Arable Plant Identification and Ecology 2020

A one-day course giving participants

• familiarity of several common and endangered arable plants

• a chance to look at and learn about different conservation techniques and arable management options

Tutor: Dr. Phil Wilson

About the tutor:

Phil Wilson is a highly experienced botanist and expert in arable flora. He is the co-author of the Arable Plants Fieldguide.

A 1 day course aimed at familiarising people with several common and endangered species of plants which occur on arable land.

The traditional arable flora of Britain has suffered many changes since the 1940s as farming methods have become more intensive. Many species have become rare; some have become extinct, while others have increased to become the agronomic problems of modern agriculture. One of the areas in Britain where some of these plants can still be found is on the chalky soils of central Hampshire. A wide variety of uncommon species can be found on the Roundwood Estate, and this farm also offers the opportunity to study methods that can be used for their conservation.

What to bring

• Notebook or clipboard
• Water, lunch and snacks. There is virtually no shade at the site, so beware if it is hot! There is a loo at the meeting point
• Any flower book you are happy using (Arable Plants – a field guide by Phil Wilson and Miles King is available from book shops and Amazon)

A full pictorial guide to most of the plants to be seen on the day can be viewed here, please try and look at this before the course to aid with the memory process!

Directions

Please note this is a difficult venue to find, so please use the directions or links below.

https://roundwoodshooting.com/how-to-find-us

Turn off the A303 at the first junction to the west of the M3 interchange, signposted to Overton and Micheldever. Proceed northwards in the direction of Overton but after approx. 200m turn left onto a private road signed “Roundwood”. Follow this between fields, past the aircraft hangars on your left to the farm buildings. Turn left to the car parking area and the meeting point. Nearest postcode SO21 3BA. Google maps link here.

Please inform us of any medical requirements/conditions we should be aware of prior to the course

Any problems on the day please call Phil Wilson on 07803 126929. There may be no signal at the location.

Feedback from previous courses

‘Thanks and Phil was a very good and knowledgeable tutor.’

‘Really enjoyable day, very useful for my work – will be recommending to other NE colleagues.’

‘Phil was very friendly and approachable which made it easy to ask questions. It was all very accessible given the habitat type and there was no need to wade through long crops.  The venue had a lot of different key species and was particularly handy for being ‘down the road’’

‘I greatly improved identification skills for these plant species’