A wildflower which blooms around Easter has vanished from 85 per cent of the sites where it was once found, plant experts have warned.

The bright purple blooms of the Pasqueflower, or Easter flower, can still be seen flowering on English downland, Plantlife and the Botanical Society of the British Isles said.

But the number of sites across the country where the flower is found has fallen from 127 sites in the past to just 19 today, the botanical organisations warned.

The number of Pasqueflower sites has almost halved since the mid 20th century due to a lack of effective management, particularly an absence of grazing to provide the best habitat conditions for the flower, which needs bare ground to germinate.

Other previously recorded sites of the flower, which is also known as flower-of-the-wind, pulsatilla and Dane’s blood from the legend it grows on the grave of Viking warriors, have been lost due to ploughing, mineral extraction and urban development.

There are just five places where the flower, which is currently in bloom, still thrives in large numbers and where 99 per cent of the country’s Pasqueflowers are found - two in Bedfordshire and one each in Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Gloucestershire.

The five spots are all national nature reserves or sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) where management of the sites such as the introduction of winter sheep grazing has helped the species do well.

There are six sites across the country where there are no more than 10 flowers.

Tim Wilkins, Plantlife species recovery coordinator, said the Pasqueflower has a stunning bloom which rivalled orchids.

“They’re the most charismatic of species, with a beautiful deep purple flower and contrasting yellow stamens.

“It’s not what you would expect to find in the British countryside, you’d expect to see it on holiday,” he said.

He said that changed land use such as more intensive agriculture had “whittled away” at many sites where the flower was once found, while management of protected areas – particularly those with other species with different requirements – was complicated.

He also said not enough had been known in the past about the ecology of the plant, and a new dossier by Plantlife, in partnership with the Botanical Society of the British Isles, would give site managers information on how to help the flower. The dossier brings together information about the species in one place for the first time, with information about the life cycle of the flower, its habitat requirements and distribution, along with details of what is driving the declines and the conservation measures in place to help Pasqueflowers survive.

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