Bradford Plant List SE13 1990 -2021: New Plants 2021 by B.A. 'Jesse' Tregale

SE13 is the 10km square taken from the Ordnance Survey Map which covers most of Bradford (Bingley- Apperley Bridge – Tong Street - Queensbury).

A good year in SE13 starting with the pink form of Early Crocus (Crocus tommasinianus 'Roseus') found amongst the ivy on Kings Road.  On Boar’s Well a bank seemed to have given way to form a soil hump with numerous bulbs being displaced and laying on the surface.  Some of these bulbs later flowered, including Reticulated Iris (Iris reticulata ‘Pauline’), and the small flowered daffodils Narcissus ‘Minnow’ and Narcissus ‘Stratosphere’.  On later trips with Brian Bryne, we went along the river to see his rather excellent Toothwort (Lathraea squamaria), which has been recorded once in the past.  Here we found some more splendid daffodils including Narcissus 'Glory of Lisse’ and Narcissus ‘Flower Drift’.  I managed to get these daffodils named by the experts Mike Crawley and David Broughton.  Brian also found the unusual Miyabe’s Maple (Acer miyabei) which looks like a large leaved Field Maple.  It had self-seeded by the parent trees.

In the wooded area off Carr Lane, Michael Wilcox found a lot of my new plants including a rather splendid Pale Sedge (Carex pallescens) by the pond in Royds Cliff Wood and the Purple-leaved Elder (Sambucus nigra ‘Guincho Purple’) which was growing outside a garden on Redcar Road.  The Hybrid Sweet-grass Glyceria x pedicellate, which I had spent many years searching for, Michael found in a wet meadow by Hirst Wood.  Later, Michael took me to an area by the Eccleshill Swimming Pool where he had found Swedish Goosefoot (Chenopodium suecicum), Golden Tickseed (Coreopsis tinctoria), Annual Clary (Salvia viridis ‘Pink Sundae’), Nasturtium (Tropaeolum major 'Single Red') and the Scentless x Sea Mayweed hybrid (Tripleurospermum inodorum x T. maritimum).  The Mayweed had intermediate size seeds, details of which will soon be in the BSBI News Magazine.  Michael also found Four-leaved Allseed (Polycarpon tetraphyllum) on the cobbles on King Road.  This species appears to be moving north with Andrew finding it in Halifax.

I was pleased to find Slender Yellow Trefoil (Trifolium micranthum) on a small area of waste ground on Poplar Farm School and a rather fine purple leaved Viola riviniana ‘Purpurea Group’ was found on the back road at the top of Bolton Road.  The Purple Crab (Malus x purpurea) was another good find growing in the scrubby area by Peel Park.  My final plant was seen just around the corner whilst walking the dog in November, Nemesia ‘Vanilla Berry’, Nemesia Fairy Kisses Series, growing between a wall and pavement on Ashbourne Oval.

I have been pressing a number of dandelions since 2018 to send to the BSBI Referee Prof. A. J. Richards.  I eventually got around to sending them early last year but did not get a reply until late October.  Most were common dandelions but he did mention two scarce adventives Taraxacum macranthoides and Taraxacum pachylobum.  I am hoping to find some more in 2022.

All records are mine except :- ¹ Michael Wilcox, ² Brian Bryne, ³ Jesse Tregale & Brian Byrne

My total plants seen and recorded for Bradford SE13– 10Km square 1990-2021 = 1854

My full Bradford SE13 list is available and please contact me if you find any interesting plants in Bradford SE13

Email: rachtregale@blueyonder.co.uk