2022 County Report for South-west Yorkshire

Louise Hill & Kay McDowell

We held five field trips (south of Huddersfield area) including one with Bradford Botany Group and one trip recording under recorded monads on the moorlands in the west of the vice county on the border with Lancashire.

We held a very successful plant identification day in July with River Holme Connections near Huddersfield.

We've had preliminary talks last Spring with Alastair Fitter about his Yorkshire Priority Plants list in regards to recording plants on Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserves.

Just last week I started work on a project with David Campbell, Biodiversity Officer for Bradford Metropolitan District Council (MDC) and Susan Simcock from the Bradford Botany Group. Bradford Council are planning their Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) for West Yorkshire and what priorities should be taken forward for the Bradford District. We think it will be a good starting point for a Flora of Bradford.

Other vice counties - I’ve also been helping identify plants in the York area (vc 61, 62 & 64). He found pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) on the York University campus. It was last recorded in the Haxby area of York in 1863!

Also in VC64 my plant records helped to buy a 24 acre field in Bardsey, near Wetherby, as well as designate it as a Local Wildlife Site. An adjoining field was also designated using my records, habitat maps et

Chaenorhinum origanifolium (Malling Toadflax)

Interesting finds this year include a first county record for Malling Toadflax (Chaenorhinum origanifolium) (see photo attached) in Huddersfield by Jill Lucas, who is also updating her ‘Flora of Huddersfield’.

Vaccinium × intermedium

Vaccinium × intermedium was re-found by Laurence Sutton at Norland Moor, south-west of Halifax after 32 years.