ANHSO Termcard

Rare Plants Register

Agrostemma githago
Corncockle

Papaver argemone
Prickly Poppy

Papaver hybridum
Rough Poppy

The Botanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI) is encouraging all counties to compile a list of their rare and scarce plants and this has already been done by several counties. We in the Rare Plants Group have risen to this challenge and work has started on the organisation of the project. Our first task was to compile a list of target species and this is now available. It is in pdf format; click here to see the latest version (17.04.2008).

This list will be refined and updated in the coming months. Following that there will be extensive fieldwork to discover the present status of plants on the list. You are very welcome to take part in this exercise.

This web page will be frequently updated to report the progress of the project. Watch this space!

About the Rare Plants Register

What region does it cover? It covers the BSBI vice-county 23 (roughly the old Oxfordshire) plus that part of vc 22 that now falls within the administrative county of Oxfordshire but used to be in Berkshire.	What plants does it cover? It is mostly limited to plants native in Oxfordshire and to long-established aliens (these are called archaeophytes in the New Atlas of the British and Irish Flora (Preston, Pearman and Dines. OUP. 2002.)
What is rare? Initially we have looked at plants which were recorded in 25 tetrads or fewer in the Flora of Oxfordshire (Killick, Perry and Woodell. 1998. Pisces Publications, Newbury.). A tetrad is a 2X2 kilometre square. Eventually we shall include only plants which occur in ten or fewer sites (scarce) and three or fewer sites (rare).	How new must the records be? We shall begin by including records from 1987 onwards, which will allow us to include many late Flora of Oxfordshire records, but in time we shall need to move to a later start date.
Have we missed any plants? If you would like to suggest another plant for inclusion let us know. Email additions.	Difficult-to-identify plants Initially we're leaving out microspecies like the eyebrights, blackberries, roses and dandelions.
The Aquilegia problem Some species of which Columbine, Aquilegia, is a good example may be either native or garden escapes, and judgment is then required as to the origin of each record.	How can you help? Get in touch with us by emailing the chairman with Rare Plants Register in the subject. She will put you in touch with the relevant coordinator(s) and send you a pack of information. You can concentrate on a particular plant or on a particular area.
Work days You can work on your own and you can attend some of the group work days which the regional coordinators are organising. Details of work days are not published here but please email the chairman if you would like to go on one. In particular, do join us on Friday 13th June at Woodsides Meadow BBOWT Reserve. (Meet at 2 pm at Holt Farm.)	Information pack There is a pack of information about the project and it will all be provided here. All the documents except the electronic recording form are in pdf format. Click here to go to the download page.