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The purple-flowered Chiltern Gentian (Gentianella germanica) may be the county flower of Buckinghamshire, but right now it is being feted in a corner of Wiltshire, where it has been rediscovered after more than 100 years of absence.

This nationally scarce plant was last recorded at the site, near Mere in south west Wiltshire, in 1891 and was thought to be extinct in the county until nine plants were recently found by Dr Tim Rich from the National Museum of Wales.

Its rediscovery at this County Wildlife Site is testament to more than 10 years of careful management of the land on which it grows under an Environmentally Sensitive Area agreement. Now replaced by the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme, ESA provide financial assistance to farmers in the South Wessex Downs with the management of important wildlife habitats.

Its rediscovery brings the number of gentian species known to occur in Wiltshire to three, along with the Autumn Gentian (G. amarella) which also grows at the same site.

Two other species, the Field and the Fringed Gentians (G. campestris and G. ciliata) were once found in Wiltshire but are now believed to be extinct in the county