Plants Emerging from the Rumble

Plants can be found everywhere. But have you ever focused in on where the plants are growing? Most people would answer that they are growing in the ground horizontally. I challenge you to look up. Look up, look up the wall that you are walking by, do you see it, there is vegetation popping out of it. It is better to label them as vegetation rather than weed, to allow them to get more credit and appreciation for their significant. These plants can be found in a varieties of ancient ruins, historical sites and everyday buildings. In some of my images you can see the plants that have emerged in Venice and Rome. They could be on the side of someone's home or on the wall near the Tiber river.

     Commonly the plants that grow out of the walls made of limestone which creates a sub-humid and shady environment, or they can grow from brick walls cemented by mortar, or less frequently from tuff. (Bartoli, et al, 6 & Caneva et al 218.) The plants form in clusters, causing them to be the type of variety that are trailing or climbing. Rain on these walls becomes a primary source of survival for these plants. Plants thrive on sunny areas, but they still require sufficiently wet soil in the core of the rock. Due to the age of many of the ancient ruins and monuments there is generally an accumulation of soil and water that has built up with time and weathering. (Bartoli, et al,7.) Many of the spaces that are growing the vegetation have been around for a while and have gone through changes of growth, chemical alterations and mechanical action that affects the environment. (Caneva et al, 218). In my travels so far around Rome and Venice I found these plants set into the walls: Caper, Spreading Pellitory, Santa Barbra Daisy and Kenilworth Ivy.

Figure 1: Plants growing out of the wall near the Tiber river (photo by author) 

Figure 2: Caper bush growing out of the wall near the Tiber river (photo by author)

Figure 3: Santa Barbra Daisy growing out of the wall near the Tiber river (photo by author)

Figure 4:Spreading Pellitory growing out of the wall near the Tiber river (photo by author)

Figure 5: Kenilworth Ivy growing out of a home in Venice (photo by author)

Figure 6: Trachlkium Caeruleum Growing out of the mill in Ostia Antica (photo by author)

References 

Bartoli, Flavia, Giulia Caneva, and Giovanni Bio. “Natural Habitats of Typical Plants Growing on Ruins of Roman Archaeological Sites (Rome, Italy).” Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with All Aspects of Plant Biology, 2014.

Caneva, Giulia, G. De Marco, A. Dinelli, and M. Vinci. "The wall vegetation of the roman archaeological areas." Science and technology for cultural heritage 1 (1992): 217-226.