The Wall-rue (Asplenium ruta-muraria) is a small evergreen fern only occasionally found in our Borough. In urban areas it usually grows on old walls and, with its relatives, is far more numerous in wetter parts of the country. These pictures of it on the north face of the church hall wall on Mayplace Road East, over the road from St. Paulinus in Crayford, were taken on 23rd March. It has also been recorded from the churchyard walls here, on the inside of the perimeter wall of St. Mary’s churchyard in Bexley village, on the wall of the church building of All Saints in Footscray and also on the ruins at Lesnes Abbey.
Wall-rue on the wall of a church hall over the road from St. Paulinus, Crayford. The pale green, entire leaves are Hart’s-tongue Ferns, though it is probably too dry here for this large fern to get much bigger than it is in this picture. (Photo: Chris Rose)
More Wall-rue plants at the same location. (Photo: Chris Rose)
The superficially fern-like Yellow Corydalis (Pseudofumaria lutea) was photographed on a wall on Crayford High Street hill. This is a plant from the foothills of parts of the Alps that has become widely naturalised in Europe. It was being grown in Britain by 1596. When I lived in Bristol it was a widespread escapee from gardens – where it was in any case probably an accidental introduction. Here in Bexley it is seen in small quantities in the odd garden here and there, but the Council’s contractors seem more efficient at wiping out anything getting a foothold in cracks in the pavements, at the foot of garden walls or in shrub beds.
Yellow Corydalis (Pseudofumaria lutea), Crayford High Street. (Photo: Chris Rose)
Chris Rose
