Bradford Plant List SE13 1990 - 2019: New Plants 2019 by B.A.’Jesse’ Tregale

It was a surprisingly good year after a slow start. Michael Wilcox found a rather nice Spring Starflower (Trisagma uniflorum) by the canal towpath at Apperley Bridge in April, when I also had another look at Michael’s Lungwort on Carr Bottom Road, which was a good match for the cultivar Pulmonaria officinalis ‘Blue Mist’, with very attractive pale blue flowers. In July Michael found some unusual plants on the waste ground at Briggate in Shipley: some Yellow Chamomile cultivars, a splendid Larkspur (Consolida ajacis) and a purple-flowered Ornamental Carrot (Daucus carota ‘Dara’). Also here was Thorow-wax (Bupleurum rotundifolium) and Cowherb (Vaccaria hispanica),not new to SE13 but, even so, nice finds (the Cowherb was last seen in 1990). On a later visit a tiny Chinese Hound’s-tongue (Cynoglossum amabile) was found. The Junction pub on Bradford Road was knocked down this year, with numerous weeds appearing, including some splendid poppies with a pure white-flowered form, Papaver rhoeas ‘Bridal Silk’. On the waste ground on Canal Road, Ripgut Brome (Anisantha rigida) was by the fire station and a sapling of Purple Norway Maple (Acer platanoides ‘Crimson King’) with dark purple leaves was found.

Larkspur (Consolida ajacis)

The plant of the year was Northern Dead-nettle (Lamium confertum), found on disturbed ground on the new road layout on Wakefield Road. This is a declining arable weed, now almost totally confined to Scotland and the Isle of Man. Also here were three other red-flowered dead-nettles: Red Dead-nettle, Cut-leaved Dead-nettle and Henbit Dead-nettle. Another surprise was the Common Twayblade (Neottia ovata), which has old records for SE13 but has not been recorded for many years until the Simcocks found it on their lawn in Bingley.

Ornamental Carrot (Daucus carota ‘Dara’)

I started to record the Bradford SE13 10km square in 1990 and one of the main reasons was the discovery of shoddy weeds on disturbed ground at Amblers Mill on Canal Road in 1989. Shoddy weeds (weeds coming from seeds in the wool of imported fleeces) hadn’t been seen for a long time in Bradford, since some were found at Amblers Mill in 1989/1990 and again at Esholt tip in VC 64 between 1997 and 2000. In September 2019, however, Eastern Stork’s-bill (Erodium crinitum) was found on a wooded bank off Ainesbury Avenue, opposite the Esholt sewage works entrance on the canal in VC63. This species had last been seen over 20 years ago in 1997 and almost certainly came from long-buried seed after soil disturbance in the wood.

Thorow-wax (Bupleurum rotundifolium)

Yellow Chamomile cultivar (Cota tinctoria ‘E. C. Buxton’)

¹ Jesse Tregale; ² Michael Wilcox; ³ Jesse Tregale & Michael Wilcox; ⁴ Bradford Botany Group; ⁵ Tom & Susan Simcock

Total plants recorded for the SE13 10km square, 1990 - 2019 = 1748