Drumsticks and Squills

I spent Good Friday in the sunshine of Wharfedale (VC64), primarily to have a look at snowdrops before they completely go over with the aim of finding some more locations for Hybrid Snowdrop (Galanthus x valentinei). This was achieved with ease, it really is very common and under-recorded, with some fine stands in and around Denton and in Ilkley cemetary. There were even a few double-flowered clumps. So that's another new hectad, and a dot for the BSBI Atlas 2020 project.

Heading down into Middleton, I was surprised to find a few plants of Drumstick Primrose (Primula denticulata) on some rough ground by a barn. They had not been planted and must have arisen from seeds or discarded plants spread with soil or spilt garden waste from a nearby garden. There was one pink flowered plant and two white flowered ones, and they looked like they had persisted for at least a couple of years.

Heading into Ilkley, on the way back to Ben Rhydding railway station, I took the opportunity to pop into the cemetery where I knew Siberian Squill (Scilla siberica) had been reported in the past. I found several fine stands with ease, naturalised over old graves and spreading in the adjacent grassland.