London: Chelsea to Westminster

20 July 2016

All day

We started from Sloane Square, walking south to Royal Hospital Road, which we followed south-west as far as Swan Walk.  Although we looked for weeds, they were very infrequent - the roads and pavements of central London are kept squeaky clean these days.  We only saw in shrubberies pellitory-by-the-wall Parietaria judaica and bittersweet Solanum dulcamara.  In Swan Walk is the entrance to Chelsea Physic Garden which was just opening at 11am as we approached.  Although we had to pay an entrance fee of £10.50 each, it is a fascinating place for the botanist, concentrating on medicinal and other plants of human interest.  It is quite small, only 3.5 acres, and has a warm microclimate within its walls (quite apart from the fact that London has a temperature getting on for 5°C higher than the surrounding country).  While the formal plantings are of great interest, we also hoped to see what adventive species had managed to find a home here.  In the event they had to be able to survive fairly intensive weeding by an army of volunteers!  We did, however, find a few, the more interesting being spreading yellow-sorrel Oxalis corniculata, red-veined dock Rumex sanguineus var. sanguineus, annual pearlwort Sagina apetala ssp erecta, chickweed Stellaria media, cock's-eggs Salpichroa origanifolia and a broomrape. 

Spreading yellow-sorrel Cock's-eggs

Red-veined dock & annual pearlwort Ivy broomrape

The last was a mystery at first, because all the spikes were coming up in an empty cleared bed, and there were none of the usual clover family around on which common broomrape is usually found.  Close examination revealed it to be ivy broomrape Orobanche hederae, a surprise because it is usually seen as a western and coastal species.  A look at the BSBI Atlas, however, showed that it is regularly recorded in London gardens as a presumed (accidental) introduction, although long-distance seeding cannot be ruled out. 

          There were plenty of interesting planted species, of course, but those we particularly noted, as they can appear in the wild, were crimson clover Trifolium incarnatum (grown in a  meadow plot as a bee attractant), chamomile Chamaemelum nobile, and coriander Coriandrum sativum. 

Chamomile

Coriander

There were many displays of plants notable for their scents (good or bad), which would make it an amenable place for visually impaired visitors.  We also noticed a gall on the leaves of grape vines Vitis vinifera, caused by the mite Colomerus vitis, a recent immigrant to this country, and mines in the leaves of sugar beet Beta vulgaris where a fly Pegomya sp. was feeding. 

Galls of Colomerus vitis on grape vine

Leaf-mines of Pegomya sp. on sugar-beet

More exotic species, including a good display of pitcher plants, were grown under glass, including the endangered Notacactus woollii.  Although we did not hear any, the frequent presence of ring-necked parakeet was indicated by the finding of a narrow vibrant-blue tail feather.

Parakeet feather against cork oak Quercus suber bark

Leaving the Physic Garden we walked to the end of Swan Lane and the embankment of the Thames, which we were to follow much of the day.  Across the other side was our next destination, Battersea Park, with the Peace Pagoda highly visible.  This is tended by a Buddhist monk from Japan, who lives in a nearby temple, and was built by volunteers in 1984 for the Peace Year. 

Peace Pagoda in Battersea Park

To get to the park we had to walk upstream a short way to Albert Bridge, which is a hybrid structure - part cable-stayed (1873), part suspension (1884-87) and part simple beam structure with two piers (1973), reflecting structural weaknesses of the original design.  It vibrates markedly when large numbers of people cross: there are still signs for troops to break step.  On the far side of the bridge was a fenced off area of wasteland dominated by giant plants of docks, hemlock water dropwort Oenanthe crocata and garden angelica Angelica archangelica. 

Garden angelica, docks, etc at end of Albert Bridge

Among them were also Mexican fleabane Erigeron karvinskianus, black horehound Ballota nigra, buddleia Buddleja davidii, and black nightshade Solanum nigrum subspecies schultzii.  Entering the park at its NW corner we proceeded SE to the lakes area, passing through groves where the introduced ivy Hedera helix 'Green Ripple' carpeted the ground with its jagged leaves and prominent veins, as well as native enchanter's nightshade Circeaea lutetiana. 

'Green Ripple' ivy

Around the lakes are scattered a few old trees that have achieved "Champion" status and we found most of these.  There was a narrow-leaved ash Fraxinus angustifolia, an evergreen oak Quercus ilex, a hybrid strawberry-tree with red bark Arbutus x arachnoides, and a few London planes Platanus hispanica. 

Narrow-leaved ash Hybrid strawberry-tree

Evergreen oak London plane

We also saw a specimen of an unusual form of sweet chestnut Castanea sativa 'Variegata'. 

Sweet chestnut 'Variegata'

Perfoliate alexanders Smyrnium perfoliatum, presumably planted originally, was spreading vigorously, as it does at Kew.  Other natural invaders were black mustard Brassica nigra, water bent Polypogon viridis, and small nettle Urtica urens (with the mines of the fly Agromyza pseudoreptans, being apparently the first report in Britain for this particular plant, although the fly is British and it feeds on small nettle in Europe). 

Leaf-mines of Agromyza pseudoreptans on small nettle

The ponds, which had a bad irruption of algal scum, contained Canadian pondweed Elodea canadensis and supported the usual birds, including heron, moorhen, coot, mallard, mute swan (one pair with nine cygnets) and Egyptian goose. 

Heron and moorhen and algal scum

Egyptian geese

La Gondola café at the far end of the lakes was our intended stop for a lunch snack, but it was closed, perhaps for some time, as the online reviews it had received were abysmal!  So we soldiered on to the park's SE corner and left for Battersea Park Road, walking along it in the direction of Battersea Power Station, which prevented access along the Thames after the park for some while.  Most food outlets here were uninviting, but we eventually came across a traditional old pub, The Duchess, which was modernised in 2014, still offers "homemade minced beef and onion pie, mash and liquor", as well as real ales and craft ciders.  It was a lucky chance find. 

Across the road is the power station, which is being restored - most of the chimneys had been removed, as they were in poor condition, but they are to be rebuilt.  The whole site is being developed with apartments blocks and other facilities. 

Battersea Power Station reconstruction

We went past it along Nine Elms Road, along with other building sites and new apartment blocks, but, despite all the disruption, "weeds" were still difficult to find - just a single plant of eastern rocket Sisymbrium orientale.  (London rocket is difficult to find these days.)  Eventually we could get back on the restored Thames embankment, walking by the river in front of all these shiny new developments. 

New apartments, St George Wharf. Café is StEaX ("steaks" - GeT iT? yawn, yawn)

Occasionally plants cropped up in the cracks of pavements or on the embankment itself, including thale cress Arabidopsis thaliana, annual mercury Mercurialis annua, black nightshade, Oxford ragwort Senecio squalidus, stone parsley Sison amomum, and common liverwort Marchantia polymorpha.  There were birds on the river - cormorant as well as Canada and greylag geese.  We passed Vauxhall Bridge (which had sculptures made in 1907 by Frederick Pomeroy, representing agriculture, architecture, engineering and ... pottery!), the monstrous gaunt MI5 fortress at Millbank, and regular black "dolphin" lamp standards designed in the 1870s by George John Vulliamy. 

Vauxhall Bridge - the right hand statue is "Pottery"!

MI5 fortress

Standard dolphin lamp-standard

Soon we were opposite the Houses of Parliament, while on our right we passed a little park in front of St Thomas's Hospital, with a fountain designed by Naum Gabo "Revolving Torsion" (1972). 

St Thomas's Hospital and Naum Gabo fountain "Revolving Torsion"

We were fast approaching the London Eye as we reached Westminster Bridge and turned left over the Thames, joining throngs of tourists. 

Westminster Bridge crocodile with large eye

The road continuing from the bridge passes the north side of the House of Commons, now surrounded by more security fences than ever before.  (Despite the fact that it has been a terrorist target from at least 1605 when Guy Fawkes led a foiled attempt to blow it up.)  Through the railings, however, we could still see the row of six Indian bean trees Catalpa bignonioides thought to have been planted in 1857 and now looking impressively old with their gnarled black trunks and boughs.  At this time they were in flower -  pyramidal clusters of large white flowers with purple stamens and orange styles - a splendid sight below the geometric rigidity of Big Ben. 

Catalpa in flower

Row of Indian bean-trees below Big Ben

Continuing west we soon came to the SE corner of St James's Park.  Keeping to the east side and going a hundred metres north we came to a rough area with a low fence, behind which stood two trees of interest.  One was a Tibetan cherry Prunus serrula, not as large as the Catalpas, but with a distinctive shiny red bark. 

Trunk of Tibetan cherry

The other is reputed to be perhaps the largest fig tree Ficus carica in Britain.  The one tree has, in fact, become many, its roots producing shoots to form a complete ring of angled boughs, all producing fruit enough to sow a forest. 

Fig grove, St James's Park

Moving west the park is full of old London planes dating back as far as the beginning of the 19thC.  The café by the lake enabled us to have a second drinks break on a very hot day, after passing the white pelicans. 

The lake in St James's Park with white pelicans

We walked on westwards past more crowds of people offering snacks to the grey squirrels and an ecologically-unsound gallimaufry of birds - herons, carrion crows, moorhens, coots, black-headed gulls, red-crested pochards, Canada and red-breasted geese, and of course feral pigeons - sufficient at least to keep us entertained with little of botanical interest on show. 

Red-crested pochard

St James's area used to be called "Thorney Island" from the wealth of hawthorns Crataegus monogyna, but we did not pass any survivors, only a few recently planted saplings.  We only saw one reasonably mature specimen in Green Park, which joins St James's Park at the latter's NW corner, just where the gilded gates of Buckingham Palace shield a large statue of Queen Victoria.  The ornate gates were the product of a group of artists known as the "Bromsgrove Guild" in 1911. 

Buckingham Palace gates

Through more London planes and more parties of visitors we wended northwards to the boundary with Piccadilly, marked by an unusual mono-specific holly Ilex aquifolium  hedge. 

Green Park - more people and pigeons than trees

Green Park - London plane & London bus, with the holly hedge bordering Piccadilly

Tired now by the unexpected sudden heat-wave and dust of central London, we still managed to walk east on Piccadilly past Fortnum and Masons, Burlington House and the Ritz, to the little churchyard of St James's, with a busy market in front of the church, but a more peaceful green area to the side, where a small strip of "meadow" presumably sown, yielded betony Stachys officinalis, sweet cicely Myrrhis odorata. hairy St John's-wort Hypericum hirsutum and nettle-leaved bellflower Campanula trachelium.  The last hosted the rust Coleosporium tussilaginis.  We were now ready for a meal at one of the many fine restaurants in Mayfair and there was time still for a film before catching a train home.  Botany in central London has its limitations, but compensations too!

Nettle-laved bellflower