Llanelli Naturalists Newsletter - January 2005 - No 71
Tony Lewis
It could be any suburb but these notes deal chiefly with Sketty, sitting astride the main road from Swansea to Gower, a rich source of interesting plants which benefit from a combination of mild winters, proximity to the coast and the favourable microclimate of a built-up area. Over fifty species can be found at most times of the year on walls, pavements, back lanes and in scruffy corners of car parks and similar untended grounds.
Garden escapes, in their broadest sense, mostly self-sown, figure largely, of course, of which Adria Bellflower (Campanula portenschlagiana) and Trailing Bellflower (C. poscharskyana), Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus), Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis), Silver-bush Everlasting-flower (Helichrysum petiolare) (from hanging baskets), purple-leaved Common Dog-violet (Viola purpurea group), bronze-leaved Bugle (Ajuga reptans ‘Atropurpurea’), Green Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens), Golden Alison (Alyssum saxatile), Seaside Daisy (Erigeron glaucus) and the lady’s-mantle Alchemilla mollis can all be seen in only a short length of one particular road (Coed Saeson Crescent).
Sometimes there are surprises: Argentinian Vervian (Verbena bonariensis) has become very popular in gardens and is now escaping, self-seeding generously into neighbour’s gardens and adjacent walls and pavements; Shaggy-soldier (Galinsoga quadriradiata) is often introduced with nursery stock and its feather seeds are carried into the smallest crevices and can be persistent; Maidenhair Fern (Adianatum capillus-veneris) grows on at least two widely-separated brick walls in association with Maidenhair Spleenwort (A. adiantum-nigrum), Wall-rue (A. ruta-muraria), with depauperate Polypody (Polypodium sp.) and Hart’s-tongue (Phyllitis scolopendrium) and Mind-your-own-business (Soleirolia soleirolii) which can no longer be described as ‘scattered’ in Wales. There is another Maidenhair Fern sold in garden centres, A. raddianum, from South America, which may also escape. It has somewhat larger leaves and kidney-shaped sori and is worth looking out for.
In one corner of the public car park (at Eversley Road) Himalayan Honeysuckle (Leycesteria formosa), Large-flowered Evening-primrose (Oenothera glazioviana), Welsh Poppy (Papaver cambrica), Keel-fruited Corn-salad (Valerianella carinata) and Green Field-speedwell (Veronica agrestis) mingle, while, in another corner, the bird seed aliens Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), cabbage (Brassica oleracea) and Flax (Linum usitatissimum) are joined by Purple Toadflax (Linaria purpurea) (including the very attractive pink-flowered form), Bristly Oxtongue (Picris echioides) and Wall Lettuce (Mycelis muralis). A nearby back lane reveals Fern Grass (Catapodium rigidum) (possibly introduced with sand or gravel), Garden Radish (Raphanus sativus) and a flourishing colony of Japanese Rose (Rosa rugosa), self-sown over a garden wall. Mexican Fleabane (Erigeron karvinskianus) is a common sight in the Swansea area and in places covers walls and pavements exuberantly. It was first recorded as an established alien from Guernsey in 1860 and has increased dramatically and spread to the mainland. The oriental species, Pink-headed Knotweed (Persicaria capitata), is sometimes grown in hanging baskets, as is Fern-leaved Beggarticks (Bidens ferulifolia) from Mexico, and both may germinate in the following year from seed falling on to the ground below the baskets, the plants even over-wintering in favourable conditions.
Finally, a word about botanising ‘on the street’: because one is likely to be viewed with some suspicion whilst lurking in car parks and back streets, it is probably advisable to dress down, the ideal being ‘down and out’ as people will tend to look the other way!
[or alternatively look official by carrying a clip-board and making copious notes, when residents will often ask you what you’re doing which then presents the opportunity of establishing the origin of some of the plants of interest! – ed.]