44.) SANTALACEAE to PLUMBAGINACEAE

SANTALACEAE - Bastard-toadflax family

THESIUM L.

Thesium humifusum DC. (Bastard-toadflax) 1933 Grassland Extinct A root parasite which formerly grew around Claverton Down and Hampton Down, Bath. Last recorded in 1933. The former site has been too agriculturally improved and the latter is now a golf course!

"Claverton Down, Jno. Kitley and T. B. Flower in Fl. Bathon. Suppl. Hampton Down, Bath; A. E. Burr. Mr. Burr sent me specimens in 1886 and 1888. In 1890 Mr. D. Fry wrote 'The Thesium occurs abundantly over a limited space of ground on the edge of Hampton Down.' The plant is parasitic on the roots of upland pascual species belonging to several natural orders." (White, 1912).

Thesium ramosum Hayne. (Branched Bastard-toadflax?, Field Thesium - GBIF) - [Sandwith, 1932] General Extinct A native of Central & eastern Europe and West Asia; recorded as a casual at Baptist Mills, Bristol in 1927 by C.I. Sandwith - a first and only record for the British Isles.

VISCUM L.

Viscum album L. (ssp. album) (Mistletoe) / General A frequent parasitic plant of various trees; predominantly Lime, Apple, Poplar and Hawthorn. Spread around by birds, colloquially the Mistle Thrush but other birds from the family as well, whereupon the sticky white berries pass through the digestive tract (remaining relatively unchanged in appearance upon defecation) and stick to the branch of a tree host before germinating and fusing with the tree. Its range has expanded enormously in recent years (likely due to climate change); most notably around Bristol. The masses with which some trees are covered has led some to believe they are damaging the tree which it can "in the sense that it reduces, or even stops entirely if it's a young branch, the onward growth of the affected branch. And so if on lots of branches the productivity of the whole tree is reduced, eventually fatally in extremes, but usually only after decades of growth and repeated re-sending within the same tree. Plus mistletoe transpiration is generally more reckless than the host, so multiple infections can lead to water stress for the host as it can't control atmospheric water loss." Jonathan Briggs (pers. comm., 2025). The plant of course holds symbolic importance at Christmas time with bunches hung above doorways.

FRANKENIA L.

Frankenia pulverulenta L. ssp. pulverulenta (Annual Sea-heath) General Extinct A native of the Mediterranean; recorded at Avonmouth Docks in 1928 by C.I. Sandwith and again in 1931 by ? [BMAG].

TAMARIX L.

Tamarix gallica L. (Tamarisk) - General Grown in gardens, particularly along the coast and a very rare throwout.

Tamarix gallica 10 records 1st 2000 Locking Road, W-s-M (Donkey Field) Sue Griffin

CERATOSTIGMA Bunge

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides Bunge (Blue Leadwood) / General Very Rare A native of China; grown in gardens for ground cover and rarely escapes. Found on two occasions around Bristol by D. Peters: escaped from a garden on Coldharbour Road meeting with Upper Cranbrook Road, Redland in 2023 and escaped onto a front garden path below its flower bed source on Kersteman Road, Redland in 2025.

LIMONIUM Mill.

Limonium vulgare Mill. (Common Sea-lavender) / Coasts Locally frequent in saltmarsh from the south of the region north to Chittening Warth.
Limonium platyphyllum Lincz. (L. coriarium H. Arnaud) (Florist's Sea-lavender) A native of South East Europe; found at Sand Bay in 2018 by J. Mortin.

[Record highly suspicious - GBIF]

Limonium procerum (C.E. Salmon) Ingr. ssp. procerum (L. binervosum agg.) (Tall Sea-lavender, Rock Sea-lavender) / Coasts Very Rare Grows on coastal rocks where it was first discovered at Sand Point in 1984 by A. Coles; on Steep Holm in 1990 by E.J. McDonnell, C. & M.A.R. Kitchen and D. Lawrence; at Swallow Cliff in 1992 by R.D. Randall; and among rocks on Battery Point, Portishead in 1993 by M.A.R. Kitchen and R.D. Randall.

ARMERIA Willd.

Armeria maritima (Mill.) Willd. ssp. maritima (Thrift) /- Coasts Scattered and localised along the coast on cliffs, rocks, sandy banks and in the drier parts of upper saltmarsh. It is also present at Steep Holm and at several spots along the tidal stretch of the River Avon. White (1912) comments "Thirty years ago we had Thrift on the river-bank nearly as far up as Shirehampton Ferry. The wash of excursion steamers has destroyed most of it, and now I fear it has entirely disappeared from the Avon estuary". A notable record was made of a plant along the River Avon at Sea Mills in 2023 by G. Balfry. It has also been recorded further down at ST57S and ST57R in 2010s by ? [BSBI records] and at Bath in 2010s by ? [BSBI record].

[Inland records need checking. Also ask Graham about his record.]

List:

Thesium humifusum DC. (Bastard-toadflax) 1933 Grassland
Thesium ramosum Hayne. (Branched Bastard-toadflax?, Field Thesium - GBIF) - [Sandwith, 1932]
Viscum album L. (ssp. album - Kew, GBIF) (Mistletoe) / General
Frankenia pulverulenta L. ssp. pulverulenta (Kew, GBIF) (Annual Sea-heath - GBIF) - [Sandwith, 1932]
Tamarix gallica L. (Tamarisk) - General
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (Blue Leadwood) /
Limonium vulgare Mill. (Common Sea-lavender) / Coasts
Limonium platyphyllum Lincz. (L. coriarium H. Arnaud - Kew) (Florist's Sea-lavender) General - [record highly unlikely]
Limonium procerum (C.E. Salmon) Ingr. ssp. procerum (Stace) (Tall Sea-lavender - Stace) Limonium binervosum agg. (Rock Sea-lavender) - old name (check that all our plants refer to this) / Coasts
Armeria maritima (Mill.) Willd. ssp. maritima (Thrift) /- Coasts

Species to add:

Thesium ramosum Hayne. (Branched Bastard-toadflax?, Field Thesium - GBIF) - [Sandwith, 1932]
Frankenia pulverulenta L. ssp. pulverulenta (Kew, GBIF) (Annual Sea-heath - GBIF) - [Sandwith, 1932]
Limonium platyphyllum Lincz. (L. coriarium H. Arnaud - Kew) (Florist's Sea-lavender) General - [record highly unlikely]