Whilst walking along the river at this time of year, look out for what looks like a dropped pom pom of some kind. This pink, tassled flower thrives on moist ground, so along the river and in damp ditches is the place to look.The flower spike is made up of lots of tightly packed small flowers (making it a prized stop for early bees) and appear before the leaves. The large round rhubarb-like leaves will be very familiar to walkers as they can be 1m wide! It gets its name Butterbur from the use of these massive leaves to wrap butter in the past.
By River Six Photo by Neil Griffin
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