A new wildflower species appears and another one spreading along Caldon Canal.

Several patches of Purple Loosestrife have appeared along the Caldon Canal between Endon and Stockton Brook this summer. I am certain that this species has not been growing here in the recent past, not in the last ten years anyway. The explanation for this recent addition to the canalside flora seems to be that it is one of the species included as plant plugs in the coir rolls that Staffordshire County Council are using to protect the bank as part of the upgrade of the canal towpath in to a cycle path.

Purple Loosestrife.

The plant that is spreading is Orange Balsam Impatiens capensis which is a native of N America and not the British Isles. This year there are several clumps between Endon and Hazelhurst Junction. It is a relative of the often unwelcome Himalayan Balsam I.glandulifera which is a particularly invasive non-native species this time from not surprisingly the Himalayas. I assume the seeds disperse by floating to new sites along the canal. The orange species does not appear to be as prolific or smothering as does the Himalayan. Himalayan Balsam appears to be increasing in the Endon area, where it grows along the Caldon Canal, the disused railway and tributaries of and Endon Brook. 

Orange Balsam.

Himalayan Balsam on Endon Brook near Denford in 2010.