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| Sefton Coast Partnership | Shoreline Management | Nature and Wildlife | Coastal Heritage | Visiting the Coast | Students and Teachers | Coastlines | |
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Winter 1997Petalwort - A rarity of European importanceArticle by Dan Wrench, Information Officer, Sefton Coast Life ProjectFrom past articles in Coastlines some of you may have heard of Petalwort, otherwise known as Petalophyllum ralfsii. Very few people however have actually seen this elusive plant, even those who have wandered the coast for many years. The main reason for this is that Petalwort falls into an often overlooked group of plants known as 'Lower Plants'. These include all mosses, lichens and the less well known liverworts, hornworts and algae. Lower Plants are often ignored because of the difficulty in identifying plants correctly and perhaps because of their small size. Petalwort is no exception to being overlooked despite the fact that it is easily identified and when closely viewed is a very attractive plant. The first record for Petalwort on the Sefton Coast was from Ainsdale in 1861. Since then occasional records were made up to 1968. The species was not recorded again until 1995 when Dr Martha Newton was employed to survey the coast for the several rare mosses and liverworts that have been recorded from the coast in the past. Petalwort was found to be flourishing in Birkdale frontal dunes and, coastwide, four other nationally rare lower plants were found. This included just one plant of Dune Thread Moss, Bryum mamillatum, which had not been recorded anywhere Britain for many years and is now on the critically endangered list for Britain. Unfortunately four other species were not refound and it now seems likely that one or more of these are now extinct on the Sefton coast. Petalwort is typically found around the edges of damp slacks which have been formed in the last twenty years or so. Young slacks are favoured because Petalwort likes the high levels of calcium found in freshly blown sand. It also prefers low vegetation with few other competing plants and, as a result, is often found alongside pathways where taller plants are kept in check through trampling. It can be seen most times of the year when the weather has been wet but is best between Autumn and Spring. Each plant is made up an underground tuber with a flat, fleshy plate pushing up through the sand. Arising from this green plate, or 'thallus' are many upright flaps which when pushed together can make the plant look like a miniature lettuce. In winter male plants can be distinguished by clusters of small spherical structures called antheridia. This can change their appearance from lettuce like to cauliflower-like. In Spring fruits are formed. These are round, black, spore bearing structures held up to four centimetres aloft by a silvery white stalk. For dune managers lower plants, and indeed many dune species, provide an interesting dilemma. Should management look at every location and use intensive management to maintain these sites as they are - in effect gardening the sites - or should a broader management approach be used to encourage natural dune dynamics. In the short term Petalwort and other lower plants may need detailed management and monitoring to ensure that their main sites remain intact. However, long term dune management needs to ensure that new slacks are being formed to replace ageing slacks. Encouraging natural dune dynamics would be the only sustainable way of creating the necessary slacks. This would allow the building out of dunes like that seen on the Birkdale dune front and would also let blow-outs create new slacks as they have on Ainsdale Sand Hills Local Nature Reserve. With these processes Petalwort, Dune Thread Moss, and the many other important lower plants of the Sefton Coast should find new habitat and could be seen as indicators of the health of the whole system. This year has seen the development of close links between the Sefton Coast Life Project and PlantLife. PlantLife, the wild plant conservation charity, aims to save wild plants and their habitats by conservation and campaigning. Plantlife have the responsibility of being the Lead Agency for the Species Recovery Programme for Petalwort, plus a host of other plants. The first Petalwort steering group meeting in November 1997 is being organised by PlantLife and hosted by the Sefton Coast Life Project. This will address conservation issues relating to Petalwort both on the Sefton Coast and elsewhere in Britain.
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