Middlesex Meeting July 7th 2007
Sisum sisarum (umbel) (Skirret)
Calamagrostis epigejos (Wood Small-reed)
Lavatera thuringiaca (Garden Tree=-mallow)
Sisum sisarum (leaves)(Skirret)
Angelica archangelica (Garden Angelica)
Lavatera thuringiaca (Garden Tree=-mallow)
Ham River Lands: The Rarest Plant in Britain
It is often quite a puzzle to non botanists to see such certainty as we show when dismissing one species as obviously planted and another as a weed or wild plant. Our first observation was that the neat rows in the vegetable garden clearly labelled “Rocket” next to the Lettuce and other salad plants, might well not satisfy those with a discerning palate. These plants were clearly Diplotaxis tenuifolia (Perennial Wall-rocket) while the Rocket served for consumption in a salad is usually Eruca vesicaria (Garden Rocket). Still, a few leaves of Diplotaxis tenuifolia with a perhaps slight drizzle of rocket fuel in bun with a burger would probably satisfy many of the fast-food munching British public even in a National Trust Property cafe (You're right, I'm a snob).
We were all satisfied that no-one had planted the single specimen ofChenopodium ficifolium (Fig-leaved Goosefoot) and it was about then we found the mystery plant. There was one funny looking umbellifer at the edge of the bed which had obviously not been planted.
Sometimes you find an odd looking plant and as you rapidly make the leaves into one thing, the flowers are pointing you towards a completely different identification. After various wozzatthen? questions, our leader revealed to us that the odd looking species was none other than Sisum sisarum (Skirret), a plant once cultivated in these gardens in the 15th century for its roots which are a sort of carrot or parsnip substitute. The edible tuberous root of Skywort as it was known then, have even been used to make a sort of coffee. Still you all knew that didn’t you?
Obviously unusual but is it in Kent I hear you ask?
In Kent? It’s not even in Stace, neither is it on the updated mapped BSBI database of 9,000 plus plants nor even in Eric Clements' book of Alien Plants You’ve Never Heard Of. It seems that it doesn’t exist in Great Britain at all. When your non botanical friends ask you “What is the rarest plant in the U.K.?“ don’t bore them with Cypripedium calceolus (Lady’s-slipper Orchid) gardening stories or tell them of the elusive Apipogium aphyllum (Ghost Orchid) last seen in 1986, tell them it’s good old Skirret a plant so rare even that even its name is extinct.
It may have occurred to you dear reader, that so unusual a plant should surely not have been so quickly identified as this one was. But our leader really has The Knowledge while London cabbies queue for her autograph.
From Ham House we walked back to Teddington Lock along the banks of the Thames and I reflected that the collection of weather foiling equipment such as wellies, cagoules, umbrellas and other items of clothing I had brought on this trip as insurance against extremes of the British Summer, had not included a hat and that I was feeling that slightly glowing sensation of one who has been out in the sun a little too long. On the banks of the Thames we found Angelica archangelica (Garden Angelica) in both fruit and flower and later as we went inland vainly seeking some Medicago sativa ssp falcata (Sickle Medick), actually discovered an excellent stand of Calamagrostis epigejos (Wood Small-reed). The last plant of the day was a huge Lavatera thuringiaca (Garden Tree-Mallow) covered in spectacular large pink blooms.
We said our goodbyes and thanked Pippa and Paul not only for an excellent day seeing the many interesting plants of the Ham River Lands but for organising what may well turn out to be our only interval of Summer sunshine. During our trip to the nearby pub for a cool drink we noted that the meeting had recorded no less than 201 identified flowering species as well as a few we couldn’t characterise with certainty.
And not once did a member of the public feel the need to ask what on earth we were doing or call for the men in white coats.