Hare's-tail Cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum)

Family: Cyperaceae

Common name: Hare's-tail Cottongrass

Scientific name: Eriophorum vaginatum

Date taken: 26/5/2024

Notes: Distinctive species with solitary spikes (i.e. one "cotton cluster" per stem). Leaves bluntly triangular. Common habitat-defining species in raised and blanket bogs. 

Heath Wood-rush (Luzula multiflora)

Family: Juncaceae

Common name: Heath Wood-rush

Scientific name: Luzula multiflora

Date taken: 26/5/2024

Notes: Compared with other Luzula species, key features to look for include - 

1. Flowers in clusters, chestnut-brown in colour
2. Plant with sparsely hairly normal flat leaves, but not as robust as that in Great Wood-rush (L. sylvatica)
3. Plant not rhizomatous, anthers <3 times as long as filaments, which distinguishes it from Field Wood-rush (L. campestris), a smaller grassland specialist

Several subspecies have been recorded in the UK. The following population has reasonably wide leaves (>3mm) with flowers on several stalked clusters, so resembles ssp. multiflora. 

Eared Willow (Salix aurita)

Family: Salicaceae

Common name: Eared Willow

Scientific name: Salix aurita

Date taken: 26/5/2024

Notes: Willows (Salix spp.) are tricky to identify as there are many similar species that readily hybridise. I'm keying this down to Eared Willow (S. aurita) here based on the following - 

1. Tall shrub or small tree
2. Leaves small (<6cm in length) and ovate
3. Stipules retained (i.e. forming "ears" on twigs)
4. Underside of leaves and twigs hairy
5. Hairs on leaves greyish-white (vs mixed rusty in Grey Willow (S. cinerea))
6. Leaves are quite wrinkled with strongly undulating margins (vs less wrinkled in Grey Willow)

Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia)

Family: Rosaceae

Common name: Rowan

Scientific name: Sorbus aucuparia

Date taken: 26/5/2024

Notes: Tree with imparipinnate leaves. Petiole and underside of leaves whitish-grey downy. Preferentially browsed by deer, which inhibit regeneration.

Common Cow-wheat (Melampyrum pratense)

Family: Scrophulariaceae / Orobanchaceae (APG)

Common name: Common Cow-wheat

Scientific name: Melampyrum pratense

Date taken: 26/5/2024

Notes: Hemi-parasitic plant commonly found in woodlands and heathlands.

Tormentil (Potentilla erecta)

Family: Rosaceae

Common name: Tormentil

Scientific name: Potentilla erecta

Date taken: 26/5/2024

Notes: Characterised by the abundance of sessile stem leaves. Leaves with 3 deeply serrated leaflets and 2 leaf-like stipules, which gives a false impression of having 5 leaflets. This contrasts with Creeping Cinquefoil (P. reptans), which has true palmate leaves on long stalks. 

The plant does not tend to root at nodes, and basal leaves not present when flowering, which distinguishes it from Trailing Tormentil (P. anglica) or other hybrids.

Great Wood-rush (Luzula sylvatica)

Family: Juncaceae

Common name: Great Wood-rush

Scientific name: Luzula sylvatica

Date taken: 26/5/2024

Notes: Largest of the Luzula sp. with sparsely hairy leaves approximately 1cm wide. Found in woodlands.