The Pride Of Sussex

THE PRIDE

of Sussex

The round-headed rampion, otherwise known as the ‘Pride of Sussex’ is our county flower. Robert Veitch has never seen one but has learnt what to search for

In national terms, round-headed serrated edge. Flowers appear from rampion is our equivalent to May to August in purple or deep blue the red rose of Lancashire, the shades. Each flower is an aggregation of primrose of Devon, honeysuckle many smaller tube-like florets. of Warwickshire and the bogbean of Round-headed rampion is found Renfrewshire. on chalky grassland, and its greatest

Round-headed rampion or density occurs on the South Downs, Phyteuma Orbiculare to use the making it an apt choice for the county correct botanical nomenclature is an flower. herbaceous perennial. It’s a plant that In downland meadows that are left dies back to the ground each autumn un-grazed it’s possible to see a purple then grows afresh haze during the each spring. It’s part summer, though of the Phyteuma genus and from the It’s possible to see a purple round-head rampion is not common, it is Campanulaceae haze during the summer in fact a ‘nationally family that also scarce’ plant. Like contains campanula, the orchids that also lobelia, and some populate the South varieties of tobacco. Downs, these plants are

Round-headed to be cherished where rampion grows up they grow and then to 50cm (20 inches) left alone. in height, though In 2002 it can mature at a Plantlife, the wildlife smaller size. The conservation charity leaves are lanceolate decided to assign (narrow oval shapes), each county an sometimes with a official flower. Before then blue cornflower had been seen by some as the county flower of Sussex. The poll took place and round-headed rampion topped the vote to become ‘official’ and maybe it is a good choice as rampion is at home in Sussex, bearing in mind it grows so sparsely elsewhere in England.

Harking back to the past, the Ringmer village sign on the junction of Lewes Road and Vicarage Way has been in situ since 1923. It’s home to a round-headed rampion, among shields, tortoises and illustrious local names from history. Mid Sussex District Council have had a round-headed rampion on their coat of arms since 1978.

More recently, at the start of the 2010s planning began on what was then called the Southern Array, but is now called Rampion Wind Farm. Georgia Starr and Megan McCullough, pupils at Davison CE High School for Girls in Worthing suggested the name when a competition was held. The duo enjoyed a tour of the wind farm in 2018, when it opened. Rampion Wind Farm has 116 turbines, 140m (459 feet) in height, located 8-12 miles offshore between Worthing and Brighton and powers 350,000 homes. Boat tours of the site are available.

The round-headed rampion may be the ‘Pride of Sussex’ but spare a thought for its sibling, the very rare spiked rampion, currently known to exist at only eight locations across the county. l