Charophytes

The BSBI's brief covers the vascular plants and charophytes of Britain and Ireland but the charophytes (stoneworts) are often overlooked - they are small and have a reputation for being difficult to identify.

A presentation at the 2016 BSBI Recorders' Conference by Claudia Ferguson-Smyth, one of two BSBI expert referees for charophytes, went some way towards demystifying this group and then BSBI's Irish botanists grasped the nettle, organising a two 2-day Charophyte Workshops in May 2018. Click on the link to download Claudia Ferguson-Smyth's charophyte presentation given at the Scottish Annual Meeting in 2016.

BSBI Handbook No. 5: Charophytes of Great Britain and Ireland, by J.A. Moore is the standard identification guide for stoneworts. It is available as an eBook from the BSBI website for £10.00 or from Summerfield Books and other natural history booksellers (RRP £12.50 (plus postage & packing)).

Resources to help you get started with charophytes

Charophytes in Ireland

Read about the 2018 Irish charophyte courses and see feedback from some of the participants here.

Charophytes making the news - Cilian Roden, one of our charophyte experts, contributes to this piece on Lough Carra - in The Irish Times.

Issue 1 of the Charophytes newsletter reported progress on an exciting new recording initiative in Ireland.

Charophytes in Wales

View or download the Red List of Welsh Stoneworts 2019.