Spreading Hedge-parsley seeds

Today's discovery on our fenland farm- a huge population of Spreading Hedge-parsley on c. 900m of superficially dull banks of a regularly managed IDB drain near Peterborough.

Once frequent, this species had already disappeared from nearly half its 10 km grid squares by 1930, and since then its decline has been one of the most dramatic shown by any arable weed.

However, this trend may possibly have been exaggerated in some regions; indeed in Fenland, there is evidence of local recovery or even spread on the banks of drainage channels disturbed by agricultural or ditch maintenance work which is borne out by our discovery!