I.D Please anybody?

Discussion in 'Identification Area' started by HYDROGEN86, Aug 15, 2011.

  1. daitheplant

    daitheplant Total Gardener

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    Going by your criteria it`s as Armandii says, you are left with Mares Tail, and, possibly, one or two ferns. 99% of all our plants have been imported, either by nature or man.:dbgrtmb::dbgrtmb:
     
  2. HYDROGEN86

    HYDROGEN86 Head Gardener

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  3. ARMANDII

    ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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  4. pete

    pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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    Oh come on, British native plants must be more than marestails and a few ferns.
    I'm not well up on the subject, but I'm sure there are more than that.

    Dont I remember reading somewhere about plants that established after the last ice age.
    Not sure where that is in the timescale though.
    Then there are plants that crossed from Europe before the channel opened up.

    I'm sure we should not be discussing this subject.:loll:
     
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    • ARMANDII

      ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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      So where are you drawing the line, Hydrogen??:scratch: Before or after the sea cut us off from Europe [Thank the Lord!!}?:scratch:. Since the plants were probably the same on the original land mass before and after the separation what is a British Native Plant by definition?
      ]
       
    • daitheplant

      daitheplant Total Gardener

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      Pete, the criteria is plants BEFORE humans settled here. The Ice Age finished here about 10,000 years ago. But Homo Sapiens were here about 15,000 years ago. so tell me how many native plants are there:heehee:?
       
    • HYDROGEN86

      HYDROGEN86 Head Gardener

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      Exactly there are lots of native plants. I think other people in the forum would not like to think about the matter as much as there gardens are full of Rhododendron and hostas :heehee:
       
    • ARMANDII

      ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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      Not a fan or either of those, Hydrogen:stirpot::D
       
    • HYDROGEN86

      HYDROGEN86 Head Gardener

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      When the land seperates so do the plants and they evolve...
       
    • ARMANDII

      ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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      Mmmm, sounds a bit Spiritual, Hydrogen:scratch: I mean what plants "evolved". The separation from Europe didn't change the climate so any "evolving" plants would only have that evolving triggered by something else, so what would that be.:scratch::scratch: Does your definition of a Native plant not include any plants that didn't evolve, which to my mind would be quite a lot.
       
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      • HYDROGEN86

        HYDROGEN86 Head Gardener

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        I'm not spiritual I just don't think plants should be put on planes and flown around. It's not natural that's why have so many problems with himilayan balsam ect :thumbsup:
         
      • shiney

        shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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        Although I agree that a lot of plants have been deliberately imported by man there are probably even more plants that have been brought in by birds. Do these count as native plants?

        Britain was split from the mainland something over 200,000 years ago when the Weald-Artois ridge broke and the Channel was formed. When the last glacial period finished (about 10,000 years ago) the southern part of England was frozen but not glaciated and it was possible for humans and animals to walk across from the mainland to repopulate southern England.

        Virtually all plant life prior to that time had disappeared but the reintroduced plants were the same as those on the mainland and would have been virtually the same as those that existed prior to the Weald-Artois break.

        It is only in relatively 'modern' times that man has brought in more exotic plants and most of those were brought in because they were edible. The real influx of exotics came with the advent of the Victorian Adventurers and botanists.

        I don't think it is possible to define a 'native' plant from an adapted plant, apart from the relatively small number of deliberately imported ones that man has done. A lot of what I would consider 'native' plants would have originally come in by animal or bird and adapted themselves to our conditions. It's a similar problem to defining which people are 'British' depending on how far back into history you wish to go. The Angles, Jutes and Saxons were the newcomers :heehee:
         
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        • cistus81

          cistus81 Apprentice Gardener

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          the first is oenothera it grows till 1.8 meters here the flowers open very quickly just before night
           
        • pete

          pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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          There are lists available of plants that are considered "native",

          I agree it depends upon how many years you are prepared to go back, but if you actually take that to its limits you will probably find nothing is actually "native" in any country/continent of the world.
           
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          • HYDROGEN86

            HYDROGEN86 Head Gardener

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