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Nature

The lichens of Heene Cemetery

Lichen is everywhere in Heene Cemetery. One sees it on graves, headstones, trees and walls, yet until the autumn of 2023 we had little idea of which lichens we were looking at. They were, with a few exceptions, small and perhaps rather boring blotches, often resembling flattened splatters of pavement chewing gum. Yet, the species […]

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Nature

A Lichen on the Tilley family Gravestone

On the grave of the Tilley family, Alfred and Mary Adelaide, (Area NES, Row 3, Plot 9) there are a couple of patches of a yellow lichen called Caloplaca flavescens. They could also be Caloplaca aurantia; the species are often confused, and DNA analysis is necessary to be sure. Both species are described by Paul […]

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Nature

Asian hornets

We have NOT seen any Asian hornets (Vespa velutina) in Heene Cemetery (nor European hornets for that matter), but we should be prepared for seeing some sooner or later. We are used to seeing hornets in Britain, but they have traditionally been the European hornet (Vespa crabro). Asian hornets are indigenous to south-east Asia but […]

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Nature

The biological vocabulary crisis in Heene Cemetery

What actually lives in Heene Cemetery – species? The Heene Cemetery conservation team is proud of its list of wildlife species, a list that grows in length each year, but what exactly is a species? There is currently an unprecedented vocabulary crisis in Biology whereby the word ‘species’ is used in so many different contexts […]

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Nature

The rose family in Autumn

The rose family, Rosaceae, includes many different species, of which many are important sources of food for humans, animals and insects. These include the hawthorn and amelanchier trees, especially loved by birds for their berries, as well as apples, pears, strawberries, blackberries and the rose itself from which we get rosehips, rosehip syrup being a […]

Categories
Nature

What’s in a name?

We do our best in Heene Cemetery to be informative about the work of the dedicated team of local volunteers towards its restoration to preserve its unique position as a reservoir of urban wildlife. It is therefore unfortunate that our efforts to display the names of the wonderful variety of animals and plants to be […]

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Nature

The natural history of a headstone

Partnership and colonial habitats in the cemetery In addition to the abundant plant habitats Heene Cemetery has graves of a variety of materials and designs that serve admirably as suitable places for wildlife to colonise. A single grave with headstone, and perhaps with one or more of stone kerb sets, memorial ledgers, cremation memorials, or […]

Categories
Nature

The natural history of a flint wall

The basic structure of a flint wall The boundary wall of Heene Cemetery is built substantially of local flint. Flint walls along the coastal strip of West Sussex are generally of three types, using cobbled, knapped, or square-knapped flint. Cobbled flint, which may be seen in our cemetery wall, has the rounded surfaces facing outwards […]

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Nature

The wasps of Heene Cemetery

We continue to be startled at the diversity that our species surveys are uncovering. Who knew that Heene Cemetery’s small, one-acre, town-centre site would be so species-rich? We have already detailed this in a series of blog posts about the mosses, crickets and grass-hoppers, hoverflies, trees and bees that we’ve found here. It’s now the […]

Categories
Nature

Rare, threatened and endangered species in Heene Cemetery

Heene Cemetery may be small at just one acre, yet this town centre Local Wildlife Site is rich in species. Some of these – perhaps surprisingly – are notable, rare, threatened or endangered, appearing on various key data lists. Some are also protected by Act of Parliament. Here are the details. We shall endeavour to […]