Hunt for Britain’s most ancient meadow is counting on buttercups
A search for geriatric buttercups is under way to enable scientists to work out the age of Britain’s meadows.
Buttercups are thought to be able to survive, like some grasses, for hundreds of years and perhaps more than a thousand. By identifying the presence and spread of buttercups in a meadow, researchers hope that it will be possible to date them just as rings in trunks give the age of trees.