NEW YEAR PLANT HUNT   2 January 2020

Our group of thirteen spent almost exactly three hours in a gentle stroll around Natural Surroundings and then down the valley to Glandford and back. We had a few species in flower ‘staked out’ at Natural Surroundings, including Marsh Thistle, Meadowsweet and Wild Angelica in our wet meadows, but this is to be expected as we work there every day. The grassland along the path to Glanford was not very productive, but at Glandford itself the margins of a beet field were superb, with scarce cornfield weeds such as Dwarf Spurge and Sharp-leaved Fluellen in flower, and among the many rosettes of Corn Parsley, we found one with a flowering stem; this field may well be the only arable site for this scarce species in Norfolk. At Manor Farm the rough carparks were also productive, with many ‘weeds’ as well as Corn Marigold and Corm Chamomile, probably escapees from nearby game cover. It was then back to base as the cloud grey heavier and the wind picked up, and after checking a couple of identifications and a careful count, we had notched up 74 species: pretty good for a bit of grass and a few fields in ‘cold’ Norfolk!