Wood anemone
Wood anemone is a widespread and common species throughout the UK.
In the New Forest there are few woods that have carpets of wood anemone, but they can often be found in small numbers at the edges of ancient oak woodlands. Wood anemones only grow under a shaded canopy. The trees of the woodland provide this, but in the New Forest dense bracken will provide the same habitat and wood anemone can be found quite abundantly in some bracken areas.
One of the best displays of wood anemone is at Ivy Woods, just east of Brockenhurst along the B3 55 towards Beaulieu. You will need to park in the car park and look a little way into the woods — they cannot be seen much from the roadside. A good area to see them in the open before the bracken grows up is at Holmsley. They grow on the slopes on the south side of the disused railway line at the north end of Holmsley Inclosure. Late April is the best time to see them.
