Jewels of the downs

Every summer, England's chalk downlands are embroidered with a patchwork of wildflowers-from the horseshoe vetch's yellow plumes to sainfoin's pink spikes-all serenaded by an army of butterflies

- Vicky Liddell

FROM mid June, on warm, sheep-moulded slopes in the south of England, a sparkling display of wildflowers spreads like confetti through the short grass. Vanilla-scented squinancywort, diminutive fairy flax and the purple-veined eyebright are only a handful of more than 40 species that may be found in 10sq ft of chalk downland, which has led it to be described as the European equivalent of a tropical rainforest. More orchids grow on the downs than anywhere else in Britain and other rare plants include the deep-blue, round-headed rampion, the county flower of Sussex, and the blue meadow clary, which is visible at fewer than 20 sites around the country.

The party starts in April, with crowds of nodding yellow cowslips and mauve-blue chalk milkworts. As the months pass, so does the ever-changing cast of characters, each new arrival outshining the last: flamboyant viper’s bugloss, with dense funnel-shaped flowers and a spotted stem; lemon horseshoe vetch, with its plumes of yellow and horseshoe-shaped pods; and sainfoin, its rich pink spikes sometimes said to resemble a cock’s head. Many have strong per- fumes, such as the cucumber-scented salad burnet and the delicate musk orchid, which can be identified by its smell alone. Others have distinctive characteristics, such as goat’s beard, which resembles an oversized dandelion that snaps its flower shut at noon, and mouse-ear hawkweed, with a hidden red stripe on the underside of its florets. The stemless dwarf thistle is pinned to the ground like a giant brooch.