Vegetation After Draining

Abstract

A visit to Binley Lake was made on December 2, 1943, under the guidance of Mr. F. P. Knight, of the Directorate of Camouflage. The Lake had been drained and its bed was occupied by a dense growth of vegetation fairly uniformly spread over the whole area. The dominant plant was the reedmace (Typha latifolia), except in a few small patches where other species (mainly Phragmites communis and Carex sp.) had obviously established themselves, previous to the draining, in shallow water against the shore. The reedmace plants were up to 6–8 ft. in height, and a very large number of them were in full fruit. Though they were distributed over the whole lake bed, the mature plants of reedmace were somewhat denser in some parts than in others. In places willows (Salix caprcea and S. viminalis) had become established and were 8 ft. tall. Locally these willows were abundant. The reed grasses Phragmites communis and Glyceria maxima occurred in a few places, and many marsh and some dry-land species were listed as present in one to several individuals. It was fully established, from the morphology of the Typha and other plants, that this remarkable growth of vegetation had occurred within one year. The botanical evidence was in complete agreement with the dated records that the fruiting Typha plants had developed from seedlings in less than twelve months, a surprising rapidity of growth from establishment on bare mud.