With my dissertation taking up the majority of my time its nice to get out at any chance I can. Luckily for me some months ago I had decided I'd help co-lead a botanical walk with Sam, in search of the Purple Toothwort Lathraea squamaria.Although very little is flowering at this time of year which led us to look mainly at some of the fern species which could be found within the woodland in the build up to seeing the toothwort. Purple toothwort is an introduced species to Britain, it was first brought in with the roots of imported trees, which due to it's parasitic nature allowed it to establish. The closest native populations are only a short hop across the channel in France and Belguim.
The Penglais wood's toothwort is a bit of an oddity, mainly due to its choice of host, which seems to be a Metasequoia compared with the usual Salix and Populus it usually grows on.
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