ESSEX BOTANY AND MYCOLOGY GROUPS
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ESSEX BOTANY AND MYCOLOGY GROUPS |
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The Essex Botany Group
(introduction and membership)
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Introduction The Essex Field Club/BSBI/BBS Botany Group is currently engaged in several projects relating to the Flora of the County of Essex, its main target being the compilation of a new county flora `An Atlas and Third Flora of Essex’ to update those of Gibson (1862) and Jermyn & Adams (1974) and The Flora of N E Essex by Terri Tarpey and Jerry Heath (1990). In addition the group assists/has assisted Ken Adams, (BSBI/BBS & EFC recorder) in the compilation of data for such national initiatives and publications as: Red Data Books of Britain & Ireland: Stoneworts (1992) Vascular Plants (1999) Mosses & Liverworts (2001)
Atlas of the Bryophytes of Britain & Ireland (1991-1994) Scarce Plants in Britain (1994) New Atlas of the British & Irish Flora (Vascular Plants) (2002) Vice-County Census Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Great Britain (2004) Members of the group hold regular field recording meetings and are very keen to welcome beginners and help them learn to identify plants in the field. The group also holds an annual indoor meeting to review progress and plan the next year’s recording. |
Botany Group MembershipMembership of the Botany Group is open to all who are interested in botany, but our records, which are being loaded onto a MapMate database, are submitted to the BSBI database and the National Biological Records Centre at Monks Wood, and thence to the NBN, and are therefore only acceptable from botanists we regard as reliable. Large numbers of dubious records abound these days in Wildlife Trust, Natural England and Local Authority databases and are continuously being produced by uncrupulous/incompetent Ecological Survey Companies, and it’s impossible to authenticate them, so we err on the safe side and largely exclude them. We have a band of dedicated botanists systematically recording in the county but we are keen to train young aspiring botanists to be able to identify plants reliably to the standard required to join our team. This is best accomplished by joining us on some of our regular Essex Field Club recording meetings [see Essex Field Club Program button top right]. Joining the Group Further information available from Ken Adams |