Botanical Finds in Cornwall - end of June 2022

 As June comes to an end, the wildflowers keep on coming. Here's the best of what I found in the last week of so of June.

A road verge in a completely rural area provided me with this Orange Day Lily, a species I'd not seen before. It no doubt originated from old fly tipped material, though there was no evidence left and no other alien plants, gardens or habitation nearby. I researched this and found it to be a commonly found naturalised plant in Cornwall. Without the flower present the leaves look remarkably similar to Montbretia, so this may go un-noticed as a result.

Hemerocallis fulva

I found the dead stems of Pale Galingale in a roadside disused quarry in early Spring, so I returned to hopefully see them in flower. I wasn't disappointed and I can see why one of the common names is Umbrella Plant!

Cyperus eragrostis

This same quarry had loads of Spear-leaved Fluellen around the chippings on the track there.  The flowers were tiny, but beautiful.

Kickxia elatine

In the same area was a Balm-leaved Figwort, another first for me. This is apparently native in Cornwall, but absent in much of the UK. The flowers are like any other Figwort, but the leaves are a different shape and look crumpled up.

 

 Scrophularia scorodonia

Tregoss Moor was visited to see what I could find. It had the usual but amazing array of bog plants, however, it also included hundreds of Marsh Cinquefoils.

Comarum palustre

There was a huge hybrid swarm of orchids along a path by a railway line, interspersed with both parents, which were Heath Spotted and Southern Marsh Orchids. These contain a number of morphological features from both parents and are often (but not always) double the height (or more) of its parents too.

 

Dactylorhiza x hallii

The impressive and large Royal Ferns were abundant on the Moors too. The fruiting frond is quite unmistakable as shown below as no other UK fern looks remotely similar.

Osmundia regalis

An exciting find on the edge of the bog were several clumps of Ivy-leaved Bellflowers. I'd only seen these once before at Sissinghurst in Kent. However from reveiwing previous records for it, I can see they are more common in Cornwall on the bogs and moors. The flowers are quite small and usually you see the odd looking leaves first.

Wahlenbergia hederacea

Not all roses are Dog Roses. This rose below, is Sherards Downy Rose, which has lots of glands under the flowers and on stalks. When rubbed these smell a bit rank, like a resin. They are called Downy Roses as the leaf undersides are hairy to some extent. On this plant the leaf veins were hairy and the flower stalks short, telling it apart from the Harsh Downy Rose.

Rosa sherardii

 

 A quite different habitat to Cornwall's bogs and moors are the calcareous dunes on the north coast. As such, different flowers can be found such as these Pyramidal Orchids in a sandy car park at Trevone. In 2012 just 6 spikes were recorded here, however, there were easily over 100 now, so it's doing well here.

 

 Anacamptis pyramidalis

 As June comes to an end, the Summer wildflowers are coming into full bloom. Also at Trevone was this lovely stand of Greater Scabious growing on top of a Cornish wall.

Centaurea scabiosa

 In the last few days of June, I visited another disused quarry, this time not that far from Wadebridge. I was surprised to find numerous bushes of Himalayan Honeysuckle with their unique flowers. I guess some were originally planted, but they have seeded over a wide area by themselves now.

Leycesteria formosa 

Betony is now in flower. A plant of Cornish walls, road verges and in abundant numbers on some areas of coastal turf. This plant was doing very well at Carnewas, managed by the National Trust. The other flower spike belonging to Sea Plantain.

Betonica officinalis and Plantago maritimum

More Betony flowering with Wild Carrot.

Betonica officinalis and Daucus carota (ssp gummifer)

Outside the NT cafe at Carnewas (also known as Bedruthan Steps) were two sea spurries growing side by side. This gave me an excellent opportunity to see the differences between them easily. The large flowered plant by the wall is Rock Sea-Spurrey and the tiny flowered plant in the foreground is Greek Sea-Spurrey with woody stems at the base.

A close up photo of Rock Sea-Spurrey

Spergularia rupicola

And Greek Sea-Spurrey, note the smaller petals in comparison to the sepals underneath. The woody stems and dense glandular hairs all over, seperate it further from Lesser Sea-Spurrey.

Spergularia bocconei

So ended June, I hope you liked the wildflowers featured. Of course, there were lots more that I photographed, but ran out of time and space to include them. What will I find in July I wonder. One thing for sure that I will find is heat and drought!

Take care

Dave

Botanical Finds for mid June 2022, Cornwall - Part 3

 

 June is a busy time for finding wildflowers and there's so much to see in so short a time before they go over. On our last field trip, I missed out on a few species having to leave the Cornwall Botany Group field trip a bit early, so on this day, I went to find those that I had missed and hopefully, a whole lot more.

As such, I revisited Harbour Cove, then along to Hawkins Cove and then a circular walk around Stepper Point. This had commanding views of the River Camel estuary and the coastline to the West as well. Of course, the weather wasn't playing nice and it was very windy with occasional showers.

The first species, and one I had never seen before (in flower) was Wild Leek. In Cornwall it is considered native I think, and grows in several coastal locations. I had seen these growing in several places but these were the first to 'pop' and come into flower.

In the windy conditions I had to use 1/2000th of a second to get any photos. Around three foot tall they were quite impressive.

Allium ampeloprasum var. babingtonii

 

 

Yellow Vetch was the next species to see. I have seen these before in Kent and East Sussex, but they were small and grew in the shingle. These Cornish plants grew on an arable field edge and were huge in comparison, growing up to and over a foot tall. They have tendrils and these clasp anything around them to help them grow upwards.

As you can see, Yellow Vetch flower isn't yellow. I believe it was named from a dried up herbarium specimen in times gone by. The dried up flower had turned yellow, hence the name. The field was fenced off, so these were taken by poking the camera through the fence!

Vicia lutea

In Hawker's Cove itself, growing out of the slipway was Sea Arrowgrass, the last species I had missed on that field trip.

These don't have any petals and are exposed to salt being so close to the high tide mark.

Triglochin maritima

From here, it was a long hard slog uphill to Stepper Point. Fortunately, there were many beautiful flowers on the way up, so I could stop frequently to admire them and recover my breath.

Here are Lady's Bedstraw and English Stonecrop on a bare rocky outcrop. What a stunning colour combination.

Galium verum and Sedum anglicum

Where a streamlet crossed the path grew Watercress and this Fool's Watercress. This is one of 9 groups of flowers within the umbel. Each had around 20 individual flowers within it, so there were around 180 flowers in each head. Multipy that by all the flowers on the plant and there would have been thousands.

Heliosciadium nodiflorum

A freshly hatched Six Spot Burnet Moth, a beautiful insect awaiting some sunshine to warm it up before it can fly away. Its torpidity allowed me to get in close with the camera.

Dyer's Greenweed adorned the clifftops in swathes of yellow. This is the procumbent form (grows flat to the ground), no doubt evolved to cope with the salt laden winds blowing in from the sea. There's also a Hairy Greenweed, but somehow I managed to miss these as they flower in May and I didn't go to the right places to see it.

Genista tinctoria subsp littoralis

Sheep's Bit flowers studded the cliff turf with blue dots, but several were covered in these Sulphur Beetles, a species I hadn't seen before, but they seemed quite common here.

Cteniopus sulphureus on Jasione montana

A small disused quarry area had very thin soil which the rarer clovers like. I had a look around and found Rough Clover first.

Trifolium scabrum

Then I found some Knotted Clover, which was a nice find.

Trifolium striatum

There was much more there including Yellow-wort and Southern Marsh Orchids but I can't include everything I see. Here's the view on the way up to Stepper Point.

By the tower were numerous Musk Thistles with their top heavy flowerheads that flop over in an unmistakable fashion.

Carduus nutans

The next day, I went East to Greena Moor nature reserve to look for Wood Bitter Vetch. It was a hard slog over mostly mundane fields with high grass growth and then clambering around Purple Moor Grass mounds and boggy soil. On the way were hundreds of Meadow Thistle. I'd only ever seen these in Kenfig in Wales, so it was very nice to see them elsewhere. Only a few were in flower.

Cirsium dissectum

Bitter Vetch was surprisingly common on the culm grassland. I usually only see a few in any one area, but here there were a lot, scattered around the Purple Moor Grass tussocks.

Lathyrus linifolius

Despite a long search of the area that the Wood Bitter Vetch were found in previously, this was all I could find. None were flowering and thus wihtout flowers, they were hidden away under hordes of Bracken fronds. Either they were very  late this year coming to flower or they had been previously grazed off (by deer or rabbits) and this was all that was left. Given that I found plenty in full flower at the exact same time of year in Wales a few years ago, I think they were grazed off.

Vicia orobus
 

On the way back was a field full of Sedges, Ragged Robin and the unusual Whorled Caraway with its unmistakable lower whorled leaves.

 Trocdaris verticillata

In the car park were some Common Vetch, but they were getting on four feet tall. The flowers were dual coloured as shown below. Along with a black spot under the stipules, this confirmed it to be the fodder form of Common Vetch, quite a rare find.

Vicia sativa subspecies sativa

 

The rare Fen Bedstraw is present here. Unfortunately I looked in the wrong meadow for it, so all I found was the much commoner  Marsh Bedstraw. They look pretty much the same, but the Fen Bedstraw is very rough to the touch and has many more prickles on the leaves and a mucro point too.

Galium palustre

 

Of course, there were probably hundreds of Heath Spotted Orchids present there and it's quite impossible to walk past them all and not take a photo, despite having loads of photos of them already!

Dactylorhiza maculata

 So mid June draws to a close, it went so quickly! Until next time then when I finish off documenting June entirely. I hope you enjoyed the early Summer flowers.

Take Care

Dave

@botany2021

 

Botanical Finds for mid June 2022, Cornwall - Part 2

 It might seem like I just go out at random and find amazing plants. That is the case on some occasions, but I also try and plan some trips to target new species and these plans do not always come to fruition. One species I really wanted to see was the tiny Yellow Centaury, a very rare relative of Common Centaury. It grows on the heaths near the Lizard, so I made a return trip in mid June to try and find it. I didn't find any. This shows that plans don't always work out. The ground was very dry and parched and Yellow Centaury is an annual plant. So any that germinated early would have been droughted and died off. The rain of the previous week might bring new plants up, but I was too early to see them. However, I did find some other amazing plants as shown below.

I had seen Wild Chives near Kynance Cove, so I was surprised to find a patch well inland on Goonhilly Downs, but here they are!

Allium shoenoprasm

Heather coming into flower is a sign that Summer has arrived. I found a few just starting to flower.

Calluna vulgaris

These Common Centaury were rather droughted, so were very small. Sometimes they can look like Lesser Centaury, but if there is a (usually withered) rosette at the base it cannot be Lesser.

Centaurium erythraea

I walked past maybe 100 orchids before I gave in and photographed one. In Cornwall, there are very few Common Spotted Orchids, here they are nearly all Heath Spotted Orchids which favour acidic soils. However, with all the Southern Marsh Orchids around, I always look for hybrids though none were found here this day.

Dactylorhiza maculata

Dropwort grows on these Downs too, a very rare plant in Cornwall.

Filipendula vulgaris

I am still surprised when I find Yellow Bartsia here, but it is native in Cornwall, so that surprise should wear off soon! Here's a patch of them by a damp area on Goonhilly Downs.

Like it's cousin, Red Bartsia, it is a semi-parasite and takes nutrients from nearby plants.

Parentucellia viscosa

 The last plant of note I found was a solitary Heath Fragrant Orchid, always a delight to find and smell.

Gymnadenia borealis

 

I also visited the coastal town of Portreath the same day to make the most of the petrol used in getting to the Lizrd area. Here I looked for Irish Spurge and Greater Broomrape, and again I failed to find both. For the former, I couldn't work out how to get into the wood they were growing in and for the latter, the habitat has now scrubbed over and the host plants missing. I did find other plants of interest, so here they are.

 The shady conditions along the old tram path that I followed favoured Stinking Iris, just coming into flower. The name is derived from the rotting meat smell the plant gives off if you break a stem. The flower itself is odourless.

Iris foetidissima

 Whilst looking for Greater Broomrape I did find some of the commoner Ivy Broomrape which parasitises Atlantic Ivy here.

Orobanche hederae

 I had seen Wild Madder just once in Kent, before I moved to Cornwall. It was at Folkestone Warren and was in seed. So when I came here, where it is quite common, I was delighted to find some in flower for the first time. They are quite small compared to the large bristly leaves and not very obvious as the whole plant wraps itself through hedges and often isn't that easy to spot.

Rubia peregrina

 A Cucumber Orb Spider and a Large Skipper Butterfly finished off an eventful day.

 

This week, I was also very fortunate to have been invited to a very large private meadow near Bodmin. Pictured is the land manager on the left and the VC2 County Recorder on the right. This whole area receives a once yearly cut with the findings taken away. The result is staggering with hundreds of Greater Butterfly and Southern Marsh Orchids present along with a host of other plants. A real delight to see.

 

 Some of the Greater Butterfly Orchids from that site.

Platanthera chlorantha

 Southern Marsh and Greater Butterfly Orchids, side by side, what a treat.

Platanthera chlorantha and Dactylorhiza praetermissa

With probably over a thousand Southern Marsh Orchids, that greatly increases the chances of variants and hybrids. Both were found. Here's an all white Southern Marsh Orchid. Unfortunately I missed it in its prime.

Several hybrids were also spotted. The parents being Heath Spotted and Southern Marsh Orchid. These were easy to spot being around two feet tall, though around them were also hybrids that were the usual size of under one foot tall.

D. x hallii

As I was near Bodmin, I took a small detour on the way home to the Moor near Cardinham to look for Moonwort fern. I didn't find these either, but I did find some very tiny Adder's Tongue, another tiny fern. It's leaf is to the far right of the photo. They are this small due to intensive grazing by sheep. Note the neatly cut off grasses in the photo too.

Ophioglossum vulgatum

It's a cold, harsh climate on Bodmin Moor and this is reflected by this Cuckooflower still being in full flower (as were many others here). In the lowlands these are now a distant memory awaiting next Spring to arrive.

Cardamine pratensis

I still haven't written up all of mid June, but this blog is now getting overlong, so I will end it here and do a Part 3 soon. Of course, June is probably the peak month for our flowering plants, so that should perhaps be expected.

Regards

Dave

@Botany2021