Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem

Today I fulfilled one of those lifetime ambitions that only a geeky botanist would have - to see Yellow Star-of Bethlehem (Gagea lutea) flowering.

In the morning Pete and I had coffee with his Mum in Spalding, and then headed west to Morkery Wood, which I knew had two populations of this uncommon ancient woodland plant. After the first picnic of the year, and a short stop to photograph moschatel Adoxa moschatellina, we walked through the wood to find the southern population.After a short search I found two good patches, but alas no flowers.

This is not at all unusual as this species is a shy-flowerer, and often persists in the vegetative state for many years. It can be tricky to find, especially when growing among bluebells, but each plant only has a singe linear leaf, which has either three or five marked ridges on the reverse.

Although I was a little disappointed it was a beautiful day to be out, and there were plenty of other wildflowers to admire. We took a circuitous route and ended up walking near the northern boundary of the wood, where I knew the other population was located. I'd nearly given up hope when we found two extremely large patches, both flowering profusely. Pete counted at least 118 flowering spikes, and most were in perfect condition. I took plenty of photographs, so of course this had to be today's image!!