Abstract
THE extent of building sites damaged by air raids in London, Liverpool, Berlin and other cities in belligerent countries, many of which may not be occupied until after hostilities, affords an opportunity for the botanist to observe any correlation of the famous spread of Sisymbrium irio over the ruins of London after the Great Fire, a rapidity which earned it the popular name of “London rocket”. That there will be such a colonization by plant species even in the centres of great cities is borne out by recent studies of the flora of inner London, Liverpool, Manchester and other towns; but this points more to a predominating success of Epilobium angustifolium, which was not a common British plant at the time of the Great Fire although it is now one of the most abundant weeds. Observations kept on the flora of building sites in London (Selbome Soc. Mag., Oct. 1910; J. Bot., 1911) showed that a building site cleared in Farringdon Street and left for two years before the War of 1914–18 produced twenty-eight flowering plants and ferns, one moss and one liverwort which established themselves, comprising widely distributed plants like Epilobium angustifolium, Senecio vulgaris, Tussilago farfara, etc., refuse weeds and forage or packing weeds.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Flora of Town Ruins. Nature 147, 82 (1941). https://doi.org/10.1038/147082b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/147082b0