Mystery Plant

We have been puzzled by the appearance of a mystery plant in the Centenary Plantation this spring. Initially the plant apeared as on the left with a possible white petal-less flower between two leaves the shape of elephants ears. After a few days the central bud opened out into a pair of fairly standard toothed oval leaves (see right). This proved that the original leaves were seed leaves (or cotyledons) but there were lots of possibilities for oval leaves - Cherry, Hornbeam, etc. Luckily the second one I tried searching for hit gold - see the attached link. They are Beech seedlings:-)

https://riseofnorthwoodnt.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/beech-seedlings/

Galleries

The galleries below show a selection of the plants to be found in Selsdon Wood. These are organised in groups listed alphabetically.

We have a booklet entitled "Selsdon Wood Nature Reserve - Its history and Management: Some records of Flora and Fauna" which was produced in 1978 by Jack Penry-Jones on behalf of the Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society. This contains species lists for that year. More recent observations began in 2010, since when most of the photographs have been taken.

Species that have not been photographed in Selsdon Wood are listed in red. If you can find any of them and send us a photograph we would love to hear from you:-)

Trees and Shrubs

A full list of the 39 species of tree/shrub in Selsdon Wood with an outline of their locations can be downloaded from here. We have also produced a more detailed Tree Spotters Guide for species. These are available as downloadable pfs from the following links. See also the Schools page of the website for child-friendly information about some of the most common trees.

---- Alder ---- Ash ---- Beech ---- Birch ---- Blackthorn ---- Buckthorn ---- Buddleia ---- Cherry ---- Bird Cherry  ---- Chestnut ----

---- Crab Apple ---- Dogwood ---- Elder  ---- Elm ---- Field Maple ---- Gorse ---- Hawthorn ---- Hazel ---- Holly ---- Hornbeam ----

---- Horse Chestnut ---- Larch ---- Laurel ---- Lime ---- Oak ---- Turkey Oak ---- Pine ---- Plum  ---- Poplar ---- Privet ---- Rose ---- Rowan ----

---- Spindle ---- Spruce ---- Sycamore ---- Wayfaring Tree ---- Whitebeam ---- Willow  ---- Yew ----

We also have a guide to the identification of trees in winter by their bark which can be downloaded from here.

Flowering Plants


Photographs in the galleries below show more than 130 of the flowering plants found in Selsdon Wood - listed in alphabetical order of common name. All have been taken within our wood - dates given in the captions. There are a number of species which we believe can be found in Selsdon Wood but we have not yet been able to find or photograph them. These are shown in red on the alphabetical lists at the top of each gallery. If you can find any of them and send us a photograph we would love to hear from you:-)

A full check-list of all the flowers found in Selsdon Wood can be downloaded from the link below. This has information about  the months in which the plant is in flower, the location and the years in which it has been observed.

Wild Flowers Full List.pdf Wild Flowers Full List.pdf
Size : 290.979 Kb
Type : pdf

Flowers A (4 species photographed)

---- Agrimony (2) ---- Alkanet, Green (2) ---- Anemone, Wood (3) ---- Angelica ---- Archangel, Yellow (2) ----

Flowers B

---- Bartsia, Red (3) ---- Basil, Wild ---- Bedstraw, Hedge (2) ---- Bedstraw, Lady’s ---- Bindweed, Field (2) ---- Bindweed, Great ----

---- Bittercress, Hairy (2) ---- Bittercress, Wavy ---- Bittersweet/Woody Nightshade (2) ---- Bluebell (2) ---- Bramble/Blackberry (2) ----

---- Bryony, Black (2) ---- Bryony, White (2) ---- Bugle (2) ---- Burdock, Greater (3) ---- Burnet, Salad ---- Buttercup, Bulbous (3) --

---- Buttercup, Creeping (2) ---- Buttercup, Goldilocks (2) ---- Buttercup, Meadow (2) ----

Flowers C

---- Campion, Bladder (2) ---- Campion, Red ---- Campion, White ---- Carrot, Wild (2) ---- Catsear, Common (2) ---- Celandine ---- Charlock (2) ----

---- Chickweed, Common ---- Cinquefoil ---- Cleavers/Goosegrass (2) ---- Clover, Red ---- Clover, White (2) ---- Comfrey (2) ---- Cow Parsley (2) ----

---- Cowslip ---- Cranesbill, Cut-leaved ---- Cranesbill, Hedgerow (2) ---- Crocus ---- Cuckoo Flower/Lady's Smock (2) ----

---- Cuckoo Pint/Lords & Ladies (3) ---- Currant, Downy (3) ----

Flowers D

---- Daffodil (2) ---- Daisy, Common ---- Daisy, Ox-eye (2) ---- Dandelion (2) ---- Dock, Broad-leaved (2) ---- Dock, Red-veined ----

---- Dog’s Mercury (4) ---- Duckweed, Common (2) ----

Flowers E - F

---- Elder, Ground ---- Figwort, Common (2) ---- Forget-me-not, Common ---- Forget-me-not, Wood ---- Foxglove (2) ----

Flowers G

---- Goatsbeard (2) ---- Golden Rod, Canadian (2) ---- Gooseberry ---- Grape Hyacinth ---- Grass Poly (2) ---- Ground Ivy (2) ---- Groundsel, Common ----

Flowers H

---- Hartwort (2) ---- Hawkweed/Hawksbeard/Hawkbit (2) ---- Helleborine, Broad-leaved (3) ---- Helleborine, White ---- Hemp Agrimony --

------ Herb Bennet/Wood Avens (2) ---- Herb Paris (2) ---- Herb Robert (2) ---- Hogweed (3) ---- Honesty ---- Honeysuckle ---- Horehound, Black ----

Flowers I - J - K - L

---- Iris, Yellow (2) ---- Ivy ---- Knapweed, Black (2) ---- Ling ----

Flowers M

---- Marjoram (2) ---- Medick, Black (2) ---- Moschatel/Townhall Clock ---- Mouse-ear, Common ---- Mouse-ear, Sticky ---- Mullein, Greater (2) ----

---- Mustard, Garlic ---- Mustard, Hedge (3) ----

Flowers N

---- Narcissus (2)---- Nettle, Dead Red (2) ---- Nettle, Dead White (2) ---- Nettle, Hemp (2) ---- Nettle, Stinging ---- Nightshade, Enchanter's (2) ----

---- Nipplewort (2) ----

Wild Flowers O

---- Orchid, Bee ---- Orchid, Bird's nest ---- Orchid, Common Spotted (2) ---- Orchid, Common Twayblade ---- Orchid, Early Purple (4)

---- Orchid, Pyramidal ----

Flowers P - Q

---- Periwinkle, Lesser ---- Pignut ---- Pimpernel, Scarlet ---- Pimpernel, Yellow (2) ---- Pineapple Mayweed (2) ---- Plantain, Greater/Broad-leaved (3) ----

---- Plantain, Ribwort (2) ---- Poached Egg Flower ---- Poppy (Welsh) ---- Primrose ---- (2)

Flowers R

---- Ragwort (2) ---- Raspberry (3) ---- Rattle, Greater Yellow (2) ---- Red Currant ---- Rocket, Annual Wall ---- Rock-Rose, Common ----

---- Rose, Dog ---- Rose, Field ----

Flowers S

---- Sainfoin ---- Saint John's Wort, Hairy (2) ---- Saint John's Wort, Perforate ---- Saint John's Wort, Trailing ---- Sandwort, Three-veined ----

---- Sanicle (2) ---- Scabious (2) ---- Self-Heal (2) ---- Silverweed ---- Shepherd’s Purse (2) ---- Snowdrop ---- Sorrel, Common ---- Sorrel, Sheeps ----

---- Sow-Thistle, Prickly (2) ---- Sow-Thistle, Smooth (3) ---- Speedwell, Germander ---- Speedwell, Heath ---- Speedwell, Lilac Ivy-leaved ----

---- Speedwell, Slender (2) ---- Speedwell, Thyme-leaved ---- Speedwell, Wood ---- Stitchwort, Greater (2) ---- Stitchwort, Lesser ----

---- Strawberry, Wild (2) ---- Strawberry, Barren (2) ----

Flowers T

---- Thistle, Creeping ---- Thistle, Marsh (3) ---- Thistle, Spear (4) ---- Toadflax ---- Toothwort ---- Traveller's Joy/Old Man's Beard (3) ----

---- Trefoil, Birds-foot ---- Trefoil, Lesser ---- Tutsan (2) ----

Flowers U - V

---- Vetch, Bush (3) ---- Vetch, Common ---- Vetch, Common Yellow ---- Vetchling, Grass (2) ---- Vetchling, Meadow (2) ----

---- Violet, Dog (Wood and Common) (3) ----

Wild Flowers W - X - Y - Z

---- Willowherb, Broad-leaved (2) ---- Willowherb, Great ---- Willowherb, Rose-bay ---- Woodruff ---- Woodrush, Hairy ---- Woodrush, Narrow-leaved ----

---- Wood Sage ---- Wood-Sorrel (2) ---- Wood Spurge (2) ---- Woundwort, Hedge (2) ---- Yarrow ---- (3)

Non Flowering Plants

Non Flowering plants include ferns, mosses and liverworts and are very difficult for amateurs to identify. However we are delighted to report that we were contacted in March 2014 by a Danish biologist, Mogens Holmen, who had visited our wood in February while on a visit to friends in the UK. He supplied a list of  mosses and liverworts that he had identified in Selsdon Wood and corrected all of our original identifications!! After later visits in May 2014 and February 2015 he added many more identifications and photographs. Sightings or photographs new this year (2015) are shown in bold.

We also have a list of bryophyte species observed by E C Wallace in Selsdon Wood on 14th October 1977 in the Penry-Jones booklet (see the full reference at the top of this page) and Mogens did a splendid job of combining the two lists. These show some overlap, but also many differences. Some changes might have taken place in the area, but another reason for many of the differences between Wallace's list and Mogen's is probably, that neither of them represent very detailed surveys.

The complete list of Non Flowering plants can be downloaded from here and is shown below in sections with photographs of those in black text appearing in the image gallery. Most of these were taken by Mogens on his visits but our own older photographs are also included - now correctly named. These for the most part duplicate those taken by Mogens but also include one earlier FSW photograph. We do not have photos of those in red text.

The "Where" column gives an indication of the type of location in which the moss is found. The various moss-species are all more or less specialized, which is one important reason for the coexisting of so many species in an area such as Selsdon Wood.

(See the field guide from the British Bryological Society at http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/bbs/Activities/BBSFGspac.htm for full descriptions and photographs of most British mosses and liverworts.)

Bryophytes - Mosses & Liverworts

Mosses A-B

---- Amblystegium serpens, Creeping Feather-moss ---- Amblystegium varium (Hygroamblystegium v.), Willow Feather-moss ----

---- Atrichum undulatum, Common Smoothcap ---- Barbula unguiculata, Bird’s-claw Beard-moss ----

---- Brachythecium rutabulum, Rough-stalked Feather-moss ---- Brachythecium velutinum (= Brachytheciastrum v), Velvet Feather-moss ----

Bryoerythrophyllum recurvirostrum, Red Beard-moss ---- Bryum argenteum, Silver-moss ---- Bryum capillare, Capillary Thread-moss ----

---- Bryum sp. (perhaps B. caespiticium), Thread-moss (perhaps Tuftet T-m.) ----

  MOSSES C-D

---- Campyliadelphus chrysophyllus (= Campylium c.), Golden Feather-moss ---- Calliergonella cuspidata, Pointed Spear-moss ----

---- Ceratodon purpureus, Redshank ---- Cirriphyllum crassinervum, Beech Feather-moss ---- Cirriphyllum piliferum, Hair pointed Feather-moss ----

---- Cratoneuron filicinum, Fern-leaved Hook-moss ---- Ctenidium molluscum, Comb-moss ---- Dicranella heteromalla, Silky Forklet-moss ----

---- Dicranoweisia cirrata, Common Pincushion ---- Dicranum scoparium, Broom Fork-moss ----

---- Dicranum montanum (= Orthodicranum montanum), Mountain Fork-moss ---- Didymodon fallax (= Barbula fallax) , False Beard-moss ----

---- Didymodon insulans, Cylindric Beard-moss ---- Didymodon sinuosus (= Oxystegus sinuosus), Wavy Beard-moss ----

MOSSES F-K

---- Fissidens sp., bryoides or incurvus, Lesser or Short-leaved Pocket-moss ----

---- Fissidens gracilifolius (= F viridulus var. tenuifolius), Narrow-leaved Pocket-moss ---- Fissidens taxifolius, Common Pocket-moss ----

---- Homalia trichomanoides, Blunt Feather-moss ---- Homalothecium lutescens (Camptothecium lutescens), Yellow Feather-moss ----

---- Homalothecium sericeum, Silky Wall Feather-moss ---- Hypnum cupressiforme, Cypress-leaved Plait-moss ----

---- Hypnum resupinatum, Supine Plait-moss ---- Isothecium alopecuroides (= Isothecium myurum), Larger Mouse-tail Moss ----

---- Isothecium myosuroides, Mouse-tail Moss ---- Kindbergia praelonga (= Eurhynchium praelongum), Common Feather-moss ----

MOSSES M-P

---- Mnium hornum, Swan’s-neck Thyme-moss ---- Neckera complanata, Flat Neckera ---- Orthodontium lineare, Cape Thread-moss ----

---- Orthotrichum sp.(2 species), Bristle-moss sp. ----Oxyrrhyncium hians (= Eurhynchium swartzii), Swartz’s Feather-moss ----

---- Plagiomnium undulatum, Hart’s-tongue Thyme-moss ---- Plagiomnium rostratum, Long-beaked Thyme-moss ----

---- Plagiothecium curvifolium, Curved Silk-moss ---- Plagiothecium denticulatum, Dentated Silk-moss ----

---- Plagiothecium nemorale, Woodsy Silk-moss ---- Plagiothecium succulentum, Juicy Silk-moss ----

---- Polytrichastrum formosum (= Polytrichum formosum), Bank Haircap ---- Pohlia melanodon (= Pohlia carnea), Pink-fruited Thread-moss ----

---- Pottia davalliana, Smallest Pottia ---- Pseudocrossidium hornschuchianum,Hornschuch’s Beard-moss ----

---- Pseudoscleropodium purum (= Scleropodium p), Neat Feather-moss ----

MOSSES R-T

---- Rhizomnium punctatum, Dotted Thyme-moss ---- Rhynchostegiella pumila (= Oxyrrhynchium p.), Dwarf Feather-moss ----

---- Rhynchostegium confertum, Clustered Feather-moss ---- Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus, Springy Turf-moss ----

---- Seligeria calycina (= Seligeria paucifolia), English Rock-bristle ---- Tetraphis pellucida, Pellucid Four-tooth Moss ----

---- Thamnobryum alopecurum, Fox-tail Feather-moss ---- Thuidium tamariscinum, Common Tamarisk-moss ----

LIVERWORTS

 ---- Frullania dilatata, Dilated Scalewort ---- Lophocoela heterophylla (= Chiloscyphus profundus), Variable-leaved Crestwort -----

---- Lophocolea bidentata (= Chiloscyphus coadunatus), Bifid Crestwort  ---- Metzgeria furcata, Forked Veilwort ----

---- Plagiochila asplenioides (= P asplenioides ssp. asplenioides), Greater Featherwort ----

---- Plagiochila porelloides (= P asplenioides ssp. porelloides), Lesser Featherwort ---- Radula complanata, Even Scalewort ----

Ferns

Thanks to Alison Paul, Curator of Pteridophytes at The Natural History Museum for help with fern identification.

If you can find and identify any others and send us a photograph we would love to hear from you:-)

---- Dryopteris dilatata, Buckler Fern ---- Dryopteris filix-mas, Male Fern ---- Pteridium aquilinum, Bracken ----


Grasses & Sedges

Photographs in the gallery below show 18 of the grasses and sedges found in Selsdon Wood that we are able to identify ... and many more unknowns. Listed in red are a number of species which we believe can be found here but we have not yet been able to identify. If you can find and identify any of our Unknown Grasses or find any others and send us a photograph we would love to hear from you:-)

A copy of the full list can be downloaded from here.

---- Barley, Meadow ---- Barley, Wall ---- Bent Grass, Common ---- Bent Grass, White ---- Brome, Slender False ---- Brome, Soft ---- Brome, Upright ----

---- Cocksfoot (3) ---- Crested Dogstail (2) ---- Fescue, Red ---- Fescue, Sheeps ---- Fescue, Tall ---- Meadow Grass, Annual ----

---- Meadow Grass, Narrow-leaved (2) ---- Meadow Grass, Rough-stalked ---- Meadow Grass, Smooth-stalked ---- Meadow Grass, Wood ----

-- Oat, False ---- Oat, Hairy ---- Oat, Yellow ---- Oat Grass, Downy (2) ---- Perennial Rye Grass (2) ---- Purple Moor-grass ---- Quaking Grass ----

---- Sedge, Common ---- Sedge, Wood ---- Timothy ---- Wood Melick ---- Yorkshire Fog ---- Unknown Grass (9)


Sundries

some of the other interesting plant features to be found in Selsdon Wood:

---- Ancient Ivy stems on tree ---- Annual rings ---- Canker on Silver Birch ---- Climber & tree merging (2) ----  Hollow tree stump ----

---- Hollow based tree ---- Internal Root (2) ---- Ivy clad tree ---- Lightning Strike Tree ---- Merging of a pair of common trunks ----

---- New growth on fallen tree ---- Oak Crown Gall ---- Tripod Tree ---- Fallen Silver Birch --- Split Oak ----

Species Checklists - red items

Species check-lists for Trees, Flowers, Non-flowering Plants and Grasses are available from the links given in each section above. We would be very interested to hear from you if you can report the location of any of the species shown in red on these and so help us to complete each list. A map showing grid references is provided to assist you.

A Bird Species Checklist is also available to download. This has additional information on sightings.

(The Nature Detectives website from the Woodland Trust also has many seasonal identification guides and activity ideas.)