A RARE buttercup found on Inglestone Common is to be nurtured by conservationists who have launched a project to protect the plant.

Remarkably the adder’s tongue spearwort – a member of the buttercup family – is only found in two places in the UK, including Inglestone Common in South Gloucestershire.

The ‘bring back the buttercup’ partnership project, led by South Gloucestershire Biodiversity Action Group, has received funding from Wessex Water, which will be used to ensure the natural environment is cared for to encourage the rare species to flourish.

The £2,500 grant from the water company’s Partners Programme, will help develop a method for reintroducing the plant, which could help conservationists support the rare plant on other sites as well.

“We’re delighted to have Wessex Water on board with this project,” said Robert Moreton, of South Gloucestershire Biodiversity Action Group.

“The money will help fund the planting of the adder’s tongue spearwort and to then monitor and document seed set. This will help further understanding of the factors important for introductions.”

As a mud plant, the species of buttercup relies on areas of bare, wet ground to set seed and thrive.

At Inglestone it is associated with a site with wildflower grassland, ephemeral ponds and wet hollows. For many years, cattle kept the wildflower grasslands open and ponds grazed and the buttercup plant could thrive in the wet muddy edges.

In recent years, land management practices have changed and scrub has encroached around ponds and cattle numbers reduced. This has been mirrored by a reduction in plant numbers to a critical point.

Dave Jones, regulatory scientist from Wessex Water, said: “The project will really help turn around the fortunes of the buttercup by researching and understanding the plants requirements and by removing scrub so new areas can be recreated where the plant can flourish.”