The plants growing today at Powys House reveal a story that predates the Regency villa by centuries1. By analyzing these species, we can reconstruct the ancient landscape that existed long before the modern parkland was established.

1. Understanding Our Flora: Angiosperms vs. Cryptogams

Plants are broadly divided into two categories based on how they reproduce:

• Angiosperms: These reproduce through seeds and berries. They include trees, shrubs, grasses, and the flowering plants we see in our beds and borders.

• Cryptogams: These reproduce using spores. This group is more complex and includes ferns, mosses, lichens, and fungi.

While you cannot age a flower by its girth as you would a tree, the specific community of flowers tells us exactly what the soil and habitat were like in the past.

2. Habitat Analysis: What the Survey Revealed

A year-long survey at Powys House discovered 67 species of flowering plants. Each plant has a preferred "niche"—some love the shade, while others require disturbed ground or specific soil acidity.

By categorising these 67 species by their preferred habitats, we see a surprising profile:

Habitat Type Number of Species

Woodland and Scrub 40

Brownfield (Gardens/Verges) 20

Grassland 15

Heath 4

Freshwater 3

Coastal 1

The "Brownfield" and Grassland Mystery

You might expect a site with large lawns to have high grassland diversity. However, regular mowing and the use of sown "lawn" species like annual meadow grass actually limit variety to a few hardy survivors like daisies, dandelions, and autumn hawkbit.

Most "brownfield" species are garden escapes—cultivated plants that have moved from flower beds to the wilder borders, such as the Montbretia found along All Saints Road.

3. The Evidence for Ancient Woodland

The most significant finding of the survey is the dominance of broadleaf woodland species (23 species), despite there being no actual broadleaf forest on the site today.

The current trees, such as silver birch and beech, are young specimens introduced in the last 25 years. The only physical link to the past is a decaying stump of an English Elm, a victim of Dutch Elm Disease in the 1970s.

Ancient Woodland Indicators (AWI)

Every spring, the ground at Powys House is carpeted with species that tell a much older story:

• Bluebells

• Wood Anemone

• Primrose

• Wood Speedwell

Bluebells and wood anemones are Ancient Woodland Indicators. Because these plants spread incredibly slowly—often less than one meter per century—their presence proves that this soil has remained undisturbed and wooded since at least 1600 AD.

The fact that these flowers grow directly next to an ancient sweet chestnut suggests the tree was deliberately planted into a small, pre-existing remnant of a wild forest.