The Oxford Rare Plant Group

August bank holiday monday morning was spent on Port Meadow surveying the population of the creeping marshwort, Apium repens. This is an endangered plant in Europe, and for a long time Port Meadow was the only recorded locality for this species in the UK. It is a member of the Apiaceae, the carrot family, and in September produces tiny white flowers.


It is, to an extent, a rather insignificant little thing growing on the heavily grazed flood plain to the north-west of Oxford. This area of common land, beside the River Thames, is an ancient area of grazed land seasonally inundated but otherwise home to cattle, horses and some interesting birdlife.


The creeping marshwort seems to enjoy the conditions here, where the grass sward is kept low by grazing. The population fluctuates year on year and is dicatated by the environmental conditions of the site. 

There are some concerns that the species is hybridising with another Apium found here, A. nodiflorum. Telling the two species apart is difficult enough, let alone the hybrid!


In the past the University of Oxford Botanic Garden has been involved with reintroduction programmes. The hope is to work on further reintroductions over the next few years. 


Check out this link for more info:
www.oxfordrareplants.org.uk