Wildflowers on wheels

Cycling botanist Leif Bersweden toured Britain's best sites searching for wild plants, hoping to understand them, the dangers they now face, and why so many of us have become disconnected from the beauty at our feet

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Riding a bike has always been my favourite way to travel around. I spent much of my childhood cycling through the Wiltshire countryside, looking at nature, pausing by the roadside to explore sun-dappled woodlands or pockets of downland.

Over the years, I had many memorable encounters with wild things spotted from the saddle: plants, animals and fungi that I triumphantly identified (regularly incorrectly) and listed lovingly in my notebook. I found joy in this activity. It calmed me. It was a source of inspiration and entertainment throughout the year. And - unlike in school - I was never bored.

From a young age, my love for nature was focused on wild plants. In my local meadows and woods, there were plants that poisoned predators, fought battles and played mind games with pollinators. I discovered climbers and carnivores, puppeteers and parasites.

Some were giants hundreds of years old, while others were tiny pinpricks a millimetre across.

Their inability to run away meant I could get a good look at them, and I quickly lapsed into a familiar plant-hunting routine. Botanising the art of simply walking along and noticing the plants growing around me - satisfied my need for quiet and desire to discover.

As I grew up and my initial curiosity laid the foundations for a deep sense of care, I began to learn about how vulnerable our wildflowers are. It bothered me that so few people seemed to notice the plants growing all around us, let alone take an active interest in them. The losses endured by wild plants in Britain and Ireland are stark, and the dangers they face on a daily basis - climate change, habitat destruction, declining pollinator populations seem more worrying than ever before. And so, perhaps inevitably, my love for nature fuelled a need to share the importance and beauty of what we have with as many people as possible.