Field Notes: A rare beauty

Conservation Officer Isaac Johnston celebrates a community project that helped reintroduce Alpine cinquefoil at Glenridding Common

Alpine cinquefoil or Potentilla crantzii is a rare mountain flower that closely resembles a buttercup. It specialises in living in harsh upland environments including the Lakeland fells.
 
The bright yellow flower can be seen high up on craggy ledges between late April and June in a select few places in the Lake District. It’s never very common as it has requirements - including lime, dry, sunny situations - which are rarely found on many of the often acidic fells.

Glenridding Common Manager Pete Barron and I collected seed from plants elsewhere in the Lakes and then members of the local community - supported by Natural England’s local expert and ourselves - manged to grow several plants from seed last year. These were planted out on Glenridding Common in autumn 2019.

The reintroduction of Alpine cinquefoil has been a huge success and the project recently featured in Garden News Magazine.

This is just one of several species of Alpine plant and montane willow being grown on by the local community around Glenridding Common. It's thanks to the knowledge and care of the local growers we have had such amazing success. One of our local growers said: “It’s really satisfying to grow these rare plant species for such a good cause. I love gardening and have enjoyed being able to give something back to the local landscape which I want to see as healthy as possible.”

More seed will be collected in 2020 from a healthy local natural population. Our vision is to continue growing these rare plant species to bolster one of the most important mountain flora resources in England.