Haslemere Flora Project

Dr Andrew Swan, HNHS President
To ensure that the Zoom procedure would run smoothly for the Winter Talks to be held in November 2020 and January, February and March in 2021, our President, Andy Swan, said he would give a power-point presentation.  The subject was “The Haslemere Flora Project,” his own project, and was held on Saturday, 31 October.  26 members logged on.
Andy’s aim was to record the changes that have taken place and why; to ID important locations; and to establish a database to assist with any future conservation project.
The scopes considered were: biological to include vascular plants; and geographical, that is within 10km of Haslemere and therefore encompassing parts of three counties.
His sources of information were: Laura Ponsonby’s 1978 published lists and unpublished archives; and the county floras of Hampshire, Sussex and Surrey.
The current list has 1257 species.  Changes since 1978 reveal: an increase of 6 native and 13 non-native species; a decrease of 19 native and 13 non-native species; and 21 probable local extinctions*.
Andy thanked HNHS members who have been assisting him, especially Judith Kusel who was pivotal in getting the project started.  Andy hopes that the findings will appear as a HNHS publication “The Flora of Haslemere and the Surrounding Area” in 2021.

* Click for list of likely extinctions.  Any new information on these species would be very welcome – please  e-mail us if you can help.