A project for the coming year

[Nanto2girls]

Sum, i have seen your posts on Facebook.
I can remember you finding the plant thought to be extinct.

[Sum1Ls]

Here’s the account in Kent Botany. There’s another account some where if I can find it.


Myosurus minimus (Mousetail) has been restored to the
Kent flora, after having been unrecorded in West Kent
since the 1870s, and in Kent as a whole since 1975. On
9 May it was discovered by JL in quantity near Hoo St.
Werburgh. This discovery aroused considerable interest,
and visits by various botanists shortly afterwards
assessed the population as c.22,500 plants present at
the unploughed margins of an arable field southeast of
Abbots Court on alluvium at an elevation of about 2m and
some 250m from the Medway estuary. Plants were
recorded in the field’s northwest corner, e.g. at TQ 79547
71989, and then in a broad band 4m wide (some plants
extending to 6m out) along the margin northeastwards
from TQ 79555 72006 to TQ 79614 72050, but thinning
out towards the end; with only occasional plants at the edge for another 30m. Local enquiries indicated that this corner of the field had been subject to flooding in the previous winter such that an adjoining footpath had been cut off, and the farmer had been unable to complete the 2021 ploughing. These circumstances had provided a swathe of land which had evidently been ploughed in late 2020, but had received no cultivation afterwards and germination of potentially competitive species had been inhibited by flooding. The habitat was accordingly especially suitable for Mousetail, as a member of a disparate group described as ‘mud-species’ (Salisbury, 1970), which act as a pioneer
flora of exposed mud; are local, intermittent and variable in occurrence, intolerant of competition; having small seeds capable of adhesion to the feet and feathers of water-birds; often with near-simultaneous germination. Seed production may be prodigious, and this colony could have produced over 20 million seeds. A fuller account is given in the rare plant register, due to be updated on-line in March 2022.
Oenothera glazioviana (Large-flowered Evening-primrose) with strikingly

[Sum1Ls]

And here’s the fuller account! It’s a bit long.

Myosurus minimus L. (Mousetail) Draft account.
Rarity / scarcity status
vc 16; apparently gone from vc 15
Myosurus minimus is an inconspicuous weed of damp arable or otherwise disturbed ground, adapted to seasonal water-logging, whose British distribution is largely confined to south east England, being absent from Ireland and almost so from Scotland. It is regarded as Vulnerable to the risk of extinction, both in England and Great Britain as a whole, as the extent of its occurrence in England is taken to have declined by 33% in comparing records for the periods 1930-69 and 1987-99. It was regarded as probably extinct in Kent after last having been seen in 1975, but has been placed in this register upon its discovery at the Hoo peninsula in 2021. This remains its only location and so it is treated as very rare in the county.
Account
The first Kent record for Mousetail is by John Ray in his Catalogus Plantarum Angliae (1670), ‘In the high-ways between Deptford and Eltham’. It continued to be noted in that area, James Sherard having contributed a record to the third edition of Ray’s Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Britannicarum (ed. Dillenius, 1724) ‘On Weston-green a little on this Side Eltham, abundantly’ (now Eltham Green), and a specimen having been collected by W.W. Reeves (d.1892) between
Blackheath and Eltham, according to Hanbury and Marshall (1899). The latter authors regarded it as a plant of cultivated land, local and uncertain in its appearance, usually in cornfields and rarely in meadows. They cited reports of it as fairly widespread across the county, e.g. at Shorne1; Trottiscliffe; Rochester; Tunbridge Wells area2; Lower Rainham3; fields about Sittingbourne; Faversham4; Westwood Green, Thanet; Cheriton and Coolinge (Folkestone) as well as being common in the cornfields of East Kent on the Greensand5. The last dated West Kent record is given as May 1873 in the BSBI database (F.M. Payne at Bromley).6
Hoo St. Werburgh. Photo by David Steere, 12 May 2021
The relative frequency of pre-1900 records (although it was never a common plant) contrasts with the very limited number of sightings since. Francis Rose, in his MS Flora of Kent, considered it as a native of damp arable fields, mostly on sandy soils and damp sandy or loamy banks near the sea; formerly widespread and locally frequent along the north Kent coastal plain, but by the 1960s extremely rare. He could only point to recent finds in a sandy arable field at Fordwich (1950-51); in a deep sandy dune hollow at Sandwich (1960,
1 Robert Pocock’s diary for May 1822, ‘Friday, 3rd. – Walked down the sea wall to Shorne Battery, and found mousetail in bloom’ (G.M. Arnold (1883), Robert Pocock, the Gravesend Historian, Naturalist, Antiquarian, Botanist, and Printer).
2 In cornfields, not uncommon (T.F. Forster (1816), Flora Tonbrigensis). 3 In cultivated fields, reported by F.M. Webb (d. 1880).
4 Fields near Bysing Wood (M.H. Cowell (1839), A Floral Guide for East Kent, etc.). Cornfields on the gravel, chiefly about Luddenham and Oare (recorded 1854-55, Rev. H.A. Stowell; in Phytologist (1855-56) 1: 375.
5 G.E. Smith (1829), A Catalogue of Rare or Remarkable Phaenogamous Plants, collected in South Kent.
6 There is some doubt about this, which is attributed to a specimen at Leeds City Museum. There is material, at South London Botanical Institute labelled by R[ichard] Payne from Bromley and dated May 1871, which suggests the possibility of confusion.

unconfirmed) and at Sellindge (c.1954, unconfirmed). Philp (2010) refers to a record by J. Kesby (1975) at the edge of an arable field near Chesterfield, TR16H (Chestfield near Whitstable must have been intended). This was the last Kent sighting for over 45 years.
Habitat, Hoo St. Werburgh. Photo by David Steere, 12 May 2021
On 9 May 2021, however, Mousetail was discovered and reported by Jane Lawson near Hoo St. Werburgh. Visits by various botanists shortly afterwards assessed the population as c.22,500 plants present at the unploughed margins of an arable field southeast of Abbots Court on alluvium at an elevation of about 2m and some 250m from the Medway estuary. Plants were recorded in the field’s northwest corner, e.g. at TQ 79547 71989, and then in a broad band 4m wide (some
plants extending to 6m out) along the margin northeastwards from TQ 79555 72006 to TQ 79614 72050, but thinning out towards the end; with only occasional plants at the edge for another 30m. Local enquiries indicated that this corner of the field had been subject to flooding in the previous winter such that an adjoining footpath had been cut off, and the farmer had been unable to complete the 2021 ploughing7. These circumstances had provided a swathe of land which had evidently been ploughed in late 2020, but had received no cultivation afterwards and germination of potentially competitive species had been inhibited by flooding. Neighbours had not observed Mousetail there before, but the presence of the broad band parallel to the field margin suggests that plants may have been present at the margin previously, and the seed, which floats, had been washed out with the winter floodwaters.
Associated species received only a limited assessment in May for, while Mousetail was in full flower, arable weeds in the vicinity were small and very little advanced, with germination having been held back by earlier inundation. Noted were: Anagallis arvensis (Scarlet Pimpernel), Epilobium spp. (Willowherbs), Juncus bufonius sens. lat.(Toad Rush), Thlaspi arvense (Field Penny-cress), Ranunculus sardous (Hairy Buttercup), Ranunculus sceleratus (Celery-leaved Buttercup), Tripleurospermum inodorum (Scentless Mayweed). There are no previous records for this location, the nearest being a nineteenth century report from Rochester by Miss R.E. Wickham of Strood. Arrival through adhesion of seeds to birds’ feet is a possible origin.
The occurrence of this colony appears to be related to a set of fortuitous circumstances, but does raise the question of why Mousetail is in any event so rare. The Kent decline is also reflected in the national distribution, although the latter is evidenced from 1930 onwards, and Kent records appear to have trailed off well before the 1930s. The decline does not seem especially related to herbicide usage which has impacted on many other arable weeds, as this would be more relevant from the 1950s onwards, especially from the 1970s. In any event, it seems that, although herbicidal treatment slightly decreases seedling emergence in
7 Previous flooding is suggested by google earth historic aerial imagery, in particular from April 2015, which shows almost the exact boundary of the 2021 Myosurus colony as excluded from spring ploughing. This side of the field is adjoined by wet ground associated with fishing lakes resulting from gravel extraction in 1963. The extraction destroyed some historic ground features including former historic monument 1547411, part of sea defences interpreted as dating to the thirteenth century and protecting the Abbots Court moated site. It looks as though the Myosurus location is part of levels which were in mediaeval times outside the sea defences and open to the estuary, although the current Medway seawall now encloses them.

experimental conditions, it may not be as significant as the impact of the water regime.8. Nor is the decline related to seed cleaning, another source of arable weed decline: Mousetail seeds are scarcely likely to have been caught up in any harvesting from which crop seeds may have been taken. The British decline has been assigned to intensive arable and grassland management and the abandonment of extensive grazing of agriculturally marginal lowland grasslands,
including commons, so that in the absence of grazing, vigorous grasses and herbs take over the fertile bare ground required by Mousetail.9 This is persuasive as regards loss of suitable habitat where cessation of grazing is a factor, but does not wholly fit the Kent pattern.
Hoo St. Werburgh, Myosurus minimus with Ranunculus sceleratus, the latter also an indicator of damp ground. Photo by David Steere, 12 May 2021
Kent records may be considered as falling into
two habitat categories, both artificial, and as Salisbury (1970)10 pointed out, perhaps indicative of Myosurus being originally a colonist brought in by early agriculture. One such habitat is rutted ground of tracks and gateways where seasonally inundated and subject to trampling. Our first Kent record, on a seventeenth century highway near Eltham, was presumably of this nature; and the boggy trackways which characterised early roads provided suitable habitat before turnpike roads became extensive and surfaces were eventually tarmacadamised with associated highway drainage. The other, and most frequent, habitat in terms of pre- 1899 records has been cornfields, presumably ill-drained ones. The extent of agricultural drainage improvements doubtless accounted for a degree of habitat loss, both during the nineteenth century, when Myosurus was still being found widely, but locally, within the county, and subsequently. But there are still arable fields with marginal flooding issues, so it is not as though suitable habitat does not exist. Possibly, the key to the decline lies in Hanbury and Marshall’s words ‘local and uncertain’, i.e. the species has always been sufficiently local that any vicissitudes affecting its continuance at a particular site have resulted in its disappearance without neighbouring populations affording potential for recruitment; and uncertainty of occurrence relates to its being an annual, probably with exacting requirements for winter inundation.
Myosurus minimus seeds appear not to germinate before mid-December, and do so once winter flooding has receded. The plant’s growth strategy is one of avoidance of competition, in view of its low height and limited leaf surface. Normally growing on land which has no competitive vegetation present at the outset, through cultivation or other disturbance and then flooding, it retains that advantage by near-simultaneous germination of most seeds11, rapid growth and early flowering (from March onwards) leading to seed-shed in June and July.
8 Albrecht, H., Prestele, J., Altenfelder, S., Wiesinger, K. & Kollmann, J. (2014). New approaches to the conservation of rare arable plants in Germany. 26th German Conference on Weed Biology and Weed Control, March 11-13, 2014, Braunschweig, Germany, Julius-Kühn-Archiv 443.
However, significant effects on plant density resulting from fertiliser and herbicide applications were reported by Altenfelder, S., Kollmann, J. & Albrecht, H. (2016). Effects of farming practice on populations of threatened amphibious plant species in temporarily flooded arable fields: implications for conservation management. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 222: 30-37.
9 Chatters, C. (1994). Myosurus minimus L. Mousetail, in eds. Stewart, A., Pearman, D.A. & Preston, C.D. Scarce Plants in Britain, JNCC, Peterborough.
10 Salisbury, E.J. (1970). The pioneer vegetation of exposed muds and its biological features. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B, Biological Sciences, 259: 207-255.
11 Nearly 70% of seeds germinated within four days of the first appearance of a seedling, in experimental cultivation recorded by Salisbury (1970). This paper also cites work which resulted in nearly 70% germination within eight days, with 0.5% continuing to germinate after more than three years.

Salisbury (1970) noted young seedlings’ development of a skirt of root-hairs which provide anchorage and stability, which is especially important when rain liquefies the surrounding exposed mud. The ability of the germinating seeds to produce markedly extended seedlings in the dark (although the triggering of germination normally requires light) suggests that this capacity for elongation may also serve if shallow water still remains when growth commences.
Hoo St. Werburgh. Photo by Sue Buckingham, 12 May 2021
The elongation of the receptacle in fruit (the mouse’s tail), up to 50mm, is a separate issue, and seed output of a receptacle has been assessed at a mean of 231 in plants at the Ouse Washes, Cambridgeshire12. Salisbury (1970) found an average seed output of 1,040 ± 40 per plant, with the largest plant observed having an estimated output of 3,100. If the average is applicable to the Hoo peninsula population in 2021, this suggests an output of 23.4 million seeds. Mousetail is capable of building up a substantial seed-bank in the soil: an especially weedy British field has been found to carry seven million viable Mousetail seeds in the top six inches of soil13.
Mousetail may readily be overlooked, by virtue of its small size and inconspicuous flowering, unless present in quantity. It is unlikely to be confused with any other British plant, although the fruiting heads bear a passing resemblance to a small plantain. It is a member of Ranunculaceae (the Buttercup family), and there is a case for its inclusion in Ranunculus – it was named Ranunculus minimus in 1901, but this is not usually followed in Floras.
Hoo St. Werburgh. Photo by David Steere, 12 May 2021
12 Cadbury, C.J. (1973). Mousetail, Myosurus minimus, L. at the Ouse Washes. Nature in Cambridgeshire 16: 37-39.
13 Roberts, H.A. & Stokes, F.G. (1966). Studies on the weeds of vegetable crops. VI. Seed populations of soil under commercial cropping.

[Sum1Ls]

[Sum1Ls]

Above is the plant, and the next photo shows my birthday present from my very close friend who designed and made it for me.

[Daisy]

Sum1, I'm so glad your discovery has been acknowledged in print, and I can see why the common name is Mousetail. It's amazing that such a tiny plant can produce so many viable seeds which then survive in the soil, despite disturbance, flooding and competition from other plants. Nature is amazing!

It's also interesting how far back people were identifying and recording the location and quantities of wild plants. You must feel you've joined a long-standing community of botanists.

I confess there are parts of the account I don't understand, but hopefully I've got the gist.

What a lovely and thoughtful present from your friend.

[Sum1Ls]

Yes, Daisy it’s an extraordinary plant. I doubt I shall see it again although it seems there are a couple of places in West Sussex where it appears from time to time.

[Daisy]

Sum - I can see how you get drawn into this interest. I looked very carefully at a plantain in our front garden yesterday - just in case it was a mousetail! It wasn't.

[Gemini]

Sum1, a lot to read but really interesting!

How lovely that your friend made that vase for you. It must mean a lot to you.