Staring at Walls

While putting together an article on non-flowering plants around Maldon (after giving them relatively short shrift in my book), I realised how many species are limited by the predominantly clay make-up of the soil here. What a lot of them need is lime. Prompted by a mail from Phil Luke listing some miscellaneous records, I realised I should be looking at old walls, where the lime-rich mortar is sufficient for a number of smart looking ferns and other plants to grow locally,

Thinking about old walls around the town, the obvious choice was the wall around the old priory garden, leading from the Chase up towards the library.  A look along here revealed a wall-loving threesome of flowering plants- Ivy-leaved Toadflax, Rue-leaved Saxifrage and Thyme-leaved Sandwort, but no ferns, which were my main target.

Ivy-leaved Toadflax, Priory Wall, Maldon

Next I had a hunt around St Peter's Church around the High Street. Again some interesting flowers, including Yellow Corydalis, but only a single fern, a rather meagre specimen of Hart's Tongue Fern. I had to try harder! 

Yellow Corydalis, St Peter's Church, Maldon

Hart's Tongue Fern, St Peter's Church, Maldon

Fortunately Phil's list had given me a hint as to where I might find fern-central: the Railway Bridge on Spital Road by West Station Yard. Here at last were some new ferns for my Maldon records- four different species growing healthily around the mortar in the aged brickwork. The most obvious was the Maidenhair Spleenwort, but searching around revealed Black Spleenwort too, as well as Common Polypody and Wall-rue.

Railway Bridge along Spital Road, Maldon

Maidenhair Spleenwort

Black Spleenwort

Common Polypody

Wall-rue

With my immediate thirst for ferns sated, I was keen to track down another plant with an odd name, Pellitory-of-the-wall. The name pellitory apparently is derived from an Old French name linked to the pungent taste of its roots. Where else are there old buildings around Maldon? Gate Street and the Blue Boar. Sure enough, a quick check of the walls in this area of the old town revealed a number of Pellitory plants, as well as plenty more Ivy-leaved Toadflax.

Pellitory-of-the-wall, Gate Street, Maldon

A final addition to my day's tally was some Mexican Fleabane, by one the houses near the Carpenters Arms. During a recent trip to the Isle of Wight, I saw this invasive growing all over the place. According to the recently published BSBI atlas, it is continuing to spread northwards and is has been consolidating its position "particularly in inland areas. On species-rich anthropogenic sites such as old walls it can be invasive, eliminating almost all other taxa." Let's hope it doesn't increase around Maldon to the detriment of the other plants mentioned in this post!

Mexican Fleabane, Gate Street, Maldon