Heath Bedstraw

This morning I decided to visit one of the Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s larger reserves, at Eyecott Hill. It’s particularly important for its geology and botanical interest.

It was cool, really windy, and with rain threatening. The setting is tremendous, with a backdrop of the high northern Lakeland fells. Blencathra’s distinctive outline, with threatening thick grey clouds around it, was particularly striking (extra).

I followed the trail to the top of the hill, and decided to return as it was so windy and rain was approaching from the fells. Before I did so I chatted to three people crouched in a hollow having lunch. They asked me if I was a botanist and knew what the clumps of little white flowers around us were. I was of course clueless. But a young lady then appeared, and it turned out that she was a botanist with the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology based in Bangor, visiting family in Lancashire and visiting the reserve because she loves sedges. The reserve has 20 or so different species apparently, including some very rare ones.

So that is how I know that these small clumps of tiny flowers are Heath Bedstraw (galium saxatile).