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Vascular plant species list for La Belle Vilaine August 2007

I made this plant list between 11 th and 17 th August 2007 whilst staying in one of the holiday gites. Determinations were made with the aid of the following texts:

Rose, F & O'Reilly, C. 2006. The Wild Flower Key (revised edition). Frederick Warne Books, London .

Stace, C. A. 1999. Field Flora of the British Isles . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge .

The geographic area considered by both of these books is limited to the British Isles and they were therefore not ideally suited to the task in hand. Nevertheless, most determinations were made with confidence. Where I had serious reservations about a determination, I have indicated so below.

The entire grounds of La Belle Vilaine holiday gites were included in the survey – including the hedges behind the gardens and the planted bank in front of the property. Meadow plants that were sown by Elaine and Paul in their garden have not been included.

The list is interesting because it includes a number of plants that are uncommon or rare in the UK . No doubt searches carried out in other seasons, particularly spring, would extend the list considerably.

Taxon	Vernacular	Comment
Achillea millefolium	Yarrow
Agrostis capillaris	Common Bent
Anagallis arvensis	Scarlet Pimpernel
Arrhenatherum elatius	False Oat-Grass
Atriplex littoralis	Grass-leaved Orache	Identification not certain.
Bellis perennis	Daisy
Bromus hordeaceus	Soft-brome
Calystegia sepium	Hedge Bindweed
Castanea sativa	Sweet Chestnut
Centaurea nigra	Common Knapweed
Cerastium fontanum	Common Mouse-ear
Chenopodium album agg.	Fat-hen
Cirsium vulgare	Spear Thistle
Conyza canadensis	Canadian Fleabane
Crepis capillaris	Smooth Hawk's-beard
Cytisus scoparius	Broom
Dactylis glomerata	Cock's-foot
Daucus carota	Carrot
Digitalis purpurea	Foxglove
Euonymus europaeus	Spindle
Fallopia convolvulus	Black-bindweed
Festuca rubra agg.	Red Fescue
Fraxinus excelsior	Ash
Galium aparine	Cleavers
Geranium dissectum	Cut-leaved Crane's-bill
Hedera helix	Common Ivy
Holcus lanatus	Yorkshire-fog
Holcus mollis	Creeping Soft-grass
Hypericum humifusum	Trailing St John's-wort
Hypochaeris glabra	Smooth Cat's-ear	In gravel in front of Gîtes amongst Hypochaeris radicata.
Hypochaeris radicata	Cat's-ear
Ilex aquifolium	Holly
Lactuca virosa	Great Lettuce
Leontodon autumnalis	Autumn Hawkbit
Linaria repens	Pale Toadflax	Some features did not match description in text. Possibly a species or variety not found in Britain .
Lolium perenne	Perennial Rye-grass
Lotus angustissimus	Slender Bird's-foot-trefoil	In lawn near front gate.
Lotus corniculatus	Common Bird's-foot-trefoil
Lotus pedunculatus	Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil
Matricaria recutita	Scented Mayweed
Medicago lupulina	Black Medick
Oxalis corniculata	Procumbent Yellow-sorrel
Picris echioides	Bristly Oxtongue
Plantago lanceolata	Ribwort Plantain
Plantago major	Greater Plantain
Poa annua	Annual Meadow-grass
Polygonum aviculare agg.	Knot-grass (agg.)
Prunella vulgaris	Selfheal
Prunus spinosa	Blackthorn	(species added to list by Elaine)
Pteridium aquilinum	Bracken
Quercus robur	Pedunculate Oak
Ranunculus bulbosus	Bulbous Buttercup
Ranunculus repens	Creeping Buttercup
Raphanus raphanistrum	Radish
Rumex acetosa	Common Sorrel
Rumex crispus	Curled Dock
Rumex obtusifolius	Broad-leaved Dock
Sambucus nigra	Elder
Senecio jacobaea	Common Ragwort
Senecio vulgaris	Groundsel
Silene latifolia	White Campion
Sonchus asper	Prickly Sow-thistle
Sonchus oleraceus	Smooth Sow-thistle
Spergularia rubra	Sand Spurrey
Stellaria media	Common Chickweed
Taraxacum aggregate	Dandelion
Teucrium scorodonia	Wood Sage
Trifolium pratense	Red Clover
Trifolium repens	White Clover
Urtica dioica	Common Nettle
Veronica sp.		Not identified to species level.
Viola tricolor	Wild Pansy

An unidentified Cudweed occurred in the gravel around the gate. A fairly close fit to Jersey Cudweed
(Gnaphalium uliginosum ) - but not quite right.

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Vascular plant species list for La Belle Vilaine August 2007

Achillea millefolium