This flower should be London’s symbol
Rosebay willowherb, or chamaenerion angustifolium, is the sort of the wild flower that is so objectively beautiful it should be a popular garden plant. It is loved by insects, including some stunning moths, and forms beautiful, bold drifts of rich pink spire flowers.
One of the many insects that enjoys the willowherb is the elephant hawk-moth (deilephila elpenor), a pink and orangey-brown nocturnal moth. You’ll spot it easily because it is a chunky soul and often comes to rest on the stems of plants like willowherb.
Rosebay willowherb also has the ability to thrive in the most hostile of conditions. It is a “pioneer plant” that turns up where there have been disasters and manages to make its home in soils that are still inhospitable to most wildlife.
It has a special place in the history of London as it was often the first plant to colonise bombsites in the Blitz, earning it the nickname “bombweed”. It also boomed and bloomed after the Great Fire of London and its other common name is “fireweed”.
Before the war it wasn’t a very common plant at all, really just popping up in woodland clearings and on the sides of roads. Now you can still see vast stands of it on building sites and in the east of London. Railway lines and motorways blush at this time of the year too.
The plants spread happily through their roots and their wind borne seeds and those seeds like it hot, often germinating better as a result of fires.
If the poppy is the symbol of the First World War, surely the rosebay willowherb should be the symbol of what conflict did to our capital. The flower is now part of our landscape and aren’t we lucky that it is.
Isabel Hardman is assistant editor of The Spectator and author of The Natural Health Service
Have you seen any Rosebay willowherb in London? Let us know in the comments below.
