Critical determination

The final morning of the conference was occupied by a field trip to Llanmynech Rocks nature reserve, a disused limestone quarry with a very rich flora, albeit quite similar to some of the limestone areas in Lincolnshire (though with more slopes and better views - see extra). 

The collective expertise of the BSBI was exercised in the critical determination of the identities of eyebright, roses and brambles, producing a species list that none of us could have made independently! 

It was awe-inspiring to see one delegate naming four species of bramble in a small patch that most would have passed by as one, but also re-assuring that even the best of the botanists couldn't definitively put a name on a rather odd, probably hybrid birch. An excellent way to end the weekend, even if we did temporarily mislay one of the party!