Plant Find of the Year

Boothby Wildland, September 2023

Part of the joy of working on a living and dynamic ecosystem is the fact you never know what you’re going to come across. And engaging those who are experts in their field is certainly something we love to do. So last month we welcomed two nature-based county groups for their monthly field trip – the Lincolnshire Naturalists’ Union and the South Lincs Flora Group.

More than 25 people set off from Boothby Lodge, along the field margin to the western side of Ingoldsby Wood and up to Roundhills, the site of our Ancient Scheduled Monument. Note pads, hand lenses and ID books at the ready. And what a collection of finds! There was an astonishing total of 171 plants and 19 different types of fungi recorded in just one day. The list includes everything from oak trees to grass species, lots of flowering plants, a surprising number of fungi, and some great insect spots.

But the real treasure was found among a larger patch of native woodland. Boothby Wildland has less than 4% tree cover at the moment, but one of the youngest members of the group – fresh out of university and with very keen eyes – spotted the star find! The violet helleborine (Epipactis purpurata, pictured above by Graham Smith) is a rare woodland orchid and has only been recorded in Lincolnshire at one other site; there have been no records since 2018. We were thrilled therefore to find a number of plants thriving here and look forward to monitoring how the species reacts as its potential habitat increases.

The groups crowned the violet helleborine as their ‘Plant Find of the Year’ and the records will go onto relevant databases that keep track of rare species. Other top finds included a silver-washed fritillary butterfly, the first time the rare zoned rosette (Podoscypha multizonata) fungi has ever been recorded in Lincolnshire, and plants including greater bird’s-foot trefoil, common eyebright and a beautiful salmon-pink form of scarlet pimpernel. If you’d like to see the full list, please just get in touch.