The Eden Valley is a botanical paradise. Farmland, moorland, woodland and upland can all be found in Eden, and they provide a big range of habitats, many protected as nature reserves.
Near the village of Great Asby is a huge expanse of limestone pavement, a rare and endangered habitat made up of clints (blocks of limestone) and grykes, or fissures, which are caused by water erosion.
Plants inhabit the micro-climate within the grykes, including green spleenwort, hart's tongue and limestone fern in the deeper grykes, with heather, blue moor grass, nettles and tormentil in the shallower ones.
Orchids, such as broad leaved helleborine, can also be found here.  A broad leaved helleborine orchid
There is even a wetland area, rare on limestone, at Sunbiggin Tarn. There are some rare sedges and orchids, such as early marsh orchid and northern marsh orchid, and one of the best displays of bird's-eye primrose in Britain – this plant’s distribution being almost entirely in the Pennines of Cumbria and Lancashire.
A carniverous plant ...
The area is also home to the unusual marsh cinquefoil, as well as butterwort, one of Britain’s few carnivorous plants.
Probably Eden’s greatest botanical treasure is Waitby Greenriggs, a Cumbria Wildlife Trust reserve near Kirkby Stephen, and home to more than 200 species of plant.
The reserve has developed on a short section of the old Stainmore Railway and the Eden Valley branch line -- where the two lines converge.
The profusion of plants is best seen between April and September. First to flower are cowslip, followed by wild strawberry, wood anemone and early purple orchid. Bird’s eye primrose, water avens, kidney vetch, red valerian and the bright yellow globeflower are all present.
Mid to late June is the prime time for orchids, including northern marsh, common spotted, fragrant, lesser butterfly, frog and common twayblade, as well as fly orchid, the most northerly site in Britain for this small but beautiful plant.
Waitby is also notable because it is home to two carnivorous plants, the limestone loving butterwort and the acid loving sundew, which thrives in the cinders on the old railway line.
The upland areas of the Pennines bordering the east of the county have limestone overlaid with acidic blanket bog and the main botanical interest occurs where the limestone is exposed.
In the Cross Fell area there are typical mountain species, such as starry saxifrage, and an unusual mountain forget-me-not.
For a spectacular show of bluebells, head to Flakebridge Wood near Appleby. The display, at its best in early to mid May, is one of the best in the county.
Another area worth visiting is Cliburn Moss, an English Nature reserve near Penrith. The moss formed in a wet hollow created by the remains of a glacier.
Old peat workings support fen plants like slender sedge, bottle sedge, bogbean and marsh cinquefoil. Rarer species include lesser tussock sedge, bog sedge and cyperus sedge.
Elsewhere on the site you will find cotton grass, heather, cross-leaved heath, bog bilberry, dyers’ greenweed, northern marsh and lesser butterfly orchids, crowberry and cowberry.
The sites listed above are just a taster of the wonderful flora habitats in Eden – so, get out there and explore…
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