involved any of the traditional kissing!

I visited my brother and his family in the Norfolk village of Congham near King’s Lynn. As I’ve reported before, this village is located in glorious ancient countryside with at least two nature reserves, of national importance, nearby and old lanes bordered by rich hedgerows and copses of old oaks. I have to report though that the area is becoming increasingly suburbanised and, I imagine, most of its modern inhabitants are commuters who work in nearby towns (perhaps as far away as Peterborough or Norwich). Although I’m sure that many of Congham’s inhabitants do appreciate the quality of their environment, I wouldn’t be surprised to find that many of them just drive through it and never really see it (when I went for walks I rarely encountered anyone on foot – lots of cars speeding through the village though).

Anyway, I digress! My first encounter with Mistletoe was not on a nature reserve, or in a lane, but on an apple tree in the garden of one of my brother’s neighbours; there were three or four plants in the same tree. But the really major sighting was last Thursday (27.12.2012) from the window of the 12:56 train out of King’s Lynn, on my way back to Manchester. In the suburbs of Lynn, in the middle distance, I spotted an urban park bordered by old Lime trees – probably (hybrid) Common Limes (Tilia x europaea). The boughs of many of these trees were conspicuously adorned with the characteristic frozen starbursts of Mistletoe plants; I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much Mistletoe in such a limited area.

The great expert on the British landscape, Oliver Rackham, tells us that: “Mistletoe is a flowering plant usually seen on exotic trees – cultivated apple, hybrid lime, hybrid poplar – with a preference for old specimens ... It has a natural habitat on ancient native trees, especially hawthorns.” He also tells us that there is evidence to suggest that Mistletoe was never a woodland species but a characteristic plant of more open, ancient savannahs. I vividly recall finding it on a Hawthorn bush on the Barnack Hills and Holes nature reserve in Cambridgeshire. It was only after reading Rackham’s book that I realised that I had been afforded a privileged glimpse of a prehistoric landscape!

There is only one species of Mistletoe in Britain: the plant with the scientific name, Viscum album. Worldwide there are many other species, all belonging to the family, Santalaceae.

Mistletoe, like Yellow Rattle which I referred to in the last post, is a hemi-parasite i.e. it derives some of its nourishment from the host tree but also has chlorophyll in its leaves which allows it, like most plants, to synthesise sugars from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the process being powered by sunlight. A severe infestation of Mistletoe can actually kill a tree.

Mistletoe seeds are delivered to the host tree by birds. An interesting website, called ‘The Mistletoe Pages: a website about the original mistletoe of western tradition and folklore’ (link below) has more to say about which species of bird are involved:

“[Mistletoe] relies entirely on winter birds for berry, and therefore seed, distribution – so birds are essential. Secondly the white sticky berries of Viscum album are not attractive to many birds – many ignore them as they are looking for red, orange, black or blue berries (mistletoe is the only native British species with white berries) and even if they try them the birds are put off by the super-glue quality of the berry pulp. So which birds do take mistletoe berries? In Britain the answer is largely Mistle Thrushes, whose common name and latin name, Turdus viscivorus, hint at a mistletoe specialism. Other thrushes – including Redwings, Fieldfares etc will also eat the berries. But despite their name Mistle Thrushes aren’t really mistletoe specialists as they occur commonly across the country in areas with no mistletoe, where they will eat many other berries. Furthermore they’re not really very efficient at spreading mistletoe. They usually swallow the whole berry, seed and all, excreting a mass of semi-digested berry pulp and seeds about 30 minutes later. Some of those seeds, still sticky, may stick to a branch where they can germinate. Most will not – often hanging uselessly below a branch. A few other birds will eat mistletoe too, including Waxwings and a few other relatively uncommon species, but the most efficient mistletoe spreading species is the Blackcap. These smart little birds only swallow the berry skin and pulp, wiping each seed off their beak before swallowing – and so they are much more efficient than Mistle Thrushes. Blackcaps in Britain migrate south for the winter, so they have not, traditionally, been a factor in mistletoe distribution in the UK. But changing migration patterns in the last 20-30 years have led to first 100s and now 1000s, of migrant Blackcaps from Germany visiting Britain each winter.”

This website also tells us that the main stronghold for Mistletoe in Britain is in the South and West Midlands, but that the distribution appears to be changing – possibly as either the result of climate change or the changed migration patterns of Blackcaps.

Mistletoe always seems to have been rare or uncommon in the Manchester region. The shoemaker botanist, Richard Buxton, in his flora of 1849, gives only two locations:

“Parasitical upon apple trees. In the neighbourhood of Pilkington and Prestwich.”

Ten years later his contemporary, Leo Grindon reported in more detail:

 “On apple-trees in garden and orchards at Lymm; Warburton; Atherton near Leigh .. Prestwich (also on hawthorns), Knutsford, Baguley and elsewhere, but very sparingly, and generally out of public view or Christmas thieves would have destroyed what little there is.”

Until recently I thought that Mistletoe must be extinct in this region but, amazingly, I now have two sites for it – both in Common Limes in the Didsbury area (I don’t want to be too specific for fear of [modern] “Christmas thieves”!). The photograph above was taken at one of my sites. As Common Limes are - well - common in parks and cemeteries, I can think of plenty of places where it might be worth searching for more local Mistletoe.

Dave Bishop, December 2012.

References:

Rackham, O.  ‘Woodlands’, Collins, 2006.

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistletoe

The Mistletoe Pages: http://mistletoe.org.uk/homewp/

Buxton, R. ‘A Botanical Guide to the Flowering Plants, Ferns, Mosses and Algae Found Indigenous Within Sixteen Miles of Manchester’, Longman And Co., 1849.

 

 

Grindon, L. ‘The Manchester Flora’, William White, 1859.

Making a Meadow on Ivy Green

 

 

Species-rich, semi-natural grasslands (e.g. traditional hay meadows) are now some of the rarest habitats in Britain, and they are also some of the most colourful and biodiverse.

Up until the Second World War such grasslands were common – particularly in river valleys. These meadows were full of wild flowers and were at their most glorious in May and June. In late summer they were cut (traditionally using scythes) and the cut grass left to dry in the sun. Once dry, the ‘hay’ was raked into piles, loaded onto horse-drawn carts and dragged away to be stored in barns, eventually to be fed to animals during the winter months.

I don’t suppose many of the old farmers thought too much about the effect they were having on biodiversity (!) Nevertheless, the drying and raking stages helped to spread the wild flower seeds (not to mention the grass seeds) and removing the hay crop kept the nutrient content of the soil on the low side. This may seem counter-intuitive but high nutrient levels lead to the habitat being dominated by a few vigorous species, whereas lower nutrient levels tend to suppress these species whilst giving more delicate species a chance to flourish.

After the Second World War millions of acres of meadowland were ploughed up and planted with crops or turned into species-poor ‘ley’ meadows dominated by Perennial Rye-grass. In the Mersey Valley the ancient meadows were tipped on, turned into golf courses or sports fields or grossly over-grazed by horses. But when I first moved to Chorlton, in the 1970s, there were still small patches of species-rich grassland left, with some of the original meadow flora. The local authorities then committed a series of outrageous acts of crass vandalism by planting trees on many of these precious patches. This was basically a stupid and perverse assault – a bit like gluing a false moustache onto the upper lip of a beautiful woman! It led me to formulate Bishop’s First Law, i.e. an organisation’s knowledge of, or concern for, its local environment is inversely proportional to it propensity to plant trees.   Whenever I walk on Chorlton Ees (i.e. Chorlton Meadows) and see those gloomy, species-poor pseudo-woods that dominate the area now, I mourn for the rich, colourful place that we could have had if the local authorities had known what they were doing.

I have reason to believe that the old local meadows were of a type that ecologists call ‘Alopecurus-Sanguisorba’ – that is meadows dominated by the grass Meadow Foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis)

 

 

 and the herb Great Burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis).
 

 

A defined suite of other species tend to accompany these two dominant ones. A sad, degraded remnant of such a meadow is still just about visible near Sale Water Park.

I was wandering across Ivy Green, one day last June, admiring a large patch of Meadow Foxtail, and thinking, “wouldn’t some Great Burnet look good with that?” Suddenly I stopped in amazement because with the grasses were a few plants of Great Burnet - in a site where I’ve never recorded that species before! Frankly, I can’t explain how they got there and how I had previously failed to spot them. It occurred to me that here was an opportunity to attempt to re-create a Mersey Valley hay meadow.

I asked the Mersey Valley Wardens if they could strim the area in late summer or early autumn. They did so, and then last Sunday (13.10.2012) members of FoCM raked off the hay. This wasn’t too easy because, after all the rain recently, the hay was sodden (luckily we weren’t planning feed it to any animals). One of our members said that raking this soggy mess reminded him of combing the knots out of one of his children’s tangled hair.

Although two of the appropriate species are present on our site, many other key species are missing. In the weeks leading up to our hay raking day I had been gathering appropriate seeds from up and down the Mersey Valley. After we had finished raking, and had removed the hay, I mixed these seeds with some dry sand and broadcast the mixture over the site.

Species I chose included some more Great Burnet plus Bistort, Meadow Buttercup, some vetches and Red Clover and two dandelion look-a-likes: Common Catsear and Autumn Hawkbit. Most important, I added seeds of Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor). This plant is a ‘hemi-parasite’ – which means that although its leaves contain chlorophyll and are green, it also attaches itself to the roots of grasses and steals nutrients from them.  This suppresses the grasses and reduces the competition with the more delicate plants.
 

 

When attempting a project like this it is extremely important to use local seed and not any old imported ‘wild flower mix’. Perhaps I’ll get round to explaining why in a future post. Suffice it to say that, contrary to popular opinion, planting any old ‘wild flower’ seeds in the countryside can be as damaging to local biodiversity as planting the wrong trees in the wrong place.

So, will all of this effort pay off? We’ll have to wait at least until next May to find out – watch this space!

Dave Bishop, October 2012

An Encounter with the Trichomanes Gametophyte

 

On Saturday afternoon I, and some fellow fern enthusiasts, got very excited about a green, fuzzy patch on the wall of a rock crevice. For reasons which will be revealed later, I can't tell you where this was - but it wasn't in the Mersey Valley.

I suppose I'd better explain:

In Britain and Ireland there are three species of, so-called, 'filmy ferns'. These are Wilson's Filmy Fern (Hymenophyllum wilsonii), the Tunbridge Filmy Fern (H. tunbridgense) and the Killarney Bristle Fern (Trichomanes speciosum). These grow in wet, sheltered sites on rock faces - usually in areas with high rainfall. They all have translucent leaves which are only one cell thick (hence the 'filmy fern' name). In the 19th century colonies of the handsomest of these species, T. speciosum, were practically destroyed by fern collectors, and they have never really recovered. At least the colonies of the adult form of T. speciosum - i.e. the spore-bearing or 'sporophyte' stage - have never recovered but, relatively recently, an extraordinary discovery was made. Ferns have a complicated life cycle and before they reach the sporophyte stage go through a 'gametophyte' stage in which a female element is fertilised by a male element. Typical fern gametophytes are usually tiny, heart-shaped scales clinging to rocks or soil.

Around 30 or 40 years ago Donald Farrar, a professor of botany at Iowa State University, discovered that certain American fern species, including filmy ferns, produce 'independent gametophytes' - tiny plantlets that never produce adult sporophytes; they exist in a state of permanently arrested development. He discovered colonies of these independent gametophytes by examing the interiors of rock crevices, fissures and other shady places with a torch (OK - a 'flashlight'!). Unlike typical fern gametophytes, the independent gametophytes of the American filmy fern species, Trichomanes intricatum, are like green mats of thread-like filaments - sometimes covering several square metres. They reproduce via tiny, specialised buds, called 'gemmae', which become detached and dispersed to new locations.

In 1989 Prof. Farrar was on sabbatical leave in Britain and found colonies of the independent gametophyte of T. speciosum here. This discovery prompted further research and such colonies have now been found in several areas of Britain and elsewhere in Europe.

The big question, of course, is how did this phenomenon arise? The American fern expert, Robbin C. Moran, has put forward an extraordinary explanation: Most filmy ferns are tropical species found clinging to trees in rain and cloud forests. Until the middle of the Tertiary period, 35 million years ago, such forests existed in America and Europe. Then the climate began to cool and become more seasonal, culminating in the last Ice Age. A few species hung on as sporophytes in wetter, somewhat warmer areas (like western regions of Britain and Ireland) but in other drier, colder areas they 'toughed out' the climate change by confining themselves to the stable micro-climates in rock crevices and similar places, and arresting their development to their gametophyte stages. So, and I hardly dare write this, those little green patches that we saw on Saturday, and which were not noticed until just over 20 years ago, have probably existed in Britain for millions of years!

The colonies of T. speciosum gametophytes which we found on Saturday looked like thin layers of bright green cotton wool pasted to the rock and we had to use torches to see them (and because of the cramped and awkward conditions my photo is rubbish - well, that's my excuse!).

All stages of T. speciosum are protected by law in Britain and Ireland (it's a Red Data Book species) - which is why I can't tell you where the site is. A passerby asked us what we were looking at and, I'm ashamed to say, we lied and told him that we were looking for mosses. On the bright side, though, by lying we didn't have to kill him and he didn't have to endure my explanation of what a gametophyte is!

Dave Bishop, September 2012

References:

Moran, R.C., 'A Natural History of Ferns', Timber Press, 2004

Rich, T.C.G. & Jermy, A.C., 'Plant Crib 1998', BSBI, 1998

   

Re-scheduled Bat & Moth Night

Well, the evening of the Bat & Moth night turned out to be a bit 'moist'. Nevertheless, about ten (mad? dehydrated?) people turned up! Everyone seemed perfectly happy to stand around in the dark and the pouring rain, in a flooded car park, chatting about bats and moths - while the subjects of these conversations were sensibly tucked up in their little bat and moth beds. Eventually sense prevailed and we all went to the pub.

Obviously we didn't see any bats or moths that night ... well that's not entirely true because Ben Smart brought some moths in plastic boxes which we peered at by torchlight.

Later, in the (warm, dry) pub, we decided to re-schedule the evening. Details of the next, hopefully less moist, Bat & Moth night are as follows:

Date: Sunday 16th September

Time: 7:15 pm

Place: Ivy Green car park on Brookburn Road, Chorlton (opposite the bowling Green pub).

If you decide to attend, you may like to bring a torch with you.

Hope to see you there.

Dave Bishop (FoCM Chair)

Forthcoming Bat & Moth Night

Here's another outing for you - a nocturnal one this time!

BAT AND MOTH NIGHT Chorlton Ees & Ivy Green

Date: Saturday 25th August

Time: 8:15 pm

Meeting Place: Ivy Green car park, Brookburn Road, Chorlton (opposite the Bowling Green pub)

The plan is to wander along the bank of Chorlton Brook until we reach the river bank and then back to the car park. We will have bat detectors with us to pick up the ultra-high frequency bat calls.

On our return to the car park we will check a special moth trap with local moth expert, Ben Smart, to see how many species it has attracted (no moths will be harmed - hopefully!).

PLEASE BRING A TORCH WITH YOU.

Hope to see you there.

Best Regards,

Dave Bishop (FoCM Chair)

Walking with the Butterfly Man

By copland smith

Peter Hardy is the recorder of butterflies for Greater Manchester; the Friends of Chorlton Meadows were privileged to have him as walk leader on the first Sunday of August.

A smaller turnout than the last couple, about a dozen - perhaps 10.30 on a Sunday was a shade too early for some [I thought that the turn- out was quite good, actually – and we always start at 10:30! – Ed.] .

But a new member called Julian saw our activities halfway round and joined the group.

The showers held off and there were enough sunny spells to bring Lepidoptera out to play. We'd hardly left the Ivy Green car park when the first Speckled Wood fluttered into view. These are shade-loving butterflies and we were to see a few during the day, mostly males defending their territories against rivals as they waited to ambush any passing female.

As Peter explained, adult butterflies cannot eat solids and most rely on nectar to fuel their reproductive activities. Most of the time, they hold their tongues in a tight spiral like those licorice circles, but when they land on a flower, the "tongues" are unrolled into a sucking-straw as long as their gangly legs.

Speckled Wood females lay their eggs on grass for the caterpillars to eat. August is the peak time for the grass-feeders, when the grasses are at full height. In fact, the wet and warm weather had made the grasses taller than usual.

A Comma butterfly was warming itself in a nettle patch, angling its wings - nettles are the caterpillars' food-plant. The adults have a distinctive ragged edge, and a checker-board of black and orange, almost like a fritillary, but are named for a small, white comma on the darker underwings. The butterfly we saw will go into hibernation in early autumn and not emerge to mate until the first warm days of spring.

The first Holly Blue we noticed was sucking up thistle nectar. Later we would see one feeding on Rosebay Willowherb - something neither Peter nor I had seen before. These tiny, pale blue jobs are really "The Holly and the Ivy" Blue - this one had  grown in holly and would lay its eggs in ivy, where the next generation would grow, before emerging next spring to restart the holly generation.

When we reached a grassland area, we were buzzed by patrolling dragonflies - Brown Hawkers. And like tiny blue matchsticks amongst the grass stems, Common Blue Damselflies shimmered.

The grassland flickered with the browns and oranges of three more producers of grass-feeding larvae - the tiny Small Skipper; the larger, chocolate-bordered Gatekeeper (used to be called the Hedge Brown), and the still larger, tattier Meadow Brown. The Skipper and Gatekeeper have in common another trait: if the forewing has a dark smear on it, this is the male scent gland and shows his gender.

Skippers look like moths. When they rest, the hindwings are horizontal and the front wings angled; only skippers do this. A few weeks earlier, Large Skippers would have been in the same habitat; really quite similar to the Small, but with some patterning on the wings.

Tiny grass moths flew deep in the grasses; the most common were more triangular than some; Peter identified them as Udea lutealis­ -most micro-moths lack common names. There are only 59 species of truly British butterflies, but there are over 2000 species of moth, not all of which wait for night before flying.

There was a moment of torture (for me) when we approached the region of the Jackson's Boat inn, and then Mr. Hardy swung round and headed in the opposite direction for a further hour. It was all right though, the Bowling Green pub lay in wait instead. (Later, out of Peter's sight, a Gatekeeper would land on the pub wall, and another Holly Blue would emerge from the graveyard. He will be sent these records too.)

White butterflies zoomed about. The largest were Large Whites, scourge of allotment brassicas. All the smaller ones that stopped to be identified had a tracery of veins on the hind underwing - Green-Veined Whites. These are the commonest on the Meadows. They don't trouble the gardener - they feed on wild crucifers like the Cuckoo Flower (or Lady's Smock, it has many common names) — Cardamine pratensis. Their flowers are long gone, but there were plenty of other wild members of the cabbage family around.

There may have been a glimpse of a Peacock butterfly, but no one was sure enough for it to become an official record.

Great Hairy Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum) and ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) grew everywhere, painting the landscape pink and yellow, and on many flowerheads of the Ragwort, the black and gold striped caterpillars of the Cinnabar moth were crawling.

Towards the end of the walk, down near the river, a Small Tortoiseshell showed itself, giving a welcome splash of colours. Freshly emerged from its nettly hiding-place, its iridescent blue studs shone along the edge of the pattern of reds, browns, white and black.

A satisfying Sunday: 9 types of butterfly, 2 moths and 2 dragonflies, and the company of some very nice humans as well. All of the Lepidoptera records will go into Peter's database and thus into the county and national records. It's the unpaid work of people like him throughout the country that provides data that conservationists need. Our thanks to him for that, and for an enjoyable and informative day.

copland smith

August, 2012

copland.smith@gmail.com

Species noted

Lepidoptera - butterflies

Thymelicus sylvestris Small Skipper

Celastrina argiolus  Holly Blue

Pieris brassicae        Large White

Pieris napi                Green-veined White

Aglais urticae           Small Tortoiseshell

Polygonia c-album  Comma

 Pyronia tithonus      Gatekeeper

Maniola jurtina        Meadow Brown

Pararge aegeria         Speckled Wood

Lepidoptera - moths

Tyria jacobaeae       Cinnabar (caterpillars)

Udea lutealis            a grass moth

 Odonata - dragonflies and damselflies

Enallagma cyathigerum        Common Blue Damselfly

Aeshna grandis        Brown Hawker

Useful books

must haves

Pocket Guide to the Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland Richard Lewington ISBN 978 0 9531399 1 0 (British Wildlife Press) £9.95

Field guide to the Dragonflies and damselflies of Great Britain and Ireland Ray Lewington (British Wildlife Press) ISBN 953 13990 5 £18.95

 The Birdwatcher's Pocket Guide to Britain and Europe Rob Hume ISBN 9781845334352 (Hamlyn) £9.99

more specialist books

The Butterflies of Britain & Ireland (2nd Edition) Jeremy Thomas, illustrated by Richard Lewington (British Wildlife Press) ISBN 978 0 9564902 0 9 £24.95

Field Guide to the Micro-moths of Great Britain & Ireland Phil Sterling and Mark Parsons, illustrated by Richard Lewington ISBN 978-0-9564902-1-6 (British Wildlife Press) £29.95

 Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland - Paperback (2nd edition) Paul Waring & Martin Townsend, illustrated by Richard Lewington ISBN 978 0 9531399 8 9 (British Wildlife Press) £29.95

Forthcoming FoCM & 'Grey to Green' Events

Just a reminder (if you haven't put it in your diary yet) that FoCM's next event is a Butterfly walk with local butterfly expert, Peter Hardy.

Date: 5th August 2012

Time: 10:30 am - 1:30 pm

Meet: Ivy Green car park on Brookburn Road, Chorlton (opposite Bowling Green pub)

Another upcoming event is part of the Greater Manchester Local Record Centre's 'From Grey to Green' project:

Last year the Greater Manchester Local Records Centre (GMLRC), which is attached to the Greater Manchester Ecology Unit (GMEU), submitted a bid to the National Heritage Lottery Fund - and the bid was successful. The resulting project, which will run for three years, is called 'From Grey to Green' and its aim is to encourage the people of Greater Manchester to appreciate and record the wildlife around them. I think that this is a very exciting development and that FoCM should be involved as much as possible.

The next 'Grey to Green' event is entitled 'Summer in Manchester' and will be led by Steve Atkins of GMLRC

Date: Saturday 18th August

Time: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm

Meet: Mersey Valley Visitors' Centre, Rifle Road, Sale.

Further events in this series will be entitled: 'Autumn in Manchester' and 'Winter in Manchester' and I will send out details in due course.

GMLRC will also be running a course entitled 'An Introduction to Wildlife Recording' at Manchester Museum on Oxford Road. There will be six sessions on the following dates: 8th Nov, 22nd Nov, 6th Dec, 10th Jan, 24th Jan, 7th Feb. All will be evening sessions from 6 pm to 8 pm. This course will be free - but you will need to book through Steve Atkins: stephen.atkins@tameside.gov.uk