Chalk Milkwort - Polygala calcarea

The small blue flowers are similar to those of other members of the Milkwort family, but in this species the basal rosette leaves are larger than those growing above.

Records from this species should be confirmed by a County Recorder for botany.  It is on the VC55 Rare Plant Register, and therefore a specimen should not be taken.  Take detailed field photos and submit to NatureSpot as soon as possible; and if you think you have found it in a new location, inform the County Recorder as soon you can. (RPR)

Found in well grazed chalk and limestone grassland, usually on warm south facing slopes.

In flower during May, June and July.

Perennial herb.

Quite an infrequent and local plant in Britain.

Rare and very local in Leicestershire and Rutland. It was not recorded in the Flora of Leicestershire (Primavesi & Evans, 1988) and was present in 2 tetrads in the Flora of Rutland (Messenger, 1971)

It is on the current VC55 Rare Plant Register (Hall and Woodward, 2022) as Locally Rare, decreasing.