Which plants are classed as wild flowers?
English wild flowers can be divided into the following types
Native
Indigenous plants which have been around since the last ice-age.
Introduced or alien wild flowers
They are divided into archeophytes and neophytes.
Archaeophytes are non-native plant species introduced into England
prior to 1492 and the discovery of the New World
Neophytes are non-native species introduced after 1492 when the
Columbian exchange began.
Some plants introduced prior to 1492 are classed as neophytes because
they did not escape into the wild until after that date
Where do they come from?
There are a variety of sources.
1. Deliberately brought in as a food plant or as an ornamental garden plant
2. Accidentally brought in by wind or birds
3. Accidently as a contaminant of imported crops or goods
Escapes into the wild
There are two main types of escapes from gardens and estates, casual
and naturalised.
Casual - weakly persistent, dying off in a year or two, and not becoming
naturalised in the wild
Naturalised - persistent, proliferating and forming permanent populations
in the wild
There are now more non-native plants than native plants in the wild in
the UK (Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland Press Release
- March 2023)
Invasive Aliens
These are plants, which have escaped from gardens and have formed
persistent, spreading and nuisance populations in the wild.
This may happen many years after the original introduction into the country.
According to the Royal Horticultural Society there are 1,402 alien plants
established in the wild in the UK of which 108 (8%) have a negative impact.
A global register of introduced and and invasive species has (27-01-2018)
been announced. It suggests that a fifth of 6,400 plants and animals
catalogued are causing harm.
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