Bog asphodel

Key traits

Bog asphodel is a perennial herb with a creeping rhizome. It produces leaves annually which die back each autumn, and it overwinters as a small subterranean bud (Summerfield 1974). It is likely that fires occurring before the growing season starts will little affect bog asphodel, but those during the summer which consume biomass will cause negative impacts. Bog asphodel is susceptible to competition from more vigorous species, and so disturbance that helps reduce competition will benefit this species.

Bog asphodel can produce abundant amounts of small, wind-dispersed seeds (up to 10 000 seeds per m2; Summerfield 1974). The survival of seeds through fire and role of recruitment from seed in regeneration after fire are unclear from the literature.

Plant response to fire

Fire can benefit bog asphodel populations, with burnt plots of blanket bog in Northern England showing higher frequencies of this species relative to un-burned plots (Forrest and Smith 1975). However, the timing and severity of fire is likely crucial to impacts on bog asphodel populations, with summer wildfires reducing the abundance of bog asphodel and sometimes causing local losses (Summerfield, 1974; Kelly et al. 2023). Bog asphodel can survive frequent, low-intensity burns, although they may reduce plant vigour (Summerfield 1974).

Timing of life history

Perennial species. Seeds can be produced from 2-6 years depending upon the site productivity. Flowering June to August.