Small cow-wheat  (Melampyrum sylvaticum)

Classified as Nationally Scarce in Great Britain (3), and protected in Northern Ireland by Schedule 8 of the Wildlife Order, 1985 but is not protected elsewhere in the UK (3).

Small cow-wheat has narrow leaves and produces deep brownish yellow flowers (4).

A locally occurring species in northern England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, with historic records from Wales. It has become extinct in 70% of the former UK range (3). This species is endemic to Europe, with strongholds in Scandinavia, the Alps and the Balkans (3).

You can view distribution information for this species at the National Biodiversity Network Gateway.

Inhabits relatively open (4), usually broadleaved birch woodlands (2), and occurs on banks, ledges, stream valleys, hollows, and the shores of lakes (3).

Small cow-wheat is a hemiparasitic plant, this means that it can obtain nutrients from other plants, but can also live independently due to the presence of a root system and the green pigment chlorophyll. It is an annual species, and flowers from June to August (4).

Current threats to the species include agricultural intensification, with fertiliser application at woodland edges, over grazing in woodlands or the abandonment of grazing, and the planting of non-native tree species (4).

Small cow-wheat is a UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority species, the Species Action Plan aims to halt the decline before the year 2005 and return the species to five sites from which it has been lost by 2010 (3). It occurs in three Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), which are managed as reserves (3).

The UK Biodiversity Action Plan for this species is available at UK BAP.

There may be further information about this species available via the National Biodiversity Network Gateway.