The County Flowers Project

In 2002 Plantlife International launched its County Flowers campaign, asking members of the public to nominate and vote for a wild flower emblem for their county. In Durham the two candidate species were spring gentian and bird's eye primrose.

Perhaps unsurprisingly the vivid blue spring gentian, which within the British Isles only occurs on the limestones of the North Pennines and in the limestone pavement areas of the Burren in Western Island, was the winner for County Durham. In Europe as a whole the spring gentian is now largely confined to alpine areas but is thought to have survived in Teesdale since the last ice age.

Spring Gentian

The Spring Gentian, also called the Teesdale gentian, can be seen each spring along the Widdybank Nature trail.

Follow this link to the national Plantlife website for more information on the project.