Field Wormwood Artemisia campestris
Field Wormwood (Artemisia campestris) is a nationally rare plant with a UK distribution almost entirely restricted to the Breckland of Suffolk and Norfolk – making it one of the most geographically restricted native plants in Britain. It is a low-growing, aromatic perennial of open, sandy, disturbed ground and grass-heath, thriving in the warm, continental-influenced conditions of the Breck. Suffolk sites – particularly around the Lakenheath and Icklingham areas – hold the core of the national population. It is highly sensitive to vegetation competition and depends on continued disturbance, grazing, and open-ground management to prevent scrubbing over. Image: © Natural England/Peter Wakely, Flickr.
Find out more: iNaturalist, Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora, Flora of East Anglia ID guide, Back from the Brink
Suffolk’s Priority Fern and Flowering Plant Species
Key
Listed as a conservation priority in Suffolk’s Biodiversity Action Plan.
Closely associated with Suffolk’s landscape and natural identity.
Identified as a key priority for recovery under Suffolk’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy.
Has a Species of the Month article attached.
