Rosa pendulina L., Alpine Rose
Account Summary
Introduction, neophyte, a rare garden escape, probably extinct.
1957; MCM & D; Crummer.
An escape from gardens, the two records of this deciduous, suckering shrub with solitary flowers were made by Meikle and his co-workers at unknown dates between 1946-56. The stations were listed as, "Crummer, near Drumcard crossroads" and, "near Derrybrick, W. of Trasna Island, Upper Lough Erne". There are no record cards for these and they first appeared under the name R. cinnamomea L. in the Revised Typescript Flora produced by R.D. Meikle in 1975. This name was used twice by Linnaeus for two different plants in works published in 1753 and 1759. As there is no mention of vouchers (although they might possibly exist in K where Meikle worked for many years), RHN and the current author (RSF) do not know whether the garden escape was R. pendulina L. (R. cinnamomea L. 1753 non 1759) (Alpine Rose), or R. majalis Herrm. (R. cinnamomea L. 1759 non 1753) (Cinnamon Rose) (Griffiths 1994).
Reynolds (Cat Alien Pl Ir) lists records of seven alien roses but she does not mention either of the species relevant to Fermanagh. Both of these roses are, however, included by Clement & Foster (1994) in their account of alien plants in B & I, and both roses appear to be capable of persistence in hedgerows. This is particularly the case for R. majalis, which originated in N & C Europe. R. pendulina, on the other hand, is a mountain species, native of rocky ground in C & S Europe.
Growth form and preferred habitats
A small, much branched, usually pale greyish-green, summer annual therophyte up to 10 cm tall, with digitately or palmately lobed leaves, this sexually reproducing form of Aphanes is very much more local than the apomictic A. arvensis (Parsley-piert). It is greener and more slender than the latter, flowers from April to October and has even smaller fruits than A. arvensis s.s., showing no constriction between the upper and lower parts, and the sepals are convergent (New Flora of the BI 2019, p. 277, Figs 1, 2). It is less common than A. arvensis s.s. and appears to be confined to short turf, mossy areas on acidic sandy or gravelly soils, or dry rocky ground, eg on roadsides, along tracks and in quarries and sand-pits. It is not as confined to well-drained soils as A. arvensis, but is more definitely a plant of acidic conditions (Garrard & Streeter 1983). In Fermanagh, these conditions are also found locally on or near lakeshores and on river banks.
Fermanagh occurrence
The limited number of records that have accumulated in the Fermanagh Flora Database (18 finds in 14 tetrads) are mainly the work of RHN, facts that strongly suggest this rather insignificant-looking little species is under-recorded. Otherwise, as the tetrad map shows, it appears to be very local around the Tempo area, with very few (six or seven) records elsewhere in the county.
Additional to the first record are the following: Poll Beg District, NW of Boho, 11 June 1978, M.J.P. Scannell, DBN; all the remaining records involve RHN – Knockennis, 3 km NE of Brougher Mountain, 7 July 1988; Pubble Bridge, Tempo River, 1 October 1988; fen at Feddan Bog, 8 June 1992; fields at Largy Lough, 13 August 1992; sand pit at Pubble Bridge, 11 September 1994 & 20 August 1999, with RSF; Drumcreen, Ballinamallard River, 16 April 1995; roadside Ballyreagh, 5 km NW of Tempo, 31 December 1995, with HJN; roadside at Tempo, 13 April 1996; Tully, W of Edenmore, 21 June 1997, with RSF; N of Many Burns Bridge, Many Burns River, 3 May 1999; Pubble Forest, 1 December 2001; sandpit at Pubble Bridge, 28 August 2004, with RSF; Agnaglack, 20 April 2009, with HJN; Gublusk Bay, Lower Lough Erne, 28 February 2010; Killyreagh House near Tamlagh, 10 June 2010.
British and Irish occurrence
The New Atlas map shows the species widespread throughout both islands, but much more thinly scattered in Ireland, yet with a slightly greater presence in the south and the sunny south-east corner, both areas which attract more visitors and where the local recorders are more energetic than the norm (Preston et al. 2002). Thus the mapped distribution of A. australis across the whole of Ireland suggests probable under-recording in comparison with the situation in Britain.
European and world occurrence
It stretches northwards from a scattered presence in Spain and Portugal through W Europe to S Sweden and eastwards to NE Poland, the Carpathians and the Adriatic. Very local in the Balkans and present only on the W Mediterranean Isles (Minorca, Mallorca, Sardinia and Sicily), but also recorded on Madeira (Press & Short 1994; Sell & Murrell 2014). Beyond Europe, it occurs in Morocco and Algeria and is introduced in E & S parts of N America (Hultén & Fries 1986, Map 1156).
Threats
None.