Shakespeare’s flowers at risk

BRITAIN is at risk of losing many of the wildflowers brought to life so vividly in the works of Shakespeare.

After a warning from Plantlife, a conservation charity, that many wildflowers risk extinction, Gerit Quealy, the author of Botanical Shakespeare, says Britons are in danger of depriving future generations of an important path into Shakespeare’s world.

From cowslips described by the fairy in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, to wormwood used by the nurse to wean Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, flowers referenced by the playwright are now deemed endangered.

Plantlife is leading a campaign to protect wildflowers from being mown in road verges, where many have now migrated from farmland.

Quealy said: “Shakespeare is rooted in the natural world, letting that die will kill him for future generations.” Samantha Herbert