Cornish Biodiversity Network - Supporting Wildlife Recording
The descriptive text, below the map, is from the Cornish Red Data Book (2009). The map on this web page depicts the organisms distribution and shows the records made pre-2000 and those made since.
Tahoma; \colortbl ;\red35\green31lue32;\red0\green0lue255; Range & Status
Native; Scattered across the southern half of the British Isles. An European Temperate species.
Regional Distribution
There are four extant sites in Cornwall; Sandy Mouth (SS21), Saltash goods yard (SX45) and two near Portreath (SW64). It was once known in 20 1km squares. It is thought to be a neophyte at all except one of the Cornish sites.
Habitat & Ecology
Open, disturbed sites in short grassland, railway sidings and pathways. Mainly coastal.
Threats
The main threat is habitat loss through competition from more vigorous plants. Ironically at Sandy Mouth (SS21) rabbits, which keep the grassland short and suitable for colonisation, also eat the plants.
Conservation
Recently the population at Portreath (SW64) has revived through path clearance work by BTCV volunteers.
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I.J. Bennallick, S. Board, C.N. French, P.A. Gainey, C. Neil, R. Parslow, A. Spalding and P.E. Tompsett. eds. 2009. Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. 2nd Edition.Croceago Press.
The Cornish Red Data Book Project was led by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Federation for Biological Recorders (CISFBR). The full text and species accounts (minus the maps) are available on the CISFBR website.