In the 1930s, a beautiful white-flowering plant called the Nottingham Catchfly became locally extinct.
This hardy herbaceous perennial, which opens its white petals at dusk to attract nocturnal pollinators, was first found growing on the walls of Nottingham Castle by Thomas Willisell in 1669.
It grew in abundance for centuries before habitat loss amid the city’s urban sprawl left its population decimated.
Naturalist John Ray, while accompanying his friend Sir Francis Willoughby to Wollaton in 1670, produced a record of Willisell’s discovery, in which he described seeing the “wild white catchfly” while exploring the castle himself.
Today, it is unusual to find the Nottingham Catchfly ( silene nutans ) growing in the wild.
Although it had been entirely absent from the castle grounds for almost a century, a 2020 campaign sought to reintroduce it.
For a long time, Nottingham Catchfly could only be found growing in the gardens of those well-versed in its decline, or perhaps those growing it while unaware of its importance to the city, which to this day represents the unitary authority of Nottingham as its county flower.
It can also be found growing at Bromley House Library in Angel Row.
Matt Dolman, development manager at the library, said the plant tells a story of the importance of preserving and promoting native species.
In the library is a herbarium that features the Nottingham Catchfly, pressed into the ancient pages of volume two as specimen 135.
It is one of four herbarium volumes created by Thomas Jowett between 1821 and 1824.
“Nottingham Catchfly used to grow in abundance in the city, but by the 20th century it had all disappeared,” Mr Dolman said.
“It was declared extinct from the city. Its main stronghold in the city was the Nottingham Castle walls. But in the 19th century, there were accounts of its main habitat being destroyed or disturbed, and consequently, the catchfly from that main area disappeared.
“What we did as a library is we started encouraging people to start growing the Nottingham Catchfly.
“We encouraged people to buy seeds from us, which you can still do online or if you visit the library, and you can start growing it at home.
“It looks quite unobtrusive by day, but at night its flowers unfurl and emit a really heady, strong fragrance to attract night-pollinating moths.
“The name confuses some people, even myself at first. It is not carnivorous, but it is to attract those pollinators, particularly at dusk.
“Really, it disappeared due to habitat loss, so changes in habitat have such an impact on the natural world. The Nottingham Catchfly disappeared because of this loss of habitat, so it no longer grows in the city because of those changes.”
In 2020, volunteers for the Nottingham Castle Trust began a repopulation project in a bid to get it growing again.
Volunteer manager Pippa Vidal Davies said she believed its decline on the castle grounds could have also been the result of an overenthusiastic gardener who may have considered them weeds.
To offset the loss, she sent seed packs to 900 homes.
Once they were established, the surviving plants were brought back to the castle, where they were planted near the remains of a bailey.
However, the trust collapsed in November 2022, and the castle was closed just a year after a £33 million restoration project that aimed to transform the site into a “world-class attraction”.
It is now in the hands of Nottingham City Council.
At the castle there’s a small patch of land where the Nottingham Catchfly had been growing.
However, it has evidently struggled following the four intense heatwaves the city has experienced so far this year.
Cllr Sam Lux, executive member for climate and environment at the council, said the consensus was that the plant continues to grow on the castle grounds.
“It was a real push when the Castle Trust was in action, but it hasn’t had much attention or work done recently,” she said.
“It is still there. I guess it was a successful project. It is cool, and I very much support it.”
Sarah Manton, an artist and board member on the Nottingham Open Spaces Forum, added: “I know quite a lot of people have it growing in their own little plantations.
“It is lovely and should be supported. It is quite easy to grow; it would be lovely to see it all over the place.”
Nottingham Catchfly seeds can be purchased from Bromley House Library or from the Naturescape wildflower farm in Langar, Nottinghamshire.
By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter