London: Death and Rebirth

11 March 2015

This trip was not so much a "walk" as a visit to several disparate sites in London using the excellent train service (under- and over-ground) as well as stretching our legs at the end of winter.  The intention was to celebrate the rebirth of spring and see some of the bulb offerings other than those at Kew (visited in 2014).  The crocuses were out at home (Chilterns) and some daffodils just beginning to open, so we felt the timing might be right, but it was soon evident that we were none too early, London having its own micro-climate about 5ºC above anywhere else and spring was already well advanced.

          We arrived at Marylebone, so our first port of call was Regents Park by a short walk towards Baker Street station and then directly north (past the Sherlock Holmes museum, which stood out because of the huge amount of greenery hanging from its crowded window-boxes).  Coming in at the south end of the park we immediately encountered the long lake, a Mecca for water-birds of all kinds.  The park is famous for its large heronry, whose nests were evident in the tall willows, so along with the usual Canada geese, coots, feral pigeons, and black-headed gulls at the lake edge attracted by bread scraps which people were regularly bringing them, stood several tall grey herons equally inured to human contact, although why they should be when they had no interest in anything other than fish and frogs was a mystery.

We crossed the lake and headed for Queen Mary's Gardens, a circular area at the south end of the park.  We passed a small area that had been saved from the scalping that most green spaces regularly endure, where there was a fine display of Spring Crocus Crocus vernus and some clumps of daffodils, both the "wild" species Narcissus pseudonarcissus and 'Jetfire', a smaller species with narrow orange trumpet and swept-back yellow "petals" (Cyclamineus group).  Honey bees were active among these flowers.

'Jetfire'

All the common plants with long seasons such as daisies, red dead-nettle, groundsel and hairy bittercress were all in flower, as they probably had been all through what had been quite a mild winter.  Cherry-plum Prunus cerasifera in various cultivated forms was in full bloom and so were Winter Aconites Eranthis hyemalis, and, among the aerial roots of Swamp Cypress Taxodium distichum by the garden lake a colony of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Trachystemon orientalis.

Cherry-plum

Abraham, Isaac & Jacob

Winter aconite

We circled round the gardens, finding disappointingly few bulb plants, but just past a large London plane Platanus x hispanica (that icon of London parks) we encountered a few naturalised Lesser Glory-of-the-snow Scilla (formerly Chionodoxa) sardensis that we had heard were here.

Lesser Glory-of-the-snow

Having completed our tour of this garden we returned to Baker Street station, to take the underground to Oxford Circus and change to the Victoria Line, where we went almost to the end to Tottenham Hale.  It was still a good walk, at least a mile, from here to our next destination close to Tottenham Cemetery, not far from White Hart Lane stadium.  Church Lane leads up to the gates of the Cemetery and on the right-hand side is a wide verge neighbouring Bruce Castle Park.  We had hardly seen a plant since we left the station, but here we saw one of the great flower sights of London, a vast colony of crocuses, predominantly the common Spring Crocus Crocus vernus, in its various purple, white and purple-striped white forms.

North end of Church Lane; the cemetery gates are on the far right

Spring Crocus

This site had been described by Brian Wurzell (Tottenham resident) in The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland's newsletter of April 1992.  Apparently no-one knows who originally planted the bulbs here or how long ago, but a confusing range of varieties is covered, seeding themselves and probably hybridising!  Most striking were scattered golden yellow ones which we thought to be Ankara Crocus Crocus ancyrensis, although they might possibly have been C. chrysanthus in a variety lacking the usual external purple stripes.  Without removing the bulbs from the ground we could not check the form of the covering of the corm, an essential component of Stace's key.

Ankara crocus?

Other scattered forms had yellow throats darker than rest of the petals and were marked by dark purple stripes on the outside, which could have been Silvery Crocus C. biflorus (those with white to pale purple petals), Golden Crocus C. chrysanthus (those with yellow petals - confusingly, Stace has "creamy-white to yellow" in his key but "deep yellow" in his species account), or hybrids of these two (C. x hybridus) that form the basis of many cultivars that combine the purple and yellow colours.  Hybridisation could also be occurring in situ, with honey bees and Meadow Bumble-bees both active.

Silvery crocus

Golden crocus

Possible C. x hybridus (note purple colouring just visible on outside of petals at tips)

What appeared to be Wych Elms Ulmus glabra had been planted along the verge and were in full flower too.

Presumed wych elm

While here we took a peek into Tottenham Cemetery itself.  This was established in 1858 after a prior cemetery had become full.  This new one was very crowded with graves itself, but we were impressed by a fine old Cherry (presumed Prunus avium) which must have been planted at about the time the cemetery was created.

Tottenham Cemetery with old cherry towards right

Trunk of old cherry

We returned to Tottenham Hale and took the underground one stop further to Blackhorse Road to change to the overground as far as Woodgrange Park.  Trains are very frequent (every ten minutes), so that this journey is very quick.  From this station it was only a short walk to the southern entrance into the City of London Cemetery, our final destination, where there was again a variety of spring bulb plants contributing to our theme of death and rebirth.

Many of these again were spring crocus, with numbers of Siberian Squill Scilla sibirica, heads bowed modestly downward, clumps of the double daffodil 'Golden Ducat' and very dark purple flowers of a Sweet Violet Viola odorata that probably represented a garden variety.

Siberian squill

'Golden Ducat' daffodils

Sweet violet

The now common Bilbao's fleabane Conyza floribunda was in flower unseasonably and Lumpy Brackets Trametes gibbosa were prominent on a tree-stump.

Bilbao's fleabane

Lumpy brackets in prime lumpiness

Our prime target were more Glory-of-the-snow, this time recorded as Chionodoxa [now Scilla] forbesii (luciliae).  There was a large dense patch on the eastern side of Limes Avenue on the eastern side of the cemetery in the southern half.  The white ring on the petals that differentiates these two species from S. sardensis was mostly not evident, with only vaguely pale bases to the petals, and hardly ever the one-third distance stipulated in Stace.  These therefore seemed to be closer to sardensis. Possibly a hybrid was again involved (which may have been introduced as such, as a garden cultivar).  Most specimens had over two flowers per stem, as both forbesii and sardensis.

Confusing Scilla - forbesii or sardensis?

As we left we were pleased to see a fox (without brush!) cross the path in front of us and stop to observe us passing.  Presumably these urban foxes are well accustomed to human presence.  We had seen diggings under various old graves where they made their homes.  A word of warning to would-be visitors: we arrived back at the South Gate to leave just before 4pm, only to find it locked, so that we forced to make a long diversion to the Eastern Gate and back to the station from there.  There are no notices saying when the gates are locked.