Ormskirk and Lathom,      26 September 2009

Leader:  Peter Gateley

Continuing the theme for this September it was a dullish, but dry, Saturday morning when 19 members and friends met up at the recently refurbished Ormskirk Station.  We headed north from the station through the exotic plantings of the car park, noting the purple berries on box-leaved honeysuckle (Lonicera pileata); a blackbird was seen feeding on them, no doubt leading to potential spread of this Chinese species as improved climate increases seed viability.  A wide range of typical railway weeds was recorded as we headed to the north-east towards the route of the disused line that once ran through Skelmersdale to St Helens.  The low embankment here has been colonised by mature oak growth, both Quercus robur and Q. cerris, with traces of a former acidic sward surviving where the shade is not too dense and where not swamped by exotic species spreading from the adjacent back gardens.  A rampant specimen of mile-a-minute vine (Fallopia baldshuanica) was noted and its numerous inflorescences compared with those of its cousin, Japanese knotweed.

After leaving the old railway we stopped at an old roadside sandstone wall that has been colonised by patches of a large-flowered yellow corydalis (Pseudofumaria lutea).  Walking along residential streets we found a range of typical pavement crack and gutter species and admired various weeds and exotics in front gardens, including field woundwort (Stachys arvensis).  We turned off the pavements onto the track known as Ladies’ Walk, heading north through the former Lathom estates of the Earls of Derby.  Here a range of typical arable field edge weeds was seen, many of them still flowering, including field pansy (Viola arvensis) and corn spurrey (Spergula arvensis), with may others in full seed.  Towards the northern end of this track a recently planted hedge of native species was thriving on the eastern side, beyond this was a potato field with a tall fringe of weeds, mainly red goosefoot (Chenopodium rubrum) and common orache (Atriplex patula) but also with much redleg (Persicaria maculosa) and a little leafy-fruited nightshade (Solanum sarachoides).  This field edge marked the end of the second 1km square recorded, with 126 vascular species noted along the route.

 

Following lunch we proceeded along Castle Lane towards the village of Westhead.  All along the right-hand side of the route there was a broad seeded edge to the ploughed field, with sparse wheat ears intermixed with many seed-rich weeds such as red goosefoot and redleg and also scattered maize and sunflower plants.  Gallant soldier (Galinsoga parviflora) was present in the edges near to Westhead.  South from Westhead a footpath led us through a much more-enclosed landscape with tall mixed hedges and many trees.  Just to the east of the church there is a sheep-grazed field with a short sward dominated by common bent (Agrosis capillaris) on the edge next to the church was a flourishing strip of Michaelmas daisy (Aster species) in full flower. 

 

We next called in at Ruff Woods, where a birch and oak-dominated woodland has established around a disused sandstone quarry.  The ground conditions are predominantly acidic and patches of purple moor-grass (Molinia caerulea) and wavy hair-grass (Deschampsia flexuosa) were noted amongst abundant fern and bracken growth.  Various fungi were also noted, including earth ball, tawny grisette and a species of bolete.  Walking from the woods, into Ormskirk, various wall-ferns were noted from garden boundaries and just before returning to the station a large population of water bent (Polypogon viridis), that has recently established in one of the main car parks, was visited.

 

Peter Gateley

Aster species	Bolete species	Examining the Pseudofumaria lutea	Checking the wild flowers in a field	Solanum sarachoides

Oxalis exilis	Broad seed edge to ploughed field	Chenopodium rubrum & Persicaria maculosa in the field	Galinsoga parviflora	Ruff Wood

Earthball	Vicia sepium	Polypogon viridis