In 1979 Loki Schmidt

Loki Schmidt

Hannelore "Loki" Schmidt, née Glaser was a German environmentalist. She was the wife of Helmut Schmidt, who was the Chancellor of Germany from 1974 to 1982.-Life and work:...

, the spouse of former German Federal chancellor Helmut Schmidt

Helmut Schmidt

Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt is a German Social Democratic politician who served as Chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Prior to becoming chancellor, he had served as Minister of Defence and Minister of Finance. He had also served briefly as Minister of Economics and as acting...

, founded the ("Foundation for the protection of endangered plants") which became the ("Foundation Nature Conservancy Hamburg and for the protection of endangered plants") in 1985. One of the main purposes of this organisation is a public awareness campaign about the ecological value of wildflowers. This campaign which celebrate a wildflower of the year was established in 1980. The announcement for the flower of the year is often published in October and events to protect the critically endangered

Critically endangered

Version 2010.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 3744 Critically Endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and subpopulations.Critically Endangered by kingdom:*1993 Animalia*2 Fungi*1745 Plantae*4 Protista-References:...

, endangered

Endangered species

An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...

 or vulnerable

Vulnerable species

On 30 January 2010, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 9694 Vulnerable species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and sub-populations.-References:...

 wildflowers are organised. In 2003, Schmidt published a book about this campaign with watercolour illustrations of the plants by herself and a foreword titled "With Loki's eyes" written by Siegfried Lenz

Siegfried Lenz

Siegfried Lenz is a German writer, who has written novels and produced several collections of short stories, essays, and plays for radio and the theatre. He was awarded the Goethe Prize in Frankfurt-am-Main on the 250th Anniversary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's birth...

.

List of wildflowers announced as Flower of the Year in Germany

Year	Scientific name	English name	German name	Image
1980	Gentiana pneumonanthe	Marsh gentian
1981	Narcissus pseudonarcissus Narcissus pseudonarcissus Narcissus pseudonarcissus is a perennial flowering plant which grows from a bulb. It has pale yellow flowers with a darker central trumpet...	Wild daffodil
1982	Cephalanthera rubra	Red helleborine
1983	Tulipa sylvestris	Wild tulip
1984	Adonis aestivalis Adonis aestivalis Adonis aestivalis is a medicinal and ornamental plant. It is native to Europe but has been introduced elsewhere, such as the western and eastern parts of the United States.-External links:*****...	Summer pheasant's-eye
1985	Aquilegia vulgaris Aquilegia vulgaris Aquilegia vulgaris is a species of columbine native to Europe.- Description :It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 1.2 m tall, with branched, thinly hairy stems...	Common columbine
1986	Arnica montana Arnica montana Arnica montana, known commonly as leopard's bane, wolf's bane, mountain tobacco and mountain arnica, is a European flowering plant with large yellow capitula....	Mountain arnica
1987	Eryngium maritimum	Sea holly
1988	Calla palustris	Bog arum
1989	Dianthus carthusianorum Dianthus carthusianorum Dianthus carthusianorum is a species of Dianthus, native to Europe, from Spain north to Belgium and Poland, and east to Ukraine, occurring in dry, grassy habitats at altitudes of up to 2,500 m in mountains....	Carthusian pink
1990	Jasione montana Jasione montana Sheep's bit scabious, Jasione montana, is a low-growing plant in the Campanulaceae family found in rocky places and upland regions of Europe and western Asia...	Sheep's bit scabious
1991	Andromeda polifolia	Bog-rosemary
1992	Drosera rotundifolia Drosera rotundifolia Drosera rotundifolia is a species of sundew, a carnivorous plant often found in bogs, marshes and fens...	Common sundew
1993	Fritillaria meleagris Fritillaria meleagris Fritillaria meleagris is a fritillary in the family Liliaceae. Its common names include Snake's Head Fritillary, Snake's Head , Checkered Daffodil, Chess Flower, Frog-cup, Guinea-hen Flower, Leper Lily , Frog-cup, Lazarus bell or, in northern...	Snake's-head fritillary
1994	Dactylorhiza majalis	Western marsh orchid
1995	Trollius europaeus	Globe-flower
1996	Pulsatilla vulgaris Pulsatilla vulgaris Pulsatilla vulgaris belongs to the buttercup family , native to western, central and southern Europe....	Pasque-flower
1997	Carlina acaulis Carlina acaulis Carlina acaulis is a perennial dicotyledonous flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to alpine regions of central and southern Europe...	Stemless carline thistle
1998	Stratiotes aloides Stratiotes aloides -Origins:found in Europe and NW AsiaIn Britain it was once common in East Anglia and still is in many places, particularly wet ditches and healthy ponds.-Description:A rosette of serrated leaves.White flowers are produced in the Summer....	Water soldier
1999	Caltha palustris Caltha palustris Caltha palustris is a herbaceous perennial plant of the buttercup family, native to marshes, fens, ditches and wet woodland in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere....	Marsh marigold
2000	Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum Lithospermum purpurocaerula or Purple Gromwell is a herbaceous perennial rhizomatous plant of the genus Lithospermum, belonging to the family Boraginaceae.-Etymology:...	Purple gromwell
2001	Geranium sanguineum Geranium sanguineum Geranium sanguineum, commonly called Bloody Cranesbill or Bloody Geranium, is a perennial herbaceous plant species in the Geraniaceae family...	Bloody cranesbill
2002	Viola riviniana Viola riviniana Viola riviniana, the Common Dog-violet, is a species of the genus Viola. It is also called wood violet or dog violet. It is a perennial herb of woodland rides, grassland and shady hedge banks...	Common dog-violet
2003	Agrostemma githago	Common corncockle
2004	Soldanella alpina Soldanella alpina The alpine snowbell or blue moonwort, Soldanella alpina, is a member of the Primulaceae native to the Alps and Pyrenees.- External links :*...	Alpine snowbell
2005	Rhinanthus angustifolius Rhinanthus angustifolius Rhinanthus angustifolius or Greater Yellow-rattle is a Lamiales plant species of the genus Rhinanthus. It is a perennial wildflower native to temperate grasslands in much of Europe, and north and central Western Asia.-Distribution:...	Greater yellow-rattle
2006	Cardamine pratensis Cardamine pratensis Cardamine pratensis , is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae, native throughout most of Europe and Western Asia.-Description:...	Cuckoo flower
2007	Geum rivale	Water avens
2008	Carduus nutans	Nodding thistle
2009	Cichorium intybus	Common chicory
2010	Iris sibirica Iris sibirica Iris sibirica, the Siberian Iris, is a flowering plant in the genus Iris, native to northern Asia and eastern and central Europe....	Siberian iris
2011	Narthecium ossifragum	Bog asphodel
2012	Dianthus deltoides	Maiden pink