Common Whitlow-grass

Another spring-like day, with an afternoon walk botanising in the village of Southorpe, my first serious recording since the BSBI New Year Plant Hunt. Snowdrops, including several large patches of Green Snowdrop, and Winter Heliotrope were flowering along the main road leading to the village, but my favourite feature was the lovely limestone walls, many of which were sprinkled with the white flowers of Common Whitlow-grass. This tiny, early-flowering member of the Cabbage family is a sure sign of spring and is associated with a host of other annual species that will come into bloom over the next couple of months. 

Common Whitlow-grass was also thriving on a tiny area of grassland still surviving at the edge of a long disused railway, now a popular public footpath, where it was growing with taller species such as Perforate St John's-wort and Ploughman's Spikenard. The fine weather had brought out many people and a wide assortment of dogs, but everyone was cheerful and considerate, maybe sensing that the current ordeal was nearing its end.