The secret of the winter flowers
We are so used to associating flowers with spring and summer, that to discover a winter flowering plant is special. Especially when it is going over such a large part of the floor of the wood. The winter heliotrope stores food, from photosynthesis in its rhizome, so it can grow as soon as it is warm enough. December and January have been especially warm in Nowhere Wood, with temperature records being broken. The plant has taken advantage of this, with the first flowers opening at the start of the new year.
The secret that there are only male plants in the wood is not unique; other species that are brought be people to the UK (such as Canadian pondweed, Elodea) are the same.
The plant thrives because of vegetative reproduction, forming clone plants. This is ideal, as long as the climate and the environmental factors suit its growth. With no genetic variation in the population, there is no chance of the plant recovering from adverse environmental conditions. A fungal disease could easily wipe out the entire UK population. We have seen this with Dutch Elm disease in the 1970s and, more recently, Ash die-back disease.