On an overcast day the joint visit to Portholme with the Huntingdonshire Local Group of the Wildlife Trust gave an opportunity to see some of the wide range of meadow plants that survive on the site. Although the Fritillaries were past their best we were treated to a splendid display of the now very local (in Huntingdonshire) Meadow Saxifrage, a plant of old meadows. Other plants recorded by Peter & Jen Walker, Eddy Sutcliffe and Jane Croft were:
Alopecurus pratensis |
Meadow Foxtail |
Fritillaria Meleagris |
Fritillary |
Rumex crispus |
Curled Dock |
Rumex acetosa |
Common Sorrel |
Vicia cracca |
Tufted Vetch |
Taraxacum sp. |
Dandelion |
Rhinanthus minor |
Yellow Rattle |
Oenanthe fistulosa |
Water-dropwort |
Filipendula ulmaria |
Meadowsweet |
Centaurea nigra |
Common Knapweed |
Galium verum |
Lady’s Bedstraw |
Sanguisorba officinalis |
Greater Burnet |
Plantago lanceolate |
Ribwort Plantain |
Plantago major |
Greater Plantain |
Ranunculus acris |
Meadow Buttercup |
Ranunculus repens |
Creeping Buttercup |
Cardamine pratensis |
Cuckoo Flower, Lady’s Smock |
Lotus pedunculatus |
Bird’s-foot-trefoil |
Lathyrus pratensis |
Meadow Vetchling |
Trifolium pretense |
Red Clover |
Heracleum sphondylium |
Hogweed |
Cirsium arvense |
Creeping Thistle |
Senecio vulgaris |
Groundsel |
Cerastium fontanum |
Common Mouse-ear |
Thalictrum flavum |
Common Meadow-rue |
Arctium sp. |
Burdock |
Chenopodium sp. |
Goosefoot |
Tripleurospermum inodorum |
Scentless Mayweed |
Geranium dissectum |
Cut-leaved Crane’s bill |
Capsella bursa-pastors |
Shepherd’s purse |
Potentilla anserine |
Silverweed |
Senecio jacobaea |
Common Ragwort |
Myosotis scorpioides? |
Water Forget-me-not |
Meadow Saxifrage (Saxifraga granulata) on Portholme Meadow
Our Bryophyte Recorder Mick Burton found the Pointed Lattice-moss (Dialytrichia mucronate) an aquatic species found on rocks or stonework in fast flowing water. It was near the sluice on the way to the meadow and is only the third record for Huntingdonshire.
The site is not only of great botanical importance but also has a rich history. You will find a paper covering both aspects by downloading this PDF:
Portholme Meadow Brampton Parish History and Natural History
Pat Doody, Chair Huntingdonshire Fauna & Flora Society