Geograph - photograph every grid square

Special

This unusual wildflower was identified by myself and a friend as Twiggy Mullein about four years ago and confirmed by an expert from Derby university. It is growing largely unnoticed by most on the disused railway line, its seeds blown along what is effectively a wind tunnel to germinate in the poor soil. There aren't many specimens of this lovely flower to be seen and this is made worse by the ignorance of the local 'rangers' who mow the verges bare without the slightest idea of the destruction they are causing.
Twiggy Mullein grows on only a handful of sites in Leicestershire and is a national rarity.