Roadside wild flowers

Tweet

For a lot of wildlife the development of a new road is something of a disaster as it cuts habitats into fragments and makes it more difficult, frightening and dangerous for animals to travel about. The traffic noise also interferes with birdsong. But for plants it can be beneficial as the associated wide verges on fast roads provide a relatively undisturbed refuge from intensive agriculture or development. The slipstream of passing traffic can also distribute seeds along the roadside. At one time wild flowers like primroses, violets and bluebells were very common in the countryside, but the development of railways meant they could be picked and sold in bunches in the towns, while day-trippers were able to come into the countryside where they could profligately gather bunches of flowers which then quickly faded and were tossed aside. This was so widespread that the once-common flowers actually became rare and gathering wildflowers had to be banned. That, together with changes in agricultural practices favouring monoculture of one type of grass, reduced the habitat for wild plants, and made these flowers a rarity but now they are reclaiming the roadside verges. Around here many verges, even alongside very busy roads, are full of primroses, violets and cowslips in springtime. A major traffic roundabout less than a mile from our house seems to be a hotspot for orchids, as well as putting on a good show of many other wild flowers. I first noticed them a few years ago – and was horrified when the county council promptly mowed the verges and also dug up a section to make hard standing for vehicles. After that I have been watching for them to recover and didn’t see any until last week, when I was delighted to see some flowers as I drove past. I returned later with my camera and note pad for a better look, and was stunned to find about a dozen spotted orchids, more than 250 pyramidal orchids and even a rare bee orchid, the first I’ve ever seen! It made me laugh that the wildlife trusts produce a leaflet on the best places to see orchids in our three neighbouring counties and people may be travelling for miles to look for them in the recommended places, quite probably driving right past this very place soon after leaving home! Apparently some verges can be designated as ‘road verge nature reserves’ – I wonder whether this one can be? I tried to upload a powerpoint file with pictures of the three orchid species but it wouldn't let me - anyone know why? Meanwhile here's the bee orchid instead. All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2016.