Everyone field botanist has a plant which proves elusive and Gagea lutea was the one for me.

It flowers early, around March 10th so you have to be botanising in early Spring when the inclement weather is the norm. I was given a site reference in Cressbrookdale, Derbyshire but couldn't find the plant.

I was told of another site nearer Matlock but could find no sign in successive years although I did find three superb specimens of Daphne mezereum in the nearby woods. I also failed to find it near some rocks where it was a "certainty". Finally I visited a site nearer home in Cheshire where it grows in large numbers near a patch of snowdrops. It isn't easy to get a decent photo because the sepals are green making a picture from above quite uninteresting - so these are lying-on-your-belly-in-wet-grass shots.

G. lutea which prefers base rich, shady habitats, mostly grows along a central spine of Great Britain starting from about Southampton and going as far north as Perth after which records are scarce. It is only found in Wales near the border with England and not at all in Ireland.

Malpas, Cheshire, 14th March 2003

Added January 26th 2005, updated 18th January 2009, updated 31st March 2010, updated 13th November 2014