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to be checked out later on. 1 was not expecting this to be a particularly scarce species.
However, recourse later on to the necessary floras and keys had me strongly suspecting
that this was C. urbicum. It seemed an unlikely species, if only in view of its rarity, and
there was the obvious fear of claiming to have found a rarity only subsequently to be
humbled by wiser souls who might all too easily point out that this was merely some
mighty common species after all. I passed the specimen on to Arthur Copping, seeking a
second opinion and not divulging my own suspicions. He too was inclined to suspect C.
urbicum, but again with reservations. Therefore I gathered a better specimen and sent it
to Mike Mullin, the BSBI referee for Chenopodiaceae. An initial silence was followed by
confirmation by telephone, with the news that the discovery had generated a great deal of
interest at the British Museum (Natural History) identification meeting, and that the
Museum wished to keep the specimen. The abundance of seeds that came from the
specimen was to be shared with the national seed bank.
I had not appreciated just how rare this species has become. Mike Mullin was of the
opinion that it had not been found in the British Isles since the late 1950's or early 1960's.
It was certainly his first encounter with fresh material from this country, in some twenty
years or so of familiarity with the Chenopodiaceae. Jermyn, in his Flora of Essex (1974),
describes it as veiy rare, referring to nine localities cited by Gibson (1862) and going on
to give five instances in our own century, three of them attributable to Jermyn himself.
The most recent date given was 1965 (Lodge Farm, Romford, recorded by A.J. Silverside,
but Rodney Burton (Flora of the London Area) casts doubt upon the identification of this
plant). Tarpey and Heath (Wild Flowers of North East Essex, 1990) indicate that there
have been no records in that area during the twentieth century.
Beyond Essex, the Flora of Cambridgeshire (Perring, Sell, Walters and Whitehouse,
1964) cites only two instances, both of them dating from the eighteenth century. Lousley
(1976) makes no mention of C. urbicum in Surrey at all. Eric Philp, the BSBI recorder
for the two Kent vice-counties, states that there have been no records for Kent since
before 1930. The Flora of the London Area (Burton) cites a record for Brondesbury
(1965) and an unverified record for Putney Heath (1966). Dony, in the Flora of
Hertfordshire (1967) has no records subsequent to 1843. In the circumstances the
appearance of this species on Langdon Hills in 1995 becomes a remarkable event. There
were quite a few plants, over a fairly wide area; this is likely to be a transient species,
generating a substantial amount of seed prior to disappearing as the conditions cease to be
conducive to its growth. In view of the great amount of seed that was generated in 1995
it is a little puzzling that it should be such a rare species: clearly, much must depend on
the conditions in which the seeds find themselves.
As ever, the known distribution of plants tells us almost as much about the recorders as it
does about the recorded. It is worth paying more attention to the Chenopodiaceae in
Essex during the coming season, particularly given Tim Pyner's reference to suspected
Nettle-leaved Goosefoot (Chenopodium murale) at an Essex site in 1995: this is another
unusual member of the family, although not so rare as C. urbicum. Perhaps there is a case
for an Essex Field Club Goosefoot Safari in 1996!
R.L. Cole