Growth planted for rare wildflower

A rare wildflower is growing back strong to support Denbighshire nature habitats.

Denbighshire County Council’s Biodiversity team has nurtured a new crop of Bithynian Vetch this season.

The team started a programme of work to safeguard the rare plant in 2022 after collecting seeds the year before from a solitary meadow in Denbighshire where the plant was located.

Following the Council’s declaration of a climate and nature emergency in 2019, the wildflower meadows project is part of an ongoing commitment to enhance and protect biodiversity across the county.

Rare across Wales and the UK, the Bithynian Vetch has been gradually supported at the Council’s Tree Nursery at St Asaph and this year a crop of over 100 plants have been grown by staff and volunteers at the site.

Th species of flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae, will eventually go back into county meadows to both boost support for the future of the plant and the important pollinators who visit these habitats.

Sam Brown Tree Nursery Assistant said: “This plant is classed as vulnerable across Wales and the UK so it has been great to give it a helping hand through this work at the nursery. Hopefully the efforts between staff and the volunteers at the nursery will provide a better future in the county for the Bithynian Vetch.”

Cllr Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport, added: “This is a fantastic example of how our Wildflower Meadows Project is working to not only bring back these important habitats but also give a helping hand to rare plants such as this.

“It’s great to see such a brilliant number of Bithynian Vetch growing at the Tree Nursery this year and I hope these plants once back in the wild will further provide seeds for us to maintain protection of this rare species for years to come.”

This work has been funded by Welsh Government, through the Local Nature Partnerships Cymru ENRaW project.