Dr Astrid Biddle

I hope you have a sample because it may be a very exciting smut. According to the literature, Doassansia is found on the petioles and appears in October. I think it was last recorded in the UK >100 years ago. bladmineerders.nl/parasites/fu...

Does anyone offer flow cytometry in the UK, or do I need to send samples abroad?

I would love to find out the cytotype of R. tripartitus when it turns up in newly dug pond in a new county.
Or find out how related they are to other populations.

Cytotypes have been studied moving from Portugal to Pannonian basin, linked to the timing of drawdown events, wildfowl migration, and meeting habitats at similar stages.
Drying habitats increases the risk of being overwhelmed by more vigorous terrestrial species when exposed.

They flower from March to May, so if the habitat dries out too early, the plants are killed by desiccation. In countries where there is an abrupt transition from winter to summer, it fares poorly.
Our UK R. tripartitus is triploid. And on the Iberian peninsula, they are hexaploid. (Middlesex shown)

Thank you, I'll have a good think. I need some dosh to do more 🙂

Other things seen: Young Water Dock (Rumex hydrolapathum) and fringing the river was the wonderful Whorl-grass (Catabrosa aquatica), which is vulnerable on the red list.

Seed and fly free! There are areas along the Gade which are fine, clean water places, and I hope it will find these and prosper.

Each point is a surviving plant. The river post-restoration has been substantially narrowed, so the base map no longer makes sense.

They face tough competition from the tall fen herbs; the riparian zone fenced and ungrazed to benefit fish and others. Elevated N in river. Water seeps from the valley side through the C. cespitosa area, towards the river, watering it, and perhaps locally giving cleaner water.

This was a reintroduction for NE SRP.
I placed flags at all the plants I found, & out of just over 200 plants, only 2 were failing. That's an astonishing summer survival rate. Plants are of the size ready to flower & set seed next year, furnishing the downstream restoration sections with new plants.

Completely blown away today by how the Scarce Tufted-sedge (Carex cespitosa) was faring on the River Gade.
It was with trepidation that I entered the river. Vegetation had grown tall this summer. 2025 was one of the worst for reintroducing a wetland plant. Summer drought followed high winter water.

I think it was rather jumbled together, and I thought it unwise to climb on board.

A mere ten days ago I was at the 17th International Symposium on Aquatic Plants in Lisbon. Here on the field trip:
A Cladium Mariscus Saw Sedge floating mat in the River Sado, topped with Salix atrocinerea. Other species were Royal Fern (Osmunda regalis), and Marsh Fern (Thelypteris palustris).

I was looking through my photos from Porto from earlier this year.
Strapwort (Corrigiola litoralis) had been looking very fine. It grew with Coral-necklace (Illecebrum verticillatum) on a path with a seepage running across it. What a lovely plant!

Fenland preparing for winter. Whorled Water-milfoil (Myriophyllum verticillatum) forming dense, dark-green turions which will keep the plant safe in the cold.

Solanum revealed 2 species: nigrum & nitidibaccatum, Black & Green Nightshade. Apart from the obvious berry colour, it always remained possible that Green Nightshade could have been unripe berries.
Green= sepal lobes expand as the berries mature
Black= stays the same

This wasn’t growing as a freshly exposed arable seedbank as an arable weed, but on soil which was the result of the recent ditch clearance. This was one of the Fenland winners.
Was the seed stored in the silt, once farmland soil?
Perhaps it had just exploited the bare soil after disturbance?

Crawling down the drain bank, I encountered Spreading Hedge-parsley (Torilis arvensis) and spent a large proportion of the time picking the strongly attached seeds off my jumper arm. I can now see how easily these may be transferred by mammals, as I was easily picking them off over a kilometre away.

OK, so the Cambs Fenland drains had a Water-plantain. The leaves had perished in the summer, & it may have been either A. plantago-aquatica or A. lanceolatum.
Luckily, it was fruiting.
A) A. plantago-aquatica= achenes had a single furrow on the back.
B) A. lanceolatum= two furrows.
Answer is A.

Sphagnum squarrosum in a swampy woodland pond in the New Forest on Monday. Such a pretty moss!

Lemna trisulca, I'm afraid, is sunk.

I spotted an Asian Hornet in Portugal. It was surprisingly unafraid. I saw there were 344 records for this species in the Lisbon area.

I was fortunate to be able to visit Portugal for the International Symposium on Aquatic Plants; gaining new perspectives and meeting some fabulous people. I will miss them very much.

I checked the Azolla species and with single-celled hairs to the surface, checks out as A. filliculoides. It's far too easy to presume these things.

A sample examined at home; the most extreme gibbosity I have ever seen and hugely long roots.

The paddy fields are irrigated and in the warmth and higher nutrients. It's a thriving haven for birds.

A fight going on in the rice fields of the Tagus Estuary near Lisbon.
Azolla filiculoides and Lemna gibba fighting it out for supremacy. The Azolla fronds arching upwards to cover the Lemna, and the Lemna becoming as gibbous as possible to prevent this.
They are seemingly resorting to fisticuffs.

These are so beautiful! ♥️C. panniculata ♥️

The nectaries in M. pullegium are located at the base of the ovary. The placement of an inner ring of calyx hairs might impede invertebrates from reaching the nectar, & increase the effort & time spent. This might increase the chances of pollination by retaining the pollinator for longer.