Botanical Finds for Mid August - Cornwall

 This Spring and Summer have been so dry, I am amazed there's been any plants to see this year. But of course, our native plants are well adapted to most conditions the UK weather throws at them. Many are adapted to surviving with low levels of water and others simply flower and seed much quicker than usual due to the lack of rain. Given their survival strategies, this means there is always something to see or find, even during a drought.

One advantage of a drought is that I could visit venues where I would need wellies and now only wear normal walking boots. One such place was in mid Cornwall where Heath Lobelia grew. Around 6 clumps of it had been found a few weeks before, but given the dry conditions, I wondered if any would be left for me to see.

I'd never seen this plant in real life, so I made the trip to go on a hot mid August day to an area of heathland south east of Lostwithiel. The first plant I noticed was the striking red and yellow flowers of Wavy St. John's Wort, one of the prettier Hypericums found in the wild here. Not shown here are its wavy edged leaves.

Hypericum undulatum

The ground was still quite damp (though usually waterlogged here) and the Water Mint was still numerous and quite happy to flower profusely. Here's a view looking down onto one of their pom pom like flowers.

 

Mentha aquatica

Devil's Bit Scabious was also flowering in large numbers. Here's a photo of the flowers in close up. Each "flower" is actually made up of over 50 individual flowers sat on a flat saucer like receptacle.

Succisa pratensis

I had 8 figure grid references for the Heath Lobelia for 6 locations at one site. Unfortunately 5 of them had gone over and couldn't be found, however, I was lucky to find one clump of plants still with flowers. So, below is Heath Lobelia, a lovely rare native plant, a first see for me. It took a while finding them, but it was worth it.

Lobelia urens

I paid a price for seeing them though. I had left my insect repellent back home, so I was unprotected from biting insects. I suffered numerous horse fly bites to my arms and legs along with a couple of mosquito bites and even picked up a tick (thankfully walking across my leg and not buried in my skin). So be prepared and take the necessary precautions. I won't forget things like that again!

There were some friendly insects too, like this female Silver Washed Fritillary butterfly.

Argynnis paphia

 

 The same day, I went south to Par Sands on the south coast of Cornwall. Rare Sea Daffodils had been found there recently and were in bud a few days ago. I rather hoped a flower or two might now be open. Fortunately, my timing was spot on. Par Sands is made up of old china clay waste from over a century ago, rather than shellgrit and silicon as most beaches are. This gives the sand a whiter colour than usual and it's not good at holding water. As such, this was an extremely parched environment.

What a stunning flower.

Pancratium maritimum

More buds yet to open.

I like the next photo the best as it shows the flower off well.

A close up of the anthers in an unusual position compared to other plants.

This species first arrived in Marazion, South West Cornwall over a decade ago and it was believed to have arrived by sea (their seeds and bulbs float) from Brittany and with our warming climate, it seems to have survived there and now spread up the coast to here. There was no evidence of them being planted and they were sufficiently far down the beach for a storm surge to leave the seeds behind. Sea Spurge, Sea Sandwort and Evening Primroses accompanied them in the habitat here.

The photo below shows where they were. The brown plants well behind it are dead and dying Japanese Roses that couldn't withstand the drought. Amazingly, no holidaymakers picked these flowers either.

Evening Primroses are a bit of a challenge to identify for sure. There are a few different species, mostly from the Americas that are naturalised in the UK, but they freely hybridise and can also back cross with either parent. This makes firm identification difficult. However, most plants do key out to a particular species, like this one did to Common Evening Primrose. Take notes or photos of all parts of the flower, its stalk, the sepals, the anthers and stamen arrangement, hairs and glandular hairs, stem colours and so on. The only parts of these plants that isn't useful for identification are the leaves. These were also at Par Sands.

 

Oenothera biennis

 

Japanese Rose is an invasive garden escape and it easily takes over dune systems and clifftops. So in a way, it was good to see it decimated by the drought as shown in the first photo below. As they die off, native plants can regrow and colonise the sands.

 

Unfortunately, there are still plenty of them that have survived, below shows one in flower during the drought, they have now set hips, and so the cycle will repeat itself.

 

Rosa rugosa

Below is the fruiting pod of Sea Radish which is usually a large plant with bright yellow crucifer flowers. They were quite rare back in Kent, but seem relatively common here in Cornwall. You can eat the pods too for a radishy taste if you wanted to.

Raphanus raphanistrum subsp maritimum

 

A drought specialist as it grows in sand near the high tide mark is Prickly Saltwort. Like many plants close to the sea the flowers lack petals and only the anthers are visible here. It can pack a nasty scratch too so be careful around it.

Salsola kali

 

A few days later and I revisited The Lizard area again, this time to Kynance Cove, home to many rare plants. Below is the humble Harebell, quite rare in Cornwall.

Campanula rotundifolia

The rare Great Burnet was also in flower.

Sanguisorba officinalis

Below is Saw-wort, relatively common along the Cornish coasts, but rarer the further east one goes. Due to the drought conditions, it was only about 3" tall. The lower right of the photo shows it sharply toothed leaves from whence its gets its common name.

Serratula tinctoria

 

 

The main reason for going to Kynance was to see for the first time, Cornish Heath in flower. There were huge areas covered in their flowers, a delight to see. They were quite bushy, but low growing with tufts of flower filled spikes arising from them.
 

Erica vagans

 As far as this species was concerned, what drought? What a plant!

And as is often the case here, amazing picture postcard views to botanise in.

There were of course, many more amazing plants that I saw on these trips and many more yet to see.

I'll leave you now with one of the Sea Daffodils from Marazion that I also saw this month.

Until next time, take care and thank you for reading this.

Regards

Dave

The Search for Bog Orchids, Cornwall, August 2022

 I've always mis-timed looking for this tiny wild orchid in the past, mostly as my holidays were to areas where they may have been being at the wrong time. So I hoped to put that right now that I live in an area where they can be found. I searched a few venues nearby with historical records but failed to find them, which is not surprising given that they are light green growing amongst similar coloured plants and sphagnum mosses in inaccessible boggy areas. Given my lack of success, I turned to the Cornwall Botany Group and joined a field trip to Bodmin Moor to hopefully find some under guidance from the County Recorder and other experienced botanists. They are a very friendly group and I would advise any budding botanist to join their local group to benefit from their experience and knowledge.

 We parked our cars on a lay-by of a tiny lane in the middle of nowhere, by a stream. Being botanists, it took a while to move away from the cars as there are always interesting plants to see wherever one stops and here was no exception. What initially looked like a small Skullcap plant was in fact the hybrid between Lesser Skullcap and Skullcap. This was a first for many of us and the botanists bible Stace 4 was consulted, measurements taken and agreement reached that this was the hybrid plant.

Scutellaria galericulata x minor = S. x hybrida

 

I often find it useful to make notes on a composite image as below, it saves looking it all up again if one finds a similar plant in the future.

Nearby were patches of Ivy-leaved Bellflower, a cute plant with ivy shaped leaves and tiny bright blue flowers.

Wahlenbergia hederacea

 

 

With many boggy areas in Cornwall, it is easy to forget that it is in fact a rare and declining habitat in England, with many bogs drained and turned over to intensive agriculture. Yet there are so many amazing plants within them and no doubt, insects too. It has also recently been scientifically shown that peat bogs absorb more CO2 than a forest does, yet we still destroy  them for agriculture and development. I see no end to it.

One of the attractive bog plants is Marsh St. John's Wort as shown below.

 

Hypericum elodes

It was a hot August day as we carefully made our way through the bog. After a while, we came to a wetter patch and someone called out they'd found a Bog Orchid. There was no rushing to see it in case we trod on an unseen plant. As such, we took turns treading in each other's footsteps to avoid habitat damage and after a while, there it was in all its splendour. After this we found several, culminating in a patch of multiple spikes. Most were between 4-6" tall (15cm) with a few a bit taller in the clump. They were very well camoflagued.

Hammarbya paludosa

Given it was and is a special plant for me to see, I've added several photos below.

You can see how hard it was to spot in the photo below.

A coin for scale

An amazing clump, probably all from the same plant over many years. We found well over 80 spikes in total.

Close up macro photographs were extremely difficult to do as I was always slowly moving as I sunk in the mire (welly boots essential). Add to that, a breeze and wobbly hands and I was amazed I got any half decent photos.

The photo below shows the Sphagnum moss that this orchid is often associated with. It's an identical colour to the orchid and this makes the latter almost invisible as one walks along at a standing height.

I hope I will have another go at taking better photos next year.

Of course there were many other plants to see and we marvelled at them all. I particularly like the carnivorous plants that digest insects to supplement the meagre pickings from bog soils. One of those was Pale Butterwort which has sticky leaves. When an insect lands on them they fold over and digest the unfortunate bug. You can see the leaves folding over below as well as one of its flowers which range from white to pale lilac in colour.

Pinguicula lusitanica

Well, that was another first sighting of a rare plant in Cornwall and there are lots more for me to see over the next few years. Even when you think you have seen them all, another species pops up unexpectedly to keep the interest going. The best thing about botany is the constant surprises and the realisation that the more you learn, the less you know. Until next time, take care.

Dave

Botanical Finds in Cornwall - End of July 2022

 This blog wraps up my finds for July and it encompasses several venues. My first photo below is not of a plant but of an Adder. This is the UK's only venomous snake and they are as common on moors and heaths in Cornwall, as they were on chalk grasslands in Kent. Having said that, they are in decline overall due to habitat loss.

I've posted this photo first as a warning. I very nearly trod on this sunbathing Adder near Tregoss Moor. I am very pleased I saw it before my foot went down and I could back off without getting bitten. Had I trod on it, I surely would have needed the Cornwall air ambulance to get me to hospital many miles away in Truro.

It quickly slithered off once it realised I had backed off and they can move very fast too. Watch where you tread when in the countryside, especially if you are off the beaten track as I often am. Fortunately, my eyes are usually looking at the ground ahead of me for plants, but others don't look down anywhere near as often, take care!

Vipera berus

Oblong-leaved Sundews are still a novelty for me as I'd never seen any that weren't round before moving to Cornwall. They seem to be a bit smaller and more compact than their Round-leaved cousins and perhaps redder in colour too. However, one can't dispute their oblong-ness. There's the remains of a fly on this one, yes, these plants eat meat!

Drosera intermedia

Found at Retire Common on the eastern arm of that reserve. This was very dry and although I wore wellies, I hardly sunk in mire anywhere apart from the central area of the bog.

The Common Hemp-Nettle below seems to be an unusual find as this one is the only one I've seen here this Summer. A single plant amongst Heather, Gorse and Bell Heather near Tregoss Moor. Its similar looking relative, the Bifid Hemp-Nettle has a notch in the centre lower petal and is usually pinker too.

Galeopsis tetrahit

Wavy-leaved St. John's wort is a new one for me. I wondered how difficult it would be to identify it given the flowers of these species tend to look very similar.

I needn't have worried, they are so striking you can't miss them or mistake them for other Hypericums.

Look at those stunning crimson stripes under the petals!

The photo below shows most of the plant which shows the sepals are also bright red before they open. Superficially like Slender St. John's wort but the plant is much larger with bigger flowers too. Another Retire Common beauty.

Hypericum undulatum

I almost forgot to show a wavy edged leaf from whence they get their name!

My visit to Retire Common also threw up a new species for me with this White-beaked Sedge. It was present in large numbers on the eastern arm of the reserve.

Rhynchospora alba

I've never seen such a perfectly formed Beefsteak Fungus before, velvety to the touch and looking like a beef steak of course. Found on a tree near the town of Rock.

Fistulina hepatica

Sea Beet is a common plant along our coasts and is generally a rather boring plant with spikes of green petal-less flowers. However, once these go to seed, they look spectacular when you look close up. They are very colourful and look like little triffids that just might open up and take a bite out of you as you pass by.

Beta vulgaris ssp maritima

Houndstongue is uncommon in Cornwall and elsewhere. Flowering has long gone, but the seeds are just as interesting. The little spines hook onto the fur of passing animals and help disperse it. I found a single seeding plant along the high tide line of the Camel Estuary near Porthilly.

Cynoglossum officinale

Likewise with the Burnet Rose below, except the seeds are contained within a hip of course.  The hips are distinctive and help to identify it from other roses, but if you look at the top right of the photo you might notice the stem. This is densely packed with small bristles amongst the thorns and is a good ID feature too. Fairly common along the north Cornwall coast and on Cornish walls here.

Rosa spinosissima

I featured Jersey Cudweed not too long ago having found it next to a superstore in Bodmin. I found some more when taking an evening walk around Wadebridge. Behind the Premier Inn was a bit of brownfield concrete long abandoned, so I took a look hoping for some Cudweeds that like the dry conditions found there. I wasn't disappointed.

I found several hundred Jersey Cudweed in seed or flower here, an amazing sight and a new record for the area.

Laphangium luteoalbum

Nearby, along Gonvena Hill I found the fodder version of Salad Burnet. This is much bigger in all parts than the native form with deeply serrated large paired leaves and flower heads so large, you wonder at first if you've found Great Burnet.

This no doubt originated when the nearby Premier Inn was built some years ago and the surrounding areas seeded when the building work was finished. It's persisting all by itself as it often does in such situations.

Poterium sanguisorba ssp balearicum

It's surprising how Sea Milkwort can go unnoticed when not in flower. the leaves are reminiscent of a thin Sea Sandwort, but once you know them, you can't miss them. Fortunately, this patch by the River Camel upstream of Wadebridge was in flower.

Lysimachia maritima

On the last day of July, I managed my first visit to the China Clay waste areas around St. Austell. The dry, arid and barren soils often support some rare or unusual plants.

Yellow-wort was present in good numbers.

Blackstonia perfoliata

Very tiny Trailing St. John's wort were common and distracted the eye with their tiny yellow flowers dotting the whole area. I even managed to pick a rainy day in this long drought period to go out too!

Hypericum humifusum

Chamomile was present where the grasses were short, often in large numbers. They seem to be nearly all less than 6" tall and of course have a lovely smell if you crush one. They can't really be confused with the Mayweeds at all and Stinking Chamomile is a chalk specialist where Chamomile doesn't grow anyway.

Chamaemelum nobile

There were hundreds of tiny Lesser Centaury in the waste areas. Most were less than 2cm high and given the rain the purple flowers were closed. A useful tip for ID is that these have no basal rosette when in flower and Common Centaury does.

Centaurium pulchellum

My first Hawkweed of the Summer was this likely Narrow-leaved Hawkweed. They look great but are a hard group to identify. The leaves in the photo belong to Bracken though!

Hieracium umbellatum

 Here are the leaves of the above Hawkweed, quite distinctive aren't they.

 

 I found a spoilheap of china clay sand. This had a few patches of Birdsfoot growing on it.

The above was a standing height view of the plant, look how tiny the flowers are. Luckily, I have a good macro lens so you can see the beauty of them close up.

Ornithopus perpusillus

This same spoil heap had a small colony of Small Cudweed too, a lovely plant to stumble across.

Logfia minima

Below is a close up photo of the spores of a Polypody fern. You can just see the annulus rings which are the tiny black bits on the egg like spore sacs. To identify these for sure, you need to take a sample and view them under a microscope. You then count the rings to determine which of the three Polypodies this might be. Of course, being a major nerd and having bought a cheap microscope from Lidl recently, I can do this. I used the microscope to count the rings and this was Common Polypody (of course it was). Interestingly I have found that a visual identification based on the morphology of the leaves nearly always matches the microscopic identification too. Occasionally, but rarely, I get surprised! Details of how many rings each species can have can be found in Stace 4 complete with line drawings too.

Polypodium vulgare

This was probably the last English Stonecrop flower of the year for me from the same site as above near St. Austell. I include it as it was quite a popular post from me on Twitter. I think the raindrops on the flower resonated with people walking bone dry areas at the time.

Sedum anglicum

So the next time someone says lets build houses/retail units/roads or plant lots of conifers all over china clay waste areas, you should know that most of the above species would die out. There is no such thing as waste areas or wasteland. Such areas are home to many plants, some quite rare, that support a good deal of bio diversity in the resulting food chains above them. Develop the area and its all lost.

Anyway, that wraps up my July finds. August will follow soon, but still the drought persists. Yes, it rains occasionally, but it immediately evaporates or is sucked up by the stronger plants. So much so, that you can walk through a meadow of seeded brown grasses within two hours of rain and not get wet.

Until next time.

Regards

Dave

You can also follow me on Twitter: @Botany2021