Plantlife launches Great British Wildflower Hunt

Conservation charity Plantlife launches this year’s Great British Wildflower Hunt, with 21 new spring species to spot and a new code of conduct on when it is OK to pick wild flowers…

Last year, from the Channel Islands to the Orkney Islands, more than 15,200 wild flowers were spotted by the British public in the first year of this annual Hunt.  Over 60 common species were included last summer and this year Plantlife is adding 21 spring woodland flowers, including anemone, ramsons and early purple orchid.

Despite an arctic winter and a cold spring so far, celandines, primroses, violets and stitchwort are all in bloom!

Lots of people were out hunting wildflowers all over Scotland last year. Glasgow was awash with lawn flowers, with white clover, meadow buttercup, dandelion, daisy and selfheal topping the list. Our most northerly hunts come from Shetland, where 20 species including field scabious and harebell were spotted on a walk in the country, and 12 species in towns, including Welsh poppy, wild teasel and common poppy.

Plantlife’s Botanical Specialist Trevor Dines said: “Research we carried out with YouGov within the last year shows that 70% of the public want to know their wild flowers better, and this is such an easy way to do it:

“15% of our hunters started out saying they couldn’t name any wildflowers and were ‘unsure’ of their identification abilities so that was particularly thrilling when they completed the Hunt.  At the other end of the scale, thirteen of our hunters scored a full house, finding all the species on their spotter sheets and scoring the maximum 37 points.”

This year, the charity has also highlighted a dozen species within the Hunt that are so abundant that they are OK to pick and is publishing a new Code of Conduct to give people confidence when picking.

Plantlife’s Vice President Rachel de Thame explained: “When I was growing up, we used to walk everywhere and I learnt to recognise common wild flowers. I knew my cowslip from my cow parsley and yes, I used to love picking little posies. 

“So much of our wildlife is untouchable but common wild flowers and plants are different.  I’ve gone on to teach my children and to nurture this relationship with our native flora that is fascinating, joyful and yes, important.  The Great British Wildflower Hunt, with it’s helpful ID tips, can give us all confidence to identify flowers and also provides Plantlife with much needed information about how well they are doing.”

So when is it OK to pick wild flowers?  

There is a prevalent sense that picking flowers is a bad thing.  Many of us are unsure what’s OK and what’s not and so err on the safe side.  Plantlife’s new code of conduct shows us that wild flowers don’t have to be out of bounds – and out of our lives.  We are very used to picking some species (daisies, dandelions and wild garlic) but there are other wild flowers that are commonplace and even increasing in number.

Rachel added: “What we know and love we are more likely to conserve. It’s about children starting a relationship with wild flowers. It’s in a child’s instinct to collect, but today that means collecting stickers, toys or those must-have gadgets. Yet it wasn’t so long ago that children were just as keen to collect wild flowers, whether it was to take a posy home, press them, or make petal perfume, they were part of children’s everyday life.

“We need to ensure that this next generation is just as engaged and passionate so they will understand why wild flowers need to be cherished and protected for not only the beauty they bring to our lives but for their vital role as life support to all our wildlife.”

The Great British Wildflower Hunt launches this Easter and runs right through the spring and summer. There are 68 species in this year’s hunt and 12 of these are OK to pick, with the assurance that you won’t do any harm IF you follow Plantlife’s new Code of Conduct when it comes to picking; whilst it’s not against the law to pick, Plantlife urge people to check the Plantlife website for guidelines first.

Happy hunting!

Plantlife’s Code of Conduct to picking wild flowers

Here are eight things to remember when picking any of the twelve wild flowers on our list.

1. Make sure you’re not trespassing on any private land.
2. Never pick flowers from nature reserves or any other protected sites (such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest) without prior permission from the landowner.
3. Only pick from large patches of abundant flowers, leaving plenty of flowers for others to enjoy, to set seed, and to provide other wildlife with pollen, nectar, seed or shelter.
4. Follow the one-in-twenty rule, picking one flower out of every twenty you find. You should never diminish the display.  
5. Only pick a small handful of flowers for personal use, you must never pick for commercial gain.
6. Don’t trample other flowers or vegetation.
7. Never uproot any plant unless you have the landowner’s permission, and be aware that some plants (listed on Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act) cannot be picked without a licence
8. If in doubt, don’t pick. If you don’t know the identity of a plant, leave it where it is. Take a photograph instead and try and identify it at home first.

A DOZEN WILDFLOWERS TO PICK

We’ve selected the following dozen flowers based on their sheer abundance across Britain, the range of flowering season, their cultural connections and their qualities as cut flowers.

Common name

Latin name

Flowering month

J

F

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

Daisy

Bellis perennis

Dandelion

Taraxacum officinale

Primrose

Primula vulgaris

Common dog-violet

Viola riviniana

Greater stitchwort

Stellaria holostea

Cow parsley

Anthriscus sylvestris

Meadow buttercup

Ranunculus acris

Red campion

Silene dioica

Oxeye daisy

Leucanthemum vulgare

Yarrow

Achillea millefolium

Common knapweed

Centaurea nigra

Meadowsweet

Filipendula ulmaria

 

• Daisy (Bellis perennis)

 

Who hasn’t picked a daisy flower and marvelled at its beauty? The ‘day’s-eye’ can be found blooming in almost all months of the year, but in spring they can astonish us with their quantity. As Peter Mabey puts it in Flora Britannica, “In the short turf of paddocks and lawns they can grow in constellations so dense there is no space between the flowers, and it is this sheer availability and abundance that is partly responsible for their popularity in children’s games”. For generations, children have made daisy chains, looped into bracelets, necklaces and headbands. But you can also make wonderful ‘daisy caterpillars’ by taking a long-stemmed daisy and threading onto this stalk the flowers of other daisies (pinch off their stems close to the head to reveal a small hole first). Then there are ‘Australian daisies’ where the stalk is pushed back through the flower. And, of course, you can tell you whether “he loves me, he loves me not” by pulling off individual petals in turn; the last remaining petal reveals the answer.

 

• Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

 

Often turning pastures and lawns yellow, the early flowers of dandelion are a joyous herald of spring. Despite their familiarity, their flowers are stunningly beautiful close up – we’d eagerly seek them if they were at all rare. All parts of the plant are edible (especially the young leaves and flowers) but famously, the roots contain a diuretic that has led to other common names such as ‘piss-a-bed’. The name dandelion comes from the French dent de lion meaning lion’s-tooth, referring to the jagged edge of the leaves. The leaves and flowers are wonderfully diverse; there are over 230 species of dandelion in Britain and a single location may have more than 30 different sorts; see if you can collect different leaf shapes and flower forms together. But of course, it’s as a highly accurate clock that dandelion seed heads are most often picked by children. As well as being very beautiful and intricate structures, the number of blows it takes to remove all the seeds tells you precisely the hour of the day (give or take a few hours).

 

• Primrose (Primula vulgaris)

 

There is a very long and rich tradition of picking primroses. This is probably because they’re such a symbol of awakening in spring (they are ‘prima rosa’ or ‘first rose’) and because they grow naturally in the form of a small posy. Part of this tradition was to tie small bunches of flowers – usually with strands of wool or wrapped in moss – and send them to parents, churches and hospitals at Easter. This idea of a small posy of hand-picked wild flowers given as a gift has fallen out of favour, but is surely one of the most powerful emblems of affection and thoughtfulness we can afford to each other. Primroses were Disraeli’s favourite flower and Queen Victoria regularly sent him bunches. The tradition continues today and on Primrose Day – 19th April – a bunch is placed on his statue in front of Westminster Abbey and on his grave in Hughenden, Buckinghamshire. In Devon, a small commercial enterprise once collected 1,300,000 primrose blooms from a wood each year. A team of ecologists were brought in to assess the effects on the population. Noting that only a few flowers were collected from any one plant, they found that the level of picking was not a threat to the survival of primroses, especially given that individual plants had a lifespan of 15-25 years.

 

• Common dog-violet (Viola riviniana)

 

For generations people have been picking small bunches of sweet violet (Viola odorata) to give as scented posies, but this species is not frequent enough – especially away from southeast England – to be recommend. Instead, common dog-violets are abundant in hedgerows, woodland edges, waysides, verges, meadows, heaths and moors. Although they lack the scent of sweet violet their flowers are astonishingly beautiful close-up; look for their delicately veined lower petal and the pale spur behind the flower.  A tiny posy of these, tied with some wool, would be a delightful gift at Easter, or arrange a few flowers in a miniature bottle to grace a dinner table.

 

• Greater stitchwort (Stellaria holostea)

 

A beautiful wildflower of woodlands, hedgerows and waysides, the pure white flowers of greater stitchwort have a clean purity that’s hard to beat. Also known as ‘shirt buttons’, ‘poor-man’s buttonhole’ and ‘daddy’s-shirt-buttons’, the stems are very brittle and break easily if you reach out and lift them, the flowers coming away almost accidentally. It may well have been that rather than let such flower go to waste, they were popped into a buttonhole to brighten up a suit. Greater stitchwort is closely associated with pixies; it was once thought that anyone picking the flowers would become enchanted and led by pixies into their bitter-sweet fairy-realm, leaving them distracted forever.

 

• Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris)

 

It sometimes seems that every road verge in the country is thick with the frothy white flowers of cow parsley in spring. Mile upon mile can grace our highways and byways, an exuberant and wonderful display that – according to one story – decorated the roads for Queen Anne when she ventured into the countryside in May, hence the alternative name ‘Queen Anne’s Lace’. It is a wonderful wild flower for cutting with a unique air, balance and elegance that means it works well in arrangements. It’s increasingly popular in wedding and church displays and lasts well in a vase for over a week. Be careful you’re picking cow parsley and not one of its similar relatives – hemlock has purple-spotted stems and hogweed has broader leaflets.   

 

• Meadow buttercup (Ranunculus acris)

 

Now, here’s a wildflower that all children should be encouraged to pick – how else will they know whether or not they like butter? Holding a flower under the chin and proclaiming a love of butter from the golden glow must be one of the first relationships many children have with any wildflower. Of course, there’s always a golden glow, because the outer layer of cells in the petals trap a thin layer of air, creating a mirror-like effect and reflecting the yellow pigment below. But the science doesn’t explain the squeal of delight as children hold flowers to each other’s chins. Buttercups can be so abundant in meadows and fields they turn them gold and a small bunch looks fantastic with a few grasses to give a wild look.

 

• Red Campion (Silene dioica)

 

Of all our wildflowers, red campion is a sparkling jewel. Found in woodlands, hedgerows and waysides, no other flower provides the same shot of reddish pink in spring, a colour enhanced by the company it often keeps – a softer palette of bluebells, greater stitchwort and cow parsley. The flowers look fabulous in a mixed arrangement, or try them on their own for maximum impact. When picking, look out for two types of plant: male plants have flowers with ten yellow pollen-bearing stamens, while female plants have flowers with five white stigmas that often protrude beyond the petals. Contrary to ancient folklore you won’t be attacked by a snake if you bring it into the house, but if you do the seeds are conveniently also thought to cure snake bites (but don’t rely on this).

 

• Oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)

 

Few flowers capture the spirit of a wildflower meadow more than oxeye daisy. Often they grow in joyous abundance, swaying in the grasses under cloudless skies. Today, we’re more likely to see them along our road verges, like a bright garland to our daily commute. Unlike the common lawn daisy (Bellis perennis), their flowers don’t close up at night; glowing brightly in the dusk they have developed a close connection with the moon and many people still prefer to call them moon daisies. They’re a superb cut flower, lasting well in water, and only a few of the large flowers are needed to make an impression. Like common daisy, you can also tell you whether “he loves me, he loves me not” by pulling off individual petals in turn.

 

• Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

 

Yarrow is so common and abundant in grassy places – lawns, waysides and meadows – that many of us never give it a second thought. But hold a flower in your hand and it thoroughly deserves a closer look. Despite appearances, it’s actually a member of the daisy family and up-close the flowers are exquisite, each little ‘flower’ a posy of smaller flowers surrounded by larger ‘petals’, just like a daisy. Most plants produce white flowers but pinkish and lilac forms are not uncommon and are very beautiful. It’s a superb cut flower, lasting well in water, and its appearance is only enhanced by its feathery foliage, which is cut into a ‘thousand leaves’ (as the Latin name ‘millefolium’ implies). Be careful not to stuff these leaves up your nose though, as they were traditionally thought to cause nosebleeds!

 

• Common knapweed (Centaurea nigra)

 

The bright pink pincushions of common knapweed brighten up almost every meadow, pasture, verge, wayside and cliff top in Britain. Another member of the daisy family, the flowers are actually made up of many small individual flowers. These protrude from a vase-shaped flowerhead which is very hard to the touch, giving rise to the other common name ‘hardheads’. Each hardhead is actually adorned with beautiful brown scales which deserve a second look (but don’t deserve their horrid botanical name of ‘involucral bracts’). Occasional plants have flowers with an additional ring of outer ‘ray’ florets in the flower heads, making them especially striking. In an old traditional game, girls would pick the pink protruding petals from the flowers heads and place the empty husk in their cleavage while guessing the name of their future husband. If they had guessed correctly, the flower would be fully restored within an hour.

 

• Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria)

 

From high summer onwards, ditches, wet meadows, river edges and pond sides turn frothy with the massed flowerheads of meadowsweet. They grow abundantly, their tall stems reaching above the reeds and rushes and painting the countryside creamy white. The foliage is beautiful too, each leaf deeply divided into several leaflets that are white underneath. Both flowers and leaves are fragrant –  a delightful mix of honey and musk with a hint of cucumber. It’s certainly a plant to handle! The flowers were once used to flavour mead – indeed the original name may have been “mead-sweet”, which then evolved into meadowsweet. It was once popular as a strewing herb, thrown onto stone and soil floors to scent the room, and flowers are still dried for use in potpourri. They’re an excellent cut flower, adding a frothy lightness to any arrangement.

www.plantlife.org.uk/wildflowerhunt