Country diary: the spread of the Welsh poppy

Weardale, Co Durham: Over the past five decades it has advanced rapidly through much of lowland England, Scotland and Wales, with gardeners acting as intermediaries

I have probably walked through Backstone Bank wood a dozen times each year, over four decades, but today was the first time I had noticed lemon-yellow flowers of Welsh poppies (Meconopsis cambrica) beside the footpath.

In summer, the familiar native flowers of similar hue in this oak wood are ground-hugging, five-pointed stars of yellow pimpernel, Lysimachia nemorum, a characteristic species of ancient woodland. The arrival of its new companion, rising through the brambles and fern fronds, marks the latest advance of a botanical paradox.

Welsh poppy is simultaneously a native and an alien wild flower in Britain. As a component of the Arctic-alpine flora, which probably colonised soon after the glaciers retreated, the wild plant was mostly confined to rocky, wooded slopes in Wales, where it seemed reluctant to spread beyond its native habitat. But over the past five decades it has advanced rapidly through much of lowland England, Scotland and Wales, with gardeners acting as intermediaries.

This is an easy plant to cultivate for anyone aspiring to the cottage garden style of planting, and excellent for wildlife gardens because hoverflies and bumblebees find it irresistible. It’s a perennial, prolific self-sower with tiny seeds that readily establish in paving crevices and even on walls. In recent years it has become a familiar sight in woodlands near most villages in Weardale, integrating into the local flora.

A couple of miles down the valley from here, in Wolsingham, it seems to be in every garden; no doubt finding its way into this woodland in mud carried on walkers’ footwear. Now it will be interesting to see how quickly it spreads throughout the whole wood, on the feet, fur and feathers of mammals and birds.

The spread of M cambrica illustrates how difficult it is to predict whether a plant will become invasive; here is a species that’s slow to spread in ancestral natural locations but which, with no apparent changes in its botanical constitution, has readily established in a variety of habitats throughout Britain.

In 2006 Plaid Cymru chose a stylised version of Welsh poppy as its new logo. A serendipitous botanical choice, perhaps, for a political party with an eye to making its influence felt throughout the union?

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