"Here we go gathering nuts in May"

It is thought that the nursery rhyme "Here we go gathering nuts in May" refers to this plant. It looks very like cow parsley but is known in the country as pignut,  earthnut or groundnut.
 "Digging for the dark brown tubers of the pignut used to be a common habit amongst  country children. The nuts are between 6 and 8 inches under the earth and eaten raw their white flesh has something of the crisp taste of hazelnuts  --they could be cooked in an oven with rabbit joints"  says Richard Mabey in Flora Britannica.
They are now a rare plant and only found in long established grassland.
We went on a walk round a local farm with the local wildlife trust group tonight and saw these plants on an old meadow grassland. The farmer has also diversified into growing wildflowers for seeds. There was a field of blue cornflowers, a field of meadow buttercups, oxeye daisies, and ladies bedstraw. There was large meadow full of different orchids. A great treat to see it all.