Star of Bethlehem flower spotted at Shropshire park for first time in two decades
A rare flower has been spotted at a Shropshire park for the first time in 20 years.
Two volunteers discovered the "Star of Bethlehem" flower at the Severn Valley Country Park, and had the finding confirmed by a website set up to record wildlife data.
A spokesman for the park said: "Two of our volunteers, John and Jane Freshney made an exciting discovery when carrying out a butterfly survey at the park last month.
"They spotted the “Star Of Bethlehem” flower. As they were aware it was a rare flower, they submitted a photograph of the flower to iRecord who confirmed the record and accepted that it was a correct identification of the flower.
"In showing the flower to volunteers and our senior ranger, a second specimen was found growing a few meters away from the first by volunteer Bill Watkins.
"John says that according to the Botanical Society Of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) there have been no recorded sightings of Star Of Bethlehem in the area around the park since 1999.
"This is very positive news for the park."
The spokesman said the work of the volunteers is vital to the future of the site.
He said: "John, Jane, Bill and our other volunteers regularly undertake surveys which allow us to monitor species present on site.
"The surveys are a valuable way to monitor the management of the park and help highlight areas where improvements can be made to help encourage more species to the park as the discovery of the ‘Star of Bethlehem’ shows."
