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RBC staff have helped the Société Jersiaise Botany Section preserve one of the island’s rarest wild plants - Allium sphaerocephalon – the round-headed leek, as part of a volunteering day.
In honour of the organisation’s centenary year, RBC Wealth Management staff volunteered to spend a day helping regenerate the only area in Jersey where the rare wild leek grows. To help preserve the plants, the RBC team spent the day removing a dense layer of turf in a public grassland at Bel Royal, encouraging the leek to extend its range by recreating the natural sand dune habitat in which it thrives.
"For 100 years botanists from the Société Jersiaise Botany Section have been monitoring, recording and helping to protect our island flora, especially rare and vulnerable plants," said Anne Haden, the secretary of the Section. "We are really pleased that with the invaluable help of RBC Wealth Management, Transport and Technical Services and the Environment Department, we can hopefully secure a future for the Round-headed Leek here in Jersey."
Whilst the RBC Volunteers will have to be patient to see the results from this environmental volunteer day, they hope their efforts will make a real difference to the conservation of the round-headed leek population here in Jersey.
"It is so rewarding to be able to work alongside the Société Jersiaise in their important work to preserve the island's natural habitat, and make a real difference by protecting a rare species of plant,’ said Francis Binney, Environmental Officer, RBC Wealth Management. ‘As a business we are very conscious of our local surroundings and are keen to support initiatives that help preserve it."
The round-headed leek, first recorded growing in Jersey in 1836, grows from a bulb and has a rosette of strap-shaped leaves at the base of the stem. It can grow up to a metre in height but in Jersey is usually somewhat shorter. It flowers in June and July and is a deep pinkish/purplish colour.
