Landmark new book documents wildflowers, trees and plants found in Brecknockshire

A definitive new book documents the wildflowers, trees and plants found in the historic county of Brecknockshire, including Bannau Brycheiniog National Park.

The Flora is the culmination of a lifetime’s work by Mike Porter, a highly respected local botanist.

Mike began recording Brecknockshire’s plants in the 1960s, systematically exploring the county and mapping the plants.

Mike continued working on The Flora into his 90th year and was able to see the final draft of the book before he sadly passed away in 2025.

The work has since been carefully edited and brought to publication by his friend and collaborator, John Crellin.

This landmark publication is the first comprehensive account of Brecknockshire’s plant life since the Mountain Pansy was recorded in 1667.

It summarises Mike’s incredible knowledge of Breconshire and its plants, combining over 55 years of recent field records alongside historical data.

It is a credit to Mike and the 400 botanists who have contributed to this stunning piece of work, alongside John Crellin for facilitating The Flora’s production. It is a major milestone for Welsh botany.

Mike Porter was the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland’s County Recorder for Breconshire from 1968.

Mike had a particular expertise in plants which are notoriously difficult to name such as Whitebeams, Dandelions, Brambles and Hawkweeds. He named 9 species new to science and Porter’s Dandelion (Taraxacum porteri) is named after him.

Brecknockshire is home to an exceptional diversity of plants.

The arctic-alpine Purple Saxifrage clings to the high cliffs of Pen y Fan at its southern limit in Britain where it has been since the last Ice Age.

The Meadow Crane's-bill, a southern species, forms colourful drifts in old meadows and on road verges.

There are some amazing botanical sites within Brecknockshire, including Craig y Cilau National Nature Reserve which supports four species that occur nowhere else in the world and Llyn Syfaddan (Llangors Lake) with its diverse wetlands.

The Flora of Brecknockshire was formally launched by Stephanie Tyler, President-elect of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland.

She said: “This long-awaited ‘Flora of Brecknockshire’ is a fitting tribute to the memory of Mike Porter. His hard work over many years and of course that of John Crellin who completed the task is evident in this important modern Flora with its wonderful habitat and plant photos and its detailed information on the occurrence and distribution of all plant species in the vice-county,” said Stephanie Tyler, president-elect of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland.

Jonathan Porter, Mike’s son said: “The family are very proud of Dad’s Flora, a monumental achievement.”

“It was an immense pleasure to help Mike get his Flora done – we hope everyone will enjoy reading it,” said John Crellin, Editor

“Here at y Bannau, we are delighted to see the Brecknockshire Flora launched. This is the culmination of years of dedicated field work, analysis and verification, and a testament to the dedication of field botanists and county recorders without whom nature recovery and biodiversity conservation wouldn’t happen. It’s great to know that this National Park hosts so many wild plants. This Flora helps ensure that there can be a future with nature at its heart,” said Paul Sinnadurai, Senior Ecologist at Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority.

The Flora of Brecknockshire is available from Summerfield Books https://www.summerfieldbooks.com priced at £40 plus postage. It is a full colour A4 hardback with 544 pages, including more than 400 photographs, 47 paintings and 1,100 maps.