ON the edge of Radnorshire there lurks a lily that only blooms in the UK on one old quarry face in winter and has not bee spotted for 10 years.

The rare Radnor lily has been seen in flower at the Stanner Rocks Nature Reserve, managed by Natural Resources Wales, near Old Radnor.

People travel great distances to see it and around 1,000 other plants on the reserve, of which less than one per cent flower.

“Because of the botanical rarities, and in particular the Radnor lily, it is very popular with plant enthusiasts and bird watchers,” said Rhys Jenkins, senior reserve manager with Natural Resources Wales.

“We don’t get particularly high numbers of visitors compared to your usual honey pot reserves, but the people who do visit make a great effort to get here. Quite often driving from the north of England just to see the flower, take a picture and then go home.”

The little three inch tall plant is actually native to southern Europe and Stanner Rocks is home to other rare plants and mosses that more typically would grow in northern Mediterranean regions.

“The site is really special because of the geology. These are some of the oldest rocks in Wales which were forced up through the Church Stretton fault,” added Mr Jenkins.

“They are incredibly hard wearing meaning that the soils produced are quite thin and prone to desiccation. This in turn means only a quite specialised plant community can survive there.

“The plant itself is doing relatively well. It takes an expert eye to survey the site and find plants in bud so that we can cover them with a cage to stop rabbits nibbling off the flowers.

“These rare plants are an important part of our environment, our heritage and our culture. We carefully manage the site to protect these plants by using sheep and ponies for grazing and removing shade by clearing the scrub and brambles.”