February 27th 2014

There is something heartening about nature regaining control of the man made environment. I love the notion that we think we can control nature but once we turn our back it sneaks in via many a nook and cranny. After World War Two sights of buddleia shrubs reclaiming the bomb sites of London were a common sight. My walk out of work this evening was arrested by something less dramatic, a maple spp sapling newly emerged in the pointing of a brick wall. There it flew like a chlorophyll flag waiting to grow into it's mature neighbour a few feet away. Sadly this probably will not last beyond this growing season as the building maintenance team will remove it, or when the drier weather arrives it will succumb to dessication. But for the moment it stays here battling the forces of man. Unlike it's neighbour on the same wall

Ivy leaved toadflax, (Cymbalaria muralis) is native to hot climates of the Mediterranean and so not native to Britain; but in Bristol and elsewhere it grows on just about every wall available providing a much needed softening to the hardscape. An interesting plant, in this stage in early spring the plant is positively phototrophic and so grows towards the light. After flowering as the seed is being formed it switches to negatively phototrophic and retreats away from the light back into a crevice. This allows the seed to be 'flung' into a crevice to allow germination to take place in a cool moist environment. A strategy to survive and spread in a hot climate. The natural world is fascinating.