Oxytropis campestris
Ecology
A tufted perennial herb, confined in Britain to limestone and calcareous schists, where it grows in open communities of a southerly to south-westerly aspect. Its two inland sites are upland, between 500 and 640 m at Clova (Angus), but its third site is on sea-cliffs between 25 and 180 m.
Status
Trends
Populations of this relict species seem quite stable, despite past collecting and current grazing regimes.
World Distribution
Eurasian Arctic-montane element, with a continental distribution in W. Europe.
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Broad Habitats
Light (Ellenberg): 9
Moisture (Ellenberg): 4
Reaction (Ellenberg): 8
Nitrogen (Ellenberg): 2
Salt Tolerance (Ellenberg): 0
January Mean Temperature (Celsius): 0.4
July Mean Temperature (Celsius): 11.5
Annual Precipitation (mm): 1392
Height (cm): 20
Perennation - primary
Life Form - primary
Woodiness
Clonality - primary
Count of 10km squares in Great Britain: 3
Count of 10km squares in Ireland: 0
Count of 10km squares in the Channel Isles: 0
Plantatt Conservation Status
JNCC Designations
RDB Species Accounts
Oxytropis campestris (L.) DC. (Fabaceae)
Yellow oxytropis, Ogsatropas Buidhe
Status in Britain: VULNERABLE.
Status in Europe: Not threatened.
O. campestris appears to be a strict calcicole in Britain. In Coire Fee, Glen Clova, it grows on calcareous hornblende schist, at Loch Loch on limestone, and at Dun Ban on limestone and calcareous schists; all these rocks belong to the Dalradian series. Its montane associates include Alchemilla alpina, Carex capillaris, Dryas octopetala, Galium boreale, Persicaria vivipara, Polystichum lonchitis, Saxifraga aizoides, S. oppositifolia, Sedum rosea, Silene acaulis and Veronica fruticans. Accompanying lowland plants are Campanula rotundifolia, Carex caryophyllea, Festuca ovina, Helictotrichon pratense, Thymus polytrichus and Viola riviniana. In its coastal site in Kintyre, it grows on limestone cliffs from 25 to 180 metres above sea level, growing best on south- and west-facing slopes (Cunningham & Kenneth 1979). Inland sites are at altitudes between 500 and 650 metres.
O. campestris is a tufted perennial, flowering between May and late July. Recruitment is by seed, which sets freely.
This species was long thought to be confined to two mountain cliffs at moderate elevations in the Scottish Grampians, but a third colony on sea-cliffs near the Mull of Kintyre, originally described as Oxytropis halleri, was later referred to O. campestris. The other localities are in East Perth and Angus. Each station has populations of probably thousands of plants, but growing over a fairly restricted area, and found mainly in open rock face communities of cliffs with a south-south-east to west aspect. Some plants grow on adjoining rocky slopes, but all habitats are dry and well-drained.
In its inland localities, O. campestris seeds into earthy screes and closed grasslands below the cliffs, but is then vulnerable to grazing, and appears to have limited powers of spread under present conditions. A true relict, it has been much collected in the two mountain stations, but has maintained its populations fairly well. In Kintyre, the numerous wild goats seem not to graze the plants to any extent (Cunningham & Kenneth 1979).
O. campestris is a widespread Palaearctic arctic-alpine. It occurs in northern Europe down to near sea-level, but is restricted to montane regions of central and southern Europe. In North America, it is found in the Rockies, in Maine and Labrador, but is absent from Greenland. In Scandinavia, O. campestris occurs in a wider range of habitats, including coastal sand-dunes and machair, grassland, road verges, rock faces and debris, and fell-fields; and grows on soils which vary from calcareous to only slightly base-rich. It also shows wider variation in flower colour, from cream to pink and purple.
D. A. Ratcliffe