On a less than dry day (that's putting it mildly) I thought I would add a little ray of spring/summer brightness to cheer us all up. We all know what primroses look like and ... also the cowslips which have been blooming in the old churchyard almost throughout the last year. For those who follow my blog you will know that they were braving the December chill last year, now there are more in bloom as well as mutant forms.
This is the cowslip, Primula veris >>>
<<< this is Primula vulgaris (the primrose).
The old churchyard is full of these lovely native species, but occasionally cross pollination occur and the oxlip >>> is created and it seems that the bees or other pollinating species have produced yet another strange mutation amongst our native plants ... 
<<< This, has the right leaves but the wrong heads for either pure versions of the species.
It seems that cross-pollinating has occurred, possibly with nearby garden variants and the result is this rather odd head with five pale green leaflets surrounding each single flower. The first I've ever seen but a friendly botanist informs me that this variation is not that rare. Watch this post as I will be updating photo's as the flowers open (weather allowing.) And today, the last day of the month, the weather did allow me some good photo opportunities, well, that is when the wind ceased and the flowers stayed still for long enough, but at least it was dry enough for me to lay on the ground for close-ups. Yesterday, my helpfully informative botanist in answer to my query about these deviant forms told me that these aberrations are not actually that rare, indeed he has even in his garden many interesting variants to add to the mutant mix where they proliferate.
The head of this variant, may, he suggests, come from pollen carried from ornamental primulas, though he has never yet seen a green one. The above photo taken today shows that as it opens it is not totally green and suggests that to keep purity of species we should remove these mutant varieties (the two plants I've found may well end up in my garden)
I will watch these two plants closely, before they find a home where mutants don't matter
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Thank you for your kind comment about my blog.
ReplyDeleteIt's just a case of being interested in what's around me.
The beauty of nature is that it daily presents something different
and the area I live is just a fascinating place.
As for taller shoes ... I seem to constantly wear wellies at the moment. An all type of rain terrain!