Stinking hellebore

Had a work party at the nature reserve today. A very cold start unfolded to be a really good day for coppicing and cutting scallops along the edge of the rides to provide warm, sheltered areas for our rare insects through the spring and summer. We were working near one of the areas where Stinking hellebore or Setterwort (Helleborus foetidus) still survives. Although now very common in gardens, it is a relatively scarce plant in the wild. Every ten or so years the plants rot away and we are left with maybe one or two struggling specimens, wondering if they will survive. Then, in an area nearby, where a tree has fallen or we have coppiced and let some light in, a few new plants will come up from seed spread by ants and we feel stupid to have doubted the staying power of this glorious plant in a traditionally managed wood.