Llanelli Naturalists Newsletter - October 2001 - No 67
Ian Morgan
On 13 July 1973, a slim, green-covered book arrived through the post. It was R F May’s ‘A List of the Flowering Plants and Ferns of Carmarthenshire’, published by the West Wales Naturalists’ Trust, from whom I had ordered a copy. This volume gave me much pleasure and I would plan botanical excursions to try and seek out plants that early Carmarthenshire botanists such as Motley, Knight or Hamer had found, but were subsequently ‘lost’. The main text of May’s book was also extremely useful as I slowly learnt my identification skills.
Later, I met various local botanists – David Davies, Mrs Vaughan and others but I never had the fortune to meet Ronald May, who to me was something of an enigma as a person, even though I was thoroughly familiar with his book.
After a conversation with George Hutchinson earlier this year, I realized that Ronald May’s widow, Rosamund still lived in Bristol, so I wrote to her with a list of queries and a request for photographs if possible. A prompt reply was received and this article is based on that reply and a subsequent telephone discussion.
The Mays lived at ‘Gwavas’, Ferryside, just north of the railway station area and next door to the Baptist Chapel; they lived here from 1950 to 1969. In the early 1980s they moved to Calpe near Alicante in Spain.
Ronald May was born in Bristol on 25 November 1913 and died there on 9 December 1991. He attended Cotham Grammar School where his hobbies included astronomy, natural history and Esperanto! He was also, as Mrs May informs me, a ‘life-long supporter of Gloucestershire Cricket Club’. As an adult he worked for W D & H O Wills the tobacconists, as a County Representative for Carmarthenshire, and this highly mobile job as a representative allowed him to travel the county and do some discreet botanising.
Dr George Hutchinson, as part of his assiduous research for the planned ‘Flora of Carmarthenshire’ has given me the first county records of plants made by Ronald May (some 34 taxa. These include the water crowfoot Ranunculus penicillatus ssp pseudofluitans, Common Stork’s-bill Erodium circutarium ssp dunense and Bifid Hemp-nettle Galeopsis bifida; many of the remaining records are introduced species. Dr Hutchinson has also kindly provided a list of publications by (or relating to) R F May, which I reproduce below:
Chater, A.O. (1971). Review of R F May’s A List of the Flowering Plants and Ferns of Carmarthenshire. Watsonia 8:313-314.
Davies, D. (1970). Review of R F May’s A List of the Flowering Plants and Ferns of Carmarthenshire. BSBI Welsh Region Bulletin 13:17-18.
Ellis, R.G. ed. (1992). R F May (1913-1991). In: Editorial. BSBI News 60: 3.
May, R.F. (1963). Recent additions to the flora of Carmarthenshire. The Carmarthen Antiquary 4: 180-183.
May, R.F. (1964). Spread of Spartina x townsendii at Ferryside. Carmarthenshire. BSBI Welsh Region Bulletin 3: Line-drawing & p 7-8.
May, R.F. (1966). Weed Flora: observations on a building site at Ferryside, Nature in Wales 10: 84-85.
May, R.F. (1967). A List of the Flowering Plants and Ferns of Carmarthenshire. West Wales Naturalists’ Trust Ltd, Haverfordwest.
May, R.F. (1968). Field Meetings 1967: Ferryside, Carmarthenshire. 24th June. Proceedings of the Botanical Society of the British Isles 7: 303.
May, R.F. (1969). 1967 Field Meeting Reports: Ferryside 24th June. Botanical Society of the British Isles Welsh Region Bulletin 11: 8-9.
Seddon, B. (1965). Welsh Region Report for 1963-64: Autumn Meeting (Bangor). Afternoon session heard contributions by R.F. May on “The Flora of Carmarthenshire”. Proceedings of the Botanical Society of the British Isles 6: 183.
Richard Pryce corresponded with R F May in the early 1980s and the following extracts from Mr May’s replies may be of interest. They were included in a letter to Richard dated 21 May 1982.
Trifolium ornithopodioides (Fenugreek) – “Cross the railway at the end of Ty Jan (or Rotten Pill) lane and proceed along the saltmarsh path northwards. There is (or was) a further level crossing gate with Cwm Burry farm on the far side of the railway. A matter of just a few metres before crossing the railway the bank is raised slightly and a bit stoney. The Trifolium is on these banks. It is very insignificant and I found it to be a hands-and-knees job. I should not have noticed it had it not been for my hawk-eyed wife who drew my attention to it. I was trying to re-find T. squamosum at the time! Anyhow, T. ornithopodioides was still there in 1964 when I showed it to a BSBI meeting at Ferryside.” [Richard Pryce gives the grid reference as SN374125 – is it still there?]
Vicia lathyroides (Spring Vetch) “Was right opposite Eva Terrace, Ferryside on the raised sandy bank overlooking the river. Cross the railway and over what I used to call Station Woods and climb through the wire fence [a different route may need to be followed these days!]. The plant is an early flowerer and is another hands and knees effort”.
Acknowledgements
My gratitude is due to Mrs Rosamund May and Dr George Hutchinson for their help in producing this brief summary. Richard Pryce also lent me copies of his correspondence (dating from the early 1980s) with Ronald May, which also provided some additional information.
