Winter Heliotrope in flower
Clare Weiner writes: We spotted Winter Heliotrope flowering beside the path to the Bird Hide from the Boardwalk today – the first signs of flowers in the Trap Grounds this year! This plant, which grows in damp meadows and woodland, can be confused with the Butterbur, which also grows in profusion on the TG in a similar location. The Winter Heliotrope’s purple/mauve flowers (they have a vanilla scent) grow on a long stalk, and are surrounded by the distinctly rounded leaves. By contrast, the Butterbur flowers appear before the leaves, in a tight, slightly cone-shaped cluster on a short thick stalk, and are unscented, white tinged with purple.
