In search of some plants of North Wales
David Winnard (via Zoom)
Thursday 21st January 2021
David is a wildlife photographer and described himself as a keen wildlife enthusiast rather than an expert but it was clear from his talk that he had a lot of natural history knowledge. David, originally from Rochdale, lives in Queensferry and his interest in plants partly began via his interest in moths and finding out the caterpillar food plants. David said he has also gained knowledge of plants via his interest in foraging.
David talked about some of the plants he’s found most interesting, illustrated by excellent photographs. These included Rustyback (Asplenium ceterach), Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem (Gagea lutea), Wild Daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus) and Yellow Corydalis (Pseudofumaria lutea), the latter growing like a weed on walls around Mold and Ruthin.
David talked about the problems with the invasive Water Fern (Azolla filiculoides) and the madness of the seeming lack of control shown by garden centres as they continue to allow this species to be accidentally introduced when customers take home other plants.
Photographs showing the breathtaking scenery of Cwm Idwal and some rare plants found in that area made us all keen to visit as soon as we are allowed. David believes some of the plants there are under increasing pressure from both climate change and grazing goats and it may not be long before some of these plants are lost altogether from this site.
David’s dismissal of most UK orchids as unimpressive was controversial with some of the audience but it’s hard to argue with his opinion of Bird's-nest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis) – if judged on it’s beauty, you’d throw it out if you found it in the garden!
It was interesting to hear about urban habitats where interesting plants could be found such as industrial estates where Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera) grows abundantly.
We were shown photographs of plants from the well known botanical hot spot of The Great Orme but David also talked about hidden gems such as Maltraeth on Anglesey.
David’s passion for fungi was clear and he told us that about 98% of plants on earth are believed to have a fungus associated with them. He thinks that North Wales is very under-recorded with regards to fungi so it’s hard to know the actual abundance of different species.
We were encouraged to take a look online at the Rare Plant Registers for Flintshire and Denbighshire as these are free to download and are relatively up to date.
After David’s talk, there was an opportunity to ask questions with interesting discussions such as possible ways to control Water Fern (Alison commented that weevils have been used with some success on the Leeds Liverpool Canal). David agreed that much of North Wales was ‘the wrong kind of green’ with many sheep grazed fields like botanical deserts but if you know where to find them, there are some excellent finds to be had.
David’s website: https://www.discoverthewild.co.uk/
Susan