According to the announcement, this year, instead of a public vote, a professional board of trustees chose the marsh maidenhair fern as the wildflower of the year.

This orchid is found in a large part of Europe, its distribution area extends eastward in a narrow strip all the way to Siberia, but it is rare everywhere and mostly a protected, endangered species. While some of the lady's-foot-grasses are very difficult to distinguish from each other, the marsh lady's-foot-grass cannot be confused with any other species thanks to its large, purple-veined and blunt-tipped honey lip.

Its habitat also helps in its recognition, as unlike our other species of maidenhair fern, it occurs in drying marshes and wet pioneer surfaces - they wrote, emphasizing that this is precisely why it became the wildflower of the year, as these habitats are drastically shrinking due to climate change and improper landscape use and are transforming into drier associations, resulting in the disappearance of marsh maidenhair fern and other marsh meadow species.

The marsh maidenhair fern typically occurs in spring bogs and areas with seeping water, however, in the Homokhátság, which is home to the species, as well as in other foothill and sandy areas, these habitats are increasingly disappearing due to the subsidence of groundwater - they pointed out, emphasizing that their goal is to highlight the importance of water retention on a landscape scale through the example of the marsh maidenhair fern.

The Wildflower of the Year initiative aims to make the general public more aware of the rare or endangered plant species living in our country, their protection, and the problems associated with them.

It is considered important to involve the widest possible audience in the selection of the wildflower of the year, but in previous public votes, species with spectacular, more striking flowers have been unanimously favored, " suppressing " species that are less decorative, but often of greater conservation importance.

Therefore, in 2025, a board of trustees consisting of experts voted for the wildflower of the year. In the future, the two methods will presumably be alternated.

Source: 
MTI - The Hungarian News Agency, founded in 1881.

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