Cornflower

A scorcher of a day accompanying Pete and Chris to the Nocton Estate where they were carrying out a preliminary survey to compare the invertebrate fauna of various different types of conservation management. 

I spent the time recording plants in areas that aren't usually accessible, and found two very large and important populations of rare and declining arable weeds, Corn Spurrey and Night-flowering Catchfly.

Cornflower is another arable weed that has declined enormously as a result of intensification of arable production, but on the Nocton Estate it has been sown into many of the conservation margins, and makes quite a spectacle when growing with Corn Marigold and Common Poppy.