British flora

The umhellifer Bupleururn falca/urn L. has only heen recorded from one locality in the British Isles and its status as a native in the modern British flora is uncertain. Recent analyses of fossiliferous Pleistocene temperate stage sediments from two English sites have yielded mericarps of B. falca/urn subsp. falcaturn. These finds show that this taxon was once naturally occurring on the British mainland and had a more northerly range than at present. It is difficult to determine whether the onc extant British population has a native status as a result of natural dispersal from the continent during the Flandrian Stage, is a relic of a Late Pleistocene temperate stage population that survived in Britain during the last cold stage (Devensian), or alternatively has an alien status with a relatively recent introduction by human activity. Its occurrence in the Late Pleistocenc fossil record may support the opinion that the extant population is native