Pulsatilla vulgaris, Hampshire / Dorset
Pasqueflowers are among the UK’s most beautiful perennial wildflowers. As members of the buttercup family, they are easily recognised by their typically deep purple petals, which, like the flower stems, are covered in long, silky hairs.
Tucked away in the 350 hectares of chalk downland at Martin Down, on the Hampshire/Dorset border, is a solitary pasqueflower plant. The flowers of this plant are a bit pinker than the others found elsewhere in the site, suggesting it might be a garden variety.
A few years ago, several similar pasqueflower plants thrived alongside this single one, but they vanished just as they were about to bloom. I suspect human intervention because they were there one day and gone without a trace shortly after.
PLEASE… to anyone who thinks it’s acceptable to dig up wildflowers: they do not survive replanting elsewhere because they grow in specific locations for a reason. THEY ARE NOT YOURS TO TAKE, AND THEY DO NOT BELONG IN YOUR HOUSE OR GARDEN.
Having photographed Martin Down’s pasqueflowers annually since 2019, I sometimes used to share their locations with other visitors. However, after some were stolen, I stopped disclosing this information because I could no longer trust who might take them. And I don’t post my pasqueflower photographs online until that season’s plants have withered and are no longer traceable.
Each year I anticipate seeing this solitary pasqueflower plant at Martin Down, fervently hoping it will still be there.
A solitary, beautiful, wild pasqueflower at Martin Down NNR.
A single, wild pasqueflower growing on the Hampshire/Dorset border.
