Meadow Clary

This is one of the rarest plants we have at the nature reserve - Salvia pratensis or Meadow Clary. There are a couple of other sites in the county, but ours is probably the only surviving native population. The first flowers opened properly today and are just waiting for bumblebees to land on that lip to seek nectar. When they do, an amazing lever mechanism comes into play and that long pale anther structure coming out of the hood of the flower descends and deposits pollen on the bee's back. Clever stuff!