Pulsatilla vulgaris (L.) Mill. - Plantlife

UK VU Declined from ca.130 to 18
localities
2.3 United Kingdom
2.3.1 England
al., 2002
Cheffings & Farrell, 2005
2.3.1.1 Native populations
Since its discovery near to Oxford in 1551 (Druce, 1886) Pulsatilla vulgaris has been recorded
from around 130 sites in 19 English vice-counties (Table 2) but is now confined to 18 sites in
just ten vice-counties (Table 3). Former strongholds include the Cretaceous chalk downland
and ancient earthworks of Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire,
Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire and the Jurassic limestone grasslands of Gloucestershire,
Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire (Fig. 3). It was also formerly widespread in Magnesian
limestone grasslands in northern England, extending as far north as Piercebridge in County
Durham (Baker, 1906) but it is now restricted to a single site near to Wakefield (Abbott,
2005). Small clusters of populations also occurred in North Essex, Leicestershire, West Norfolk
and West Suffolk but it has not been seen in any of these counties since 1888, 1992, 1914 and
1978 respectively (Table 4).
Table 2 – The number of Pulsatilla vulgaris populations recorded in English vice-counties.
†Extinct.
Population size (2000-10 period)
Tota %
VC Vice-county name
Extinc
t
1-10
11-
50
51-200
201-
1000
>1000
l
no.
extinc
t
19 North Essex† 2 2 100
20 Hertfordshire 7 1 8 88
22 Berkshire 12 1 13 92
23 Oxfordshire† 4 4 100
24 Buckinghamshire 2 1 3 67
26 West Suffolk† 3 3 100
28 West Norfolk† 1 1 100
29 Cambridgeshire 7 1 8 88
30 Bedfordshire 2 2 2 6 33
31 Huntingdonshire† 1 1 100
32 Northamptonshire 7 1 8 88
33
East
Gloucestershire
17 1 2 1 1 22 77
34 West
Gloucestershire
4 1 5 80
53 South Lincolnshire 16 1 1 18 89
54 North Lincolnshire† 5 5 100
55 Leicestershire† 5 5 100
63
South-west
Yorkshire†
6 6 100
64 Mid-west Yorkshire 7 1 8 88
66 Durham† 1 1 100
Total 109 6 3 3 1 5 127 86
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