‘Critically endangered’ flower to be saved from extinction by University

A rare flower is coming back from the brink of extinction, after Kew Gardens entrusted its seeds to a university’s ecology experts.

The Red Hemp-nettle’s (Galeopsis angustifolia) distinctive twin flowers were a common sight 60 years ago. Now herbicides, fertilisers, and the spread of highly productive crop varieties have seen it almost disappear from our fields.

The Royal Agricultural University (RAU) has been selected by Plantlife, Europe’s largest wildflower conservation charity, as a partner in its Red Hemp-nettle reintroduction experiment, part of Natural England’s biggest ever species conservation initiative, Back From The Brink.

Work began in April when 27,000 seeds from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Millennium Seed Bank were sown in experimental plots under organic production, at the University’s Harnhill Farm, just outside Cirencester.

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