I was surprised to see this flowering plant of Great Burnet
Sanguisorba officinalis growing by the Taff Trail in Gabalfa, Cardiff at the weekend. I've walked and cycled past this spot countless times over the last few years and never noticed the plant before - my guess is that it has been there all along but that the flower heads are usually mown off before it has chance to flower. Perhaps the mild autumn this year has encouraged a late flowering and enabled it to escape the council strimmers?
The
Flora of Glamorgan (1994) says that this species occurs on damp grasslands, river banks and cliff ledges, and is common in the uplands but very local in the Vale. Cardiff isn't mentioned, but the distribution map does show an isolated post-1960 dot in the 5x5km square to the south of Gabalfa.
There's no evidence of it having been planted and I assume it is a relic of the floodplain grassland flora which occurred here in the past. Meadowsweet and Pignut occur nearby and are perhaps also survivors from a time when this area was less urban.
If I had been walking past that I would have noticed it, because I happen to like Great Burnet, so pay attention to it, but as for its local status and the fact it was growing there, I probably wouldn't have given it a second thought. It's a lesson to me, I suppose, on how easy it is to be completely unaware of the significance of familiar species, when seen is out of one's usual area.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it is present in Llandaff Meadows, and may have travelled as a seed on the bottom of a shoe or boot?
ReplyDeleteMakes you wonder what else would turn up if the Council didn't mow everything quite so frequently to keep it looking 'tidy'....