Denbighshire

The underlying geology and soils of Denbighshire creates a great variety of land uses with arable land historically being concentrated in the lowlands along the boundary with Caernarvonshire, along the coastal strip and surrounding the major towns and cities. Small scale arable cultivation was a feature of the mixed farming in the area as shown by the 1930s land use survey which is considered a low point in arable cultivation. Growing crops will probably have increased during the World Wars in the 20th Century as there was a greater need to be more self-reliant, and the advent of herbicides and inorganic th fertilisers in the mid 20 Century has led to an increase in crop production in some areas as weed control has improved. However, there is an estimated 68% contraction of cultivated land and land under short-term rotation between the 1930s and 1990s. Arable cultivation is still continued around Abergele, Denbigh, Ruthin, between Chirk and Wrexham and north-east of Wrexham. The decline in arable cultivation could be due to a number of reasons including the general change in farming businesses towards more livestock farming and pastoral land; the increase in herbicides and fertiliser costs which may lie beyond the means of small-scale farms; and the volatility of cereal prices may also have led to a decline in arable cropping with high yields only breaking even in some years. There is a substantial concentration of arable land in the 1990s survey with larger blocks of cultivation being undertaken. This may be the result of agricultural intensification and a greater use of herbicides and fertilisers.

Denbighshire is a rich vice-county with records of 19 out of 30 threatened plants. Some of the records of the threatened arable plants are historical with species such as red hemp-nettle Galeopsis angustifolia, Henbane Hyoscyamus niger, corn buttercup Ranunculus arvensis and shepherd’s-needle Scandix th pecten-veneris not being found since the early 20 Century. There are more recent records of other threatened plants such as annual knawel Scleranthus annuus, small-flowered catchfly Silene gallica and narrow-fruited cornsalad Valerianella dentata, but they are still relatively historical recorded in the 1987-1999 date period. Prickly poppy Papaver argemone has been recorded in Denbighshire but has only been found on sand dune habitat. Other plants such as corn chamomile Anthemis arvensis have been introduced through sown seed. Some populations of cornflower Centaurea cyanus and corn marigold Glebionis segetum are also introduced whilst others are considered natural. There are also populations of large-flowered hemp-nettle Galeopsis speciosa recorded recently from farmland in Denbighshire. The only population of mousetail Myosurus minimus recorded in any of the vice-counties examined for arable plants is located on the Denbighshire boundary with Cheshire. The distribution of corn mint Mentha arvensis is an oddity as it has generally been recorded at too small a scale to provide an accurate fix on location. This means that it appears to be relatively sparsely distributed across Denbighshire whereas it may actually be more widespread. However, the small scale of the records, generally hectads (10x10km squares), may hide a population decline and further investigation of the population dynamics of this species is required across Wales. Two arable plants corn spurrey Spergula arvensis and field woundwort Stachys arvensis are also noted as widespread in the hectad records, but there are few records at a refined scale making the populations in Denbighshire look sparse. Six tetrads (2x2km squares) have three or more threatened arable plants and should be targeted for suitable management practices.

Denbighshire has a number of locations that would qualify for Important Arable Plant Area status as they have good assemblages of arable plants. These are found along the boundary with Caernarvonshire. There are two tetrads considered to be of National Importance and two considered to be of County Importance for arable plants. These locations should be targeted for arable plant conservation along with threatened plant populations to maintain the diversity of these flowering species across the vice-county.

Very few areas of Denbighshire have been rigorously surveyed for arable plants and in general there is under-surveying of this type of habitat. Further surveys of the remaining arable land along the coastal strip and the blocks of arable land elsewhere in Denbighshire may identify new populations of arable plants. Specific surveys targeted at the locations with historical records, particularly large-flowered hemp-nettle and mousetail, should be undertaken as these plants are very scarce elsewhere in Wales.

Denbighshire 1933-1949 Arable Land Use

Arable land in the 1933-49 period was extensive across Denbighshire covering 19872 ha. In total, 477 tetrads out of 577 tetrads had arable land use present. The 1930s are considered a low point in arable land use and the coverage of cultivated land may have been historically much greater.

Locations with little arable land include the foothills of Snowdonia National Park and moorland or the Cambrian Mountains around Moel Seisiog and Moel Llyn, Mynydd Hiraethog and Clocaenog Forest, and moorland at Berwyn, Cyrn-y-Brain. There is one further gap in arable land to the east of Bangor-on-Dee. Concentrations of arable land are present around Llanrwst, Ruthin, Llanelidan, between Llangollen and Chirk and north-east of Wrexham.

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Survey data © Crown Cymru, 2014. © Natural copyright and database Resources Wales, 2014. right 2013.

± 5 km

Denbighshire 1979-1991 Arable Land Use

Between the 1933-49 land use survey and 1979-1991 Phase 1 habitat survey of Wales there was a 68% contraction in arable land use across Denbighshire. 6311 ha of arable land was identified in the Phase 1 habitat survey with cultivated parcels of land falling in 347 out of 577 tetrads.

Arable land has particularly contracted in the Cambrian Mountains, principally around Llandwst and the coastal corridor. Concentrations of arable land are still present in Denbighshire including east of Abergele, Denbigh, Ruthin, between Chirk and Wrexham and north-east of Wrexham. There has been a local increase in arable land use around Bettisfield, Bronington, Horseman's Green and Egwlys Cross at the eastern end of Denbighshire since the 1930s.

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± 5 km

Denbighshire Soil Map

The most common soils in Denbighshire fall within the clay category and is the dominate substrate for 463 tetrads out of 577 tetrads. Clays vary between neutral to calcareous, with more alkaline soils on the ridge.

Lime-rich soils are present on a ridge where the soil is thin and the alkaline nature of the bedrock dominates the substrate material. Lime soils are considered dominant across 20 tetrads.

Sandy soils are the dominant soil type for 34 tetrads, particularly around Wrexham and north of Ruthin.

The other soil category is the dominant substrate for 60 tetrads. This includes deep peat-rich that are present in upland areas and disturbed soils from old mining activity.

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5 km

Corn Chamomile Anthemis arvensis

There are two records of corn chamomile in Denbighshire. The first population near Llansannan was recorded once in 1995 and is believed to come from sown seed as part of a wildflower mix. The other record near Pentredwr falls in the recent post-2000 date class and is believed to originate from introduced seed as it is alongside a road.

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right 2013. Recorder February 2014.

± Data maintained by the 5 Vice-County Recorder and km provided by the Botanical

Society of the British Isles

and Ireland and accessed

from the BSBI Distribution

Database 2014.

Cornflower Centaurea cyanus

There are five records for cornflower in Denbighshire, four of which are considered to originate from sown seed mixtures and one is naturally occurring from the soil seed bank. Three of the introduced populations of cornflower are alongside roads and result from re-seeding along these transport routes or floral displays. The fourth is close to the Llangollen Canal and the presence of other plants often sown in annual flower mixtures, such as corn marigold, make the origin of this plant suspicious and more likely to be from an introduced source.

The naturally occurring record near Llangollen dates from 1861 and has not been found since. There are records of arable land use located within this area from 1930 but none in the 1990 land use map.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC50 Denbighshire

right 2013. Recorder February 2014.

± Data maintained by the 5 km Vice-County Recorder and provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution

Database 2014.

Red Hemp-nettle Galeopsis angustifolia

There are two records of red hemp-nettle in Denbighshire. Both fall into the historical pre- 1986 date category and were recorded before 1800. The record near Llangollen is located on limestone along a canal bank whilst the record near Llansilin is close to a record of arable land use from the 1930s. Both records are thought to be of natural origin from the soil seed bank.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant

Survey data © Crown Register provided by the

right 2013. Recorder February 2014.

± Data maintained by the 5 Vice-County Recorder and km provided by the Botanical

Society of the British Isles

and Ireland and accessed

from the BSBI Distribution

Database 2014.

Large-flowered Hemp-nettle Galeopsis speciosa

There are five locations where large-flowered hemp-nettle has been found in the mid-date and recent date classes. The population of large-flowered hemp-nettle near Melin-y-Wig was recorded in 1988. More recent populations found since 2000 are close to Pentrefoelas, Craignant, Pulford and Bettisfield. The populations are recorded from arable land.

Records falling into the pre-1986 date class are also shown near Bettisfield where the population was present on a waste tip and Dolwen where no habitat description is provided, but lies in an area with arable land present on the 1930s land use map.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC50 Denbighshire right 2013. Recorder February 2014.

± 5 Data maintained by the km Vice-County Recorder and provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014. Corn Marigold Glebionis segetum

There are scattered records of corn marigold in Denbighshire. Three of the records are known to originate from sown seed mixtures.

The oldest naturally occurring population from the soil seed bank originates from 1968 near Trofarth and 1977 near Denbigh. A more recent record from 2010 is present to the east of Dawn.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC50 Denbighshire right 2013. Recorder February 2014.

± Data maintained by the 5 Vice-County Recorder and km provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014.

Henbane Hyoscyamus niger

There is only one record for henbane in Denbighshire mapped at a spatial scale greater than tetrad. This population is historical, recorded in 1982, near Pen-y-stryt. This population was not found growing on arable land and a habitat description of 'garden weed' is attached to the record.

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right 2013. Botanical Society of the

British Isles and Ireland ± and accessed from the 5 km BSBI Distribution Database 2014.

Field Pepperwort Lepidium campestre

There are two concentrations of field pepperwort in Denbighshire, southeast of Conwy and north of Wrexham. None of these populations are recorded from arable land.

The Conwy records fall into the mid-date class with the older records near Llanddulas recorded in 1965 and the record near Tal-y- cafn found in 1987. Both records, although old, are close to major roads and may be associated with disturbance caused by the transport routes rather than arable land. No habitat is specifically recorded.

All of the records north of Wrexham are in the recent post-2000 date class. The population near Gwersyllt was found scattered throughout the country park which is mostly pastoral land use. The population at Rossett was present in a school playing field, and the population at Llan-y-Pwll is on a small patch of land close to a roundabout.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC50 Denbighshire right 2013. Recorder February 2014.

± Data maintained by the 5 km Vice-County Recorder and provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014. Corn mint Mentha arvensis

The majority of corn mint records recorded in Denbighshire are hectad (10x10km square) records. These have not been mapped as the coverage is too great to provide an accurate representation of populations. As a consequence, corn mint appears to be severely under-recorded. Further survey work is required to provide a more accurate representation of the distribution of corn mint.

There are two recent records falling within the post-2000 date class near Pulford and Llangedwyn. Neither have a habitat description so it is not possible to know whether the plants were present on arable land. However, both records lie close to arable land recorded on the 1990s and 1930s land use maps.

There are no habitat descriptions associated with the 1987-1999 records scattered throughout the county. The historical records do have habitat descriptions and are associated with riverside and grassland habitats.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC50 Denbighshire right 2013. Recorder February 2014.

± Data maintained by the 5 km Vice-County Recorder and provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014. Weasel's-snout Misopates orontium

There are two historical records of weasel's- snout in Denbighshire, both southeast of Conwy. The populations were recorded in 1965 and one of the records has the habitat description of weed in a market garden.

There are also two mid-date records. The 1998 population of weasel's-snout recorded at Llanrwst was present on a waste tip and there is no habitat description associated with the population at Gresford recorded in 1989.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC50 Denbighshire right 2013. Recorder February 2014.

± Data maintained by the 5 km Vice-County Recorder and provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014. Mousetail Myosurus minimus

There are four recent post-2000 populations of mousetail in Denbighshire. All are east of Rossett on the border with Cheshire. The populations have been recorded several times and are present on disturbed grassland in gateways and along tracks, another habitat that this species is associated with.

There is one other population of mousetail which has been recorded in 1986 and 1988 near Worthernbury in a farm gateway.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant

Survey data © Crown Register provided by the

right 2013. Recorder February 2014.

± Data maintained by the 5 Vice-County Recorder and km provided by the Botanical

Society of the British Isles

and Ireland and accessed

from the BSBI Distribution

Database 2014.

Prickly Poppy Papaver argemone

There are only two records of prickly poppy in Denbighshire.

There is a record from 1969 near Abergele which is a naturally occurring population from the soil seed bank. The habitat description associated with the record is of the shoreline, indicating that this is a coastal population rather than in arable land.

There is a more recent record from Fenn's Moss, but this population was introduced from sown seed in 1990.

and accessed from the 5 km BSBI Distribution Database 2014.

Cornfield Knotgrass Polygonum rurivagum

There is one naturally occurring population of cornfield knotgrass on a farm near Abergele. This species is quite cryptic as the knotgrasses all look very similar, but there is good knowledge of the differences between the species within the Denbighshire plant recording community.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant

Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC50 Denbighshire right 2013. Recorder February 2014.

± Data maintained by the 5 Vice-County Recorder and km provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014.

Corn Buttercup Ranunculus arvensis

There are two historical records of corn buttercup in Denbighshire. The population at Brynteg was first found in 1983 and found again in 1984. The area was searched in 2011 for this species with no success. It is now entirely pastoral and the species is unlikely to germinate unless it is converted back to arable. The other population is much older being recorded once in 1911 near Glyn Ceiriog. Both populations are thought to be naturally occurring from the soil seed bank.

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Shepherd's-needle Scandix pecten-veneris

There is one very old record of Shepherd's- needle in Denbighshire from 1861 north of Llangollen. It is likely that this population has been lost unless the field has been cultivated at regular intervals as this species has particularly short seed longevity of less than five years in the soil seed bank.

Annual Knawel Scleranthus annuus

There are three records of annual knawel in Denbighshire. Two of the records near Penycae and Llanefydd fall within the historical date class pre-1986. There is one record of a population south of Tan-y-Cafn from the mid-date class. All of the records are thought to occur from the soil seed bank. However, this species does also grow in grassland that has short turf, and the Tal-y- Cafn population was found growing on a rough ground / spoil. Neither of the historical records had an associated habitat description and, as a consequence, it is not known whether these populations are components of arable or grassland habitat.

Contains Ordnance Data maintained by the Survey data © Crown Vice-County Recorder copyright and database and provided by the right 2013. Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland ± 5 and accessed from the km BSBI Distribution Database 2014.

Small-flowered Catchfly Silene gallica

All of the records of small-flowered catchfly in Denbighshire are coastal apart from two historical records near Derwen and Llangollen.

There are several records from Colwyn Bay along a railway line. The most recent records, from 2000 and 2005, are near Pensarn and Abergele. The former population is also noted as being present on a railway bank and it is likely that the Abergele population is also present along the trackway rather than being present on arable land.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC50 Denbighshire right 2013. Recorder February 2014.

Corn spurrey populations are scattered across Denbighshire. It is possible that this species is under-recorded throughout the vice-county as a large number of records fall between the years 2010 and 2013. The decline in arable land use over the 20th Century and the difficulty in accessing arable habitat are two reasons for the limited distribution of this species, and elsewhere in Wales corn spurrey is comparably more widespread. There are also a large number of records that have a hectad spatial scale and have been excluded from this mapping as it is considered too large to provide an accurate coverage to locate populations. Alternatively, it is also possible that this is an accurate representation of corn spurrey distribution, but this matter could only be resolved through further surveys.

Corn spurrey grows predominantly in arable habitat, disturbed ground such as along tracks and in gateways and occasionally will occur in re-seeded grass fields before the grass cover closes and out-competes this annual plant. There are a few habitat descriptions associated with the data indicating that corn spurrey has been found in all types of disturbed habitats in Denbighshire.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC50 Denbighshire right 2013. Recorder February 2014.

± Data maintained by the 5 km Vice-County Recorder and provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014. Field Woundwort Stachys arvensis

There are two concentrations of field woundwort in Denbighshire, inland of Colwyn Bay and around Wrexham and Llangollen. The majority of records fall within the recent post-2000 date class. There are also a large number of hectad records for this species which have not been mapped as the spatial scale is considered too large to locate populations. These records indicate that field woundwort may be more widespread than represented in this distribution map. Further survey work would determine whether this is a correct assumption or whether the converse is true and that the populations are no longer present. The majority of hectad records fall within the mid 1978-1999 and recent post- 2000 date classes.

Narrow-fruited Cornsalad Valerianella dentata

There is one record of narrow-fruited cornsalad in Denbighshire from Llandegla in 1995. The population has not been recorded at any other point in time and is considered a casual record. No habitat description is associated with the record so it is not known whether the population was present on arable land or in some other type of disturbed ground.

Denbighshire IAPA Status

Two of the 577 tetrads in Denbighshire are considered to be of National Importance and two tetrads are considered to be of County Importance for their arable plants. Arable land use declined dramatically across Denbighshire between the 1930s and 1990s. In addition, agricultural intensification from the 1960s onwards, in particular the use of pesticides, would have reduced the suitable habitat for arable plants associated with this land use.

Access to arable land is restricted as it is privately owned and often away from footpaths. They are also under-recorded as they have a low profile compared with the flora of other habitats. Annual plants may not appear every year and this is also a cause of under-recording as cultivated fields may not have been surveyed on a regular basis, or rotation of the arable land around a farm may mean that different fields are cultivated every year.

Arable plants are associated with other disturbed and nutrient poor habitats such as disturbed banks following road works and sand dunes. Records associated with these habitats have been removed from this analysis to concentrate solely on arable land.

The mapping suggests that there is a need to target arable land between Denbigh and Ruthin, and around Wrexham, Ruabon and Eglwys Cross for surveys.

Contains Ordnance Vice-county Rare Plant Survey data © Crown Register provided by the copyright and database BSBI VC50 Denbighshire right 2013. Recorder February 2014.

± Data maintained by the 5 Vice-County Recorder and km provided by the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Ireland and accessed from the BSBI Distribution Database 2014.