Uncommon wildflowers, part one. In fact I'm not really a seeker of rare species. I'm very happy to see drifts of Rosebay Willowherb along railway embankments or woods full of Bluebells or a lawn infested with Self-Heal.

 Nonetheless it is a thrill to come across a rarity. Case in point Ivy Broomrape (Orobanche hederae) grows in great profusion in the grounds of Benslow Music School in Hitchin. That is surprising because Brian Sawford describes it as "one of Hertfordshire's rarest wildflowers" in his great book 'Wildflower Habitats of Hertfordshire' published in 1990.  

 He noted that it was "unexpectedly discovered in a churchyard in northern Hertfordshire" in 1984. Furthermore he states that "These are the only colonies of this normally maritime species ever known from the county, and the only location in the whole of the Eastern part of Britain, north of the River Thames."  

 Quite when or how O. hederae arrived at Benslow is a mystery. It's flourishing here to the extent that it's really quite common in this particular locale.