I imagine that the first two of my three New Year’s resolutions are probably shared by quite a few of us; read more books and drink more water. We are four days into the new year and I’ve read approximately 30 pages of a novel that’s been on my bedside table for 5 months and begrudgingly drunk 5 litres of water. Whilst I’m off to a good start, and don’t want to give myself excuses to give up, the longevity of the last 15 years or so of my New Year’s resolutions does not give me much hope for this year. The last of the three pledges, however, is something I am a little more optimistic about… because I’ve already achieved it.

My final resolution was to go out with the Durham Wildlife Trust Botany Group, knowing full well that one trip would be sufficient to make me want to go on many more. I discovered a love for botany last year after completing the BSBI’s Identiplant course and have been eager to develop, but crucially maintain, my plant ID skills ever since. It is fitting that my first outing with the botany group was their first of the year; the annual New Year Plant Hunt, the aim of which is to find as many flowering plants as possible in the local area within the first couple of days of January. I first heard of the New Year Plant Hunt whilst reading Leif Bersweden’s ‘Where the Wildlfowers Grow,’ – which, by the way, is a fantastic read for botany lovers – and was completely inspired by waking up early on New Year’s Day to go on a plant hunt as opposed to my usual tradition of sleeping in till 3pm after having too much prosecco the night before. Whilst the Botany Group’s Plant Hunt took place a couple of days later on the 3^rd January, it still felt like an excellent start to the year.

This year’s hunt took place in Bishop Auckland, where we slowly meandered around the margins of building sites, housing estates, roadsides and alleyways – keeping a keen eye out for any spec of green amongst the grey concrete. Very soon the first few findings were coming in; we spotted small patches of field speedwell bursting through the concrete of a car park, clusters of Canadian fleabane on some waste ground behind a pub, and neat lines of common whitlowgrass lining the cracks between walls and pavement as if it were some kind of natural grouting. I was eager to contribute a first sighting, and happy when I found what I thought was a very early Oxford Ragwort on the precipice of flowering. I was corrected by a more knowledgeable member of the group; it was not ragwort, but common Groundsel. I now wonder how many times I have misidentified this flower before.

An hour into the hunt, I had a list of 11 plant species on my phone, two of which I had never seen before, and four of which I had never even heard of. These plants include sun spurge, which towers over surrounding bedstraw and ribwort (at least at this point in the season) and looks very beautiful even if you discount its actual flowers; feverfew, which to me looks like a hybrid of the Asteraceae and Apiaceae families with its daisy-like head but carrot-like leaves; and petty spurge, which looked quite unremarkable until put behind a lens, where it then boasted delicate horned flowers. I hadn’t had any luck at this point of finding a species that had not yet been accounted for on the hunt (unless you count the ragwort-turned-groundsel). I did find a specimen of one of my favourite flowers, Shepherd’s purse, but to my disappointment no amount of telepathic will made it suddenly bloom into flower, so it couldn’t be counted.

As we neared the end of the two-hour session, our list grew to over 20 species. New additions to the list included wavy bittercress, thale cress, annual and spreading meadowgrass, wood forget-me-not and nipplewort. I was impressed by how members of the group managed to spot these specimens between other less interesting vegetation, and it made me wonder how many different species had gone unnoticed as we walked by. When a new plant was found, however, there was a buzz of excitement as the group huddled around the new discovery. I found it amusing to think about how we must have looked; whilst you are crouched down beside a tiny bittercress on the corner of a bus stop, staring at its seed pods and surrounded by 15 or so other people also trying eagerly to get an eye in, you forget how bizarre you must appear to the general public. Hopefully, they somehow come across this article, and all will be explained. They might still think it bizarre, but none of that really matters anyway, for when you are truly passionate about something, one of the best feelings in the world is when everyone around you is passionate about it too. I imagine there are few things more disheartening than having a passion which you cannot share with others in some way or another.

We finished the hunt with two rather special plants. The first, which was growing on a roadside under a bridge, was stone parsley. This particular plant, which was discovered here last year, is the most northerly specimen of its species in the UK. I’m afraid to say it looked rather ordinary, at least vegetatively, but we were all very excited nonetheless. The last plant we found was four-leaved allseed; a nationally scarce plant most likely to be discovered on the Isles of Scilly. It is interesting to think of the journey this plant and its ancestors must have made to be found beneath a curb in the middle of Bishop Auckland. Whilst the stone parsley and four-leaved allseed were not in flower so were not included in our list, all species that did make the list will be submitted to the BSBI. Alongside the results of hundreds of other plant hunts across the UK, this data will help botanists to understand how wild and naturalised plants are responding to climate change. The link at the bottom of this article will take you to a BSBI webpage, where you can see the results of 2024’s New Year Plant Hunt so far.

Whilst I wait for the official list of our findings to be published, I can reflect on what was a great first outing with the botany group. I hope to become a regular member of the group and to use my wildflower key so much this year that I am in need of a new one by Christmas 2024, just in time for New Year Plant Hunt 2025. I think this new tradition will suit me nicely.  

NYPH Live Results (bsbi.org)