Deptford Pink

A botanical day, starting with the annual census of the Deptford Pink, which grows on a drain bank in the Fens, a surprising location for such a rare species. The freckled flowers are really beautiful, although the rather overcast morning sky made photography difficult.

From there I headed west to the fen edge and spent a rather sticky few hours recording the flora of Helpringham, a characteristic fen-edge village with some surprisingly grand buildings, though a few derelict ones too that looked in urgent need of some tlc. The flora proved to have some interesting species, though mostly as a result of deliberate introduction or escaped garden plants. I managed to key out a Hieracium using my recently purchased 'Flora of Great Britain and Ireland'. It seems to be a new vice county record so I made a herbarium sheet so that it can be checked in due course.