Herb Paris

Having a few days break in Silverdale, my favourite place in the UK after the Chilterns. Arrived early evening and had to get a good walk in, checking a patch of Herb Paris, Paris quadrifolia, that I discovered years ago. It was still there, off the beaten track, and clearly thriving. This interesting plant is widely distributed in calcareous parts of the country, but getting increasingly scarce. It used to be found on my nature reserve in the Chilterns, but has not been seen for about 35 years. As the Latin name suggests, it is supposed to have a distinctive arrangement of four leaves underlying the erect star-shaped flower. You will see this in the photograph - except for the plant in the top right corner. This has five leaves - the only time I have seen this. I will investigate.