Wildflowers - Derbyshire Wildlife Trust

Wildflowers
an interactive guide
Welcome to Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s interactive guide to some
of the special limestone loving plants that can be found in the
Limestone Journeys area.
Simply touch one of the flowers to learn more or swipe through to
read through at your leisure - like taking a skip or walk through
our digital garden.
Key:
Woodland flowers
Grassland flowers
English bluebell
Pignut
Wild service tree
Yellow wort
Wood sorrel
Dog’s mercury
Early purple
orchid
Wild marjoram
Yellow archangel
Lords and ladies
Wild strawberry
Small scabious
Sweet woodruff
Primrose
Kidney vetch
Field scabious
Great burnet
Common
rock rose
Common spotted
orchid
Bee orchid
Hoary plantain
Greater
knapweed
Oxeye daisy
Common centaury
Mouse ear
hawkweed
Common
bird’s-foot trefoil
Bladder campion
Cowslip
Lady’s bedstraw
Common
knapweed
Wild carrot
Southern marsh
orchid
Woodland flowers
English bluebell
Hyacinthoides non-scripta
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
Bluebell sap was once used to
s
bind pages into the spine of book
and Bronze Age people used the
“bluebell glue” to attach feathers
to their arrows.
Flowers
Habitat
Narrow tube like dark blue
scented flowers with rolled up
edges. They flower between
April and June. They have
narrow leaves (1-2cm) which
can help one distinguish them
from the invasive Spanish
species (with much thicker
leaves).
They are widely distributed
except on mountains and fens,
they like shady habitats and as
a result are mainly found
in woodlands.
Oxalis acetosella
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
Oxalis means sour and the lemon
h
sharp leaves can be eaten althoug
they can be slightly toxic in high
quantities and are a diuretic. The
French used to blend dried wood
sorrel leaves with sugar to make
“non-lemon” lemonade powder.
Flowers
Habitat
The shamrock-shaped leaves
make it easy to identify wood
sorrel. When they open flat,
they look like three hearts
joined at the stem. They have
delicate veined white flowers
which bloom in spring and tend
to last until autumn, although
can occasionally be found later.
They grow in layered clumps on
leaf mould or mossy logs under
hedges and in shady woods.
Woodland flowers
Wood sorrel
Woodland flowers
Yellow archangel
Lamiastrum galeobdolon
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
Yellow archangel may well have
got its common name from its
virtue of not stinging, despite being
part of the ‘dead’ nettle family.
Flowers
Habitat
They have heart-shaped or
oval, toothed leaves and whorls
of yellow flowers that appear
up the stem in May and June.
They can grow to 45cm.
These are ancient woodland
plants and are also found on
old hedge banks and well
drained soils. They tend to
emerge once the bluebells start
to fade.
Galium odoratum
Guess what?
rless
Whilst growing the plants are odou
ell
but when picked and dried they sm
s
of freshly mown hay and the leave
e
retain this scent for months, henc
ed
the “sweet” name. Bunches of dri
ers
leaves used to be used as freshen
in wardrobes to deter moths.
Flowers
Habitat
They bloom in early May and
have tiny chalk white flowers on
upright stems with bright green
six-leaved ruffs.
Woodruff occurs throughout
Britain and is generally confined
to ancient woodland. In central
England it prefers old woodland
and hedge banks on chalky
soils.
Woodland flowers
Sweet woodruff
Woodland flowers
Pignut
Conopodium majus
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
The dark brown tubers have the
taste of young hazelnuts and
children used to hunt for them
as a snack.
Flowers
Habitat
Pignuts have fine leaves and
delicate branched stems. Small
umbrella like clusters of white
flowers appear between April
and June. Height up to 25cm.
Pignuts are umbellifers
(members of the carrot family)
plants of long established
grassland and open woodland
and as these habitats have
declined, so have the plants.
Mercurialis perennis
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
me
The mercury part of this plant’s na
originates from the legend that the
l
god Mercury revealed the medicina
ks
benefits of the plant and the Gree
called it Mercury’s grass.
Flowers
Habitat
Spear-shaped, toothed, fresh
green leaves carried on upright
stems. It produces a foul and
rotten smell and bears clusters
of small, greenish flowers in
spring.
Dog’s mercury is a common
woodland plant, predominantly
found in ancient woods and old
hedgerows and often carpets
the floor in old ashwoods.
Woodland flowers
Dog’s mercury
Woodland flowers
Lords and ladies
Arum maculatum
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
The berries are poisonous, but
the roots are safe to use. Roots
were used to stiffen the elaborate
ruffs of the Elizabethan Age and
baked. They were also used as a
substitute for arrowroot to thicken
sauces, soups and stews.
Flowers
Habitat
The unusual flower of this plant
has a large pale yellow ‘hood’
and has large arrow shaped
leaves. It flowers in April and
May then has red berries in July
and August.
It commonly occurs in mature
hedgerows and woodlands.
Primula vulgaris
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
niversary of
Primrose Day (19th April) is the an
Benjamin
the death of British prime minister
ourite flower
Disraeli. The primrose was his fav
nd him
and Queen Victoria would often se
rne House.
bunches from Windsor and Osbo
his funeral.
She sent a wreath of primroses to
placed on his
On Primrose Day, primroses are
his statue in
grave in Buckinghamshire and by
front of Westminster Abbey.
Flowers
Habitat
Primroses flowers have five
yellow petals which are in a
more open arrangement than
cowslip flowers. They flower
between March and June.
Wild primroses can be found
in woodlands in grasslands
and occasionally along mature
hedgerows.
Woodland flowers
Primrose
Woodland flowers
Wild service tree
Sorbus torminalis
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
The fruits from the wild service
tree, once blotted, can be made
into jam or stepped in sugar and
spirits to become the liqueur or
cordial known as ratafia.
Flowers and leaves
Habitat
The flowers of this tree have
five white petals which can
be seen in May and June.
The leaves are pointed maple
leaf and are downy white
underneath. They are arranged
alternately on the twig.
Wild service trees are relatively
rare, but do occur in ancient
woodlands and in mature
hedgerows on either clay or
lime-rich soils.
Early purple orchid
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
nt
This species has a variety of ancie
and
names (including Goosey ganders
used
Adder’s meat) which suggests it
It is
to be abundant and well known.
ng
thought these flowers were the “lo
purples” contained with Ophelia’s
garland in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Flowers and leaves
Habitat
The pinkish-purple flowers appear
on a spike of up to 40cm. They
display up to 50 dark purple to
pink flowers arranged in a dense,
cone-shaped cluster on a tall spike.
The bold leaves of the early purple
orchid are glossy and dark green
with dark spots, and form a rosette
on the ground; they appear from
January onwards.
As its name suggests, the
early purple orchid is one of
our earliest flowering orchids,
appearing from April to June.
This orchid is often found in
habitats with non-acidic soils
such as hedgerows, banks,
ancient woodland and open
grassland.
Woodland and grassland flowers
Orchis mascula
Grassland flowers
Wild strawberry
Fragaria vesca
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
In Derbyshire, strawberries are
often warmed by heat reflected
from the rock and become soft,
fragrant beads of sweet juice.
Flowers
Habitat
It looks just like a strawberry
plant with five white petals
and leaves in three, like a
trefoil. The flowers appear
between April and July with
the tiny strawberries from May
onwards.
It grows on grasslands on
lime-rich soil and can also be
indicative of ancient woodlands.
Anthyllis vulneraria
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
A common name for this plant is
Granny’s pin cushions.
Flowers
Habitat
Small yellow flowers sit atop
of little woolly cushions. The
flowers can also be orange
and red. They flower between
June and September. The
leaves are divided into narrow
leaflets that are silky and white
underneath.
Kidney vetch are frequent
native perennials of the
Magnesian Limestone, they are
found on free-draining soils in
sand dunes, chalk grassland
and cliffs.
Grassland flowers
Kidney vetch
Grassland flowers
Yellow wort
Blackstonia perfoliata
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
e
Its Latin name commemorates th
London apothecary and botantist
John Blackstone (1712-53).
Flowers
Habitat
This plant has distinctive
eight-petalled yellow flowers
which tend to close up in the
afternoon and can be seen
between June and October.
It has waxy pointed bluishgreen leaves which help retain
water in the dry conditions in
which it thrives.
Yellow Wort is usually found
on dry, stony often disturbed
areas of chalk and limestone
grassland, sand dunes and / or
disused quarries. It is almost
confined to the Magnesian
Limestone.
Origanum vulgare
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
o
This perennial can grow up to tw
feet high and is the same species
as oregano, the characteristic
Mediterranean herb.
Flowers
Habitat
Wild marjoram has purple or
pink flowers, sometimes white,
in dense bunches at the top
of the stems, with oval leaves
that appear in pairs on the
reddish stems. The aromatic
flowers prove very attractive to
butterflies in the summer.
Found in dry grasslands, scrub
and disturbed ground, generally
on infertile calcareous soils.
Grassland flowers
Wild marjoram
Grassland flowers
Small scabious
Scabious columbaria
Guess what?
Scabious is derived from the
Latin scabiosa herba, the herb
for scabies because of the
rough stalks.
Flowers
Habitat
Small scabious is smaller and a
lighter shade of pink than field
scabious.
An attractive perennial of
dry unimproved grassland
and rocky outcrops, on the
Magnesian Limestone.
Knautia arvensis
Guess what?
This plant has been connected to
l
a continental custom where a gir
would name each scabious bud
r
after eligible bachelors. Whicheve
developed into the finest flower
would be her suitor to marry.
Flowers
Habitat
Also known as pincushion
flowers, which is an apt
description. The flowers vary in
shade from lilac to purple.
A common summer perennial
of meadows and waysides, on
calcareous soils.
Grassland flowers
Field scabious
Grassland flowers
Great burnet
Sanguisorba officinalis
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
The flowerheads of great
burnet were made into wine in
Westmorland until the 1950s and
their name was changed to the
more quirky “Burnip”.
Flowers
Habitat
These are tall herbs, native
perennials of damp unimproved
meadows with pronounced
“blood-clot” flower heads.
They are confined to old damp
grassland in hay meadows and
by riversides, in the Midlands,
Northern England and South
Wales and has disappeared
from many sites recently due
to agriculture.
Plaintain media
Guess what?
The long flowered spike give the
hoary plantain it’s common name
of ‘rat’s-tail’, which produces
an abundance of seeds. In the
winter, sparrows will fight among
themselves to get to the seeds.
Flowers
Habitat
White to pinkish fragrant
flowers on unbranched
leafless stems, growing
up to 50cm high.
These plants are native
perennials of neutral to
basic grassland, frequent on
Magnesian Limestone. It has
been lost from many sites in
both the lowlands and the
Peak District due to agricultural
management of hay meadows.
Grassland flowers
Hoary plantain
Grassland flowers
Mouse-ear hawkweed
Pilosella officinarum
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
It was believed that hawks ate
these plants to obtain the milky
juice contained within, to sharpen
their eye-sight.
Flowers
Habitat
Mouse-ear Hawkweed has
lemon yellow flower heads
displaying closely packed
florets (tiny flowers); the outer
florets are red underneath. Its
leaves are spoon-shaped and
downy and form a rosette at the
base of the flower stem.
A native perennial of open short
grasslands and heaths on
well-drained soils, rock
outcrops and walls. It is very
common in the White Peak
area of Derbyshire but has
become rare in intensively
farmed southern parts.
Galium verum
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
In the north of England the
yellow flowers were once used to
curdle milk. Local names given
to it include ‘cheese rennet’ and
‘cheese running’.
Flowers
Habitat
It has frothy yellow flowers
that smell strongly of honey.
It is short and soft but the tiny
yellow flower heads are so
dense this plant can often seem
to take over areas of grassland
in the summer.
A common perennial of chalk
downs, meadows, heaths and
sandy areas. It has declined
due to agricultural improvement
of grasslands. In the White
Peak, it was lost from 94% of
hay meadows between the mid
1980s and mid 90s.
Grassland flowers
Lady’s bedstraw
Grassland flowers
Common rock rose
Helianthemum nummularium
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
family and
The rock rose is in the Cistaceae
. They
they have adapted well to wildfires
rminate
cast seeds in the soil, but don’t ge
rd coating
right in the next season. Their ha
the seeds
is impermeable to the water, and
ns or cracks
remain dormant, until a fire softe
seeds
the seed case and the surviving
germinate after a fire.
Flowers
Habitat
They have bright sulphur-yellow
flowers which appear in June
and last until September.
This creeping evergreen
shrub is virtually confined to
calcareous sites – cliffs and
rocky hillsides, especially
where the grass is short.
On limestone pastures it can
grow so densely that on warm
windy days it scents the air
all around.
Centaurea scabiosa
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
Historically it was made into
an ointment for applying to
wounds, bruises and sores.
Flowers
Habitat
This has a dark purple/pink
flower head and looks a bit
like a thistle, but without the
prickles! It is similar to the
common knapweed, except
this species has a flower head
between 3 and 6cm and broader
more divided leaves. It flowers
between June and August.
This is a native perennial,
found mainly in limestone areas
on rocky grasslands, rock
outcrops and cliff edges and on
calcareous soils. It is a lowland
species, reaching altitude limit
of 320m at Matlock.
Grassland flowers
Greater knapweed
Grassland flowers
Common bird’s-foot trefoil
Lotus corniculatus
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
Common bird’s-foot trefoil (also
known as eggs and bacon) is
the caterpillar food plant for
the dingy skipper and common
blue butterflies.
Flowers
Habitat
A relatively small plant with
yellow five petalled pea-like
flowers which appear between
June and September.
Found on grasslands, where
it can survive fairly regular
cutting such as road verges
and trail edges.
Centaurea nigra
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
It is a very valuable plant for bees
y
and also a nectar source for man
species of butterfly and other
insects.
Flowers
Habitat
It has a dark purple/pink flower
head and look a bit like a
thistle, but without the prickles!
It flowers between July and
September (a month later than
its similar Greater knapweed)
and has a smaller flowerhead of
between 2 and 4cm.
A fairly common plant of flowerrich grasslands, road side
verges and trail edges.
Grassland flowers
Common knapweed
Grassland flowers
Common spotted orchid
Dactylorhiza fuchsii
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
The common spotted orchid is
the most common orchid in the UK
and occurs on a wide variety of
habitats from roadside verges to
sand dunes.
Flowers
Habitat
Each light pink petal has
purple streaks on it. The leaves
usually have dark purple spots
on them. It flowers between
June and August.
This can be found in grassland
and road verges on either
neutral or lime rich soils.
Leucanthemum vulgare
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
Oxeye daisies are also known
as dog daisies or moon daisies.
Historically the leaves and the
outer layer of the stem were
used as a balm, an astringent
and a sedative.
Flowers
Habitat
Looks like a very large daisy,
with a central yellow section
and white outer parts. It grows
much taller than the daisies on
your lawn, to 70cm and flowers
between May and September
Oxeye daisies can be seen on
grasslands, roadside verges
and trail edges. They are
often sown as part of roadside
verge creation schemes and
frequently seen on motorways
and A roads.
Grassland flowers
Oxeye daisy
Grassland flowers
Bladder campion
Silene vulgaris
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
Bladder campion is one of the
favourite foods of the froghopper
s
insect which surround themselve
.
in protective ‘froth’ whilst feeding
Flowers
Habitat
A flower with five white petals,
but each petal is deeply
divided, making it look like ten
petals. At the back of each
flower is a swollen area or
‘bladder.
Occurs on grasslands,
especially those with
lime rich soils.
Daucus carota
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
n
The flower is also known as Quee
te
Anne’s lace, because of the delica
r heads.
leaves and ‘ruffs’ under the flowe
aker.
Queen Anne was a talented lacem
on the
It is said that the centre red bloom
ne
flower is stained so after Queen An
e.
pricked her finger while making lac
Flowers
Habitat
Tiny white flowers in dense
umbrella like clusters. The
central flower often has a dark
red dot on it. It flowers between
June and August. After flowering
the flower head folds up into an
elaborate open ball.
Grows on grassland with
lime-rich soil.
Grassland flowers
Wild carrot
Grassland flowers
Bee orchid
Ophrys apifera
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
It is thought that the bee orchid
flower evolved as a decoy to trick
bees into mating with its flowers.
Flowers
Habitat
The flowers has three pink back
petals and a large front bee
shaped and coloured pouch.
The relatively small plants
can have up to five flowers
on each plant.
Bee orchids can be found on
grasslands with lime-rich soil.
Centaurium erythraea
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
Common centaury was used
historically to control fever, and
as a nerve calmer.
Flowers
Habitat
Has five pink petals in star
shape and flowers in June
through into October.
This plant is mostly found on
dry grasslands, including those
on lime-rich soil.
Grassland flowers
Common centaury
Grassland flowers
Cowslip
Primula veris
Click me to find out more
Guess what?
m
An ointment historically made fro
e
cowslip flowers was rubbed on th
n
skin to promote beauty and lesse
freckles, sunburn and wrinkles.
Flowers
Habitat
Cowslips have a yellow
trumpet like flower which
has five petals and the
flowers hang in clusters.
Mostly found growing on
lime-rich or neutral grasslands
and in open woodlands.
Southern marsh orchid
Guess what?
Where this and common spotted
orchid grow near each other you
occasionally get a hybrid which
is very tall (up to 80cm) with
dark pinky/purple flowers
and spotted leaves.
Flowers
Habitat
Dark pinky/purple orchid like
flowers on plants with unspotted
leaves.
It grows on marshy and damp
areas. In the Limestone
Journeys area, it often occurs
where the natural hydrology
has been disturbed by mineral
extraction such as Pleasley Pit
County Park.
Grassland flowers
Dactylorhiza praetermissa
Photography
credits
Flower
Credit
Flower
Credit
English bluebell
Kieron Huston
Hoary plantain
Debbie Alston
Wood sorrel
Kieron Huston
Common mouse ear Louise Valantine
Yellow archangel
Kieron Huston
Lady’s bedstraw
Philip Precey
Sweet woodruff
Kieron Huston
Common rock rose
Bruce Shortland
PignutPhilip Precey
Greater knapweed
David Savage
Dog’s mercury
David Savage
Lords and ladies
Debbie Alston
Common bird’s-foot
trefoil
Debbie Alston
Primrose
Debbie Alston
Common knapweed
Debbie Alston
Wild service tree
Kieron Huston
Common spotted
orchid
Debbie Alston
Early purple orchid
David Savage
Oxeye daisy
Debbie Alston
Wild strawberry
Debbie Alston
Bladder campion
Debbie Alston
Kidney vetch
Kieron Huston
Wild carrot
Debbie Alston
Yellow wort
Kieron Huston
Bee orchid
Debbie Alston
Wild marjoram
Kieron Huston
Common centaury
Debbie Alston
Small scabious
Kieron Huston
Cowslip
Debbie Alston
Field scabious
Kieron Huston
Great burnet
Philip Precey
Southern marsh
orchid
Helen Mitchem
Wildflowers
an interactive guide
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is one of 47 local Trusts around the UK working to promote
and protect local wildlife. We are the only organisation in Derbyshire working to
protect all wildlife across the whole county. We manage 42 nature reserves, including
moorland, wetlands, woodlands and wildflower meadows. We work with schools,
local communities, local authorities, landowners and others to promote and protect the
natural environment. We are a Registered Charity, supported by 14,000 members.
Limestone Journeys
Limestone Journeys was a Landscape Partnership that worked with local people,
communities and landowners to look after, learn about and celebrate the landscape
and heritage of the area. It was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, running from
2011 to 2015.
Limestone Journeys focused on the unique landscape and heritage of the North East
Derbyshire Magnesian Limestone. The distinctive Magnesian Limestone geology has
greatly contributed to the dynamic landscape, varied wildlife and fascinating heritage.
Get in touch
(quite literally, just ‘touch’
to contact us)
facebook.com/pages/Derbyshire-Wildlife-Trust/129791180422671
twitter.com/DerbysWildlife
@DerbysWildlife
Website
www.derbyshirewildlifetrust.org.uk
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