Britain’s Rarest Wildflowers
Like many places in the world Britain is losing it’s biodiversity to invasive species, pollution, land development and other problems. Here is a look at some quite well-known British species that are becoming a rarer and rarer sigh
An age old sight on dry cliffs and grasslands is Thyme Broom Rape Thyme Broom Rape is a strange palnt. I tis actually a parasite on wild thyme so you will find in in fields where there is plenty of growing thyme herb. The plant is a bright russett in color with thick stems feathered leaves that look a bit like the ends of an oyster mushroom.
Spring Gentian is a tiny, bright blue flower that looks like a cigarette holder with a blossom stuck in the end. Even the pollen and stamens of the flower are a colorful eclectric blue. It is found in the highlands and rocky areas of the U.K.
The harder-to-find Mountain Avenue is a tiny white flower that is found in rocky brutal places. It has bright white leaves with golden yellow stamens. Its lovely leafless stem is a bright red. The leaves at the base of the plant look like miniature oak leaves.
Another delicate rare white flower is Grass-of-Parnassus. Originally found on Mount Parnassus in Greece it is found in damp, ancient places with lot of rain full. It has five oval petals with a yellow and lavender center.
Pasque flowers are crocus-like purple flowers with anemone like seed pods and golden yellow anthers in the flower’s center. They grow mostly in the highland areas of the U.K..
A rare and exotic site is the Early Spider Orchid which is a furry stem with wrapped leaves and blossoms that sport a velvet yellow interior and a polished brown underside. It got it’s name because the blossoms look like fat spiders.
The Green–winged Orchid is has a long thin red stem from which bright purple flowers with spotted white and violet tongues. The underside of the plant has striped green veins that give it its name.
One of the most beautiful blooms is the exotic Fritillary which has pink flower bells that look like miniature pane of glass. The bells droop and have very spiky fringes. The reason this flower is so rare is because if the site where they grow is ploughed even once then the bulbs are broken and the flower will never grow back.