New Forest wild flowers - an introduction
Wild flowers brighten even the dullest day. Snowdrops in the midst of winter tell of better weather to come, whilst lesser celandines are one of the first signs of spring. Even late-flowering November blooms help hold at bay the prospect of shorter days and longer, colder nights. And of course, all the wild flowers in-between have their own special magic.
Amongst them in the New Forest are some real corkers. There’s the wild gladiolus, which in Britain is found nowhere else, and the tiny bog orchid is almost as rare. Then at the other end of the abundance scale are the heathers, plants that gloriously carpet the mid and late-summer heaths with extravagant colour.
These pages provide an overview of some notable New Forest wild flowers. Many are common and widespread; others take a bit of finding. Most, as will be seen, have been used in herbal medicine, a countryside art based on natural ingredients that pre-dates today’s modern pharmaceutical industry, and many would say, heals just as effectively.
Find out more about New Forest wild flowers
Getting started
Some notable New Forest wild flowers
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Sadly, 58 animals were killed - 35 ponies, 13 cows, 8 donkeys and 2 sheep, whilst a further 32 were injured - 3 pigs, 9 donkeys, 11 cows and 9 ponies.
(Forty-three accidents occurred in daylight, 15 at twilight and 101 in the dark. Twenty-seven accidents were not reported by the driver involved).
Here's just one horrific example - Three donkeys killed in collision with van at notorious New Forest blackspot (Advertiser and Times)
Dragonflies and damselflies remain on the wing and so do butterflies, but in ever decreasing numbers.
Hen harriers and other autumn and winter visiting birds begin to arrive in the Forest.
New Forest fungi - mushrooms and toadstools increasingly appear in the woods.
Red deer start to noisily rut as stags roar songs of love across favoured heaths.
October
Ancient, unenclosed woodlands and broad-leaved inclosures increasingly take on colourful autumnal hues.
Grey squirrels frantically seek out and store acorns for use during the cold days of winter.
Fallow deer boisterously rut for two or three weeks around the middle of the month before the bucks leave the does and eventually re-form their own male-only 'buck herds'.
