Threatened mountain avens to be planted on Helvellyn

A threatened alpine flower is to be planted on a Lake District mountain, conservationists have said.

The mountain avens is classed as vulnerable to extinction in England and endangered in Wales, but is more widely found in Scotland.

Seeds from the Western Highlands are to be planted on the slopes of Helvellyn, according to the mountain's managers the John Muir Trust.

The mountain avens is the national flower of Iceland.

The flower, which features eight white petals around a yellow centre, grows in cold, sunny locations and has been found on lime-rich ridges on Beinn Na Socaich, a mountain in the Grey Corries which are part of the Jahama Highland Estates.

In England, the plant is found in the Pennines and two locations in the Lake District, where it was first recorded many years ago.

Pete Barron, from the John Muir Trust, said: "Without the support of Jahama and the other partners in this project, the Lakeland population of this relatively rare mountain plant species could not have been augmented and protected."

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