140 Saltmarsh Goosefoot at Old Hall Marshes
♦ In 1998 the survey could not be carried out until 19 September (compared with 22 August
to 8 September the previous year) due to the indifferent summer which resulted in later
flowering. This was later still in 1999 when the site was visited on 26 September.
♦ The seed set from previous years must have been very high due to the large number of large
plants and, in 1998 but not 1999,there were patches which were like a seed tray with many
small plants packed in tightly together. They were still flowering but some were only 1 -
2cm tall with minuscule flower spikes.
♦ The typical size of plants was much smaller than previously, often only about 4cm tall; a
few larger plants did occur, mainly towards the top ends of the small creeks where the
winter water levels would have fallen first, thus allowing a longer time for growth.
♦ The position of the higher density patches had changed along the smaller creeks which fan
out through the grazing marsh. As one progressed up the creek, there were areas in 1997
where the goosefoot was occasional, then frequent, and then occasional again. In 1999, the
lower occasional zone was often still covered in water or still drying out, the frequent had
become occasional and the upper occasional zone had become frequent.
♦ This was true also in the area of large draw-down, as the goosefoot extended less far into
the draw-down zone than previous years.
♦ In 1998 a few plants were found to have colonised a recently-made scrape in the south- east
corner of compartment 4.
The last two years of recording have shown that Saltmarsh Goosefoot copes with less than optimum
weather by producing shorter inflorescences on smaller plants and by 'moving' along the creeks. It
is also capable of quickly colonising suitable bare ground areas in the vicinity.
End Note
Did you know that Saltmarsh Goosefoot occurs on the High Plains of Texas, where there are many
shallow siltation depression, or playa lakes, which sometimes cover as much as 40 acres and contain
several feet of water after heavy rains?
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the following BSBI county recorders for providing current information on the
distribution of Saltmarsh Goosefoot in their areas:
Essex - Ken Adams. Kent - Eric Philp. Norfolk - Alec Bull. Suffolk - Martin Sanford.
References
GIBSON, G.S. (1862) Flora of Essex. William Pamplin.
JERMYN, S.T. (1974) Flora of Essex. Essex Naturalists' Trust Ltd.
JNCC (1994) Scarce Plants in Britain. JNCC.
PHILP, E.G. (1982) Atlas of the Kent Flora. The Kent Field Club.
SIMPSON, F.W. (1982) Simpson's Flora of Suffolk. Suffolk Naturalists' Society.
TARPEY, T. & HEATH, J. (1990) The Wild Flowers of North East Essex. Colchester Natural History
Society.
Wch site - Biota of North America Program
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 17 (2000)