The Ingleborough massif contains 62 plant species that are only found in upland and montane habitats, 22 of which are listed as critical, endangered or vulnerable – and for several of them, Ingleborough is one of the only places in the country they are found.
The goal of the upland plant nursery at Ingleborough is to help bolster these fragmented populations and spread them to different areas around Ingleborough, restoring the diversity this area was once famous for. We are careful to only collect a small proportion of seeds to ensure we aren’t affecting the ability of these isolated plants to spread naturally, and once planted out these new plants will then be a future seed source themselves.
Collecting seeds for the nursery can often be a challenge in its own right. Spiked speedwell, an extremely rare wildflower, is restricted to one cliff ledge on Ingleborough which requires abseiling down to in order to collect its seeds – we were absolutely delighted late last year to plant out 75 wild spiked speedwell plants nurtured from seed for the first time in Yorkshire.
Similarly, purple and yellow saxifrages and roseroot are challenging to keep an eye on for the perfect time to collect seed, as they live close to the summit of Ingleborough at around 600m altitude! I actually keep an eye on these plants on my run-commute home over Ingleborough, which I try and do weekly.
We collect seeds to grow on for everything from montane trees like willows and rock whitebeam, to limestone lovers like ferns and baneberry, to more delicate meadow plants like globeflowers, grass-of-Parnassus and ragged robin. Our volunteers have been invaluable at helping us pot on plants within the nursery – and have even been helping to grow on plants at home from seed we’ve collected on Ingleborough.
It’s amazing how often in summer it can be a sunny day down in the dales, but absoultely baltic up near the top of Ingleborough in the wind - so I have to don extra layers, woolly hat and windproofs to stay warm whilst collecting. The views are amazing and it feels like another world that no-one ever goes to, even though it’s not far from the summit and the Three Peaks footpath, which attracts 100,00+ people every year. Thankfully, the seed pods for most of our species are not too fiddly to collect – even with cold hands! - but they are difficult to extract the miniscule seeds from back in the warmth of the office. It’s more than worth the effort to see them starting to emerge now.
I can’t wait for another summer of growing on these amazing plants – many of which should be ready to plant out in the autumn – and seeing the slopes of Ingleborough turn colourful once more.
