Bradford Plant List SE13 1990-2022: New Plants 2022 by B.A. 'Jesse' Tregale

SE13 is the 10km square taken from the Ordnance Survey Map which covers most of Bradford (Bingley – Apperley Bridge – Tong Street – Queensbury).

It was a rather quiet year in Bradford overall, with 15 new taxa for the list. In March, a row of very divided purple leaves growing between the pavement and the wall near the Chinese take-away on Bolton Road had me confused at first. This turned out to be a garden cultivar of Chinese Mustard (Brassica junces ’Red Frills’), grown for its young leaves, which I hear are good for salads.

In April, Michael Wilcox took me to some waste ground by Eccleshill Swimming Pool, off Romanby Shaw, where he showed me a rather splendid Globe Artichoke (Cynara cardunculus ssp. scolymus) and a nice red flowered Wallflower (Erysimum cheiri ‘Blood Red’). The ground had been disturbed, which may account for them arriving here.

Later in May, Michael and I visited Bolton Quarry, where he showed me an English Iris (Iris latifolia). Unfortunately it did not flower, but its rounded leaves are very distinctive and compared well with the one in my garden a week later. Also in the quarry was the hybrid between Red Fescue and Squirrel-tail Fescue (Festuca rubra x Vulpia bromoides). We had checked, without success, for this hybrid in the quarry for many years, as they grow together, and were very pleased to eventually find it. Unfortunately, the quarry is again being built upon, so we may lose many of the special plants which grow there.

In June I found Rosy Garlic (Allium roseum) on Kings Road. Luckily this year, the grassy bank had not been mown, which is probably why I have not seen it here before.

A walk along Midland Road provided a white flowered Californian Poppy (Eschscholzia californica ‘Alba’) growing on some waste ground and a splendid red flowered Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum ‘Turkish Red’) growing on the waste ground at Barkerend Mill.

Nearby, the white flowered Purple Toadflax (Linaria purpurea ‘Alba’) was an unusual find, growing between the pavement and the wall on nearby Garnett Street. Michael found Maltese Cross (Silene chalcedonica) on waste ground near his house, probably a throw-out but looking well naturalised.

In August I went with Brian Byrne to Bingley Cemetery to look at the Persian Ivy (Hedera colchica) which we found there several years ago. On our return along Bailey Hills Road we found Procumbent Yellow-sorrel (Oxalis corniculata). This was the first time I had found it in my 10km square as the usual one is Oxalis corniculata var. autropurperea, which has purple leaves and is quite common in SE13. I returned several days later with Michael and we found on the pavement the splendid heart shaped leaves, green with white patches, of Great Forget-me-not (Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’) which had escaped from gardens.

In September, at Greengates, an old ditch appeared from under the trees they had cleared during roadworks. Michael found several Jerusalem Artichokes (Helianthus tuberosus) just coming into flower, new to the square. He also found Angel’s Trumpets (Datura ferox) and Thorn-apple (Datura stramonium), which we had not seen in Bradford for several years. Our final plant of the year for SE13 was Nemesia ‘Wisley Vanilla’ on the pavement by the Dog and Gun pub at Apperley Bridge.

Also this year, Michael sent some photos of a distinctive Narcissus he had shown to me in 2016 to Mick Crawley who named it Narcissus ‘Bath’s Flame’ and this looked a good fit.

All records are mine except: ¹ Michael Wilcox, ² Jesse Tregale and Michael Wilcox

³ Jesse Tregale & Brian Byrne

My total plants seen and recorded for Bradford SE13– 10km square 1990-2022 = 1869

My full Bradford SE13 list is available and please contact me if you find any interesting plants in Bradford SE13.

Email: rachtregale@blueyonder.co.uk