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Thorne and Hatfield Moors Conservation Forum |
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Thorne and Hatfield Moors Conservation Forum |
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The linked horticultural ventures of Wm and J.C. Casson spanned the 1830s-80s, and were centred on the south-western edge of Thorne Moors. Beginning with an experimental garden, this became developed into a commercial nursery specializing in hybrid rhododendrons. However, a range of other shrubs and woody plants were also raised for sale, comprising at least 38 genera. Beyond the end of the nursery in the 1880s, some of the cultivated plants persisted in situ, and two of these still do so, rhododendrons and Sheep-laurel Kalmia angustifolia.
The author’s interest in the occurrence of the Sheep-laurel and a Casson Ledum is presented in this Technical Report. Research into the Sheep-laurel was mainly approached as an historical study. From 1981, field-notes, photographs and transparencies accrued, somewhat casually, and in 2003 these were augmented by more sustained fieldwork. Thus, this Technical Report not only has historical relevance, but is of some practical value to the modern National Nature Reserve.
The Technical Report briefly introduces the taxonomy and appearance of Sheep-laurel, and outlines records of naturalized Kalmia in Yorkshire. Also referred to are the introduction of Sheep-laurel to Britain, and its possible first appearance in Yorkshire. A contextual account of the Casson nursery is given, followed by the subsequent history of Sheep-laurel at Thorne. Its fortune here is contrasted with a failed Casson survivor, Ledum palustre L. sensu lato. Available data on the modern ecology of Sheep-laurel at Thorne are detailed, including flowering/seeding and the components of associated vegetation. The place of Sheep-laurel in the ‘cultural landscape’ of Thorne Moors is also briefly explored, including reference to its possible control.
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