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In September Bill Thompson found several plants of Sea Heath (Frankenia laevis) growing along the edge of the A170 just east of Howkeld. This is a small, shrubby plant a few inches tall and up to a foot or so in diameter that at first sight does resemble a heath; however the flowers are quite different, being small, pale pink bells borne singly in the leaf axils (see below).

Sea heath detail

The mystery is: how did it get here? The plant’s natural distribution is around the coast, especially in the south and west. There is one record from Co. Durham on the NBN distribution map but none inland that I am aware of. As a seaside plant it can obviously cope with the salt spray from the road: did it come in along the road stuck to the wheels of a vehicle perhaps? Interestingly the site is very close to the point where the old railway crossed the road, so that is another possible source. Alternatively, could it have escaped from a garden, as I understand it is sometimes grown as an ornamental. Can anyone help? Do you know of other sites in Yorkshire for this plant, or know of a garden in which it is or was grown? Please email me (gill@ryenats.org.uk) if you can help.

General view of Sea Heath plant at Howkeld near Kirkbymoorside

Thanks to Nan Sykes for the pictures, and also alerting me to this record. By the time I visited the site the flowers had faded but the plants, about a dozen in all, were still clearly visible. I don’t know how long they have been there!

Photos © Nan Sykes 2008; text © Gill Smith 2008

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