BACK FROM THE BRINK… Pasqueflowers

Known as the anemone of Passiontide because it flowers at Easter, these perennials are said to have sprung up in barrows soaked by the blood of Romans. The more prosaic explanation is that these plots were undisturbed chalk grassland, sites that have since been decimated by overgrazing and agricultural spray drift. Today, the pasqueflower is only found sporadically in the Chilterns, Cotswolds, East Anglia and Lincolnshire, which is where the Limestone’s Living Legacies project has worked to conserve rare calcareous grassland sites. It is hoped the initiative has ensured the flower’s long-term survival – as well as the wider biodiversity of these valuable natural sites (naturebftb.co.uk).