Welsh Journals

propagating both soft and semi-ripe cuttings using various types of rooting composts failed completely. It now became abundantly clear that C. integerrimus as well as being a rare plant was also proving to be an extremely difficult one to propagate from cuttings. In October 1977 after having read how some difficult alpines had been successfully grown using sharp sand only as a rooting medium, five semi-ripe cuttings were placed in very fine dry sterilised sand the type used in egg timers. After inserting the cuttings, the sand was well watered once only, and the pot was left under a glass cover indoors until May of the following year. Most of the leaves remained green throughout the winter and, by May there were signs of new growth. All five had rooted successfully and were potted on. Subsequently, by using sand and watering once only, successful rooting has been the rule rather than the exception. In the meantime, about eighty seeds had been collected from the stock plant. Thirty-two of these were stratified in August 1977, and the remainder were distributed to other interested individuals and some were sent to Ness Botanic Gardens at Liverpool. Two years later in May 1979 eight of the stratified seeds germinated and are now thriving in three inch pots outside. In October 1978 about ninety seeds collected the previous August were placed on damp blotting paper and left in the fridge for three months. They were withdrawn on the 14 January and left at room temperature, approximately 19°C. Twenty-one days later one seed only germinated and was transferred to a suitable growing medium. To date, the remainder, though considerably swollen, have obviously decided to bide their time. It is well know that ripe seeds of other Cotoneaster species are avidly eaten by birds and it occurred to me that the passage of the seeds through a bird's digestive track could, in some way, have an effect on the inhibiting factors which govern their dormancy. Consequently, in January 1979, to test this hypothesis, fifteen seeds were force-fed to a feral pigeon. After a fortnight of daily sifting through the pigeon droppings, one seed only was retrieved. This abortive exercise proved only that the digestive system of a pigeon is too efficient for Cotoneaster seeds. The one surviving seed still appears to be as inert as the pieces of grit which were retrieved with it. In June 1979, after considerable difficulty in finding suitable sites, seven well grown plants of C. integerrimus were planted on the Great Orme. They were carefully monitored and watered during the dry spell which followed and appear to have become established. However, three of them have already been considerably pruned and the evidence would indicate that the Great Orme goats were responsible. If further depredations occur, any future plantings will have to be done on ledges which defy the agility of these animals and which, of necessity, will only be accessible to those who are prepared to dangle on climbing ropes. In 1908 the late Mr. Willoughby Gardner, in the course of his vice presidential address to members of the Uandudno and District Field Club, made the following remarks concerning the conservation of C. integerrimus: "I appeal, therefore, to the Llandudno Field Club to set to work to save Cotoneaster vulgaris from extinction in Great Britain. then in the course of time, when strong colonies have been established, seeds from these may be sown on suitable places upon the cliffs of the headland. Thus C. vulgaris might once more be firmly established in its one British habitat before it may be too late and it has gone forever". The task envisaged by Mr. Willoughby Gardner when he made his appeal in February 1908 has now, albeit seventy years later, been undertaken. It is hoped that when these young and virile plants have become firmly established on their ledges, C. integerrimus will, again one day, show signs of natural regeneration on the headland of the Great Orme.