Country diary: shrubby cinquefoil is an epitome of wildness and tenacity

Forest-in-Teesdale, County Durham: In decline as a native species, Potentilla fruticosa has clung to rocks here for millennia

This two-mile length of footpath on the south bank of the River Tees, from the cataracts at Low Force, westwards towards the thunder of water tumbling over High Force, is one of the most well-trodden sections of the Pennine Way. Today, with the river in full spate after days of heavy rain, most walkers have come to see the waterfalls.

In early summer many visit to admire the display of wild flowers, when orchids, globe flowers, mountain pansies and bird’s-eye primroses border the footpath. I could find only one species of this internationally famous flora, known to botanists as the Teesdale Assemblage, still in bloom on this chilly October afternoon: shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa), one of Britain’s rarest wild flowers.