fact sheet Field Fleawort integrifolia ssp. integrifolia Field fleawort is a member of the daisy family (). It can grow from 7-30 cm tall and has a single stem with a basal rosette of . The 3-5 cm rosette leaves lie flat on the ground, are round-oval shaped, untoothed, may be cottony and have a short stalk. There are very few stem leaves which are lanceolate and stalkless, clasping the stem. Each produces 1-10 orange-yellow that are 1.5-2.5 cm across. The involucre, a collar of bracts at the base of a , is 5-8 mm long and the individual bracts have a tuft of hairs at the tip. Field fleawort in Anglesey are of the rare endemic ssp. maritima and grow slightly taller, up to 60 cm (not included on the map). Larger plants formerly found in Westmorland and now presumed to be extinct (mapped as this subspecies) may have represented an undescribed taxon. © Bob Gibbons

Lifecycle Field fleawort is a biennial or short-lived perennial, flowering in May and June. Seed longevity is thought to be short and require regular sympathetic management to maintain the right conditions for this scarce plant. Habitat This native plant grows on shallow soils over chalk or more rarely on oolitic limestone. It occurs mainly on species-rich south-facing short calcareous and downland in lowland areas and favours ancient earthworks and tracksides which create a suitable micro-climate. The NVC community that this species is typically associated with is CG2 ovina – Avenula pratensis grassland. Distribution In England it is confined to the south, particularly the Chilterns, Dorset, the Cotswolds and the South Downs. Field fleawort of the nominate ssp. integrifolia is not present in Wales, Scotland or Ireland but the endemic ssp. maritima occurs on Anglesey. Field fleawort distribution across Britain and Ireland The data used to create these maps has been provided under licence from the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) and accessed from the Society’s online distribution database. Field Fleawort Species ssp. integrifolia fact sheet Habitat management for field fleawort GB Status and rarity Habitat management for field fleawort should focus on restoring the It is classified as ‘Endangered’ in appropriate levels of grazing to maintain a short fine species-rich The Red Data List for sward, particularly on ancient earthworks and along tracks. Historical Great Britain 2005 and has suffered a site management should always be reviewed as the baseline if the marked decline since 1960 which is still continuing. Outlying sites are considered populations of field fleawort are still present and appear in a similar most vulnerable and in need of urgent condition to historical records. Grazing by and ponies and mixed action and all surviving populations need grazing with a few sheep will reduce the coarse grasses and sedges to be assessed to establish the factors opening up the sward for this species. Mixed grazing will also maintain causing the decline. Field fleawort is a some bare ground which is important for the germination of this short- good indicator of high quality grassland lived perennial, and might be the reason why field fleawort is often and is associated with a suite of declining associated with used trackways. Grazing only by sheep in the flowering calcareous grassland plants including period may be detrimental as they may consume the rosettes and purple milk-vetch danicus, especially the flowering stems stopping the plant from completing its frog orchid Coeloglossum viride and early lifecycle. Moderate livestock grazing should be undertaken outside of the gentian Gentianella anglica. flowering period, primarily over the autumn and winter period on these dry grasslands. No fertiliser should be applied to calcareous grasslands Reasons for decline with field fleawort and over-seeding with more vigorous grasses will These are not fully understood but potentially increase the sward height and shade-out the more delicate include agricultural improvement field fleawort. of grasslands through application of artificial fertilisers, ploughing of Targeted scrub control will also help populations of field fleawort to grassland to create arable land and survive by removing taller vegetation that out-shades the plants. In re-seeding with more vigorous grass particular, scrub clearance on ancient earthworks and along disused varieties. Abandonment or discontinuity trackways with historical records of field fleawort would be particularly of livestock grazing has resulted in scrub beneficial although the possible short longevity of seeds may result in a encroachment or replacement of short low rejuvenation rate from the soil seed bank. extremely species-rich communities with coarser less diverse swards. It has Scrub management work around surviving populations will help them in declined on some sites that appear well the short-term but continuity or re-instatement of adequate grazing is managed and retain otherwise diverse vital for long-term management. Linking neighbouring grasslands with calcareous grassland. field fleawort using suitable management regimes may enable longer- term survival of the species by connecting populations. Protection under the law This plant is included as a species “of principal importance for the purpose of Habitat management should focus on restoring appropriate levels of grazing to maintain a short fine species-rich sward, particularly on ancient earthworks and along tracks. conserving biodiversity” under Section 41 (England) of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. Survey method Individual plants are easily distinguishable from neighbours, each one comprising a single rosette and flowering stem. As this species only forms a rosette of leaves in the first year an additional search for these first- year individuals should also be undertaken, although they will be much harder to detect. The flowering period is quite short, after © John Lees/Creative Commons BY-NC-SA which plants will be hard to find.

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