The White Carpathians, 12th June 2012

It's been a busy few days in the White Carpathians, (mostly) successfully dodging the rain showers and digging out a surprising haul of butterflies (of which much more later) and wild flowers.

Today was spent at two large grassland reserves on the Czech side of the range, where a highlight (for me, at least!) was seeing three rather spectacular species of cow-wheat. Any Melampyrum is always something special to see, but to have three such showy species all growing virtually alongside each other on the same site was something pretty cool.

 Field Cow-Wheat Melampyrum arvense

 Crested Cow-wheat Melampyrum cristatum

Wood Cow-wheat Melampyrum nemorosum