The Lesser Celandine ….
Gardens are opened for visitors to admire their displays of snowdrops. Bluebell walks are ever more popular and coach parties are organised to visit fields of daffodils and tulips. There is no place in popular culture for one little spring flower, one that is easily overlooked and even mistaken for distant relatives. The lesser celandine is actually too unpredictable to be the object of any formal visitation. Flowering can take place any time between February and May and if the sun does not shine the petals close up to protect the precious pollen anyway.
Classed as a flower of damp woodland, the Adair Walk at NASAM ought to be an ideal habitat. Ditches, banks and the bottoms of hedgerows used to host many clumps of golden flowers before the modern tidiness mania set in.
Like other spring flowering woodland species, the lesser celandine has to grab the opportunity to complete its seasonal work before the canopy of tree leaves shades out the light. Having achieved its objective, the whole plant shrivels away, looking as if a weed killer has been applied. After a brief period of glory, nothing remains to be seen.
The lesser celandine does belong to the extensive buttercup family and can easily be mistaken for an odd out of season example by the casual observer. The leaves tell us it is a plant apart, being fleshy, dark green and heart shaped. As for the eight to twelve petals, they are elongated ovals, not round as we would expect. The colour is an especially rich gold with a sheen that photographers find exasperating. Reflections are so strong, achieving correct exposure is a problem.
We have plenty of these emerging in our local Tyrrels Wood along with bluebells showing and spotted orchid.