Sedum anglicum Huds., English Stonecrop
Account Summary
Either a mis-identification or a garden escape. Oceanic temperate, but also cultivated and naturalised.
Growth form, Fermanagh absence and preferred habitats
The New Atlas hectad map for this distinctive low-growing, succulent, evergreen perennial displays two older period symbols in Fermanagh with records: a pre-1970 record near the SE county boundary with Cavan (H30) and a 1970-86 record in the NW, close to the border with E Donegal and Tyrone (H34, H36). As far as RHN and RSF the current VC recorders are aware, these plots are errors and we cannot account for either of them. Neither Meikle and his co-workers, nor we, have ever come across this species to our knowledge during our recording outings. Furthermore, we believe the 1987 Cen Cat Fl Ir 2 is correct in omitting Fermanagh from the list of VCs with records, being one of eight Irish VCs where S. anglicum has or had not been found.
Despite its specific name, S. anglicum is regarded as a native plant throughout both B & I, typically occupying dry, base-poor grassland or pockets of thin peat or organic soil with mosses on siliceous acidic rocks, most often near the coast. It grows and competes best in damp to moist, but intermittently dry, strong to moderately acid soils, in sunny, exposed situations. Consequently, it is a pioneer colonist of flat rocky surfaces and shallow turf in upland areas of high rainfall (Sinker et al. 1985), habitats that are well represented in Fermanagh. It is also said to frequent old walls, rocky hedgebanks and acidic substrates in quarries and mine spoil heaps (J.M. Croft, in: Preston et al. 2002).
Garden escapes
S. anglicum is sometimes grown in gardens and very occasional escapes from cultivation are known to occur, particularly at inland sites. The New Atlas map also displays two hectads with records in the extreme south of Ireland, which are designated as garden escapes, and in Britain many more such garden escapes or introductions are plotted, particularly in inland parts of C & SE England.
British & Irish occurrence
Apart from the far SW of Ireland where S. anglicum is more generally present, the species has a very pronounced circum-coastal distribution in the remainder of the island with just a thin scattering of additional inland records. The latter include hectads in the northern VCs of Cavan, Monaghan and Tyrone (H30, H32 & H36) adjacent to Fermanagh. In Britain, the plant is predominantly western, and it has been classified as belonging to the oceanic temperate phyto-geographical element of the flora (Preston & Hill 1997).