Denbighshire: Trees felled to protect endangered plant in Wales

A patch of the endangered purple gromwell was found in an quarry in north Wales

Trees have been felled in a quarry to try to protect an endangered plant found at just a few sites in south Wales and southern England.

The purple gromwell lives on woodland edges with limestone-based soils.

A patch was found at Graig Quarry near Mold in Denbighshire beneath small diseased trees that threatened to damage the plant if they were to fall.

The trees were removed as part of conservation work by Natural Resources Wales (NRW).

It will "boost conditions" for the plant, said NRW's Rhys Ellis.

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The purple gromwell or lithospermum purpureocaeruleum is classed as endangered on the red list in Wales and is listed as nationally rare across Great Britain.

The patch found at Graig Quarry is at the northern edge of the plant's range globally, which goes as far south as Turkey.

Tree were "carefully" felled in January to try to give the rare plant more light

"Over time, the site's woodland had become slightly overgrown, and the purple gromwell is known to prefer only light shade," Mr Ellis said.

Work to slightly thin out the woodland a few years ago, NRW said, gave the plant enough light to see it produce both flowers and seeds.