Urban plants

 


Most of my plant hunting has taken place in what could be described as urban and suburban settings. For every search of a Scottish Mountain or an English saltmarsh there have been hundreds across the streets of south London and northern Surrey. This may at first suggest that the rewards in such man-made habitats will be somewhat lacking, but, as much as my chance of finding a Drooping Saxifrage here is nil, the cross-section of plant families and species composition will be much higher.

I was therefore delighted to discover that Bloomsbury had published 'Urban Plants', a book in their 'British Wildlife Collection' by the notable botanist Trevor Dines. It is a wonderful book, crammed full of information that will ensure that you will never look at urban botany in the same light again. From grass verges, pavements, trees, wasteland, walls and street furniture, the scales will drop from your eyes as you are expertly introduced to a world fit for exploration and discovery, helped along by some top notch photography. Trevor's use of personal observations to illustrate the possibilities of botanising in our towns and cities adds warmth to a book that cannot be described as dry in any sense - I would go as far as to suggest that non-botanists will be able to pick up this publication and read it from cover to cover without feeling that they have trespassed into an 'other' world. Highly recommended.

The top photograph was taken close to Epsom town centre just to illustrate what a humble brick wall can offer the enquiring eye - within a few meters I found Herb Robert, Black Spleenwort, Maiden's-hair Spleenwort, Hart's-tongue, Yellow Corydalis and various escaped campanulas. When you next find yourself in an urban or suburban area, take time to look at the walls and pavements for plants that have decided that this is very much a home for them. You WILL find them, and plenty of them. But a warning - reading Trevor's book is like going down a rabbit hole that will take you along many a fascinating twist and turn. A wall is a wall right? Wrong! The brick and mortar composition, in which direction it faces, height, exposure to running water, all will help dictate what will grow on it and how robustly. Some botanists have made this a lifetime's study, and the results are summarised in this wonderful publication.

In 2015 I was at Dungeness for the first two weeks of November, a mild period of weather which saw many species of plants having a late flowering - we kept a record of what we found and reached a highly creditable 135 species. So last November, 10 years on, I thought I'd repeat the exercise but swap the Kent shingle for my part of suburban northern Surrey, also extending the period of recording to the whole month. It was an eye opener... I ended up recording 273 species in flower! I was joined by Steve and Mel in coastal East Kent, who found a not dissimilar total in differing habitats to my own. The most unusual species that I came across was a new species for VC17 (Surrey).


This is Moldavian Dragonhead (Dracocephalum moldavica). I was walking along a footpath that  followed the River Hogsmill between Old Malden and Berrylands. During 2024 there had been some extensive landscaping of the river bank, to help with the water's flow and establish wildlife friendly areas. A lot of soil had been disturbed and, I suspect, imported to help with the banking. My mid-November visit revealed a wildly vibrant mix of flowering species on this 'new' land  - Marigold, Cosmos, Phacelia, a single Wormwood and several plants of an unknown species - the Dragonhead. The identification was reached after seeking online help. Did the seed of all these exotic flowers come in with imported soil or were they the result of deliberately spread 'wildflower' seed mix? What did this landscaped area look like in the heat of the summer? What would have been flowering back then? I need to return later this year and will, of course, report back. So, in summing up, urban botany is a never ending treasure trove of surprise, wonder and discovery, and that extends to all the months of the year. Right now various daffodils and crocuses are popping up, and being so close to habitation many have 'jumped the garden fence' and are freely colonising grass verges and any nook and cranny they can exploit. Trouble is, there are many species and many forms of them. A headache for an inexpert botanist like myself!

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