Spring memory: a very rare flower
This is a snake's head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris), "kievitsbloem" in Dutch. It is a very rare (and protected) species in the wild in The Netherlands, and extinct in Belgium and some other European countries. It took me days to find one in the wild:
Olympus XZ-1, 70mm, ISO100, f5.6, 1/125s
This plant is found in areas of clay-on-peat that flood in winter. Adjustments to the water level by agriculture make it disappear. The seeds float on water, so it depends on flooding to spread, and it takes a plant eight years before it blooms.
Enjoy!
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Eight years! They seem so fragile to be that old. I see this plant in the fall bulb catalogs every year. So at least there are a lot of them around. Are there places preserved for them, with the natural winter floods?
A few, but they became extinct in most places before the water was given more freedom in some places to prevent flooding further downriver.
So many changes for natural areas!
In a small, densely populated country like The Netherlands it is almost unavoidable, but we try our best.
Nice shoot @ocrdu
Thank you.
Great shot, I have never seen a flower like that before.
Thanks. It is native to Europe and western Asia, but an endangered species in most countries. It does survive as a garden plant in some places, though.
Wow!Cool photo.
Thanks! A lot of searching, wet feet and mosquito bites, but I found one.
And it's great!)
This is a great photo!
Thank you!