2022-12-31-accounts - The British Pteridological Society

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REPORTS OF OFFICERS & COMMITTEE APPOINTEES FOR 2022

OFFICERS’ REPORTS

GENERAL SECRETARY – David Hill

I am pleased to say that, to a greater degree, most of the Society’s activities are up and running again. The ability to have face-to-face meetings, field trips and talk to people at plant society events and exhibitions is a welcome change, and, as you will see from the accompanying Officers’ reports, seems to have been embraced wholeheartedly.

However, some things have changed. Committee meetings are now held online, and this does make it easier to be more inclusive, saves a huge amount of travel and allows a lie in! The Society calendar starts with a committee meeting in January. I don’t miss the early start to get a train to London, but I do miss meeting others on the committee face-to-face. I had hoped to meet people at the AGM at Edge Hill University, but was denied that by Covid-like symptoms (fortunately not the actual condition); however, being able to attend online was very useful, and it was also good to see some overseas members online. The range of speakers and topics (reported elsewhere) made for a fascinating day. Minutes of the AGM are reported separately.

Alongside committee meetings in January, May and October, a small working group (Peter Blake, Peter Grimbly, Rob Cooke, Peter Madders, Gill Smith and myself) examined the practical implications, benefits and drawbacks of becoming a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. In summary, it doesn’t suit our structure or needs, but did prove a valuable exercise, and we will now start looking in detail at other aspects of the Charity to see where we can make things run more efficiently.

A smooth change of the Membership Secretary to Peter Madders is in large parts thanks to Ann Robbins, made easier for both with a handover transition period. We are keen to do this with the Treasurer role, and Peter Blake is looking to help any new incumbent with a lengthy handover period in this critical position. The post is ably supported by Peter Grimbly who is our spreadsheet and PayPal guru. Despite appearances, there is no technical requirement for all Officers to be called Peter!

Bryan Smith is also keen to spend some time handing over to a new Meetings Secretary. This role is primarily a co-ordination one, keeping track of who is doing what, where and when. Meetings are a fantastic part of Society life, and I would encourage all who can, either to attend or offer to run one – it need be nothing more than a trip to your local botanic garden, or a day out to your local wood with like-minded folk.

Publications, newsletters, journals, magazines and website all take work, so a huge thank you to all those, both authors, editors and behind-the-scenes individuals who make our Society not just a thriving one, but a very important one. With all these roles, having multiple people able to help out at short notice, or who know what is involved is invaluable, so even if you are just able to provide ‘holiday cover’ that would be useful.

As Fred outlines in his Conservation Officer and Recorder reports, there is still plenty to learn with our native ferns, in terms of distribution and subsequent protection. There are always unusual finds to make, and long-term monitoring of even routine species will pay dividends as our climate changes.

The majority of my year has been indoors and computer-based, but I did manage my first visit to Southport Flower Show to see the wonderful display and meet large numbers of visitors. Meetings, events, exhibitions and teaching all seem to be gathering pace, showing that there is still a great demand from the public for learning more about the mysterious world of ferns and lycophytes, so helping out at any of these events is always worthwhile.

The Spore Exchange and Plant Exchange have undoubtedly been impacted by Brexit, but still remain a core service of the Society. Thanks to Brian and Sue for all the unseen work that goes on. My own move inland, followed by a severe cold spell means I certainly have a fair number of plants to replace, so I will be availing myself of the service.

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With all the Society activities that take place, I would encourage you to submit items to Michael for the archives, especially if you feel they will be of use to future pteridologists. Please contact Michael to see how best to submit things.

In summary, a huge amount has been achieved over the past year. Thank you to all of those who have helped in any way, large or small. The coming year promises to be just as busy, and I look forward to seeing at least some of you face-to-face or appearing from behind a frond in the field.

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY – Peter Madders

Taking over the role of Membership Secretary from April 2022 has at times been a baptism of fire, but overall a positive experience. I have enjoyed the many conversations, both through e-mails and in person. Thanks to Ann Robbins’ comprehensive handover I hope it has been quite a smooth transfer and that I’ve not made too many errors.

Prior to taking on the role I hadn’t quite appreciated the reach of the Society. We consistently have approximately 700 members, spread across 29 countries in six continents. Roughly 70% of members reside in the UK, with 15% living in mainland Europe and 15% across the Rest of the World.

In 2022 we attracted 89 new members (68 full, 9 optional and 12 student members) with four of these including additional family members. We also had three new subscribers join the fold. The geographical distribution was 77 from the UK, four within Europe and 11 from further afield. However, we did lose 115 members – 86 lapsed, 24 resigned, and sadly we were notified of the death of five members and a further two in 2023. We were particularly sad to lose two of our Honorary Members – Rose Murphy and Chris Page. Breaking down the figures it is apparent that a significant disproportionate number of those leaving are from mainland Europe – possibly a consequence of new border regulations between the UK and EU coming into force.

We did have a steady stream of new members towards the end of the year (technically new members for 2023) so as of 31[st] December 2022 we had 697 (+59 family) active members.

MEETINGS SECRETARY – Bryan Smith

We gradually began to start getting back to normal during 2022 and a number of National events/meetings were held, led as always by volunteers willing to give their time and effort.

For the outdoor programme, there were meetings in Eskdale in July (led by Bruce Brown), Scotland in August (led by Roger Golding), South Devon in September (led by Martin Rickard) and the West Midlands in September (led by Julian Reed).

We began our indoor programme with the Spring Meeting and AGM at Edge Hill University in April (organised by Alison Evans), with talks and displays around the theme of ‘Taking pteridology forward’. In June, we had a stand at the BBC Gardeners’ World Live show in Birmingham NEC (led by Gill Smith and me) and also a stand at the Plant Societies Weekend at Wisley (led by Jude Lawton). In July, we took over Hilltop at Wisley with the Carnivorous Plant Society for a weekend-long fern event (organised by Julian Reed), and in August we had our annual stand at the Southport Flower Show (organised by Alison Evans). Following our success at BBC Gardeners’ World, we were invited to participate at their inaugural Autumn Fair at Audley End in Essex in September; we put on a small display (again led by Gill Smith and me). The finale to our year was the Autumn Meeting (organised by Bridget Laue and Chris Nicholson) in October at the Glasgow Botanic Gardens (including a book auction) with a trip to the Fossil Grove. Reports on all of the 2022 meetings can be found elsewhere in this Bulletin .

The Meetings Subcommittee held its annual get-together early in December to plan for 2023 and beyond. This time the meeting was held by Zoom, and, as previously agreed by Committee, Regional Organisers were invited to attend. Some did attend, but it is hoped that more will be involved in our next annual meeting. A provisional programme was agreed, which included the AGM at Harlow Carr in April, the Plant Societies show at Wisley in June, Exmoor ferning in June, the Ferns and Carnivorous Plants Show at Wisley in July, East Anglian ferning in August, the BBC Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair at Audley End in September, Anglesey ferning in September, and the Autumn Meeting in October or November (theme and venue as yet to be decided).

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As always, I would endorse the fine work that Regional Meetings Organisers do in arranging trips ‘on your doorstep’. Even if you are visiting an area on holiday, it is worth checking the BPS website or contacting the Regional Organiser to see if there’s a meeting you can join.

Finally, I have decided to stand down as Meetings Secretary, a post that I have held since 2011. Despite advertising for a replacement in our Newsletters, no-one has come forward for what is a very rewarding and not terribly onerous Society role. Please do think about whether you would be interested, and contact me if you are.

PUBLICATIONS SECRETARY – Martin Rickard

All our journals have thrived over the last twelve months.

The Fern Gazette completed Volume 8 with a typically interesting string of articles. The total page number for the volume was 500. Averaging 125 pages per year of high standard pteridophyte research is incredible. I am always surprised that some members opt not to have the Gazette . Not every article will appeal to everyone but there is always something to be taken from each issue. Mary Gibby and her editorial team from six different countries are to be warmly congratulated.

The Bulletin is a must-read journal for me, mostly cover to cover, especially the meeting reports. Quite apart from refreshing my memory about meetings I attended, I find reports of those I missed fascinating – often wishing I had been there. Alison Paul pulls all this together every spring with no help apart from the contributions of the members. As I once did this job, I know just how difficult it is. Most contributors have to be chased down, me included! Volume 9 is now up to 156 pages after only two issues. We are very lucky to have had Alison for so long doing this arduous, but hopefully rewarding, job.

The Pteridologist is so good we just take it for granted! Alec Greening has excelled himself in always managing to get enough appropriate copy to fill each part. Currently each year’s issue, on average, amounts to about 100 pages. Chris Evans has again done a great job of proof-reading all articles. Please remember Alec when you come across something interesting, even short notes are welcome, but please try to get articles to him each year by January.

Special Publication sales jog along. There is always a huge rush for sales of new books, gradually tapering off over time. The Athyrium Special Publication by Ian Unsworth is just being finished off as I write. I am looking forward to hopefully seeing it published this spring. The ‘Scollie’ publication is still some way from publication, it is not a five-minute job assembling all the information. Tim Brock is an enthusiast and an excellent grower, so when ready this will be something special too.

In the past we have had news sheets. Today is no exception, but now we have two in the form of online journals, both free to all members. Mark Border continues with his quarterly Cultivar Newsletter. It amazes me how he assembles so many titbits so frequently, all beautifully illustrated. This is distributed by Julian Reed (julianreed@waitrose.com). Mark also does a quarterly newsletter for the members of the South-East regional group. The second newsletter is by Matthew Reeve for the Indoor and Tropical Fern Group (IATFG). Again, an amazing amount of information is given together with a lot of good quality pictures. Contact matthew@reeve.name for inclusion on the distribution list.

The new British fern flora being compiled by Fred Rumsey is progressing. When complete this will be a high-quality book, the first colour flora of every fern and lycophyte taxon ever recorded in the British Isles and Ireland. I cannot wait!

This is an amazing quantity of published material for a relatively small society. Add in meetings and the chance to chat with like-minded enthusiasts, and it is remarkable value for £21 with no Gazette , or £25 per annum for all journals.

FERN GAZETTE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF – Mary Gibby

Two Fern Gazette parts were published during 2022. Volume 21, Part 7, published in spring comprised the single, multi-authored Checklist of the lycophytes and ferns of the Solomon Islands , whilst Part 8, published in autumn, included five papers. The quality of the coloured illustrations greatly enhanced some of these papers. The publication of Parts 7 and 8 completes Volume 21. We continue to attract a range of papers on varied subjects relating to

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lycophytes and ferns, and the first part of Volume 22 of the Fern Gazette has already gone to press. As always, I am very grateful to all the contributors, and especially to the many reviewers who have provided excellent support to ensure the quality of manuscripts accepted. Andrew Leonard continues to provide vital technical support to ensure the quality of the journal.

PTERIDOLOGIST EDITOR – Alec Greening

The Pteridologist was back to normal with just one issue in 2022. It contained articles ranging from National Collection reports to ferns from Taiwan and Honduras. There were two book reviews and historical reports concerning Thomas Moore and Charles Druery. An article on common fern parasites gave some food for thought, and the fern hardiness survey was reported on, which is also on the BPS website.

The 2023 issue has plenty of room for more articles. Please contact Chris Evans at Receiving@eBPS.org.uk and we will do our best to include your contribution.

BULLETIN EDITOR – Alison Paul

With the return to normality as regards Society meetings, this Bulletin is back to its more usual size of 100 pages. Many thanks to all contributors and in particular those who submitted their reports in good time!

WEBSITE CO-ORDINATOR – Bridget Laue

The BPS website serves as the public face for the Society and is a central repository of information about ferns and BPS activities, as well as a place to buy membership, merchandise and Special Publications. Our website is run entirely by volunteers: the Webteam members are Peter Grimbly, Andrew Leonard and Bridget Laue. David Hill, Alison Evans and Roger Golding have retired this year from the Webteam; we are very grateful for their past contributions. We are especially indebted to Andrew for his diligence and creative problem solving in day-to-day maintenance. As a result of this effort, the website has almost no cost to the Society. Again, thank you also to other volunteers who manage individual pages of the website: Brian and Sue Dockerill (Spore Exchange and Plant Exchange), Bryan Smith (Merchandise), Peter Madders (Membership), Alison Evans (Where to see ferns), Roger Golding (Ferns) and Andrew Leonard (What’s that fern?). There have been some interesting Blogs on the website, but we need more!

The website is also linked to our Social Media groups, which can be accessed using the icons on the left-hand side of the homepage screen. All of these accounts invite viewers back to the BPS website for more information.

Facebook : Fern World on Facebook was set up by Alison Evans. We are looking for someone to take over this role. The plan is that fern pictures are posted every Friday for ‘Fern Friday’, and interesting posts from other fern societies are shared. Or other new ideas? There are also some specialist fern groups on Facebook run by BPS members – the Polypodium cultivar group, the Dryopteris species, hybrids and cultivars group, the Polystichum group, and the Athyrium filix-femina cultivars group; a good place to discover new things and keep up-todate with what is happening in the cultivar world.

YouTube : we have a dedicated channel – search British Pteridological Society on YouTube for a range of informative videos.

Instagram : our account is managed by Chris Nicholson.

As always, we welcome comments, participation and contributions. We would also welcome anyone who is interested in getting involved in the Webteam.

CONSERVATION OFFICER – Fred Rumsey

In marked contrast to the speed of legislative progress in England (and worse still in Scotland), where recommendations made in one, or indeed several quinquennial reviews of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981 have not been acted upon, in the Republic of Ireland things have commendably happened faster. Here, the comparatively recent Flora (Protection) Order of 2015 was replaced in May 2022, amended to give immediate protection to the recently discovered Stenogrammitis myosuroides . This, considered Europe’s rarest (and quite possibly smallest) native fern, was overlooked in the remote temperate rain-forests of Co. Kerry until July 2019. A survey funded by the Killarney National Park authority and carried out in October by the plant’s original discoverer Rory

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Hodd with my assistance, revealed a total population of 114 plants in three separate woodlands, but only 13 of these were fertile/mature. The species has a very precise and narrow ecological niche that is inherently unstable and vulnerable through visitation; the hot and dry summer of 2022 may have increased turnover and loss of some larger plants. Collection of this fascinating plant, which may yet, following molecular work, prove to be specifically distinct from its closest congeners in the Caribbean and Central America, could prove highly damaging and so the rapid legal protection now afforded it is to be applauded.

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photo : Fred Rumsey
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Rory Hodd examining Stenogrammitis

The publication in March 2023 of the BSBI’s Atlas 2020 is eagerly anticipated and the analysis of the data is now all but completed. One of the first products will be a revision of the lists of Nationally Rare (present in 25 or fewer hectads) and Nationally Scarce (present in 100 or fewer hectads) species, with similar lists calculated for each of the devolved countries using appropriately down-scaled numbers to reflect proportional areas. These categories, while having decreased importance in our current threat-based system, do still matter for site assessment and notification, amongst other reasons. The data gathered for this, the third British and Irish plant atlas, will in due course be used to revise Red-Lists at National and Country level. The European Red-List of Lycopods and Ferns from 2017 indicated how at a broader regional level our species were all to be considered unthreatened. This, however, may belie their importance. Work now being considered here, which will feed into our revised national Red-Listing, will look at ‘International Responsibility’, i.e. the identification of those species for which we hold a significant proportion of the global population. While these taxa may currently not be considered at threat, should that change, the implications would have global consequences. Identifying these perhaps under-appreciated gems of our flora will be a valuable step.

EDUCATION OFFICER – Gill Smith

It was a full year, with several actions to take forward and events to promote. Following up our action points from the previous year, there was a lot of discussion about what sort of posters and updated handouts we needed. Peter Blake and Matthew Reeve put their heads together and produced what they thought would be eye-catching and relevant to the many queries we get from the public. It was agreed that they had pitched it correctly, so a series of five posters and some new full-colour leaflets were produced. A set was given to each Regional Group for use at any event they undertook for the BPS.

The BBC Gardeners’ World show at the NEC (14-19 June) was well attended and the Society Stand won a Gold Medal, which was very encouraging. They gave a fixed sum of money to help with any expenses for the event, plus the Gold Medal award was £300 – some income for the Society as well as good publicity.

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On the same weekend (18-19 June), there was an RHS Plant Society event at Wisley, so our Education Group personnel were stretched to find enough volunteers to cover both events, though we were able to enlist help from other BPS members. In July, another show was held at Wisley, in conjunction with the Carnivorous Plant Society, which was well received by the public.

From 18-21 August, our annual stand was set up at Southport Flower Show. A fantastic display of plants gained the Society a Large Gold Award and more prize money. This is the first time that the BPS has won a Large Gold at Southport, and the feedback was that in addition to the display, it was because of the excellent educational content of the stand. A very good start for Alison Evans who had just taken over the organisation for this event from Michael Hayward.

A small stand was set up at an autumn event (1-4 September) run for the first time by the BBC Gardeners’ World team. There would be no judging or prizes, it would just be a trial event at Audley End, an English Heritage site near Saffron Walden, Essex. The tickets were sold out for every day, so it was decided that the event would continue – another date to be added to our annual list.

All these events are reported more fully in this Bulletin .

In Scotland, members had been approached to help out at an area in Glasgow called Fossil Grove. It is an old Victorian park, which had been excavated, revealing stumps and roots of fossil lepidodendrons. Glasgow City Council had put a roof over it and a ‘Friends’ group had been created. They had been clearing out rubbish and tidying up and created a Fernery, which was a good effort. What was missing was an interpretation board, and it was suggested that the BPS could help by providing this. A visit to the Grove was included as an extra to the national Autumn Meeting in Glasgow.

The Scottish Botanists’ Conference on 2[nd] November, jointly organised by the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) and the Botanical Society of Scotland (BSS), and held at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, attracted 150 participants. The BPS presented a stand, with general posters explaining about ferns and introducing the Society, as well as a special poster by Roger Golding and Alison Evans detailing a new fern for Scotland: Dryopteris affinis subsp. kerryensis , found by Roger Golding in 2021. As part of the BPS national meeting in Scotland in August, the site was revisited and the identification confirmed. In addition, Heather McHaffie led a workshop on an introduction to fern identification. The workshop was presented twice, and was well attended and well received on both occasions.

Alison Evans gave a talk on local ferns and their identification to the Craven Conservation Group on 17[th] March, and also taught fern identification on the Edge Hill University Field Botany module.

David Hill led a four-day Fern Identification course in North Wales for Manchester Metropolitan University Master’s students in July, and will be repeating the course in August 2023, along with additional one-day workshops at FSC Rhyd-y-Creuau and Quarry Bank Mill.

As usual, there were various talks given to local gardening clubs and other groups.

Our future plans have yet to be formalised.

PUBLICITY & COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER – Laurence Sutton

During 2022, spring, summer and autumn newsletters were sent out to BPS members via an e- mail containing a link to the newsletter file on the Mailchimp platform. Subsequent discussions have highlighted the issue that a substantial number of members have inadvertently precluded contact to their e-mail address (and thus no access to the newsletter) through a quirk of the membership application form and this will be rectified.

My intention with the newsletters was to make them slightly more than information mailshots (notices of upcoming events and general notices) and contain snippets of information of previous and upcoming events in addition to material that would not normally fit into the Bulletin or Pteridologist , such as articles on individual members. I realise that there is overlap with e-mails sent out by Specialist and Regional Groups, some

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of whom have their own newsletters. However, the purpose of the BPS newsletter is to proactively inform the general membership of activities within the Society.

I am stepping down as Publicity and Communications Officer for personal reasons and I wish my successor(s) the very best in further developing this nascent BPS newsletter particularly in conjunction with the BPS Website. The role of the website and the newsletters are complementary, and I would very much like to thank Andrew Leonard for his constant support for the website and its current developments.

I would like to thank the many members who have provided copy for the newsletters and given supportive advice, and I look forward to putting together my final Spring 2023 Newsletter before the 2023 AGM.

COMMITTEE APPOINTEES’ REPORTS

RECORDER – Fred Rumsey

The fruits of our combined recording efforts over the last two decades will be published in the BSBI’s Atlas 2020 in March 2023. For those like me who like to hold a hard copy, the wealth of data has meant the need to go to two volumes, but an interactive online version giving far more information and analytical capabilities will also be released. Recording has continued after this massive effort in spite of the pandemic and an element of recorder fatigue and it is frustrating that some recent finds won’t make it into the Atlas! One such was of oak fern ( Gymnocarpium dryopteris ). This small and delicate woodlander is curiously rare or even absent from many areas, such as Ireland, and has declined elsewhere in its southern English range. I was thus delighted to have been sent a voucher for confirmation of the species, new to Dorset, by Mark Gurney back in 2016. For a variety of reasons this record sadly never made it to the BSBI in time for inclusion in the forthcoming Atlas, but in October I finally got the chance to check the plantation near Arne where he had reported it and was delighted (and no little relieved) to finally refind several diffuse but rather dwarfed patches, some under bracken. Even the less promising looking parts of this otherwise species-rich area, now due to become a much-enlarged reserve, clearly are worth further investigation.

With increasing familiarity and more keen eyes looking, some apparently rare segregates of the scaly male fern ( Dryopteris affinis s.l.) are now proving to be more widespread, if still very uncommon. I can report several intriguing discoveries this year. On a visit to Somerset this summer, Roger Golding and Alison Evans, hosted by myself and North Somerset Vice-county Recorder Helena Crouch, visited several sites where we believed there to be narrow scaly malefern ( D. cambrensis ). To our embarrassment the majority of these records were to prove to be the superficially similar D. paleaceolobata , Some face was saved with the realisation that both taxa occurred at one of our sites, the coniferous plantations at Stockhill near Priddy. These overlie lead workings that date back to the Roman period. Even more excitingly, one of our mystery clumps was determined by Roger and Alison to be Kerry scaly male-fern ( D. kerryensis ), which Roger had found new to Scotland in 2021 and which previously had only been known in England from a few sites in the south-west Lake District, also found by him. This was not to be the only excitement, as the day before, while exploring a recent plantation on the Stourhead Estate (just into North Somerset) a single large individual of the, to my eyes more distinct, D. pseudodisjuncta was found. This triploid taxon had previously only been found in three sites in south and west Scotland and at a site in the south-west Lakes, and typically as one or very few plants per site. Its discovery in Somerset was therefore most unexpected. Elsewhere in the South-West, others have also been trying to make more sense of this difficult and critical group. Lionel Pike, working in Heathercombe on Dartmoor, also found a hot spot for unusual examples, recording amongst others D. lacunosa and also a plant Roger believed to be the hybrid between D. paleaceolobata and D. filix-mas . Another plant morphologically looked to be D. pseudodisjuncta but confusingly may prove to be diploid. It is an intriguing and frequently repeated observation that unusual scaly male-ferns are often found together, even in comparatively recent woodland sites.

In the spring I was fortunate enough to be in Guernsey helping to launch an initiative to promote the use of native plants in gardens, and took the opportunity to revisit and monitor sites of the hybrids of the genus Asplenium , which had been visited by the Society in 2015. Guernsey spleenwort ( Asplenium × sarniense ), the hybrid between the black and lanceolate

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spleenworts , was described from the island in the 1970s and is more frequent here than anywhere else in the world, for reasons that are still not fully resolved. Due to the similarity of its parents, it can be a challenging plant to spot, but working with members of the Botany Section of the Societé Guernesiaise, over 50 individuals were located, some known to me since my first visit to the island nearly 30 years ago. Even rarer is the very distinctive Guernsey fern ( A. × microdon ), the hybrid between the lanceolate spleenwort ( A. billotii ) and the hart’s tongue fern ( A. scolopendrium ). Aside from a poorly localised specimen from Cornwall collected in the 1850s, this remarkable plant has only ever been found on Guernsey. It forms on open, disturbed but sheltered habitats where the base-rich and acid substrates enjoyed by its disparate parents mix, but this disturbance (often brought about by vehicles scraping banks, or over-zealous prescribed cutting) also leads to a short existence. Of the 19 individuals seen in 2013/5 only four were probably extant, but a further 16 plants were seen during my visit, with another detected shortly after.

Another very rare spleenwort hybrid Asplenium × murbeckii , the cross between the common wall-rue ( A. ruta-muraria ) and its much rarer and metal-loving relative forked spleenwort ( A. septentrionale ), had until recently only been known as a single clump on Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, with another possibly just out of reach on Stenton Rocks, near Dunkeld. Surveys by Jim McIntosh and Mary Gibby have, however, revealed another two plants at the former site. Some European examples of this hybrid are fertile but it is likely that these are de novo F1 hybrid formations.

One of my erstwhile Guernsey compatriots and hosts, Gareth Coleman, subsequently went on to make another interesting discovery while touring Scotland during the summer. While visiting the Chatelherault Country Park, near Hamilton, he found a plant of the American maidenhair fern ( Adiantum pedatum ). This pedately fronded species is one of a vicariant pair, one Eastern American ( A. pedatum ), the other Western ( A. aleuticum ), that were finally separated by molecular studies in the 1980s. While the Western species is now the more commonly sold and cultivated, the two other most recent finds, high in Cwm Idwal (on a BPS meeting) and in a Lake District quarry, have also been A. pedatum . The two are, however, challengingly difficult to separate and all earlier British records are open to question as to the true identity of the plants discovered.

Finally, in early November news came from Louis Parkerson that he had found sporophytes of the Killarney fern ( Vandenboschia speciosa ) at a new site in coastal woodland in South Cornwall. While it is difficult to be certain as to the origins of some Cornish examples of this species, occurring as they do in or close to previously gardened areas, nationally we have witnessed increasing recruitment from the previously overlooked gametophyte populations. One of the few positives to result from climate change?

SPORE EXCHANGE ORGANISERS – Brian & Sue Dockerill

These statistics give an overview of the main Spore Exchange for 2022.

	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
No. taxa in list	459	452	405	402	384	401	396
Orders received	96	135	155	164	146	171	120
Packets supplied	1,568	2,331	2,486	2,664	2,324	2,683	1,780
No. first choices supplied (%)	1,400 (90%)	2,024 (86%)	2,077 (83%)	2,220 (85%)	1,927 (83%)	2,305 (86%)	1,643 (92%)
No. donors	32	39	36	40	35	38	29

The number of donors and number of orders were lower this year, primarily due to the restrictions on sending spores to the EU. The impact of this is less than it might have been, as many European members continued to support the Exchange, for which we are extremely grateful. Overall, the scheme remains healthy, with a wide range of interesting taxa along with some reliable favourites.

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We continued to supply short viability spores separately, and the statistics for this are shown below.

shown below.
	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
No. taxa donated	9	11	11	13	13	5	5
No. donors	4	6	7	7	6	2	2
No. packets supplied	40	30	39	63	67	14	9

There continued to be limited donations and orders under this scheme. If anyone grows unusual Osmunda or related genera, these spores would be most welcome.

As always, we are very grateful to the spore donors, without whom there would be no Exchange. If anyone is interested in becoming a donor, we are very happy to offer advice, or they can look on the website for help.

PLANT EXCHANGE ORGANISERS – Brian & Sue Dockerill

The following gives some statistics for the scheme.

	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
No. taxa available	32	22	62	44	48	29	33
No. donors	6	5	5	7	8	8	7
No. taxa wanted	19	25	41	49	67	53	51
No. requestors	5	8	13	15	18	16	20

The Plant Exchange continues to list a reasonable number of ferns, and many of these are requested – of the 33 available during 2022, seven are not currently listed as they are used up. As in 2021, we feel this aspect of the system is working well, albeit on a moderate scale and we would encourage members to support it.

For plant wants, members continue to post occasional requests, but it is not apparent that many are fulfilled. As the system requires little effort to support it, it will remain in place but does not appear to be making an impact on the availability of ferns for members who are looking for specific items.

Both aspects of the Exchange are advertised in the Autumn Mailing and other communications, and with all spores sent out from the Spore Exchange. We also offer to send out a paper list on request, but none were requested this year.

BOOKSALES ORGANISER – Frank Katzer

2022 was a very busy year for BPS Booksales, and most of my time was taken up by organising the auction of the fern books that I purchased in 2021 from Sarah Whittingham and Frank McGavigan. In total, 137 items were offered for sale. In the first round, 24 BPS members expressed an interest in 102 of the 137 books. Based on this, the books were grouped into four categories: 1) Books that nobody expressed an interest in. These 35 were added to my stock of books. 2) Books that only a single person expressed an interest in. These 49 were offered to those people at the guide price, and 36 were sold and 13 added to my stocks. 3) Books that up to three people expressed an interest in. These 37 were all sold by an e-mail auction involving those people. 4) Books that four or more people expressed an interest in. These 16 were sold at the face-to-face auction at the national Autumn Meeting in Glasgow in October. In addition, some of the books from the first two categories that had not sold were for sale at the meeting in Glasgow. During 2022, Booksales had an income of £4,608.50 and an expenditure of £223.03.

As always, I would be grateful if you could let me know if you become aware of any new fern books before they are published so that I can contact the publishers in order to get a better deal for our members.

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BPS Booksales always welcomes donations and bequests of books or offers to purchase either individual books or whole book collections. Please keep in mind that the prices offered cannot be internet prices but if you sell books to dealers, they will not offer sales prices either. To contact me please use my work e-mail: Frank.Katzer@moredun.ac.uk or alternatively the Booksales e-mail: Booksales@eBPS.org.uk. I can also be contacted by post: Frank Katzer, Highfield House, Muirburn, Skirling ML12 6HL, Scotland or by phone 0044 (0)1899 860 307.

BACK NUMBERS OF JOURNALS ORGANISER & SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS

SALES – Pat Acock

We had only 34 postal sales during 2022, consisting of 20 journals – 18 Pteridologist parts and one each of the Bulletin and Fern Gazette , and 76 Special Publications – five Fern names and their meanings , 19 Polystichum cultivars , eight Fern albums and related materials and 27 Polypodium cultivars and species , plus odd copies of others in the series. Considering one of the botanical book shops that sell our books decided at the beginning of the year to top up their shelves, these numbers were a little disappointing. Postal sales were supplemented by sales at regional and national BPS meetings including the AGM.

Perhaps at meetings members who value these publications could show this to our newer members, who might then avail themselves of a few more of these well researched and beautiful books. In a webinar that I watched on the Victorian Fern Craze, the librarian giving the presentation from the Elizabeth Miller Botanical Library in Seattle had laid out various artifacts and books on the tables to go with his talk. On display he had four of our Special Publications and Fern fever by our member Sarah Whittingham. This is truly amazing since the lecture was on the other side of the world about a predominantly British phenomenon.

MERCHANDISE ORGANISERS – Bryan & Gill Smith

We had a steady flow of orders through the early part of 2022, but once people started to get out and meet up again, the orders dwindled. We only had 31 orders via the website plus one in the post; most were for the UK, with one each from the USA, Belgium, France, Sweden and Germany.

We attended a couple of face-to-face meetings during the year, notably the BBC Gardeners’ World shows at the NEC, Birmingham and at Audley End, Essex, so there were chances for people to see and be tempted by a limited range of our Merchandise! We were very grateful that colleagues were able to take some merchandise to the Spring Meeting and AGM at Edge Hill University, which we weren’t able to attend. Plus, colleagues sold merchandise for us at Southport Flower Show and the national BPS Autumn Meeting in Glasgow as well as at the Yorkshire and NW Group AGMs. We continue to get positive feedback about the wide range of items that we stock from some of the new members who sent us orders! We are hoping to get along to some of the meetings planned for 2023, where we always offer pre-ordering so that people don’t have to pay postage (which seems to go up all the time!).

A big thank you to all those who have supported us. If you have ideas for any other items that you think would enhance our list, please contact us on Merchandise@eBPS.org.uk.

ARCHIVIST – Michael Hayward

Material received over the last year included manuscripts by Jimmy Dyce, manuscripts by Clive Jermy and a variety of photographs of the Southport Flower Show.

Requests for information received this year were chiefly for addresses of early Society members and records of early fern cultivars.

If you have any items that you would like to donate to our archive, please get in touch with me. Biographical details of past members and any good photographs of individual Society members, past or present, would be particularly useful. Photographs can be sent as prints, which I can scan and return to you if you so wish, or in digital form. Photographic images in the archive are stored in jpeg format, with the minimum of compression. Images of documents are scanned in multipage pdf format. There are over 2,100 catalogued items in the archive.

CULTIVAR REGISTRATION WORKING GROUP – Roger Golding

Progress is being made on producing a first draft of the Cultivar Register for Polypodium, for potential publication at a future date. This first draft will be a discussion document to enable decisions on correct names to be made by the group.

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BPS ACCOUNTS FOR 2022

BPS ACCOUNTS FOR 2022	BPS ACCOUNTS FOR 2022
2021 2022
ORDINARY ACCOUNT
INCOME
Subscriptions (see note 1)	£19,525.12 £19,025.27
Booksales (see note 8)	£546.00 £4,608.50
Merchandise (see notes 6 & 8)	£1,220.91 £1,437.59
Publications (see notes 6 & 8)	£2,101.81 £1,111.68
Pteridologist	£55.50 £16.44
Inland Revenue Gift Aid	£1,481.28 -
Donations	£936.71 £668.64
Plant Sales & Spore Exchange	- £193.50
Prize Money	- £520.00
Miscellaneous	- -
TOTALINCOME	£25,867.33 £27,581.62

EXPENDITURE
Pteridologist	£8,926.16 £5,091.24
Fern Gazette (see note 4)	- £10,622.80
Bulletin	£6,834.49 £7,841.83
Printing & Stationery	£100.00 -
Administration & Postage	£756.28 £819.69
Subscriptions to Societies	£95.00 £95.00
Plant & Spore Exchanges	- £296.93
Merchandise (see note 6)	£1,198.17 £388.35
Publications (see note 5)	£725.00 £369.00
Trustees’ Expenses	- -
Booksales	£4,246.99 £446.88
Special Awards	£551.30 £94.91
Autumn Mailing	£1,185.26 -
Website	£18.87 -
Meetings (see note 7)	- £14.05
Promotion & Advertising (see note 5)	£34.09 £3,381.09
Insurance	£371.10 £376.10
Donations/returned overpaid fees	£25.00 £97.60
Bank Charges (see notes 2 & 3)	£577.86 £583.12
TOTALEXPENDITURE	£25,645.57 £30,518.59

Balance (income minus expenditure)	£221.76 -£2,936.97

Brought Forward from previous year	£36,008.66 £36,230.42
Total in Ordinary Account	£36,230.42 £33,293.45

RESERVE FUND
Brought Forward from previous year	£20,327.07 £20,330.45
Interest	£3.38 £289.06
Total in Reserve Fund	£20,330.45 £20,619.51

CENTENARY FUND (Restricted Account)
Interest	£1.03 £88.07
Interest brought forward from previous year	£609.66 £610.69
Total Interest	£610.69 £698.76

Capital brought forward from previous year	£5,583.73 £5,583.73
Total in Centenary Fund	£6,194.42 £6,282.49

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2021 2022 GREENFIELD FUND(Restricted Account) Interest £0.45 £38.68 Interest brought forward from previous year £1,669.00 £1,669.45 Travel Grant - - Total Interest £1,669.45 £1,708.13 Capital brought forward from previous year £1,051.00 £1,051.00 Total in Greenfield Fund £2,720.45 £2,759.13	2021 2022 GREENFIELD FUND(Restricted Account) Interest £0.45 £38.68 Interest brought forward from previous year £1,669.00 £1,669.45 Travel Grant - - Total Interest £1,669.45 £1,708.13 Capital brought forward from previous year £1,051.00 £1,051.00 Total in Greenfield Fund £2,720.45 £2,759.13
Interest
Interest brought forward from previous year
Travel Grant
Total Interest

Capital brought forward from previous year
Total in Greenfield Fund

GRAHAM ACKERS FUND
Brought forward from previous year	£14,883.92 £14,886.41 £2.49 £211.66 £14,886.41 £15,098.07 £36,230.42 £33,293.45 £20,330.45 £20,619.51 £6,194.42 £6,282.49 £2,720.45 £2,759.13 £14,886.41 £15,098.07 £80,362.15 £78,052.66 £50,999.34 £51,626.82 £29,362.81 £26,425.84 £80,362.15 £78,052.66
Interest
Total in Graham Ackers Fund

SUMMARY
Ordinary Account
Reserve Account
Centenary Fund
Greenfield Fund
Graham Ackers Fund
Total Funds

REPRESENTED BY
Charitable Organisations Investment Fund (COIF)
NatWest Bank & Others
Total Funds

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

The accounts reflect the subscriptions received in the year.
Transaction charges are levied by NatWest and PayPal. All payments received via PayPal into the bank are net of the bank charges included here. Payments received via NatWest are received gross and the charges included here are levied separately.
The Society is using internet banking as some service providers are no longer accepting cheques.
Increased expenditure in 2022 was largely due to the settlement of three invoices for the Gazette whilst none were settled in 2021. This was due to accounting problems at OUP (now defunct).
The increased spending on promotion and advertising reflects the production of a new range of updated leaflets, pamphlets and posters.
Stock values for Merchandise and Special Publications are estimated in agreement with the Treasurer as future demand for this stock is unknown.
It was possible to hold the AGM as a face-to-face event at Edge Hill University, whilst other Society committee and business meetings have remained on Zoom.
On 31.12.2022 the face value of Merchandise stock was estimated to be £1,500 and of Special Publications was estimated to be £13,288. Booksales stock had a value of £6,279.

Peter Blake, Treasurer

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----- Start of picture text -----
INCOME 2022
Plant Sales & Spore Exchange 1%
Donations 2% Prize Money 2%
Publications 4%
Merchandise 5%
Pteridologist <0.1%
Booksales 17%
Subscriptions
69%
EXPENDITURE 2022
Bank Charges 2%
Insurance 1% All Other Expenditure 1%
Promotion & Advertising 11% Pteridologist 17%
Booksales 1%
Publications 1%
Merchandise 1%
Plant & Spore Exchanges 1%
Admin & Postage 3%
Fern Gazette
35%
Bulletin 26%
----- End of picture text -----

BRITISH PTERIDOLOGICAL SOCIETY

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity for the year ended 31 December 2022. As the charity’s trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and, in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which give me cause to believe that in any material respect:

the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or
the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or
the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Independent Examiner: Barrie Buels FCCA FCIE, 10 March 2023 Crestmere Limited, Chartered Certified Accountants

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