Sedlescombe

Meeting date: 2 July 2000

(Leader: Pat Donovan, Rebecca Barrett)

The Pestalozzi Village now has a resident ecologist, Rebecca Barrett, and in order to help her form a management plan a list of plants was made. In the grounds there were some fine old parkland trees, including an enormous hornbeam. One gnarled hawthorn tree was host to a large clump of mistletoe, and Rosa stylosa (Short-styled Field-rose) was common in the hedges. Somewhat unexpectedly, several chalkland species were found, including Campanula trachelium (Nettle-leaved Bellflower), Hypericum hirsutum (Hairy St John’s-wort) and Echium vulgare (Viper’s Bugloss); they had apparently been introduced by a former member of staff. Scutellaria galericulata (Skullcap) was common in a damp ride, and entomologist Patrick Roper found the tiny yellow beetle Phyllobrotica quadrimaculata whose food plant it is.