I can’t claim too much about the plant in the photo except to say that I’m almost certain it’s a wild Tulip, Tulipa sylvestris – hiding in plain sight among hosts of dandelions and what will soon be equal numbers of Oxeye daisies and Rough Hawksbeard. Talk about a needle in a haystack! I’ve sent off some more photos and measurements to the Magisterium for confirmation but I’m fairly sure of my ground.
Our discovery was purely accidental – we arrived back from our holiday on the Lizard and 24 hours later Madame was in hospital having a Knee replacement. It’s essential to exercise (sensibly) after the operation, so we took ourselves off for a very short walk in the Park and in the absence of any mown paths so early in the year I took the opportunity of scouting around for special plants. Later in the year we’re almost certain to find Bee orchids, Early purple and pyramidal orchids too, but this year has already been strange – climatically – so an early expedition made sense and almost immediately I noticed this plant which stuck out like a sore thumb amongst its neighbours.
Until I’d spent a few hours with the AI apps and then the field guides I had no idea either that a wild tulip even existed. However it escaped from a garden in the 17th century and has set up shop in a sparse set of locations across the south. I hesitate to use the word rare, but it’s certainly uncommon. However the bad news is that my specimen was badly infected by Pulcinella (probably) rust fungus and may well not flower this year. Richard Mabey says (In Flora Britannica) that it often fails to flower in any case so I’m not holding my breath. I’ve been visiting an equally unusual Mullein plant on the Canal for almost a year now waiting for it to flower, so although patience is not a virtue I possess much of, I’m used to waiting.
The supreme irony, of course is that the Park was overrun with visitors to the formal gardens which were hosting a Tulip Mania event. Dare I confess that I’m not overly fond of tulips but clearly thousands of people are, and the car park was completely rammed. However our favourite parking spot was empty as ever and we barely saw another human being as we discovered the ancestor of all those blowsy showoffs down in the formal gardens. It looked like a modest and rather sickly leek, but a single sniff confirmed that it wasn’t a member of the allium family.
So there it is – we await the verdict of the Magisterium whilst drifting spores have infected the most important non-exhibit in the show. I really hope it flowers because it’s very pretty in the modest way of wildflowers compared with their steroidal and silicone plumped offspring.
Today Madame and i went to have her dressings taken off, and we both received our Covid boosters. We should get the campervan back this week after the new engine has been fitted and then the summer stretches out before us like a magic carpet. Summer never felt so inviting!
