Erigeron karvinskianus Mexican Fleabane

A sprawling perennial fleabane that grows on walls, pavements, rock outcrops and stony ground. The showy, daisy-like inflorescences are white, mauve or prurple and the sparsely hairy lower leaves usually have a pair of lobes or large teeth. It is a native of Mexico and was introduced to Britain as a garden plant in the 19th Century. It was recorded growing wild in Guernsey in 1891 and then spread, rather slowly at first, in lowland, southern Britain. However It has expanded its range greatly in the last 50 years and it is now a fairly common feature of walls and pavements in urban areas. Although it is intolerant of long periods of frost it has extended its distribution into coastal areas of Scotland. Its distribution in Wales is coastal and urban and it is most common in the south. It is very much an urban species in West Glamorgan at present, commonly found on old walls, or rock outcrops in Gower, usually not very far from gardens. However, in parts of southern europe it is a significant invasive non-native species in gorges and canyons that are of great importance to global biodiversity (e.g. on rocks in the  Desfiladero de la Hermida in the Picos de Europa, Northern Spain).

Neophyte