BB2517 : Name That Plant

Wednesday 14th May 2025

I need your help, please.  Today we saw a tree or shrub, whichever, and I don’t know what it is.  Furthermore, I don’t know how it got there.

Often in April or May there is a period in which the weather in the Lake District is settled, albeit that in the rest of the country might not be so kind.  Even so, this year has been exceptional with its long, dry and sunny spell.  The fields are full of meadow flowers and the gardens are ablaze with Rhododendrons and Azaleas. 

However, on the hills you don’t expect to find quite the same displays.  Except that today there was an unexpected plant and if you know what it is and how it got there, please let me know.

Our objective was the Greenburn Round, Greenburn being the valley that runs opposite and down to the Travellers Rest, north of Grasmere.  It starts with Steel Fell and runs round to Helm Crag, otherwise known as the Lion and the Lamb.  Actually there are two similar looking features although the norther one is often referred to as the Old Man playing the Organ or, alternatively, the Howitzer.

From where we parked the car, near the pub, we could see a couple of people assessing whether climb the Howitzer on the summit.  Sensibly they chose not.

Our first target was Steel Fell by the easy route.  Our days of hauling ourselves up the 45 degree slope from the top of Dunmail Raise are over.  Going up the nose from the pub is much easier, albeit with over 400 feet more climbing.  Once you reach the top, it’s a splendid viewpoint in all directions, that to the north being the least familiar to us.

To the south, Helm Crag awaited us.

There was much aerial activity with Typhoons and F35s getting in a lot of practice.

It was a beautiful day although the wind could be a bit chilly.  The long dry spell meant that the two unnamed tarns on the circuit to Calf Crag were very low and areas that are normally very boggy were more or less dry.

We took lunch near Gibson Knott then pressed on to Helm Crag. 

None of us were tempted to try the ascent of the Howitzer this time.  I can still bask in the knowledge that Wainwright never did reach the top but I have, back in 2009 (BB0927); that’s mainly thanks to Bryan and Stan. 

As we approached the second top, the one that looks much more like a Lion and Lamb when viewed from up here, something strange caught our attention.  Nestled under the Lion's left front limb is a bush growing in the rock.  There is no other vegetation of that nature on the fell.  So, what is it and how did it get there?  Not only growing, but in full bloom.

The descent to Grasmere is steep.  I suspect this hill has put more people off fell walking than any other.  Newcomers to the pastime starting from Grasmere are faced with a relentlessly steep climb that, although offering splendid views, requires a certain degree of determination to reach the top.  Our way is much gentler though longer but the quid pro quo is that the descent is hard on the knees.

Back down in the valley, the Rhododendrons were looking magnificent, even if Lancrigg's wedding advert wasn't, but we were still wondering what was that shrub at the feet of the lion?  Looking back over previous reports I can see that it was there, leafless, in Tony’s picture from 2020 (BB2034) but I can’t see it in our 2007 visit (BB0735).  Strangely, this Lion doesn’t seem to have been captured on any of our other eight visits

Can anyone name that shrub and how it got there, please?

Don, Wednesday 14^th May 2025

Many thanks to Ian for taking several photos for me on his phone
after my camera ran out of juice and my phone started playing up.

Comitibus:  

                                            Don (2009),                                              Ian, Stan, Don (2025)

Comments :

Robin : Difficult to tell what your white flowered shrub is without close inspection of the flowers and the leaves. You all know mayflower well enough so it won't be that. According to my RHS Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers, quite possibly it's a Viburnum of one variety or another - maybe Viburnam Bifida, unknown or surely extremely rare on the Fells. White flowers, semi-evergreen, very hardy, 1,5 to 2,5 M tall when grown, and flowers in the Spring / early Summer, How did it get there? Again, conjecture, but birds eat the berries and the seeds of Viburnam, the latter which pass right through, so maybe from a local garden in Grasmere or from the recently sold garden centre in Ambleside; apparently it is not uncommon for seeds to travel quite a distance by this means of transport! - so this description fits the bill so to speak.

Don : I suspect it probably was mayflower.  It just seemed too exotic to find one isolated up there but we could see them in the valley.  It's a pity we didn't try and get a close up but I was having camera malfunctions.

Kirstie : Rowan, also known as Mountain Ash? Restricted growth due to altitude?

Don :  Having looked again at the orinal photo in full size, I suspect you could be right.  Although the definition is not great, the leaves look more like Rowan than Mayflower.

Do you have any comments or questions?

If so, please click on .  We look forward to hearing from you.  If you do NOT want your comments to appear on this website, please say so otherwise we will assume that we have your permission for publication in whatever responsible manner we consider appropriate.  Alternatively you can leave a comment on Facebook.

If you would like to become a BOOTboys Follower click on to let us know and you will receive automatic notification of new reports.

STATISTICS

BB2517 : Name That Plant

Date:

Wednesday 15th May 2025

Features:

Steel Fell, Calf Crag, Gibson Knott, Helm Crag

Distance in miles:

8.4

Height climbed in feet:

2,427

GPX track:

BB2517.GPX

Comitibus:

Don, Ian, Stan

Home

BB04

BB05

BB06

 BB07

BB08

BB09

BB10

BB11

BB12

BB13

BB14

BB15

BB16

BB17

BB18

BB19

BB20

BB21

BB22

BB23

 BB24

 BB25

Archive