A tip-off about a rare plant discovered in the corner of a field near Thetford actually lead me to find another rarity there too!
The plant in question was Forked Catchfly which I'd been told was growing on a mound in the corner of a set-aside field (earmarked for building) turned out to be far more numerous that I was told. I found 200+ plants scattered all over a small area. Many were in flower with also a lot of brown seed heads indicating a long flowering period. There even looked like a couple of plants that had the hallmarks of a hybrid between Forked Catchfly and White Campion. At the same spot it was difficult to miss rather a lot of large mullein plants which, on closer inspection and with a little homework turned out to be the rare Dense-flowered Mullein. Also in the same area I found Ribbed Melilot, Chicory (including a strange pink-flowered specimen), Alsike Clover and loads of Lucerne. An Ivy Bee was one one of the mullein flowers and a Common Blue sat very still in the cool conditions. Also of interest were a couple of Hare's Foot Inkcap fungi.
It was good to bump into my old mate Lee Gregory at the site and have a good catch-up
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