Brad Scott
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trichocolea.bsky.social
Brad Scott
@trichocolea.bsky.social
2.9K followers 1.6K following 140 posts
Working with the Sloane Herbarium @QMULsed
& @NHM_London • HPS @stsucl (1980s) • Routledge (1990s) • publishing technologist • DH • bryophyte recorder, Sussex
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trichocolea.bsky.social
Delighted to see this beautiful book turn up in the post. Part of the terrific British Wildlife Collection, published by Bloomsbury @chiffchat.bsky.social. I have loved the forms of marine phyla since A level biology
The cover of the book Coastal Seas by Frances Dipper and Paul Naylor A view inside the book, showing a periwinkle and some wonderfully colourful sea slugs
November 18, 2025 at 11:10 AM
trichocolea.bsky.social
Out on the South Downs near Firle today. Gorgeous light on the chalk landscape
Firle Beacon A path below the Downs with teasel along the path edge
November 8, 2025 at 7:11 PM
trichocolea.bsky.social
The Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp is one of the most extraordinary I have visited, with a beautiful collection of herbals and plant texts
Display cases of plant books printed before 1650 Dodoens' Pemptades published in 1616 Lobel's Icones from 1581 The Plantin-Moretus printing presses and type cases
October 28, 2025 at 5:06 PM
trichocolea.bsky.social
Zillions of mushrooms around in Ashdown Forest in Sussex. Today's finds include Boletus luridiformis, Russula claroflava, Cortinarius violaceus, and what I think is Volvariella bombycina
Scarletina Bolete fungus, with red stem, velvety brown cap, and flesh that turns blue when cut Yellow Swamp Brittlegill fungus, which has a bright yellow cap and is common on the damp heaths and woods in Ashdown Forest Violet Webcap fungus, a species that is not especially frequent in the UK but can often be seen in Ashdown Forest. When fresh it is astonishingly purple Silky Rosegill fungus (I think) growing on a rotting Beech trunk
September 21, 2025 at 5:52 PM
trichocolea.bsky.social
And HS109, a small volume of plants from the gardens at Montpelier, which very likely belonged to Dr Edward Browne (1644-1708). This deletion is really hard to make out
The corner of the title page of a collection of dried plants probably dating from the 1660s. It includes Hans Sloane's catalogue number, HS109, and a short deletion, which was probably the name of a previous owner
September 19, 2025 at 5:47 PM
trichocolea.bsky.social
I need to go through my notes in detail, but HS30 is the first one that comes to mind. It came to Sloane via Christopher Merrett, but Sloane noted that it probably came from 'Dr Bates', surely George Bate (1608-1668), London physician and FRS, who would have been well known to Merrett
The title page of this hortus siccus has two inscriptions that pre-date Matthew Maty's copy of Sloane's catalogue entry: a note in the top left, almost certainly in Bates' hand "There is a Catalogue of all the plants in the Garden at Leyden which belongs to this Herball, Which is an Index to the Booke, (though not soe perfect as it might bee) yett as good as the Gardiner of Leyden (whoe made this Herball) was able to furnish mee with all, when I was a young student there"; and a deleted inscription which is very difficult to read "Given to my ever [unclear word] and [unclear words] December 8th [unclear year, possibly 1615 or 1645?]"
September 19, 2025 at 5:38 PM
trichocolea.bsky.social
Another classic AI fail as iRecord attempts to ID a stagshorn fungus
Automated attempt by AI to identify a bright orange fungus, exhibiting a spectacular fail by suggesting it is either a wood mouse, an otter or a ladybird
September 15, 2025 at 7:20 PM
trichocolea.bsky.social
Evening walk to check out some Marsh Gentians (Gentiana pneumonanthe) on #AshdownForest
Three flowers of Marsh Gentian, which are blue-purple, but closed up in the early evening Six more flowers, also closed, with the yellow flower of Dwarf Gorse photo bombing them View down a big open track on the open heath of Ashdown Forest with some black cattle grazing in the middle distance, and a wooded landscape almost to the horizon
September 9, 2025 at 7:36 PM
trichocolea.bsky.social
Interesting options in iRecord. #wildflowerhour
Screenshot from iRecord offering some AI based identifications of a 1.25mm fruit of Callitriche stagnalis. Other options included squirrel, wood mouse and (not in the screenshot) otter
September 7, 2025 at 8:14 PM
trichocolea.bsky.social
I found this rather splendid one yesterday on a well rotted tree in an iron-rich stream in Ashdown Forest
A very red beefsteak fungus Habitat of the fungus just above an orange stream
September 3, 2025 at 7:43 PM
trichocolea.bsky.social
Exploring a part of the wet wood about a mile from home and found new sites for the moss Hookeria lucens and Narrow-leaved Buckler-fern (Dryopteris carthusiana) #bryology #Sussex #wildflowerhour
The moss Hookeria lucens Habitat of the moss. Very wet iron-rich flush in woodland with Carex remota and some Sphagnum Another view of the damp shady iron-rich stream. This was close to where the fern was growing Narrow-leaved Buckler-fern among Sphagnum in a wet wood
September 2, 2025 at 7:27 PM
trichocolea.bsky.social
The rather splendid moss Hookeria lucens along a small stream in Paupersdale Wood in the Sussex Weald
Hookeria lucens The footpath above the stream in the wood in which the moss was found
August 31, 2025 at 11:23 AM
trichocolea.bsky.social
Interesting to see how much of an outlier is the population of Wahlenbergia hederacea in the Sussex Weald
Distribution map of Wahlenbergia hederacea in Britain and Ireland, from the BSBI Atlas. It shows that it is most frequent in Wales, Devon and Cornwall, and the south-west of Ireland, with a few pockets in the Peak District, the New Forest, and the Weald
August 22, 2025 at 6:34 AM
trichocolea.bsky.social
Nice to see the small Ivy-leaved Bellflower (Wahlenbergia hederacea) on my daily local walk in Ashdown Forest
August 21, 2025 at 3:50 PM
trichocolea.bsky.social
Lovely walk on the South Downs today, south of Lewes
Mount Caburn and Firle Beacon in the distance Windmill near Kingston Round-headed Rampion, Phyteuma orbiculare
August 17, 2025 at 6:44 PM
trichocolea.bsky.social
The single outlier on the south-west coast Sloane found "very plentifully floating along the Coast of the Island [Jamaica] by Pedro Point", which he presumably reached by boat. Here's his specimen (currently called Syringodium filiforme, Manatee grass), and distribution from GBIF
Specimen of a seagrass collected by Hans Sloane in 1686 or 1687, and mounted by him in the first volume of his Jamaican plant (HS1, f. 19) Distribution map of the seagrass, showing that it is found all around the Caribbean coasts
August 16, 2025 at 5:51 AM
trichocolea.bsky.social
Finally finished extracting and plotting all the locations in Jamaica that Hans Sloane (1660-1753) mentioned in his work, the Voyage to the Islands. Unsurprisingly, they are mostly in the south-central part of the island, but also show his trip north

@nhm-london.bsky.social @rxcoulton.bsky.social
Portrait of Hans Sloane by Stephen Slaughter. Sloane is seated in a chair, wearing a wig, and holding papers bearing an illustration of a plant The title page the first volume of of Sloane's Voyage to the Islands published in 1707 Map showing the locations of all the places Sloane mentions in his book
August 15, 2025 at 5:14 PM
trichocolea.bsky.social
This is the only one I have a picture of to hand. It is from Plukenet's herbarium, HS102, f. 94. If Abdella Shaw was still in post when Adair was there, it seems almost inconceivable that they would not have talked about plants. Maybe this was one of them...
A page from Leonard Plukent's herbarium, on which is mounted a single specimen of the staghorn fern Platycerium alcicorne, which looks a bit like a seven-fingered hand, though with two of its fingers much reduced. One of the labels notes that it was gathered on Johanna Island
August 11, 2025 at 1:04 PM
trichocolea.bsky.social
I found several on the edge of Kidbrooke bog yesterday too
August 4, 2025 at 6:07 PM
trichocolea.bsky.social
Enjoying the new issue of BJHS, starting with Jim Secord's reflections on the history of the field.

Can't wait to see my article on learning about moss botany in a domestic setting in print, possibly now in the September issue

dx.doi.org/10.1017/S000...
Table of contents of vole 58 issue 1 of British Journal for the History of Science. Secord, James A., ‘A Tradition from the Ancestors’ Hesketh, Ian, ‘Darwin’s Scientific Gardener: John Scott, the “Physiological Test” and the Importance of Character in Victorian Science’ Cournil, Mélanie, ‘Science “Subservient to Profit”? William Jackson Hooker and the First Glasgow Botanic Gardens (1817–1841)’ Brown, Tad, ‘Humus Gnosis: Soil Fertility, Research and Funding in the Life of Sir Albert Howard’ Reese, Henry, Vanessa Finney, and Simon Ville, ‘Value, Knowledge and Reputation: Zoological Exchange by Australian Museums, 1870–1900’ Valenti, Salvatore, ‘“Who Can Tell Me What Potable Water Means?” The Assessment of Water Quality in Debates over Hydraulic Infrastructure in Nineteenth-Century Italy’
July 21, 2025 at 5:44 PM
trichocolea.bsky.social
Today I went looking for a patch of Marsh St John's wort that I saw on Ashdown Forest in 2017. The wet ditch is dry in places and I didn't see it, thou there were reasonable quantities of Bog Asphodel and Common Cottongrass

#wildflowerhour
Bright yellow spikes on Bog Asphodel Common Cottongrass
July 13, 2025 at 8:09 PM
trichocolea.bsky.social
Just over two months left before I finish my "embarrassing, low grade" project on the Sloane herbarium
July 13, 2025 at 8:33 AM
trichocolea.bsky.social
This enables the specimen's collection site to be very precisely located. That is surely the small track running from the east of The Warren (the woods containing the sandrocks) at TQ477232. However, the area has been developed since, so Atrichum angustatum is unlikely to still be there

4/5
The 25 inch Ordnance Survey map of the area where Nicholson collected his moss. This was surveyed in 1897 and published in 1899, so is closely coeval with the collection date. The north-south road through Cooper's Green would then have been the main road from London, though it has since been bypassed Google satellite view of the same area, showing the extent of new development
July 11, 2025 at 6:14 AM
trichocolea.bsky.social
But what is wonderful is reading the specimens with Nicholson's diary (also in the herbarium) to hand, where he writes that it was "in a little used sandy road leading down from the Rocks to the Main Road near Coopers Corner" (see alt text)

3/5
Nicholson's diary recounting the excursion in which he collected the moss. The text (including a bit on the page before) reads: "2nd July (Sunday) Took the 2.33 train to Uckfield & walked over to the Rocks near the Budletts Maresfield where I found Jasione montana in some abundance also noticed Holcus mollis both here and in several waste sandy places & dry banks near Maresfield and Buxted. Gathered a considerable quantity of the male plant of Atrichum (Catherinea) angustata in a little used sandy road leading down from the Rocks to the Main Road near Coopers Corner. No trace of fruit could be found in fact all the colony seemed to consist of the male plant Also found Anthocerus punctatus with mature & even immature capsules in the lane leading out of the lane between Coopers Corner & Maresfield pond to Maresfield & Wood’s Nursery "
July 11, 2025 at 6:14 AM
trichocolea.bsky.social
We have data for many Nicholson specimens, but it is partial, and omits almost all the detail. For this 1899 specimen (now called Atrichum angustatum), all we have is 'Maresfield, near the rocks'. The inscription on the packet is slightly more expansive, 'Sandy road at the rocks'

2/5
A packet of a moss collected by Nicholson in 1899
July 11, 2025 at 6:14 AM