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Cardamine Pratensis / Lady’s Smock
The flowers are usually veined with darker violet but in some areas pure white forms can be found. It is an important food plant for the caterpillars of the orange-tip and the green-veined white butterfly. In his Flora Britannica, Richard Mabey shows how the first full blooming of the Cuckooflower is a remarkably accurate predictor of the first hearing of the bird itself.
This wild flower is commonly found throughout the UK. It grows wherever there is damp ground – wet grassland, damp meadows, pond margins and along the banks of streams. It is may also found on road verges and in ditches.
Cuckooflower is commonly found in its preferred habitats.
Cuckooflower on a road verge, image by Trevor Dines
Primula Veris
Cowslips are one of the best known spring flowers. The cup-shaped, yellow flowers grow in nodding clusters on tall stalks. The leaves are oval with relatively wrinkled edges similar to the Primrose, but narrowing more abruptly into the stalk.
They can be found in open woods, meadows, pastures and roadsides. They tend to favour rank grasses and scrub rather than amongst large numbers of spring-grazing sheep.
Its cultural history suggests that it was once as common as the Buttercup however, it suffered a decline between 1930 and 1980, mainly due to the loss of the grasslands where it grows. It’s dramatic decline in the 1950s was due to the relentless advance of modern farming, particularly the ploughing of old grassland and the extension of the use of chemical herbicides. Fortunately, it is now showing signs of recovery and has begun to return to unsprayed verges and village greens as well as colonising the banks of new roads. It has probably been assisted by the scattering of wild flower seed mixtures. Vast masses have reappeared in Hertfordshire where grazing pressures have eased.
Cowslips at Deep Dale Reserve
S morph Cowslip
L morph Cowslip
Ajuga reptans
An evergreen perennial, it spreads by means of long, leafy runners. Spikes of purplish-blue flowers grow to from dense mats of dark green leaves with purple highlights. It is sometimes confused with Selfheal, however on this plant the flowers are arranged more tightly at the top of the stem.
In damp woods, hedge banks and meadows throughout the UK.
Bugle continues to be common in its preferred habitats.
Bugle on a lawn, image by Archie Thomas
Close up of Bugle, image by Cath Shelwell
Bugle, image by Beth Newman
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