Soleirolia soleirolii (Req.) Dandy, Mind-your-own-business

Account Summary

Growth form and preferred habitats

This creeping, red-stemmed, mat-forming, evergreen perennial with minute rounded bright green leaves less than 6 mm in length, is an endemic species of Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearic islands. It was introduced to English gardens in 1905 as low-growing ground cover for damp, dark conditions where little else would survive. Recommended by Farrer (1930) as, "especially delightful for rambling about in a cool and shady rock", gardeners subsequently realised S. soleirolii is an almost ineradicable weed and it is particularly unsuitable for rock gardens (Ingwersen 1978). Farrer was well aware that the plant grows with "devastating vigour", yet he considered that as ground cover it had, "high value and charm".

S. solierolii was first introduced to greenhouses where it rapidly over ran damp floors, walls and the pots of choice plants. The species then probably both escaped and was ejected from gardens as being too vigorous to control. While slightly frost sensitive, it quickly naturalised and established in milder parts of Britain & Ireland in lawns, on damp walls, shady banks, roadsides, in gravel, churchyards and as a persistent garden weed, often growing at the base of walls (Ellis 1993; Clement & Foster 1994; S.J. Leach, in: Preston et al. 2002).

Despite its invasive tendencies, the plant popularly known as, 'Mind-your-own-business' and 'Mother-of-thousands', is still cultivated and features in garden manuals including those published with the imprimatur of the Royal Horticultural Society, often without any mention of its weedy growth potential (Brickell et al. 1989). We may expect it to continue 'escaping' and spreading to new areas.

Flowering and vegetative spread

Lateral growth of the brittle prostrate shoots which root at their nodes spread the plant to form mat-like colonies and seed production assists this spread into suitable ground. The unisexual flowers are tiny, pinkish-white and very inconspicuous. They are produced in the leaf axils from May to October in the main. The fruit is a small, hard, achene or nut (Ellis 1993).

Fermanagh occurrence

S. soleirolii is rare in Fermanagh, having been recorded from only eight tetrads, seven with post-1975 records. There is a record from the roadside at Tamlaght, one at Goblusk Bay, Lower Lough Erne, another from a caravan park at nearby Castle Archdale, while the other five records are from gardens (one derelict) or on waste ground, mainly around Enniskillen.

Irish occurrence

In Ireland, it was formerly established largely in the W, but has spread to at least 21 vice-counties, including those in the N, and in the E, especially around Dublin (Scannell & Synnott 1987; Webb et al. 1996; Reynolds 2002). Around Belfast city, Beesley & Wilde (1997) found it in 17 1 km urban squares, which was much more frequent than they expected from previous experience (Hackney et al. 1992).

The evidence appears to show that S. solierolii is still actively spreading, yet while present for many years, it is rarely recorded and occurs almost exclusively in gardens and near habitation. Thus its invasiveness appears limited.

British occurrence

S. soleirolii is widespread from the Channel Isles to Shetland, but is most frequent in the SW & S of England and Wales, becoming scattered and more coastal further north into Scotland (New Atlas). Compared with the 1962 BSBI Atlas, it is much more frequent and is spreading quite rapidly.

European occurrence

While regarded as endemic to islands of the W Mediterranean – most notably Corsica and Sardinia (status unknown in Majorca), S. soleirolii as a neophyte introduction is mainly recorded in NW France, Britain and Ireland. Otherwise it appears to have just two very isolated introduced stations in the Netherlands and Portugal (Jalas & Suominen 1976, Map 338).

Names

In taxonomic terms, S. soleirolii has previously been included in the genera Helxine and Parietaria (Tutin et al. 1993). Nowadays, both genus and species are renamed in memory of Joseph Francois Soleirol (d. 1863), who botanised extensively in Corsica (Ingwersen 1978). The plant is popularly known by the English common names, 'Mind-your-own-business', 'Baby's Tears' and 'Mother-of-thousands', the latter an obvious reference to its vegetative vigour. This name is shared with at least seven other species, including Achillea millefolium (Yarrow), Cymbalaria muralis (Ivy-leaved Toadflax) and Pseudofumaria lutea (Yellow Corydalis). Mind-your-own-business might refer to the self-effacing nature of a plant that creeps around in dark corners or sprawls over other plants in pots (Grigson 1974).

Threats

Although a vigorous ground-cover species, this garden escape has not yet invaded any semi-natural vegetation, being apparently confined to damp, shady sites, typically at the base of walls.

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