By: Blonde One
We have often shown you the beauty of Dartmoor’ flowers: particularly the gorse and heather that provide a fantastic floral carpet. On our walk up to Hameldown recently we spotted a couple of flowers that were unfamiliar to us. Can you help to identify them?
The tiny white one was nestled just beneath a dry stone wall and was very pretty in its simplicity.
The yellow one was a bit more striking and clearly enjoyed the wet boggy ground that Dartmoor does so well. It might be a Butterfly Orchid but would love confirmation. The fantastic Plant Life website does give some clues that suggest that it might be the Lesser Butterfly orchid but the colour doesn’t seem to be quite right.
Whatever they are, they were stunning and I was pleased that I found them and didn’t just walk on past.
I think the yellow one may be Bog Asphodel.
https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/wildflowers/bog-asphodel
Brilliant, thank you!
Absolutely – Bog Asphodel, often pictured orange in flower books, but can be very yellow, especially early on. Pretty.
Your little white flower is probably a Bedstraw – possibly either Great or Common Marsh-Bedstraw, I can’t tell from the photographs – need a clear view of the leaf and some measurements and the anther colour, which I cannot see. . Galium palustre ssp elongatum or galium palustre ssp palustre. There are lots of Bedstraws. It won’t be Slender Marsh Bedstraw because that is very rare indeed – almost all in the New Forest.