Beauty in harsh places.

[goosey]

Seeing this lovely image of Pauls the other day got me thinking how wonderful nature is, and what beautiful things can be found in seemingly harsh conditions.
1.


Here are two photo's I took this summer in England. The first was growing from under limestone rock in North Yorkshire. I think it could be Ajuga reptans?
The second, Sea holly, Eryngium maritimum on the beach at the North Walney Nature reserve.
2.



3.


Plants are so resilient, and can grow anywhere it seems, you only have to look at the cracks between pathing stones to see a dandy lions and moss etc growing happily.

[goosey]

The plant in photo No.2 has been identified by Paul M as "possibly" self-heal, Prunella vulgaris, I tend to agree now I have checked it out. Excellent, something else I have learned today .

[paul m]

I said that I thought it was self-heal.

It's an interesting point you've made - relates to a lot of deep ecological thinking One theory is that the greatest diversity of species is in habitats with intermediary levels of disturbance and/or stress. i.e. you don't get many (or any) plants (insects &c &c) at the extremely stressed sites (deserts [hot or cold] &c) but in the stable, climax habitats (e.g. forests of various kinds) there are also not many species - go and count the numbers of species of plants in your local semi-natural woodland and compare it to what you find in gardens (cheating ), heathland, ancient meadows ...

By one calculation, the Australian scrublands are the most species diverse in the world .... others would be coastal dune systems (as you, Goosey, will know), maintained heathland, limestone grassland - partly disturbed but not enriched chemically.

One fortunate thing is that most of these places are useless for housing or agriculture .....

Originally Posted by goosey

The plant in photo No.2 has been identified by Paul M as selfheal, Prunella vulgaris. Excellent, something else I have learned today .

[ericrovve]

This is a pretty harsh place, corner of my balcony: Sedum dasyphyllum like S. anglicum, but leaves opposite!

[goosey]

Originally Posted by paul m

It's an interesting point you've made - relates to a lot of deep ecological thinking

I think I shall take this as a compliment!

Originally Posted by goosey

The plant in photo No.2 has been identified by Paul M as selfheal, Prunella vulgaris. Excellent, something else I have learned today .

Originally Posted by paul m

I said that I thought it was self-heal.

It looks very much like Self-heal to me now I have checked it out, but point taken I shall edit my post .

[goosey]

Originally Posted by ericrovve

This is a pretty harsh place, corner of my balcony: Sedum dasyphyllum like S. anglicum, but leaves opposite!

It just goes to prove the point Eric, a good example! Just looking at the thumbnail it looked a bit dubvious but it is a pretty little plant .

[ericrovve]

Bare calcerous sandstone. Amazing how anything can grow here.
Anyone any idea what it is? I can't find a sedum with transparent petals.

[paul m]

I'm always struck by the numbers of trees growing on roofs in Sheffield - usually birch or, in this case, Buddleja davidii. [In this case I think the crow was waiting for a forest to grow ... ]


But possibly the strangest thing I've seen is this Erinus alpinus - as its name implies, should be in Eric's neck of the woods but in fact was in lowland Northamptonshire!

[paul m]

Originally Posted by ericrovve

Bare calcerous sandstone. Amazing how anything can grow here.
Anyone any idea what it is? I can't find a sedum with transparent petals.

No don't recognise that - the flowers actually look quite papery .....

[ericrovve]

I have Erinus alpinus as introduced into Britain. I haven't found it here yet, but it's supposed to be around. Re the sedum(?)Lost a bit of quality in uploading. They are actually semi-transparent petals.
Eric

[paul m]

Getting back to the urban ecology topic. Railway lines and goods yards provide some very interesting habitats for plants and insects when
they fall out of service. The substrate (I hesitate to call it soil) is well drained and entirely mineral so the closest natural systems are dunes or volcanoes! You get a very interesting list of invertebrates and plants - it was on a siding deep in coal dust that I discovered the first British Zodarion italicum (presumably fell off a train and thought it was near Vesuvius?).

This picture is of Templin station in eastern Germany where railway services are being cut (it's the same the whole world over?) and in five years there are seriously sized saplings as well as all sorts of other plants taking the station and sidings back into a "natural" state ....

[I should note that the railway is still running - a small diesel unit every few hours from Berlin. It is a very good area to visit even for its farmland: farmers in the former DDR couldn't afford western pesticides so there is far more wildlife about .... for the moment .... ]

[paul m]

We often talk about loss of habitat to human activities but sometimes nature finds its way back. This is a picture from Padley Gorge a local beauty spot and site of scientific interest (primitive oak forest - the trees growing out of the rocks on the left are older than the ones growing out of the track on the right).


The track interested me because it had obviously been used by horse-drawn carts.
At the end of the track:

A quarry used for production of mill stones (these are the eponymous millstone grit measures of the Carboniferous - Pennsylvanian era). For centuries stones were carved out of these rocks both for flour mills and later for sharpening tools in the steel industry and then, one day, it just stopped ... leaving some stones almost ready for use but unwanted ... and nature returns!

Originally Posted by paul m

Getting back to the urban ecology topic. Railway lines and goods yards provide some very interesting habitats for plants and insects when
they fall out of service. The substrate (I hesitate to call it soil) is well drained and entirely mineral so the closest natural systems are dunes or volcanoes! You get a very interesting list of invertebrates and plants - it was on a siding deep in coal dust that I discovered the first British Zodarion italicum (presumably fell off a train and thought it was near Vesuvius?).

This picture is of Templin station in eastern Germany where railway services are being cut (it's the same the whole world over?) and in five years there are seriously sized saplings as well as all sorts of other plants taking the station and sidings back into a "natural" state ....

[goosey]

Originally Posted by paul m

The track interested me because it had obviously been used by horse-drawn carts.
At the end of the track:

A quarry used for production of mill stones (these are the eponymous millstone grit measures of the Carboniferous - Pennsylvanian era). For centuries stones were carved out of these rocks both for flour mills and later for sharpening tools in the steel industry and then, one day, it just stopped ... leaving some stones almost ready for use but unwanted ... and nature returns!

Such an appealing image isn't it!
Nature really has reclaimed this - it looks so natural even with the millstones (I am sure I could make use of one of those in my garden ).
I doubt we will be so lucky in future.

[paul m]

Another example of Buddleja growing in unusual places. It must be one of the most tolerant species and yet it seldom becomes an invasive plant out-competing other species.

Originally Posted by paul m

I'm always struck by the numbers of trees growing on roofs in Sheffield - usually birch or, in this case, Buddleja davidii. [In this case I think the crow was waiting for a forest to grow ... ]

[frostfire]

Originally Posted by paul m

For some reason your picture makes me think of a photo I took in Collogne. Maby plants just like rounded old structures? This plant has grown up and over a part of the old Roman wall! Anybody know what the plant is?



~*~Frostfire~*~

[paul m]

I suspect it's what used to be called Polygonum baldschuanicum but is now Fallopia baldschuanica - Russian Vine.

Originally Posted by frostfire

For some reason your picture makes me think of a photo I took in Collogne. Maby plants just like rounded old structures? This plant has grown up and over a part of the old Roman wall! Anybody know what the plant is?



~*~Frostfire~*~

[happyfeet]

Originally Posted by paul m

But possibly the strangest thing I've seen is this Erinus alpinus - as its name implies, should be in Eric's neck of the woods but in fact was in lowland Northamptonshire!

wow. i appreciate this so much.

BTW, new here!

[paul m]

Originally Posted by happyfeet

wow. i appreciate this so much.
BTW, new here!

You're very welcome! let us know some more about yourself.

[paul m]

Originally Posted by goosey

Such an appealing image isn't it!
Nature really has reclaimed this - it looks so natural even with the millstones (I am sure I could make use of one of those in my garden ).
I doubt we will be so lucky in future.

Recently went to another, nearby, more and came across this:


I can understand people leaving the millstones but this seems much more valuable and, if it was a horse trough or such, almost completed?
Would make a very nice container for garden plants!

[frostfire]

I saw this plant growing out of the Dom when I was in Utrecht the other day.
The Dom is a gothic cathedral dating from 1254 and its tower is the highest in Holland. The most significant thing about this cathedral is that half of it has gone. The ship collapsed during a tornado in 1674. The surviving part has not only survived the tornado but also the Reformation.
It seems amazing that a cathedral that has such a rich history and has survived so many 'battles' can't stop a little plant from growing out of it...

[paul m]

It seems I have no difficulty finding this sort of thing wherever I go! The evolution of millstones ....
The earliest:


Later, more efficient ones (Neolithic/Iron Age):


Allegedly mediaeval:

Originally Posted by goosey

Such an appealing image isn't it!
Nature really has reclaimed this - it looks so natural even with the millstones (I am sure I could make use of one of those in my garden ).
I doubt we will be so lucky in future.

[paul m]

Not such a harsh place, I suppose, but an odd one - at least three species of plants had seeded into the 'scales' of this plam tree:
[img]http://www.wildabouttheworld.com/gallery/data//517/thumbs/WAWharsh
2453Phoenix-canariensis-col.jpg[/img]
Will the gardeners have to go round extracting them?

[goosey]

Originally Posted by paul m

Not such a harsh place, I suppose, but an odd one - at least three species of plants had seeded into the 'scales' of this plam tree:
[img]http://www.wildabouttheworld.com/gallery/data//517/thumbs/WAWharsh
2453Phoenix-canariensis-col.jpg[/img]
Will the gardeners have to go round extracting them?

Its a great looking tree - like a giant fircone. It's a great host plant for other plants to seed into it probably has little resevoirs inside those scales aswell, interesting to see what could live in those.
My husband and I struggled for ages yesterday just trying to dig a selfseeded holly which I had allowed to reach 3 foot - I wouldn't fancy our chances with something as large as that!

[paul m]

The worse thing that I ever had to dig up was a privet hedge: looked quite small but it was very well established and the roots disappeared into the bedrock!

Yes, I should think there are quite a few little animals living in the leave axils. Probably well protected since, according to Wiki, "dead leaves are dangerous to be removed by hand as the petioles are armed with large spines."

The Garden in Madrid is actually engaged in setting a large plot with various palms - clearly expecting not to have any cold winters!

Originally Posted by goosey

Its a great looking tree - like a giant fircone. It's a great host plant for other plants to seed into it probably has little resevoirs inside those scales aswell, interesting to see what could live in those.
My husband and I struggled for ages yesterday just trying to dig a selfseeded holly which I had allowed to reach 3 foot - I wouldn't fancy our chances with something as large as that!

[paul m]

I was going to say that these were plants growing in unlikely places but, on consideration, they're not so unusual.

Here a chestnut tree is growing high up in a dead beech tree - I don't suppose it will survive to maturity but why should be surprised at tree species doing this when smaller plants and fungi do it?



Similarly, this scabious growing on the ruins of Fountains Abbey - it is, after all, a lime-tolerant species and one which grows on limestone rocks and calcareous soils.