Cornwall Botany - March 2026

 March is a definite in between month between winter and spring. As such, you see a few spring flowers, but not that many, as the colder air still trumps the longer daylight hours for many plant species. Here's some of what I found this month in Cornwall.

 

Town Hall Clock is uncommon here, but it does grow in relict woodlands in river valleys or areas that have been wooded for many decades. So it is always nice to find some and I was lucky to find just one flower out in a small colony near Tregarlandbridge on the 1st March.

Adoxa moschatellina 

 

Pink Purslane is a commonly found naturalised species in the county. I first noticed its rosettes of young leaves in the same woodland as the Adoxa above.

 

Claytonia sibirica

 

 Not far away I was fortunate to find some with their first flowers showing.

 

Still in the same wood and the first Hairy Wood-rush was out. Its spikelets pointing out in different directions is quite distinctive along with the hairy leaves.

 

Luzula pilosa

 

 

It's always odd to find a Hyacinth growing in the wild as they are typically sold as an indoor plant. However, when people are tired of them, they get thrown out and some can thrive on a road verge for many years. This is the likely origin of this lovely Hyacinth I found in the wild.

 

Hyacinthus orientalis

 

 

Still on the 1st March and I find my first Greater Stitchwort in flower of the year. These have highly reflective petals, so turn down the exposure on your camera or phone and you'll have better photos without bleached out petals.

 

Stellaria holostea

 

In the first week of March, I found my first Ramsons or Wild Garlic in flower near St. Erme. Surprisingly, this plant had some variegated leaves, something I'd not seen before.

 Allium ursinum

 

  

 

 On 8th March, I took a trip to Gear Sands hoping to find some of the delicate Section Erythrosperma dandelions out, however, it was too early in the year and I failed to find any. Here's what was of interest in the short turf of the dunes and adjoining sandy arable Daffodil field.

 

 

Little mouse-ear now in flower, along with the commoner Sea mouse-ear. Both are tiny plants and difficult to tell apart. Sea mouse-ear has 4 petals and Small, has 5, so that separates most of them. However, I have found Sea mouse-ear with 5 petals (which they can have occasionally), so you then have to examine the bracts beneath the calyx (flowering parts including sepals). In Sea mouse-ear they are green, in Little mouse-ear they are white or clear and called "scarious" in the books. Hopefully, the photo below shows you what to look for. 

Cerastium semidecandrum 

 

The dunes are full of the native subspecies of Salad Burnet, but they are a few months away from flowering still. Here's one with its young leaves from whcih you can identify it.

 

Poterium sanguisorba subsp sanguisorba

 My last plant from the dunes was Lesser Chickweed. It's a tiny version of Common Chickweed and could be mistaken for it, however, the whole plant is a sickly green/yellow colour, rather than a normal green found in Common Chickweed. There are rarely any petals and the flowers usually only open 1-2mm, unlike Common which has 5 deeply dissected petals (so looks like 10 petals). Lesser Chickweed has grown, flowered and seeded by the end of March to mid April.

 Stellaria pallida 

I did find a small Dandelion that could be (and likely is) Taraxacum chlorofrugale, but without flowers, the referee wouldn't accept it, stating it could be a stunted Taraxacum nordstedtii as well. I hope to go back and see if I can re-find it in mid April.

 

Taraxacum

 

 

 An arable field full of Daffodils next to the dunes had access, so I looked around the field edges for plants of interest. The first species was Bur Chervil, new to the monad too. There was so much of it there was a carpet of plants for many metres around the field edge. It will probably start flowering in April.

 

Anthriscus caucalis

 

 

Henbit dead-nettle, not yet flowering, on a sandy field edge.

 

Lamium amplexicaule

 

 

There was a lot of Bugloss in some parts of the field edges and a few were in flower. The flowers are quite small but are of a striking blue colour.

 

Lycopsis arvensis

 

 

 

I then came across a patch of odd looking Campions. Red Campion (Silene dioica) flowers all year round and the flowers are often not red, but anything from a pale pink to deep burgundy. however, the calyx (the parts below the petals) is always the same, being pink or red coloured with few ridges on them and not inflated. The sepal tips are also blunter and not as long as those in this plant. This plant had hybrid vigour; a mix of characters between Red and White Campions and was also too glandular hairy for Red Campion. I suspected a hybrid and later confirmed that White Campion (Silene latifolia) had also been recorded in the area, so both parents were present.

 

Silene x hampenea

 

 

 The last plant of interest was quite abundant and was the Small Nettle, which stings far worse than the common Stinging Nettle does. It differs from Common Nettle in its smaller size, smaller, tighter flower clusters and more rounded, less triangular leaf shape. The flowers are also tight in the leaf axils and not dropping down like those in the Common Nettle.

 

Urtica urens 

 

 

 A roadside pair of Yellow Fieldcap fungi ended that trip.

 

Bolbitius titubans

 

 

 On the 10th March I had a short walk around Rock dunes, again looking for dainty dandelions. This time I did find just the one (still too early). This one was the Oxford Dandelion and was verified by the Taraxacum referee. It has a flower usually only about 2cm wide, and the terminal lobes of the leaves are much bigger than the side lobes. The referee stated the leaves in this specimen were atypical being early in the season, but it was still enough to identify it. You usually have to cut a dandelion to see all the parts that identify it, but don't be concerned, as they have a very long tap root and they will re-grow from it after the cutting has been taken.

 

Taraxacum oxoniense

 

 

The dominant dandelion in the dunes and along the edges of an adjacent golf course was a common one, the Dark Hook-lobed Dandelion.

 

Taraxacum hamiferum

 

 

Sea mouse-ear was flowering in abundance and were of the typical 4 petalled form.

Cerastium diffusum

In very thin soil on compacted sand, Common Whitlowgrass grew. It is usually seen in urban areas on pavements.

Erophila verna

Blackthorn was coming into full flower too. As I write this at the end of March, the countryside is awash with Blackthorn bushes in full flower.

Prunus spinosa
 

 The next few photos were taken on my phone, so please forgive the lower quality. I took a quick walk around Pendennis Point, Falmouth, while the family had an ice cream in the car park above.

 The first of the year's Bluebells in flower.

Hyacinthoides non-scripta

 

Some Musk Storksbill flowering.

Erodium moschatum

 

Just a photo of almost bare earth, until you look closer. The big leafy rosettes are Buckshorn Plantain (Plantago coronopus), in the centre and dotted around are tiny Thrift plants (Armeria maritima); near the base of the photo is a baby carrot plant (Daucus carota) and some Procumbent Pearlwort (Sagina procumbens) but there are two clovers in the photo too. Just above centre right is the unmistakable toothed tipped leaves of Birdsfoot Clover (Trifolium ornithopodioides) and next to them on the right is the softly hairy leaves of Subterranean Clover (Trifolium subterraneum) that often have black dots on the leaf veins too.

That's not a bad list of species for such a small piece of ground.

 

 

I then found some easy to spot Subterranean Clover. They get their name as last year's seedheads bend over 180 degrees and the plant buries its seeds in the ground. You can clearly see the looped over stalks of last year's seedheads in the photo. The new plants will flower in May.

 Trifolium subterraneum

 

And a single leaflet with stipules.

 

Mid month and I recorded Chacewater near Truro. The first plant of note were several naturalised Portuguese Heaths on a road verge. The parent plants were in a nearby garden. This species has naturalised a lot on the roads around Cornwall, especially in china clay waste areas.

 

Erica lusitanica

 

The first of the unwelcome Bluebell hybrids was in flower along a stream bank, escaped from a nearby garden. They are quite common in the wild in Cornwall and also many other counties too. A blue flowered version was next to it. Note the saucer shaped flowers and that the flowers branch off the stem at all angles, not gracefully like our native form. The hybrid also lacks scent. Unfortunately, garden centres and nurseries still sell these claiming them to be native Bluebells.

Hyacinthoides x massartiana

 

Two currants were seen in flower, the first the native Redcurrant.

Ribes rubrum

 

And second, the introduced Flowering Currant. I couldn't decide if this Flowering Currant had been planted or not. It had clearly been there many years and was surrounded by native species, but it appeared naturalised beside a small stream.

 

Ribes sanguineum

 

Cornsalads were starting to flower, mostly those that grow in pavements or walls. I need seeds to examine to tell the species apart, but it may be possible to identify them vegetatively, but I haven't yet tried that. It will either be Keel-fruited or Common Cornsalad.

 

Valerianella species

 

 The first Field wood-rush in flower near Wadebridge on the 16th March.

Luzula campestris 

  

Past mid month and I recorded the eastern part of Quintrell Downs near Newquay. I parked in a quiet cul-de-sac and as I stepped out of the car, I immediately saw the telltale reddish leaves of Mossy Stonecrop on the pavement. Growing with it were several Common Whitlowgrass plants in flower too.

Crassula tillaea and Erophila verna

The larger fumitories are coming into flower and it was great to find two clumps of Cornish Ramping Fumitory growing along vegetated roadsides. this is only found in Cornwall in the whole world, with most found west of the River Camel.

 

Fumaria occidentalis

 

 

The first of the years' Ground-ivy in flower.

 

Glechoma hederacea

 

 Another commonly found garden escape is Pink Sorrel.

Oxalis articulata

 

A fully grown and almost flowering Meadowsweet was a big surprise for March, with most simply being basal leaves at this time of the year. 

Filipendula ulmaria

 

Trevone coast path had some nice Common Scurvygrass flowering around the cliffs, although this species flowers inland on road verges and Cornish hedges, often high above any possible road saltings.

Cochlearia officinalis

 

 A nearby arable field was full of Field Pansies.

Viola arvensis

 

On a rainy day near the month's end, I went to an area near Mount, Perranporth, quite unplanned. On a walk up the road verges, I found some Three-nerved Sandwort in flower, surprisingly a new species for this well recorded monad. 

Moehringia trinervia

  

Although I had been actively looking for orchid rosettes over the last few months, I hadn't found any. I put that right by finding several Early Purple Orchid rosettes on a Cornish hedge near Perranporth. It's usual for these orchids to flower quite a bit later than the rest of the UK, so I wouldn't expect any to be in flower until mid April.

Orchis mascula 

At the end of the month, I managed an evening walk near St. Kew Highway and found some nice plants. An early Betony was in flower.

Betonica officinalis

 

Several Long-stalked Cranesbills were in flower along a rural road verge.

Geranium columbinum

 

 Greater wood-rush was starting to flower.

Luzula sylvatica

 

 An inland Sawwort (not flowering) was a welcome find.

Serratula tinctoria

 

The best find though was several Greater Chickweeds now flowering along the rural road verges.

S. neglecta has 8 to 10 stamens, larger in all parts than S. media, and distinctive long pedicels. S. media has 5 to 7 stamens and has smaller leaves and tiny flowers. S. neglecta var neglecta simply has hairy pedicels, whilst var. elizabethae has glabrous pedicels. Neither seems rarer than the other.  

Stellaria neglecta var. neglecta

 

The white "bearded" form of Sweet Violet rounded off a pleasant evening stroll.

Viola odorata var. dumetorum

   

 That round off my plant finds for March in Cornwall. The increasing daylight and warmer days (eventually) will lead to many more exciting plant species coming into flower over the next month. I'm looking forward to seeing some of them, I hope you are too. I just hope we don't get any extended spring drought which has become fairly common over the last 5 to 10 years as this considerably shortens the time you can see many species flowering, often from a few weeks to a few days if there's no rain. 

 

Take Care

Dave