This tiny pink flower is out now, in small groups in the heart of the heather moorlands, particularly in boggy areas. Our guests on Saturday's Walking Picnic asked me what it was called, and I didn't know, so took a photo and looked it up online. This, it appears, is the lousewort. How on earth did a pretty little flower end up with a name like that? It doesn't seem fair. I suppose our ancestors used it to get rid of lice, and the name stuck (which is slightly better than the louse sticking). So, as the incidents of louse infestation in the populace of the New Forest are now mercifully few, let's call it something more pretty - how about the Pink Bonnet?
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