Rare bellflower: 84 plants set out in Czechia's Central Uplands

At the Babinské louky nature monument in the Central Uplands Protected Landscape Area, 84 seedlings of the rare lily-leaved bellflower have been planted. It is the only place where this species, normally found in light woodland, grows in a meadow habitat, the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic reports.

The seedlings went into a fenced plot that protects them from being grazed by overabundant hoofed game. “We hope the new plants will do well here,” says Jarmila Kostiuková of the agency. The planting is part of the bellflower rescue programme and the European Prospective LIFE project.

A rare species and careful management

The lily-leaved bellflower has never been a common plant. It grows mainly in light woodland, more rarely in meadows, and needs light, space and suitable conditions for its seeds to take hold. That is why careful management matters most at Babinské louky: the meadow is mown only after the plant has ripened and shed its seed.

Conservationists also have to keep strong competitors in check, above all wood small-reed. On a small plot they are trying out sowing yellow rattle: this semi-parasitic plant attaches to grass roots and takes some of their water and nutrients, which can weaken the reed and make room for other meadow species.

The rescue programme has run since 2020

The agency has run the bellflower rescue programme since 2020 and carefully monitors every individual plant. Woods are gradually thinned out, and rampant undergrowth is removed by hand and by mowing. Most plants are now fenced off from game, which allows them to flower and set seed. The next step is creating patches of bare soil where small seedlings can take root.

According to the agency’s director František Pelc, thirteen species rescue programmes and more than 20 regional action plans are now under way across the country. Thanks to them, species such as the Bohemian sand pink have not vanished from Czech nature, and numbers of ground squirrels and Aesculapian snakes are rising. The Prospective LIFE project makes it possible to care for a wider range of endangered species.

Around Prague, based on reporting by ekolist.cz