I moved from Kent to Cornwall in February 2022 and it soon became apparent that the flora was very different here. The differing climate, soils and bedrock produced a wealth of flora species new to me. This blog summarises those finds. To see these species in detail, see my previous blogs from the 2022 archive. All these plants were found growing in the wild and not planted or in gardens. I moved from Kent to Cornwall in February 2022 and it soon became apparent that the flora was very different here with the differing climate, soils and bedrock producing a wealth of new plant species for me. To keep it simple for me, these are in alphabetical order using their scientific name rather than date found.
Allium ampeloprasum var babingtonii - Wild Leek
A native coastal plant that grows to around 4 feet tall.
Antennaria dioica - Mountain Everlasting
Only a few inches tall, it forms large mats with male and female flowers on different plants. In Cornwall it is only found at Gear Sands near Perranporth.
Atriplex glabriuscula x prostrata - Hybrid Orache
An odd looking Orache I found at the high tide mark on the River Camel estuary near Wadebridge, confirmed by the BSBI Atriplex referee.
Atriplex x taschereaui = A. glabriuscula x longipes - Hybrid Orache
The first hybrid Orache I found that just looked odd, found in a cliff crack on the north Cornwall coast. Confirmed by the BSBI Atriplex referee too.
Capsella rubella - Red Shepherd's Purse
Only found at The Lizard in Cornwall, here it is found in the grass car park in the village itself. All parts are infused with red colouring.
Chamaemelum nobile - Chamomile
Although present in parts of West Kent, this is a species I never did get around to seeing. It is common here on Bodmin Moor and some coastal locations too in short turf.
Claytonia sibirica - Pink Purslane
A common find in rural lane hedgerows and shaded woodland edges. I also found a white flowered variant on one of the many heaths in mid Cornwall.
Cochlearia officinalis - Common Scurvygrass
This species is very similar to English Scurvygrass but the leaves are rounded with a heart shaped base. Common Scurvygrass isn't present in Kent, whereas in parts of Cornwall both species co-exist, so I've had to brush up on them. Oddly, this species is also found growing on Cornish walls (a mix of earth and slate rock) in the complete absence of any salt influence.
Crassula tillaea - Mossy Stonecrop
I found this at the edge of the Camel Trail between Padstow and Wadebridge.
Cucurbita pepo- Courgette
Growing wild on a main road grass bank with no alien plants nearby, certainly an odd find. Perhaps someone threw out a courgette and the seeds took?
Drosera intermedia - Oblong-leaved Sundew
Kent only had Round-Leaved Sundew to admire, whereas here, both these species are often found side by side. There is a hybrid between them that I've yet to find.
Epilobium brunnescens - NZ Willowherb
I don't know how I missed these in Kent as the arrangement of the leaves is distinctive, but they are very frequent here on brown field sites and forestry tracks.
Epilobium pedunculare - Rockery Willowherb
Another garden plant escapee that has taken hold in Cornwall, at the moment it is confined to forestry rides in one area and has hybridised with New Zealand Willowherb too. One to keep an eye out for.
Erica ciliaris - Dorset Heath
Ignore the name, it's also found in Cornwall. A quite tall, imposing Heath plant with large bell shaped flowers that are mostly one-sided up the stem.
Erica ciliaris x Erica tetralix = E. x watsonii - Dorset x Cross Lvd Heath Hybrid
A common hybrid where both grow together as this one did on a reserve near Carland Cross, currently famous for the long delays caused by roadworks on the A30.
Erica vagans - Cornish Heath
A Lizard speciality and the County Flower of Cornwall. It forms dense low growing bushes and appeared to be totally unaffected by the severe drought this last Summer, flowering prolifically nonetheless. Probably the most attractive of the Heath species.
Euphorbia portlandica - Portland Spurge
Not found in Kent, though at one point I thought those at Samphire Hoe were this species. However, Portland Spurge usually turns red with age; has an Ace of Spades shaped pair of bracts next to the flowers and a noticeable vein on the leaf underside.
Fumaria bastardii var. bastardii - Tall Ramping Fumitory
Perhaps one of the easiest Fumitories to identify as the top petal is uniquely pink, the same colour as the body of the flower. The upper petal of all other species is tinged dark red or black. Some of this even popped up unsown in my back garden this year.
Fumaria occidentalis - Cornish Ramping Fumitory
Only found in Cornwall and mostly west of Padstow. This one was at the back of The Lizard village car park. It has the largest flowers of the Fumitories and when young has a white stripe around the top petal.
Galanthus nivalis x plicatus - Hybrid Snowdrop
Found in early March by the River Allen in an apparently natural environment. No doubt a bulb or two was originally planted, perhaps to mark a pet's death, and it has spread by itself since. An attractive Snowdrop with green striped inner petals.
Galium album x verum = G. x pomeranicum - Hybrid Bedstraw
This was found on a Cornwall Botany Group field trip and emphasises the importance of being accompanied by expert botanists to point out such plants. This hybrid was vigorous and grew around vegetation to around three feet tall. The flowers had a yellow tinge to them like Lady's Bedstraw and the leaves were more like Hedge Bedstraw.
Genista tinctoria subsp littoralis - Dyers Greenweed
A common plant on the north coast clifftops that can form large dense mats of yellow flowers at times.
Gentianella amarella subsp/var. anglica - Early Gentian
I searched for this in Kent when it was counted as a subspecies and an endemic (found only in England). It has since been demoted to a a variant following DNA analysis. Very small and compact compared to Autumn Gentian, and of course it flowers in June, around 2 months earlier than its cousin. That's Wild Thyme beneath it.
Gladiolus communis subsp byzantinus - Gladioli
I got all excited when I was driving down a country lane and saw my first wild Gladioli looking exotic on the road verge. However, I soon found that it was quite frequent in west Cornwall and is naturalised on roads and clifftops. Newquay is a good place to easily see it.
Hemerocallis fulva - Orange Daylily
Another surprise, this time on a tiny rural lane in the middle of nowhere, a few miles from St. Minver. It must have been dumped at some stage, though no other alien plants were nearby. A lovely flower too.
Herniaria ciliolata - Fringed Rupturewort
A Lizard speciality again. It can be found in the village car park and on the cliffs around Caerthillian Cove.
Hypericum undulatum - Wavy St Johns Wort
A stunning St. John's Wort with large flowers under which are the most brilliant scarlet stripes. These also show when in bud, making it more attractive than the Slender St. John's Wort that previously held the "most attractive St. John's Wort" title! It's leaves are also uneven and undulate hence it's common name. Found in wet bogs and moors.
Illecebrum verticillatum - Coral Necklace
This attractive but small species eluded me in Kent where it was previously found in Bedgebury Forest on the Sussex border. Having found in on Bodmin Moor this year, it clearly likes the ground to be very wet, so I think it probably only flowers in Kent in wet summers. Of course, it was bone dry when I searched for it in 2021.
Jacobaea aquatica - Marsh Ragwort
This is on the Rare Plant Register in Kent as it likes wet acidic ground. Common in Cornwall on moors, heaths and bogs provided it stays damp or wet. Its flowers are much bigger than other ragworts and the end lobe of the leaves is also very large.
Limonium brittanicum subsp brittanicum - Western Sea-lavender
I thought this was Rock Sea-lavender when I first found it, but it seems experts before me have named it further. It formed extensive low growing mats of lovely lilac to purple coloured flowers carpeting the north coast cliffs. They flowered at the height of the drought, so likely get enough water simply from coastal dew in the mornings.
Littorella uniflora - Shoreweed
A very unassuming and boring flower! It has no petals and in the photo below you can see some stamens sticking up with the anthers atop to distribute its pollen. I have no idea what pollinates it, whether it is wind or insect, but it was prolific in the draw down zone of Colliford Lake on Bodmin Moor.
Lobelia urens - Heath Lobelia
This is now a very rare plant and here it is only found on one reserve north of St. Austell. It is beautiful and I was very glad to find it given that to do so I was bitten numerous times by horseflies. Months later, I still have marks on my legs from those bites! That was the only day I forgot to take out my insect repellent too. I use Deet and I never get bitten. I picked up a tick too, though it was crawling over my leg and hadn't buried its head in me yet! Don't get complacent.
Melittis melissophyllum - Bastard Balm
A beautiful, large and imposing dead-nettle type plant that seems to be confined to Devon and Cornwall. I surveyed the area around Wadebridge to Camelford and overall it was still thriving in places it had historically been recorded in before, so that was good. It likes damp and shady places and is often found on Cornish walls overtopped by deciduous trees like Sycamore and Hazel.
Mentha x villosa - Apple Mint
It looks a bit like Spearmint which I'd seen before, but unlike Spearmint the flowers had branches and the smell when crushed was quite horrible. Crush a Spearmint leaf and it's like opening Spearmint gum! I found clumps of this plant on a freshwater stream by the Camel Estuary.
Misopates orontium - Weasel's Snout
This plant occasionally pops up in East Kent, but as I lived in North Kent, I never found it. In Cornwall, it is present in several fields in a few locations. It seems that those managed by the Natonal Trust at West Pentire are the best to view rarer arable plants.
Myosotis secunda - Creeping forget-me-not
Almost absent from Kent, this is a common plant here in bogs and mires. It is very pale blue with large flowers and looks quite different to Water Forget-me-not which is the only other species that it could be confused with, given it likes to grow only in very wet places.
Orobanche alba - Thyme Broomrape
What a stunning plant! Only found on The Lizard, it parasitises Wild Thyme. As the host plant is common throughout Cornwall, you'd think this would follow it around, but no, it's only found on The Lizard, so there must be another reason limiting its spread - perhaps climate or base rock? Head for Kynance Cove car park and you can't miss them on the coast path there.
Pancratium maritimum - Sea Daffodil
Another stunning plant, they really are delightful. Native to Brittany which is a short sea ride away for their floating seeds and these could be native too. However, the verdict is out at present as they could be throw-outs. These were photographed at Par Sands which to be fair has a large amount of escaped garden plants growing there. However, it is also found at Marazion further west without other alien species and east into Devon too. I'm sure it will spread further as the climate warms.
Petroselinum crispum - Garden Parsley
Reasonably common on the north coast, especially along Cornish walls by the sea. Crush a leaf and it smells strongly of parsley.
Pinguicula lusitanica - Pale Butterwort
Pale Butterwort is a common plant of bogs and mires in Cornwall. Oddly, the Common Butterwort is only found in one location here and as I'd seen them in Anglesey before, it didn't make this list. Both species eat insects by trapping them in their sticky leaves which fold up and digest the unfortunate insect.
Polygonum maritimum - Sea Knotgrass
A very distinctive knotgrass found at Par Sands below. The flowers are bunched up as the internodes are very short. To seperate it from Ray's Knotgrass, the leaves are inrolled too.
Primula vulgaris var caulescens - Long stemmed Primrose
Everyone has seen a Primrose I suspect, but look how long the flower stalks are. By examining the flowers and hairs on the stem, the County Recorder ruled out any hybrid or Polyanthus cultivar. This is a variety of Primrose that hadn't been seen in Cornwall for a 100 years and I found it near St. Kew Highway. At the same time, another specimen was found by another botanist near Bodmin too. Keep an eye out for them this coming Spring.
Primula x pruhoniciana - Hybrid Primrose
Growing on a roadside near Kelly Bridge, all by itself, was a bright blue Primrose, with nothing to suggest it was planted. It was a county first for this garden hybrid Primrose in the wild.
Ranunculus omiophyllus - Round Lvd Water Crowfoot
A common Water Crowfoot found in acidic bogs and mires in Cornwall, but one I'd never come across before. The large flowers with well separated petals make it stand apart from similar species with which it could be confused.
Ranunculus parviflorus - Small flowered Buttercup
Another one that eluded me in Kent that I found by chance on someone's driveway where it exited onto a rural country lane. unassuming flowers, but great to find.
Romulea columnae - Sand Crocus
My first ever sighting of these lovely but tiny flowers. I did a population check together with another botanist (Billy). There are only two small populations of them about 100m apart growing not on sand, but on very short turf over granite bedrock. One population was doing fine, the other not so much!
Sabulina verna - Spring Sandwort
Another new species found on the field trip to The Lizard, it likes Serpentine base rock!
Salix repens var repens - Creeping Willow
Common on bogs, mires and heaths though mostly difficult to see except when it is in flower. Even then the catkins are very small and you look around wondering if they fell off a nearby grey or goat willow.
Sanguisorba officinalis - Great Burnet
Found on the short turf around Kynance Cove in company with Saw-wort and Harebells.
Scilla autumnalis - Autumn Squill
An uncommon late Summer flowering Squill that favours short coastal turf with some salt influence. It grows bigger than Spring Squill but not often more than 6" tall.
Scilla forbesii - Pink Giant Squill
An attractive garden escape I found on a rural road verge near Bodieve with no habitation within 1/2km.
Scilla verna - Spring Squill
Common around the Cornwall coastal cliffs, but absent from the east of England. They are much more of a blue colour, whereas, Autumn Squill are pink.
Scrophularia scorodonia - Balm-leaved Figwort
Quite common in Cornwall, the scrunched up leaves are different to Water or Common Figworts. Found in hedgerows, Cornish walls and coastal areas.
Scutellaria galericulata x minor = S. x hybrida - Hybrid Skullcap
This was found on a Cornwall Botany Group field trip to see Bog Orchids. This large bushy plant was happily growing right by the car park and on first glance looks like Common Skullcap. However, the flowers were too small as were the leaves which led to a specimen being collected and later determined to be the hybrid shown.
Spergularia bocconei - Greek Sea Spurrey
Another species found in The Lizard village car park, but it is spreading and I have also found it in National Trust car parks on the north coast.
Stellaria neglecta var elizabethae - Greater Chickweed
There is also a var.neglecta (which has hairy flower stalks) and I found both variants in my surveys for this plant in late Spring around Wadebridge. It is doing well and is present almost everywhere it was historically found. I believe this is due to the Cornish walls in which it grows remaining unchanged for hundreds of years. It dwarfs Common Chickweed and only a stunted Greater Chickweed specimen could be mistaken for it.
Taraxacum britanicum - Dandelion
A mid-sized Dandelion microspecies that I found at Rosenannon Downs on a road verge. The only Dandelion growing around that area.
Taraxacum piceatum - Dandelion
A new species record for Constantine dunes which was odd as it has been properly surveyed for Dandelion microspecies in the 1980s.
Trifolium occidentale - Western Clover
A Lizard speciality.
Trifolium strictum - Upright Clover
A Lizard speciality.
Trifolium bocconei - Twin-headed Clover
A Lizard speciality. Unfortunately, likely due to the drought, all the specimens shown to us by the County Recorder only had single heads and not twin as the name suggests. Thus a return visit in more favourable conditions is called for later this year.
Trocdaris verticillata - Whorled Caraway
There is a meadow at Greena Moor near Bude full of this. The flowers look just like a weedy Cow Parsley but the leaves tell it apart from all other umbellifers.
Viola lactea - Pale Dog Violet
A striking rare violet from Retire Common on the mid Cornwall moors. It's declining now and no-one really knows why.
Viola palustris - Marsh Violet
Supposedly common on bogs and heaths, but given the drought of 2022 I found them hard to find. All were tiny and stunted that I did find.
Viola riviniana x Viola lactea - Hybrid Dog Violet
As is often the case with hybrids, this vigorous clump overflowed with flowers showing a mix of white and purple and everything in between. Virtually no seed is set with this hybrid and the dead flowers remain on the plant for some time.
Zantedeschia aethiopica - Arum Lily
Found in a wet ditch at Polzeath, it was obviously an escape from a nearby garden, but impressive and growing wild.
In total there are well over 70 new species that I found for the first time in 2022, so look out for part two following soon. It includes several new orchid species and hybrid orchids too.
Take Care
Dave
