Portholme Meadow Visit 1


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

 

Portholme Meadow 2

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