Worcestershire Record No. 19 November 2005 pp. 44-46

CASTLEMORTON COMMON FLORA October 2005

Keith Barnett

Castlemorton Common (including Berrow Downs) is an area of open low-lying common land that steadily arises to the lower eastern slopes of the Malvern Hills near Welland. A SSSI, it consists of unimproved rough grassland, scrub, marsh, woodland, ditches, ponds and two streams, with a complex wet or dry, acid, neutral or basic vegetation mosaic (varying in scale locally) of different plant communities. Of prime importance are the Common’s grassland communities, including dry, species-rich areas and the marsh grassland that is associated with a high water table. A number of pollarded Black Poplars (Populus nigra ssp. betulifolia) and willows are prominent beside the ponds and streams. It is undoubtedly one of the most botanically important sites of its kind in the country, and is home to a number of rare or scarce plants.

As a recent complete listing of the site’s plants is not generally available, I decided that in 2005 I would see how many species I could find. With the help of Roger Maskew (RM), Bert Reid (AWR) and Peter Garner (PGG) I managed to note 441 species. To this total probably could have been added many other records for plants believed to be present but not observed this year, including not only hybrids but also some critical Rubus, Rosa and Taraxacum species which have been seen here earlier and expertly determined. The overall total present in an area of only 158 hectares is certainly in the region of 500 species. I have deliberately made no attempt to record the habitat, frequency etc. of each species seen: my aim was simply for a brief checklist.

Species that were noted only in the adjacent Gullet Quarry (8) or on the lower slopes of Swinyard Hill, neither of which can strictly be considered as part of the Common, have been excluded. All records are from K Barnett (KB) unless stated otherwise.