NWT Conservation Officer Helen Baczkowska reveals why she thinks sulphur clover is the perfect candidate to represent the wild flowers of the Claylands.
If you were asked to choose a wild flower that represents the Claylands of Suffolk and South Norfolk, what would you select? Perhaps ox eye daisies or the magenta spikes of green winged orchids? Maybe it would be the joy of spring primroses along ditches, or cowslips, growing on field edges in early summer. Each of these would be a good candidate, but for me it would be the creamy yellow sulphur clover.
Sulphur Clover by Henry Walker
In bright sun in June or July, sulphur clover lives up to its name, with vivid flowers that are larger than the common white and red clovers. As the seeds ripen, the flowers fade to brownish orange and once you know what you are looking for, the leaves can be spotted for most of the year. Just like other clovers, they are 'trifoliate', meaning the leaves are split into three parts, but unlike other British clovers, they are grey-green and downy to the touch.
Like many other plants, sulphur clover tells a story of soil and geology and human history. It likes to grow on the chalky boulder-clays of the Claylands, where long ago glaciers dumped ground up debris in low hills, although it is also found on a few outcrops of chalk soils in North Norfolk. Wherever it grows, it is, like the orchids and cowslips, a clue to the location of old meadows and commons that were once cut for hay or grazed by farm animals.
In the past century, many grasslands have been converted to arable fields or lost to development. Even those that remain can be affected by cutting at the wrong time of year, by spraying with herbicides and shading when scrub grows. Sulphur clover is now listed as a nationally scarce plant, with South Norfolk and Suffolk considered by conservationists its stronghold in England. In South Norfolk, sulphur clover is mostly found on a series of Roadside Nature Reserves, cared for by Norfolk County Council. However, even these are vulnerable to spray drift from nearby fields, compaction by vehicles and fertiliser run-off.
Wood Lane roadside nature reserve by Helen Baczkowska
Over a decade ago, Henry Walker from the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group and I became concerned about the plight of sulphur clover and started harvesting the seed by hand and by cutting 'green hay'; unlike hay for animals, this is not dried in the sun, but scattered on fields to spread seed. From the seeds we have created new meadows across South Norfolk. Other wild flowers spread through the hay include pink-flowered spiny restharrow, yellow rattle and the aniseed-scented pepper saxifrage. In summer butterflies and bees enjoy the nectar of the flowers, while birds like linnets and goldfinches feed on the seeds.
One of the best places to see sulphur clover is the Roadside Nature Reserve on Wood Lane, Pulham Market (GR). Please park considerately if you visit and be careful walking in the lane if you do spot the flowers; I think you will agree that it is a worthy wild emblem of the area.
Header image: Sulphur clover by David Ferre