A Flora of Suffolk. Martin Sanford & Richard Fisk.

Publ. by D. K. & M. N. Sanford, Ipwich 2010. 549 pp.

ISBN 978 0 9564584 0 7  £40.00 hdbk

Nearly thirty years have passed since the publication of Simpson’s Flora of Suffolk. This was considered innovative since it was one of the first of its kind to include colour photographs of many of the plants it listed. With the recent emergence of this monumental work by Martin Sanford and Richard Fisk, the comprehensive text covering 549 pages is greatly enhanced by beautifully reproduced flower studies, often using the full length of the large pages. These are used to introduce the individual chapters and each of the main plant families. These are extremely eye catching and should broaden the appeal of this superb book to those who enjoy wild flowers as well as the specialist botanist. I have been buying new floras for the past forty years or so, and have the majority on my shelves. As the years pass they get bigger and better, but this one is, to my mind, the best yet.

Martin must be justly proud of his achievement. He thanks the many recorders who have largely provided the up-to-date records which provide the basic information, tetrad by tetrad, across the county. As one of these, I realise I have a vested interest, but I am greatly impressed by what has been produced when all the hundreds of thousands of records were brought together in dot maps for single species. His thanks also go to the many conservation organisations and owners of herbaria nationwide who allowed their data to be used, thus giving a comprehensive picture of the flora of our county.

It is fascinating to read about the history of botanical recording in Suffolk. In the early days this was largely down to those who were well-educated and relatively wealthy, many of whom, like Babington, Henslow and Hind were clergymen. As education and leisure time became the norm, wild flowers became a popular interest, and we see how greatly this has contributed to our present knowledge.

As well as detailed sections on the various soils and their associated flora, there is a chapter on the history of the landscape showing how it has changed since the last glaciation. This culminates in a fascinating section on how farming practices have been affected by a number of factors from the 1860s to the present day, using graphs to show the enormous fluctuations in crop and animal production levels through the decades, all of which must have had implications for our flora. The detailed description of the many diverse habitats in Suffolk explains why we have such a wide and varied flora. Despite being essentially an arable county, we lack little other than upland, with the coastal strip, the estuaries and the unique Breckland being important nationally.

Before looking in detail at the families of flowering plants and ferns, it is important to commend another section of the book, namely the comprehensive review of the Bryophytes, which is written by Richard Fisk, the county recorder. Mosses and liverworts are subjects that are not always featured in modern floras, and rarely in as much detail as here. I was staggered to find that over 300 mosses and nearly 80 liverworts have been recorded in Suffolk since the first one in 1746, the majority of which are still present. Many of them have dot maps and/or colour photographs, which show their characteristics, diversity and distribution well.

The flowering plants and ferns take up 370 pages, and each species, even those with just a single record as a casual, are included, with some information on the place and date found and its status in the county. The vast majority of plants have a dot map showing their distribution as well as the type of habitat favoured using coloured backgrounds for soil type, rivers and woodland etc. Thus you can see at a glance the preference of Mossy Stonecrop for sandy soils, or Sulphur Clover fro clay. Some of our rarer species merit detailed information about their individual sites, such as the Snakes-head Fritillary, while the status of debatably native plants like Grape Hyacinth is discussed fully.

I have greatly enjoyed dipping into these pages, some reminding me of outings made years ago to find a special plant, and many others providing me with details and locations I have overlooked. There are also useful side-by-side photographs of species which can easily be confused, such as the Large and Hedge Bindweeds and the two sub-species of Ivy-leaved Speedwell. There are also descriptions of the fruits of the really confusing hedgerow plums and sloes. The current colonisation and spread of Narrow-leaved Ragwort and Danish Scurvy-grass are covered, the map for the latter showing clearly how it is following the county’s trunk roads. Even the past and present cultivation of agricultural crops like hemp have their history documented in detail.

A Flora of Suffolk has been beautifully produced by a British printer, a real pleasure in these days when large illustrated books are printed as far away as China; even so it has been possible to keep the price down to £40.00. I know this is a lot of money in these difficult times, but I am sure nobody will regret the outlay for such a superb and important book. Every Suffolk naturalist should have a copy – it is worth every penny. I am sure Francis Simpson would have been impressed.

Peter Lawson