Plant Species List

With repetitive mowing of the orchard, common grasses came to dominate the sward, but other species spontaneously appeared and still others suitable to the habitat or found growing nearby were introduced in the form of seed by myself.

Amongst those species which seemed to appear from nowhere or migrated from the hedges, or reappeared from the seed bank in the soil, were:

Common mouse-ear Cerastium fontanum

Common St Johns wort Hypericum perfoliatum (seems to have spread out from the hedges)

Creeping cinquefoil Potentilla reptans

Spotted medick Medicago arabica

White clover and red clover Trifolium repens and T. pratense

Cow parsley Anthriscus sylvestris

Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium

Rough chervil Chaerophyllum temulentum

Hedge parsley Torilis japonica

Lesser stitchwort Stellaria graminea

Common cat’s-ear Hypochoeris radicata

Dandelion Taraxacum officinale

Yarrow Achillea millefolium

Common ragwort Senecio jacobaea (and later Hoary ragwort S. erucifolius)

Common forget-me-not Myosotis arvensis

Corn mint Mentha arvensis

Ground ivy Glechoma hederacea

Lesser bindweed Convolvulus arvensis (also as a persistent weed in the vegetable beds)

Common figwort Scrophularia nodosa

Self-heal Prunella vulgaris

Germander speedwell Veronica chamaedrys (a few patches of)

White dead-nettle Lamium album

Cowslip Primula veris (a later arrival - a slowly expanding clump at the very top of the orchard)

Common vetch Vicia sativa

Stinging nettle Urtica dioica (grows in patches or spreads out from hedges)

Hedge woundwort Stachys sylvatica (similar growth pattern to stinging nettle)

Dog’s mercury Mercurialis perennis (grows in hedge bottoms in the locality)

Spear thistle Cirsium vulgare

Creeping thistle Cirsium arvensis (also as a persistent weed in the vegetable beds)

Lesser celandine Ranunculus ficaria (particularly at the top of the orchard and on the margins of the pond)

Grasses, rushes and sedges:

Glaucous sedge Carex flacca? (one or two large patches)

False fox sedge Carex otrubae

Hard rush and soft rush Juncus influxus and J. effusus

Yorkshire fog Holcus lanatus

False oat grass Arrhenatherum elatius (a tall grass which was very prevalent in the early years)

Cocksfoot Dactylis glomerata

Soft brome Bromus mollis

Creeping bent Agrostis stolonifera

Tufted hair-grass Deschampsia caespitosa (after a few years two tufts of this tall grass appeared)

Several other common grass species

Lastly, around the latter noughties a pyramidal orchid Anacamptis pyramidalis appeared, in later years to be joined by several others, growing among the fruit tree rows, a few rows in from the western edge. One year these were supplemented by a single bee orchid Ophrys apifera.

Other species which I knowingly introduced in the form of collected seed from nearby local sources, such as roadside verges, or with ‘green hay’ from my former allotment in the village:

Meadow buttercup Ranunculus acris

Fleabane Pulicaria dysenterica (forms large patches in the damper parts of the orchard)

Common knapweed Centaurea nigra

Common sorrel Rumex acetosa

Tufted vetch Vicia cracca

Stone parsley Sison amomum (has done perhaps too well)

Grasses and sedges:

Sweet vernal grass Anthoxanthum odoratum

There are a few species growing around the pond margins, including:

Yellow flag iris Iris pseudacorus

Celery-leaved buttercup Ranunculus sceleratus

Great willow-herb Epilobium hirsutum

Bittersweet (woody nightshade) Solanum dulcamara

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