Rhiwbina Living Issue 54 │ Spring 2022

What's that flower?
Cowslip
You'll find these gorgeous clusters of drooping
fragrant yellow flowers growing on dry, grassy
banks and in pasture. In fact, its name comes
from the word 'cow-slop', which will give you
some indication of where it likes to thrive and
flourish.
The cowslip is a cousin of the primrose,
displaying egg-yolk-yellow flowers that are
clustered together at the ends of its vertical,
green stems. The plant suffered during the
1930s-1980s, due to farming techniques, but is
now making a welcome comeback.
Common dog violet
The most familiar wild violet, the
common dog-violet can be spotted in
a variety of habitats from woodland to
grassland, hedgerows to pastures.
They have distinctive bluish-purple
petals, leafy stems and heart-shaped
leaves, and unlike the similarlooking
sweet violet, it's unscented.
Its name derives from this lack of
scent - the word 'dog', like the word
'horse', is a common English prefix for
distinguishing an inferior species from
its superior relative.
They flower from April through to
June.
Orchids
Wild orchids grow in a range of
habitats and each variety has its
own habitat preference. As such,
they can flower at slightly different
times of the year.
Orchids can be found in damp
grassland, open woods, scrub and
fens as well as spoil-tips, railway
embankments and old quarries.
They tend to start flowering around
April, with May being the busiest
month for flowering.
Red campion
Red campion is a fairly tall plant
(they can grow up to 1 metre!)
that flowers distinctive pink-red
in colour. The five petals are
fused at their base to form a tube
surrounded by a purple-brown
protective cover. The five petals
are deeply notched and almost
divided into two; its leaves and
stems are hairy.
They can be found within
shaded woodland areas, as
well as hedgerows, in fields and
ditches and on roadside verges.
They start to flower just as the
bluebells are fading, providing
another beautiful blanket of
colour in our countryside.
43