Welsh Journals

SOME ORCHID NOTES FROM NORTH-EAST WALES T. EDMONDSON Much of the main part of Flint has suffered the ravages of industry. This is most evident along the Dee estuary where there are steelworks, textile factories, collieries and inevitable tips of waste. Elsewhere are large limestone and sand quarries and most of the superficial limestone is pocked with long-disused lead mines. Current development thinking is towards the bridging of the Dee and towards considerable expansion of housing and industry. Extrapolation of these trends leads one to suppose that much of the Flint countryside will be destroyed or will suffer from the effects of excessive population pressures. It seems essential, as indeed it is everywhere, to locate the most important sites of natural interest so that they can be given the priorities of conservation. Over much of rural Flint, the farms are small and the topography is not conducive to arable farming. Grazing is seldom excessive so that the flora is still locally rich both in variety and in numbers. Since orchids in general have a long life cycle, their presence in numbers often indicates little disturbance. The associated flora is usually rich and slowly changing especially if only grazed lightly late in the season. Special attention has therefore been paid to orchids in an exploratory survey of Flint, mainly the western part, and adjacent parts of Denbigh on its southern borders. Two localities are given as examples of those which merit protection priority and a systematic list is given as some indication of the present value of the flora of this region. ALUN VALLEY COMMON (Flint, V.C. 51, 10km 33/16) The valley of the River Alun, through the central limestone of Flint from the Loggerheads to Rhydymwyn is of considerable beauty and botanical interest. It is regrettably being marred by residential development at Cilcain and Pant-y-mwyn. The site selected for comment and whose future must be considered to be in jeopardy is a sloping common about 200 metres square at an altitude of about 225 metres (750 feet). There are stands of gorse and the lower half is covered by developing wood and thorn scrub whose clearance, since such habitats are well represented in the district, would be beneficial. Thin drift deposits in the upper zone are leached, there is a little flat, exposed limestone and only a few horses graze there sometimes. Over 110 plant species were logged without effort but only a selection can be made to illustrate the appeal of the common: Agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria), Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla vestita), Quaking Grass (Briza media), Spring Sedge (Carex caryophyllea), Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea), Bluebell (Endymion non-scriptus), Whitlow Grass (Erophila verna), Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca), Im- perforate St. John's Wort (Hypericum maculatum), Elegant St. John's Wort (H. pulchrum), Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis), Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), Lousewort (Pedicularis sylvatica), Cowslip (Primula veris), Primrose (P. vulgaris), Goldilocks (Ranunculus auricomus), Devil's-bit Scabious (Succisia pratensis), Goatsbeard (Tragapogon pratensis), Yellow Oat Grass (Trisetumflavescens), and Common Violet (Viola riviniana).