Happy ever after?Like a knight in shining armour, Kew’s UK Native Seed Hub is coming to the rescue of a damsel in distress – Andrew Jackson relates the Rapunzel story

Today, Rapunzel is known at only eight sites in East Sussex and, due to its restricted distribution, small population size and decline, it is classed as endangered, with a high risk of local extinction. Four of the sites have fewer than ten plants each, and the total wild population in Britain is less than 300 plants.

Rapunzel is a long-lived herbaceous perennial and is found in the UK in damp, acidic soils along streams, verges and in coppiced woodland. A decline in woodland management at some locations, which has increased the level of shade, is exacerbating its decline. Attempts to conserve and restore the species are further complicated by a lack of seeds, complex dormancy mechanisms that prevent germination, and grazing of the young seedlings by slugs and snails.

The UK Native Seed Hub, based at Wakehurst Place, is working with conservation organisations and landowners to expand existing populations and reintroduce the species to sites from which it has been lost. Stephanie Miles, UK collections co-ordinator for Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, began this work with new wild seed collections in 2011. Experiments by Kew staff have succeeded in breaking the seeds’ dormancy through prolonged chilling, and the first mature plants flowered at Wakehurst last summer. Having developed reliable propagation and establishment methods, we can now produce a much larger number of plants for reintroduction

‘Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.’ An enchantress, a lonely childless couple and a desperate deal that seals a seemingly unhappy fate – for centuries we’ve sent our children off to sleep with rich storytelling that both excites and frightens them, and embeds cultural identity and a moral code. Some 40 years after being singularly frightened by such tales, I have revisited the story of Rapunzel to understand why it’s the common name of one of the rarest plants being conserved by Kew’s UK Native Seed Hub. It is only found in East Sussex today, where its creamy-white flower spikes make it a truly beautiful wild plant and worthy of comparison with the fabled beauty of Rapunzel.

Famous for engendering manic cravings, pregnancy is at the start of the Rapunzel fairy tale. The expectant mother is so taken by a plant in her neighbour’s garden that she must have it, at any cost, even ‘to the point of death’. The Rapunzel, or rampion, is the object of her desire. Her husband is compelled to collect it for her, as it was thought to be dangerous not to satisfy these food cravings. When stealing it, on the third night, her husband is caught by the neighbouring enchantress. Desperate not to suffer the consequences, he agrees to hand over the child, at birth, to be raised as her own.

At 12 years old, the beautiful daughter Rapunzel is locked away in a remote, stairless tower in the middle of the woods. The most famous line from the story comes from when the enchantress visits Rapunzel

and calls out: ‘Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so that I may climb the golden stair.’ Of course, after much angst and agony, the story does end happily ever after.

Reviewers of the Grimm brothers’ story describe links to earlier and similar tales, where parsley was craved during pregnancy. Others make a link between medicinal herbs used in pregnancy, and suggest the enchantress was a witch or medicine woman. The Grimm brothers kept their own dictionary, which includes several plant species that could be the Rapunzel, including one that bears the common name in Britain today – Phyteuma spicatum. On the Continent it’s known as white Rapunzel, while its other British common name is spiked rampion.

This plant was first noted in Britain as a cultivated plant and the description in Gerard’s Herball of 1597 states: ‘Some affirme that the decoction of the roots are good for all inflammation of the mouth and almonds of the throte and other diseases happening in the mouth and throte, as the other Throte warts.’ Rapunzel was then first recorded as a wild plant in Britain in 1640 and in Sussex in 1824.

There are about 40 species of Phyteuma in Europe and western Asia. The only other species found in Sussex, round-headed rampion (P. orbiculare), has been designated the county flower. Also known locally as the pride of Sussex, its deep-blue flowers are a treasured feature of the South Downs in summer.

B E H I N D T H E S C E N E S

– Andrew Jackson is head of Wakehurst Place and was a finalist in the 2012 Garden Media Guild’s Garden Columnist of the Year

» For more information, go to www.plantlife.org.uk and search for ‘rapunzel’

to the wild. Plants will also be grown and harvested in our production beds to provide a secure, genetically diverse source of seeds. We will also experiment with sowing, planting and habitat management techniques to discover exactly what the Rapunzel needs to thrive. Management work, to achieve optimum conditions, is being carried out at all eight sites with the help of Wakehurst staff.

Ultimately, Kew’s UK Native Seed Hub aims to enable ‘happy ever after’ outcomes for as many of our wildflowers as possible – not just the rare or the beautiful, but all the species that contribute to the tapestry of wild plant diversity. Kew’s expertise in seed conservation, horticulture and restoration supports the ongoing work of many partner organisations, including the Species Recovery Trust, Plantlife, Sussex Wildlife Trust, Natural England, the Forestry Commission and private landowners. Plant conservation is most effective and ultimately sustainable when carried out in partnership with others.

Please visit the UK Native Seed Hub at Wakehurst for yourself and seek out the beautiful Rapunzel and our many other enchanting native wild plants.

Growing up to 95 cm tall, the Rapunzel’s flower

spikes are a bewitching sight in early summer –

and one that looks set to become less rare, thanks to ongoing conservation

and restoration efforts

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