Navelwort - Umbilicus rupestris

Low to medium hairless plant. The leaves are rounded and peltate, with a central stalk, stem leaves being progressively smaller. The flowers are greenish white or straw coloured, bell shaped, pendant and borne in tapered spikes.

As this is on the local Rare Plant Register, a photo is needed for verification if it is recorded outside its known sites (see below) (RPR)

Grows on walls, rocks, rooftops and banks.

Flowers June to August.

Perennial.

Widespread in western Britain, but much less common elsewhere.

Scarce but increasing in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the Flora of Leicestershire (Primavesi and Evans 1988) it was found in 2 of the 617 tetrads, but was not recorded in the Flora of Rutland (Messenger 1971).

In the current checklist, (Jeeves 2011) it is listed as Native; only recorded as a presumed native from slate quarries in Swithland Wood and the Brand, Swithland Churchyard and Kinchley Lane.

It is listed on the current VC55 Rare Plant Register (Hall and Woodward 2022) as Locally Scarce (i.e. present in 4-10 sites).   Recently (2022) plants have been turning up in some new sites, and it may be spreading in the Charnwood Forest area in Leicestershire and Rutland.