Lords and Ladies.

On my recent walks up the hill to Ewelease Dairy to see if the Swallows have returned (they haven't), I have been struck by the profusion of one of our oddest looking plants, Lords and Ladies. Arum maculatum in the hedgerow.

Otherwise commonly known as Cuckoo Pint,though there is a host of other local names, the male flowers are the prominent purple or greenish spikes (both forms occur in my wildlife garden). The female flowers are hidden in the base of the flower and will eventually, after the foliage has died down, emerge as scarlet, poisonous berries. This is thought to be the only plant in the British Isles which has a one-to-one relationship with its pollinator. In this country it appears to be pollinated by just a single species of Owl Midge, namely Psychoda phalaenoides, though other fly species are involved in the rest of Europe. The larvae of the Owl Midge feed on Cow dung, in plentyful supply in the old cricket field due to the constant presence of the Highland Cattle. So has the introduction of the Highlanders led to the profusion of Lords and Ladies?