The rare open flower is blooming these days, but only in about twenty places, especially in northern and northwestern Bohemia, for example on Strížovický vrch in Ústí nad Labem. So that it does not completely disappear from our nature, the Nature and Landscape Protection Agency of the Czech Republic has prepared a rescue program for it. In recent decades, the number of conicles has decreased so much that in some places even individual plants are protected.
The rare cornflower blooms only in a few places in northwestern Bohemia.
| Photo: Courtesy of Radek Fišer
“The open Koniklec pays for the fact that the management of the landscape has completely changed over the last half century. It suited him because the grazing maintained low steppe-like grasslands. Without it, the landscape gradually overgrows and hares and other steppe species do not thrive in it. The rescue program envisages taking care of individual localities in order to preserve or restore suitable living conditions for this beautiful plant,” explains Petr Vít from the Agency for the Protection of Nature and Landscape of the Czech Republic.
“In practice, we have verified that, in addition to the overgrowth of the landscape, honeybees also face another danger. Especially in spring, when cornflowers are one of the first tasty plants, their flowers and leaves are often literally grazed by roe deer and fallow deer or pecked by pheasants. That is why we equip them with cages in some places to prevent this. Such nests are now also seen in the Czech Central Highlands,” describes Kateřina Tremlová from the Agency for the Protection of Nature and Landscape of the Czech Republic.
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The places where the open meadow is still growing are regularly mowed, dry grass is dug up, sheep and goat grazing has been restored somewhere, and raids are cut. A part of the rescue program is also the cultivation of conifers, in which several botanical gardens are involved. Grown plants are used for autumn plantings in some places where conicles are already growing. The position of each plant is precisely recorded in order to evaluate the success of the plantings.
The open coneflower is a long-lived plant with a long root, it can grow in one place for decades and form abundant bunches with dozens of blue-purple flowers. It is at home in the South Russian steppes, from where its range extends to Central Europe. The stem and leaves are densely whitish hairy. After flowering, the cornflower resembles a hairy ball made up of achenes with long fluff.
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“Rescue programs help maintain rare species of plants and animals in our landscape. At the same time, they do not only help the species for which they are being prepared – for example, maintaining the landscape so that it does not overgrow does not only benefit the honeybee, but many other types of plants and insects. Thirteen rescue programs are now running, thanks to them, for example, the Czech sand starling has not disappeared from our nature, and the numbers of ground squirrels and tree snakes are increasing. Now we are preparing another European project, PROSPECTIVE LIFE, which will allow us to care for a wider range of endangered species, including wild pollinators,” adds František Pelc, director of the Nature and Landscape Protection Agency of the Czech Republic, which implements rescue programs.
Garages in Marxova street in Nové Předlice, where several residents still live. On Tuesday, another inspection by officials from the municipality took place there.Source: Diary/Jan Pechánek
