Navelwort (Wall Pennywort)
Umbilicus rupestris
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Round fleshy leaves dimpled in the middle like a navel — a succulent growing out of a wall.
A distinctive succulent perennial with round, fleshy, bright green leaves, each dimpled in the centre where the stalk joins beneath, and tall slender spikes of drooping greenish-cream tubular flowers. Navelwort grows out of the crevices of old walls, rocks and shaded banks, and is commonest in the milder, wetter west of the region.
Behaviour
The thick fleshy leaves store water, letting it survive on a bare wall face where there is no soil and drainage is instant — the same strategy as a desert succulent, applied to a Scottish stone dyke. It favours acid rock and mortar and shaded, humid aspects, and its distribution in Britain is strongly Atlantic, thinning out rapidly to the east.
When to see it
Quick facts
- Family
- Stonecrops (Crassulaceae)
- Height
- 15–40 cm in flower
- Status
- Native; an Atlantic species, commonest in the west
Photo by Júlio Reis, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons