County flowers

County flowers are wildflowers representative of counties. A county flower was chosen for each county in the United Kingdom after competitions run by PlantLife, a charity, beginning in 2002.

The PlantLife campaign

Plantlife wanted to commemorate the Queen's Jubilee in 2002 by putting wild flowers on the map, and launched a campaign to ask every county to choose its own wild flower emblem. The nation was asked to choose a wild flower emblem to represent their county or city.

The competitions

In its first year, people were asked to vote for any wild flower that they felt best represented their county. The following year, the competition was whittled down to the top two for each of the 92 counties in the United Kingdom, for the Isle of Man and for the largest cities; 109 in all. The results were announced on 5th May 2004 and are published on PlantLife’s website.

Norfolk was the one example of a change after a flower had been chosen. The initial vote chose alexanders (smyrnium olusatrum), but vocal local feeling against the choice forced a change, and so the common poppy (papaver rhoeas) was chosen instead.

UK's favourite flower

The first round of voting for County Flowers yielded the native bluebell as a clear favourite across the country, topping the list in many of the counties. The bluebell was crowned the wild flower emblem for the whole of the United Kingdom, and was endorsed by the PlantLife's patron, HRH The Prince of Wales.

Why a wildflower emblem?

Flowers are a powerful means of expression - everyone recognises the poppy, iconic image of remembrance for those who fell in battle. The simple dog-rose has appeared on heraldic banners for over a thousand years and many towns and villages are named after plants – Bromley is named after the broom, Ramsey after ramson, otherwise known as wild garlic.

Reasons for the campaign

Plantlife launched the County Flowers campaign in order to highlight the threat that wildflowers are facing in Britain. A recent report from the charity shows that, on average, every county in the United Kingdom is losing one species of wild plant every two years due to habitat loss, pollution and intensive farming.

The flowers chosen

Many of the wildflowers chosen as county flowers are rare. Some are found only in the county or in narrow ranges. Some counties share a flower, for example the pasqueflower is the county flower for Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, the harebell for County Antrim, Dumfriesshire and Yorkshire.

The following are the flowers selected for the counties of the United Kingdom in Plantlife's 2002 "County Flowers" campaign.

County	Common name	Scientific name	County status
Aberdeenshire	Bearberry	Arctostaphylos uva-ursi	Native
Anglesey	Spotted Rock-rose	Tuberaria guttata	Native
Angus	Alpine Catchfly	Lychnis alpina	Native
County Antrim	Harebell	Campanula rotundifolia	Native
Argyllshire	Foxglove	Digitalis purpurea	Native
County Armagh	Cowbane	Cicuta virosa	Native
Ayrshire	Green-winged Orchid	Anacamptis morio	Native
Banffshire	Dark-red Helleborine	Epipactis atrorubens	Native
Bedfordshire	Bee Orchid	Ophrys apifera	Native
Berkshire	Summer Snowflake	Leucojum aestivum	Native
Berwickshire	Rock-rose	Helianthemum nummularium	Native
Brecknockshire	Cuckooflower	Cardamine pratensis	Native
Buckinghamshire	Chiltern Gentian	Gentianella germanica	Native
Buteshire	Thrift	Armeria maritima	Native
Caernarfonshire	Snowdon Lily	Lloydia serotina	Native
Caithness	Scots Primrose	Primula scotica	Native
Cambridgeshire	Pasqueflower	Pulsatilla vulgaris	Native
Cardiganshire	Bog-rosemary	Andromeda polifolia	Native
Carmarthenshire	Whorled Caraway	Carum verticillatum	Native
Cheshire	Cuckooflower	Cardamine pratensis	Native
Clackmannanshire	Opposite-leaved Golden-saxifrage	Chrysosplenium oppositifolium	Native
Cornwall	Cornish Heath	Erica vagans	Native
County Durham	Spring Gentian	Gentiana verna	Native
Cromartyshire	Spring Cinquefoil	Potentilla neumanniana	Native
Cumberland	Grass-of-Parnassus	Parnassia palustris	Native
Denbighshire	Limestone Woundwort	Stachys alpina	Native
Derbyshire	Jacob's-ladder	Polemonium caeruleum	Native
Devon	Primrose	Primula vulgaris	Native
Dorset	Dorset Heath	Erica ciliaris	Native
County Down	Spring Squill	Scilla verna	Native
Dumfriesshire	Harebell	Campanula rotundifolia	Native
Dunbartonshire	Lesser Water-plantain	Baldellia ranunculoides	Native
East Lothian	Viper's-bugloss	Echium vulgare	Native
Essex	Common Poppy	Papaver rhoeas	Native
Fermanagh	Globeflower	Trollius europaeus	Native
Fife	Coralroot Orchid	Corallorrhiza trifida	Native
Flintshire	Bell Heather	Erica cinerea	Native
Glamorgan	Yellow Whitlowgrass	Draba aizoides	Native
Gloucestershire	Wild Daffodil	Narcissus pseudonarcissus	Native
Hampshire	Dog-rose	Rosa canina	Native
Herefordshire	Mistletoe	Viscum album	Native
Hertfordshire	Pasqueflower	Pulsatilla vulgaris	Native
Huntingdonshire	Water-violet	Hottonia palustris	Native
Inverness-shire	Twinflower	Linnaea borealis	Native
Isle of Man	Fuchsia	Fuchsia magellanica	Archaeophyte
Kent	Hop	Humulus lupulus	Native
Kincardineshire	Clustered bellflower	Campanula glomerata	Native
Kinross-shire	Holy-grass	Hierochloe odorata	Native
Kirkcudbrightshire	Bog-rosemary	Andromeda polifolia	Native
Lanarkshire	Dune Helleborine	Epipactis leptochila	Native
Lancashire	Red rose	Rosa gallica officinalis	Absent
Leicestershire	Foxglove	Digitalis purpurea	Native
Lincolnshire	Common Dog-violet	Viola riviniana	Native
County Londonderry	Purple Saxifrage	Saxifraga oppositifolia	Native
Merionethshire	Welsh Poppy	Meconopsis cambrica	Native
Middlesex	Wood Anemone	Anemone nemorosa	Native
Midlothian	Sticky Catchfly	Lychnis viscaria	Native
Monmouthshire	Foxglove	Digitalis purpurea	Native
Montgomeryshire	Spiked Speedwell	Veronica spicata	Native
Morayshire	One-flowered Wintergreen	Moneses uniflora	Native
Nairnshire	Chickweed Wintergreen	Trientalis europaea	Native
Norfolk	Common Poppy	Papaver rhoeas	Native
Northamptonshire	Cowslip	Primula veris	Native
Northumberland	Bloody Crane's-bill	Geranium sanguineum	Native
Nottinghamshire	Autumn Crocus	Crocus nudiflorus	Archaeophyte
Orkney	Alpine Bearberry	Arctostaphylos alpina	Native
Oxfordshire	Snake's-head Fritillary	Fritillaria meleagris	Native
Peeblesshire	Cloudberry	Rubus chamaemorus	Native
Pembrokeshire	Thrift	Armeria maritima	Native
Perthshire	Alpine Gentian	Gentiana nivalis	Native
Radnorshire	Radnor Lily	Gagea bohemica	Native
Renfrewshire	Bogbean	Menyanthes trifoliata	Native
Ross-shire	Bog Asphodel	Narthecium ossifragum	Native
Roxburghshire	Maiden Pink	Dianthus deltoides	Native
Rutland	Clustered Bellflower	Campanula glomerata	Native
Selkirkshire	Mountain Pansy	Viola lutea	Native
Shetland	Shetland Mouse-ear	Cerastium nigrescens	Native
Shropshire	Round-leaved Sundew	Drosera rotundifolia	Native
Somerset	Cheddar Pink	Dianthus gratianopolitanus	Native
Staffordshire	Heather	Calluna vulgaris	Native
Stirlingshire	Scottish Dock	Rumex aquaticus	Native
Suffolk	Oxlip	Primula elatior	Native
Surrey	Cowslip	Primula veris	Native
Sussex	Round-headed Rampion	Phyteuma orbiculare	Native
Sutherland	Grass-of-Parnassus	Parnassia palustris	Native
Tyrone	Bog-rosemary	Andromeda polifolia	Native
Warwickshire	Honeysuckle	Lonicera periclymenum	Native
West Lothian	Common Spotted-orchid	Dactylorhiza fuchsii	Native
Westmorland	Alpine Forget-me-not	Myosotis alpestris	Native
Wigtownshire	Yellow Iris	Iris pseudacorus	Native
Wiltshire	Burnt Orchid	Neotinea ustulata	Native
Worcestershire	Cowslip	Primula veris	Native
Yorkshire	Harebell	Campanula rotundifolia	Native

Outside links

• PlantLife charity
• County flowers page