Page 7 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #06
P. 7
The percentage of the British public who would
like to know their wildflowers better, according CHRI SS
to research for Plantlife in 2017. Fifteen per cent
70% of people polled couldn’t name any wildflowers. PACK
KHAM’S
MUST
T-SEE
Q WILDFLOWERS
BRITAIN
IN BLOOM
rimming with colour and buzzing
with pollinators, road verges are
Ba daily delight in early summer.
A survey for the charity Plantlife
found that they collectively host
more than 720 species of wildflower,
almost a hundred of which are at risk
or near-threatened in Britain. With
so much agricultural land farmed
intensively and many woodlands in
poor condition, the nation’s verges
have become important refuges.
Unfortunately, many verges are
themselves badly maintained
nowadays, either mown too early
and frequently or swamped by dense
growth of nettles and brambles.
One of the causes is a worrying
lack of botanical knowhow among the
general population. Widespread
‘plant blindness’ leads us to
undervalue the wild strips of
grassland by roads and motorways.
Now in its second year, Plantlife’s
Great British Wildflower Hunt is part
of a drive to get more people
interested in our rich floral heritage.
We’re being encouraged to rediscover
the simple joy of picking poseys of
wildflowers – responsibly, of course.
When more than half of Britons can’t
recognise a plant as common as red
clover, we have problem.
GET INVOLVED Take part in the Great
British Wildflower Hunt and see Plantlife’s
code of conduct for picking wildflowers:
www.plantlife.org.uk/wildflowerhunt
NOT ONLY DO
` FLOWERY
VERGES BRIGHTEN
OUR JOURNEYS,
THEY ARE VITAL
Frothy beds of cow parsley
and pretty red campion HABITATS, TOO.”
spill over the banks of a
country lane in Norfolk. All Ernie James/NHPA/Photoshot
too often our road verges are
obliterated by over-zealous
mowing and strimming.
BBC Wildlife 7
