Pond plant returns after 100-year absence
Arare UK pond plant, thought to be extinct in many parts of the UK, has reappeared in Norfolk after vanishing more than 100 years ago. The last confirmed record for grass-poly, Lythrum hyssopifolia, in the county dates to more than a century ago. The annual, which has been rare since the middle of the 19th century, grows on disturbed ground or in damp pastures.
Elsewhere in the UK, the plant, related to native garden herb Lythrum salicaria ‘Robert’, is found in a few isolated populations growing around lakes and on muddy open ground. In the new locality on the banks of an old overgrown farmland pond the seeds had remained dormant after being buried in mud.
After willow trees were removed to restore the pond, seeds were uncovered and germinated. Carl Sayer, a professor at University College London (UCL), stumbled on the plant when he went to survey the pond back in early summer. After realising it was something different he sent a photo to a colleague who identified the find.
“We only found a handful of these plants in the pond, but we’re hoping to cultivate this population and keep it going and expand it now we know that it’s there,” said Professor Sayer.