Lychnis flos-cuculi L., Ragged-Robin

Account Summary

Growth form and preferred habitats

This colourful, attractive perennial grows erect and up to 75 cm tall from a slender, short to fairly long, rhizome-like, branching rootstock. L. flos-cuculi is a very typical and conspicuous plant of wet meadows and rushy, spring-fed pastures where it can frequently occur in considerable quantity. Ragged-Robin grows well on both mineral and peaty soils, including those of widely differing nutrient status and it is especially plentiful, thriving and beautiful where there is some degree of winter flooding. It is also found in marshes, swampy tall-herb fens, ditches, stream-sides and to a lesser extent in the wetter, more open parts of woods. In suitably moist ground, L. flos-cuculi really only avoids the most acidic, most nutrient-starved situations. This is such a well-marked characteristic of the species that it can even be seen reflected in the British & Irish distribution at the hectad scale in the New Atlas.

Since wet lakeshore pastures, fens and even fen-carr alder and willow stands in Fermanagh are regularly grazed by cattle, the plant obviously tolerates herbivory and the associated manuring and trampling disturbance.

Variation

A dwarf coastal form, var. congesta, exists in parts of England and Scotland from Kent to Shetland. Stace (2010) transferred Lychnis to the genus Silene and called this species Silene flos-cuculi (L.) Clairv. Sell & Murrell (2018) however, leave it as L. flos-cuculi L.

Fermanagh occurrence

L. flos-cuculi is very widespread throughout Fermanagh, occurring in 317 tetrads, 60% of those in the VC. It is most frequent in the seasonally flooded, base- and nutrient-rich peaty and mineral soils around Upper Lough Erne and by much smaller, more upland lakes on the Western Plateau.

Flowering reproduction

The flowering period is long, stretching from May to August. The narrow, tubular flowers up to 6 mm long, are borne in long-stalked dichasial cymes that come close to forming a flat-topped corymb-like presentation. The bright, rose-pink petals are deeply cleft in four, making the flower very distinctive. They are protandrous, contain well-concealed nectar and are visited and pollinated by long-tongued insects, including bees, butterflies, moths and hoverflies (Proctor & Yeo 1973; Fitter 1987). Although plant size and the number of flowers produced both vary between wide limits, Salisbury (1942, p. 167) reckoned an average sized plant would produce around 40 ovoid capsules, and estimated the mean seed output as 4,500 per plant. This is a relatively high figure for this flowering plant family, and Salisbury reckoned that Ragged-Robin is a rather short-lived perennial which tends to colonise ground where competition for light is temporarily diminished. It is thus an opportunistic colonist of intermittently available habitats, a fact probably linked to the temporarily high water table experienced in many of its sites, which also accounts for the high seed production observed.

Seed dispersal and longevity

The seed capsules at the top of the tall, flexible stem, release the seed on the breeze in a typical swaying censer mechanism (Fitter 1987). Seed are 0.5-0.7 mm across, blackish brown and tubercled (Clapham et al. 1987; Jonsell et al. 2001). Dormant seed is long-persistent, ie surviving more than five years in the soil (Thompson et al. 1997).

Vegetative reproduction

The plant also reproduces vegetatively by means of offsets, ie basal shoots that produce leaf-rosettes (Salisbury 1942, p. 167). This is especially efficient in wet habitats (Jonsell et al. 2001).

Fossil record

Seeds and pollen have been identified from mild sub-stages of the Hoxnian and Ipswichian interglacials, and from the end of the Late Weichselian through to the Flandrian. The historical pattern is similar to that of its relative, Silene dioica (Red Campion), and Godwin (1975) says it may therefore be regarded as a long persistent native. However, it differs from S. dioica in showing response to human settlement from the Iron Age to the Mediaeval period.

British and Irish occurrence

L. flos-cuculi is a common and widespread species of damp to wet habitats throughout Britain & Ireland at altitudes up to 750 m. Harron (Flora of Lough Neagh) regarded Ragged-Robin as a declining species around Lough Neagh and the FNEI 3 also mentions its decline in the Magilligan area of Co Londonderry (H40), marginal to Lough Foyle. We have no evidence of any corresponding losses in Fermanagh, although there are four tetrads with pre-1975 records only.

The decline of L. flos-cuculi commonly reported elsewhere in local Floras in Britain & Ireland in recent years is presumably caused by drainage and pasture 'improvement' operations (ie ploughing, re-seeding and the spraying of fertilisers and herbicides). However, the extent of agricultural intensification in Fermanagh has not greatly impinged on its local populations as yet (Crawley 2005; NI Vascular Plant Database 2006).

European and world occurrence

L. flos-cuculi is native in Europe and stretches from Iceland to Siberia and the Caucasus. It is present in Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily but absent from all other Mediterranean isles (Jalas & Suominen 1986, Map 1015; Hultén & Fries 1986, Map 775). A separate form, subsp. subintegra Hayek, is endemic to the Balkan area (Jalas & Suominen 1986, Map 1016).

The beautiful and unusual rose-pink, occasionally white and especially the lovely double flower have been cultivated in gardens, probably for a long period. In this manner, it was introduced to N America around the middle of the 19^th century, first appearing in the wild around 1867 in Canada (Cody & Frankton 1971). It is now quite widespread across northern states of the US, coast to coast. It also reached New Zealand in 1871 (Webb et al. 1988).

Names

The genus name 'Lychnis' is derived from the Greek 'lychnōs' , meaning 'a lamp', as the hairy leaves of a related species Coronaria tomentosa were used as lamp wicks (Gilbert-Carter 1964; Stearn 1972). The Latin specific epithet 'flos-cuculi' means 'cuckoo flower' and is a reference to the early flowering of the plant at the season the cuckoo calls (late-May) (Gilbert-Carter 1964).

The plant has numerous English common names, Grigson (1987) listing no less than 23. Many of them include references to the early flowering (Cuckoo and Cuckoo-flower), ragged petals (Rag-a-tag, Ragged Jack, Ragged Willie, Ragged Robin and Shaggy Jacks) and Robin (Red Robin, Robin Hood and Rough Robin). The flowers were used for garlands, but not for food or medicine (Grigson 1987).

Threats

It is not directly threatened, but its moist meadow habitat could be subject to agricultural 'improvement'.

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