Among the diversity of the British flora is a handful of plants that I will travel a long way to see because of their beauty or novelty or rarity, or simply because I link them with a stage of my life that is good to remember. These are my pilgrimage plants. Over the next year I plan to publish a series of these in the hope that it will encourage others to appreciate plants more and to think about their role in our lives.
The first of my pilgrimage plants is the field cow wheat (Melampyrum arvense). It’s a rare and declining species first recorded in the UK in the 18th century. It’s highly colouful inflorescence is striking and contrasts with the far more subdued Melampyrum pratense that grows much more widely in the UK. It is also a plant that grows on the Isle of Wight, a place we have held many relaxing family holidays. For detail of the species you can read the Arkive page and for the very limited current distribution see the BSBI maps and associated information.
#pilgrimageplants @botanyRNG
And a hemi-parasite making it even more interesting! The spectacular Melampyrum cristatum, from Dr M’s recent eXtreme botany european tour, coming up soon on drmgoeswild!
Yes, it parasitises grasses and needs a fairly open habitat with chalky soil to flourish.