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According to the Royal Botanic Gardens' State of Nature report, one in five of Britain's wildflower species is threatened with extinction.

The rarest wildflowers are particularly at risk, due to their habitats disappearing. However, important common flowers are also under threat.

From flowers protected in a secret location, to those who ‘trick’ bees, we look at six wildflowers that are endangered in the UK.

Ghost orchid: Elusive and exclusive

This spooky-sounding flower is considered by ecologists to be the most endangered woodland plant in the UK. This is partly because it has such specific growing conditions.

Unlike most plants, the ghost orchid has no leaves or chlorophyll and therefore does not photosynthesise. Instead, it relies on nutrients from rotting vegetation and fungi. It only comes out of the soil to flower and seed, and can wait more than 30 years between flowering.

Thought to be extinct in the UK, one plant was rediscovered in Hertfordshire (in a secret location for the flower’s own protection) and reclassified as ‘critically endangered’ in 2009. In order to keep this flower blooming, its habitat must be maintained. It might be threatened by the burning of fossil fuels, as an excess of nitrogen in rainwater can throw off its ecosystem.

The rare orchid can be found in rotting beech wood, moist leaf litter and poorly-lit areas. However, it should be left to the experts to find it and keep it protected - plus, it would only ghost you afterwards.

Bluebell: The ancient fairy flower

The bluebell is a common flower around the UK, so it may come as a surprise to find that it’s endangered. It has a number of factors threatening its population. These include habitat destruction, hybridisation with non-native bluebells and illegal trade of its bulbs.

That’s right - bluebells are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act (WCA) and have been since 1981, meaning it’s a criminal offence to uproot them in the wild. Since 1998, the illegal trade of wild bluebell bulbs and seeds is also an offence and carries a fine of up to £5000. That’s an expensive posy!

Part of the reason why they’re so protected is because native wildflowers are incredibly important to the countryside. The decrease of wildflowers in each area means the environment as a whole can suffer. Bluebells in particular are important to ancient woodlands (areas of woodland that have persisted since 1600 in England and Wales, and 1750 in Scotland), each of which have unique and complex biodiversity that is irreplaceable.

Don’t tread on them! Bluebells are very easily trampled and if their leaves are crushed, it can stop photosynthesis.

Meadow Clary: A medieval medical marvel

Meadow clary is another flower that is protected by the WCA, meaning it’s illegal to pick, uproot or damage it in the wild. It’s been left vulnerable due to habitat change, often caused by the ploughing and fertilising of grasslands, as well as the continual loss of grazing by livestock. This allows coarser plants to thrive and smother the meadow clary.

For centuries, it was an important medicinal plant. It was used to reduce inflammation of the eyes (the name ‘clary’ is derived from ‘clear-eye’). Until recently, was used in sore throat remedies and as a flavouring in some beers and wines.

Meadow clary is found in chalk or limestone soils and open grassland in southern England. Its flowers are incredibly attractive to butterflies and bees, so it’s an important plant for pollination.

Early spider orchid: Just wanting to bee loved

Speaking of being attractive to bees… each spring, the early spider orchid - a flower that looks more like a bumblebee than a spider - releases a pheromone which attracts male solitary bees. Male bees mistake the flower for a female and this process is key for the plant’s pollination.

This happens because the orchid blooms for a short time each spring - just after male bees emerge from hibernation, but before females bees appear.

The Royal Meteorological Society says that in terms of biological events, spring is coming earlier than it did 50 years ago. An example of a biological event is insects (such as bees) coming out of hibernation.

In this case, the window between the orchid blooming and female bees emerging has shortened by as many as six days. This can give the orchid less time to reproduce, so its population may continue to decrease as the seasons shift.

Solitary bees are responsible for the majority of pollination in Britain, so plants which attract them for food and pollen are essential to many UK ecosystems. The early spider orchid grows in wastelands and alkaline soils.

Twinflower - split up and pining for each other

Integral to the biodiversity of its ancient pinewood surroundings, the twinflower can be found in the Caledonian forests of Scotland, as well as some heathlands. However, their numbers have decreased in woodland areas. Changes to Scotland’s landscape and a decrease in Caledonian pine numbers has resulted in many of the plants being too far apart from each other for insects to pollinate.

Ancient woodland plants and flowers like the twinflower are an important element of the woodlands’ ecology. This is the same habitat which many animals, such as the endangered Scottish wildcat, rely on for hunting.

Fortunately there is a huge conservation effort towards keeping the flower thriving where it grows. The National Trust for Scotland even allows local volunteers to 'adopt' patches of twinflower.

Snake’s head fritillary: Droopy whatever the weather

With checkered petals straight out of Wonderland, the fritillary is the county flower of Oxfordshire. It grows in wet meadows, especially hay meadows, which flood in the winter months. However, modern agricultural practices, such as draining the land to grow crops, have left the flower critically endangered. They are resilient against herbicides but, as bulbs, one ploughing of their environment can destroy their growing conditions even if they have bloomed there for centuries.

Warmer winters due to climate change may be a more recent threat, as their environments either become too dry or overly wet to the point of drowning. The Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust is making efforts to protect the flower in reserves in Iffley meadows, Oxford.