It later turned up at a number of sites across the north-east of Wales including Chirk, Brymbo, Queensferry and Colwyn Bay and a herbarium specimen was discovered that had been collected at Brynteg in 1925.

Sometime in the early 20th century, an accidental doubling of the number of chromosomes in an S. × baxteri plant led to the formation of a new fertile species, Welsh groundsel.

[3] Outside Wales, it was erroneously reported from Shropshire in 1970[4] and introduced into a school garden in Wolverhampton in the 1990s, where it did not survive.

[5] Typical habitats of the species include waste ground, roadsides and cracks in walls and pavements.

[6] Threats include spraying to kill weeds, road widening, and infection by the rust Puccinia lagenophorae Cooke, 1884, which can decimate large stands.