Wiltshire Botanical Society
Welcome
Welcome to the Wiltshire Botanical Society. Our roots began in the 1980's when volunteers made a thorough and detailed survey of Wiltshire's flora, culminating in the publication of the Flora of Wiltshire in 1993. Instead of disbanding, the members joined together to form the Wiltshire Botanical Society. The society's aims are to:
- Foster botanical knowledge and to encourage interest in our local flora
- Increase members' knowledge and skills
- Publicise threats to habitats and populations of wild plants
- Undertake field meetings
- Contribute botanical records to local and national recording schemes
Plant of the Month
August
Rough Hawk's-beard Crepis biennis
The countryside seemingly abounds with yellow dandelion-like flowers in late summer. Our commonest late-flowering hawk's-beard is the smooth, C. capillaris, often found on chalk downland. Its rough cousin is far less common, but worth looking out for at this time of year. It is typically a taller plant, with larger flowers. Like other hawk's-beards, it has an outer row of scale-like bracts around the base of the flower head that stick out like the spokes of a wheel. Helpfully, as its name suggests, it is also bristly-hairy. This species is more common in the east and still occurs sparsely with us. If you see it and you are certain of your identification, please do record it!
Join Us!
We pride ourselves on being are a very friendly society and we welcome new members, whatever their age, background or level of botanical knowledge. Annual membership costs £15 (single) and £20 for couples. To join, please email Martin Buckland.
Not sure if it's for you? Potential new members are very welcome to join us free of charge for a few field meetings before committing to membership.
Website Contributions
We always welcome news and contributions for our website. Please send them to the Webmaster, Sharon Pilkington.
