Wild flowers are some of our most important national treasures, giving free enjoyment to everyone. Who cannot admire the sheets of bluebells or foxgloves in the woods and hills, or yellow fields of cowslips? But many of our rare plants could slip away unnoticed. The pressures on our environment are well known climate change and associated weather extremes, overgrazing, habitat fragmentation, soil erosion, air pollution and fertiliser drift, mineral extraction, urban development and tourism. With at least 50 species now critically endangered, such as Beacons hawkweed with two remaining plants and Snowdonia hawkweed with three remaining plants recorded in the latest survey, it is essential that our flowers are given the space and conditions to thrive alongside us. The aim of this book is to celebrate 101 of our rarer wild plants in Wales, report what is currently known about them and to raise their profile and the importance of their conservation in the national consciousness before they are lost. Published in conjunction with Amgueddfa Cymru / National Museum Wales. AUTHOR: Dr Tim Rich holds an Ecology B.Sc. from Lancaster University and a Plant Physiology Ph.D. from Leicester University. He is a specialist British botanist whose interests span taxonomy (e.g. Hieracium, Sorbus, Brassicaceae), rare plant conservation, vegetation, environmental impact assessment and monitoring, with special expertise in the vascular plant flora of the British Isles. He was Head of Vascular Plants at the National Museum of Wales 1997-2013, running the Welsh National Herbarium. With Kate Pryor of National Botanic Garden of Wales, he initiated the Rare Welsh Plants Project in 1999 to focus attention on some of Wales's greatest treasures.
