On a walk around Brockodale YWT reserve today, Colin Booker came across this fine example of stinking helibore (Helleborus foetidus), a local speciality plant which gets it’s name from the unpleasant odour given off when its leaves are crushed. Colin has supplied a really nice shot of the rare flower taken from a lovely low viewpoint to give us a good view of the typically drooped flower heads. He also noted 4 corn buntings at the reserve, now very scarce in the Wakefield district.

Stinking helibore (Helleborus foetidus) at Brockodale

Another member, Francis Hickenbottom, sent in a field record of green helibore on a railway embankment in Hemsworth though this species is most definitely a garden escape