New Species (for me) of Vascular Plants Found in Cornwall in 2025

 After a few year living in Cornwall, I didn't expect to be able to continue my end of year blog on new plant species seen. I would have thought that after a while, there would only be a few species left to see, however, that's not the case. There are thousands of plant species worldwide, with many escaping gardens and finding a niche in the milder, oceanic climate of Cornwall; add in a few native species that somehow eluded me over the years and it turns out there are plenty of new species to fill this blog with. I'll start with the few native species I've found here and then list the non natives.

 

Bugle isn't strictly a new species, however, this is the first time I've found the named white flowered form. The flowers are usually a deep blue often with a purplish tinge, though in Kent, I found a few bright pink flowers, but never white. I found the ones below on a trackside verge on The Lizard heathlands. 

Bugle is usually a woodland species over much of the UK, however, here it is found on Cornish Hedges, trackways and paths as well as in older woodlands. In the open habitats, they tend to be small, as here.

Ajuga reptans forma albiflora 

 

Sedges and rushes will also feature on new species blogs, as each year I try and memorise a few more of each and take time to study them so I can identify them again in the future more easily. One such sedge was Bottle Sedge, with many in a pond on the The Lizard heathlands.

Carex rostrata

 

My next find was an aquatic plant and a first confirmed find for Cornwall, which is always nice.

I was walking along a farm track with boggy woodland on one side and a Cornish Hedge on the other. After a while, I came to a dip in the path and rainwater had collected into a series of small pools. I noticed some duckweeds floating on these pools and collected some to examine. It was quite obvious to me they were Fat Duckweed, with easy to see air sacs in the fronds and a single root hanging down. Sideways on they looked triangular - all very much not like Common or Small Duckweed. When I got home, I found that Fat Duckweed had never been confirmed in Cornwall and previous records had been rejected. This is probably because if the plant is young, it can look almost identical to Common Duckweed unless viewed under high magnification to measure the air sacs. However, my specimens were fully developed and I send photos to the BSBI Lemna referee who confirmed the find. Hopefully, old records may be revisited and re-determined. Now we know it's in Cornwall, perhaps recorders will start looking for it?

Lemna gibba

My last native plant found was a Dock hybrid. I'm sure I have walked past many such hybrids and not realised it (as have many others too I suspect). On this occasion, I noticed a peculiar looking Dock plant on some wasteground at Cargreen Quay. It was peculiar in that the leaves were much like Broad-leaved Dock, but some leaves were also wavy and with crispy edges, much like Curled Dock. The bracteoles were an odd shape and the nutlets looked mostly abortive.

Given my inexperience with hybrid docks, I again sent photos to one of the BSBI Rumex referees who confirmed it as the hybrid between Curled and Broad-leaved Docks. So if a plant looks "off" look a bit harder, in more depth and you may have a hybrid plant in front of you.

Rumex x pratensis

 

I now move on to the new species of non native plants that I have found naturalised in the wild in Cornwall. I suspect I'll continue finding new non natives for some years to come as the climate warms.

Back in March, I found what I presumed was a Monkshood plant growing on the edge of Chapel Amble marshes. As it wasn't in flower, I returned in early May to find it in all its glory. This form is a garden escape self sown into the wild, though there is a native subspecies too. I have read that Monkshood is a very poisonous plant, so I didn't even touch any part of it. It certainly looks an amazing plant.

Aconitum napellus subsp vulgare 

 

Also in May, I took a short walk along the Camel Trail near Padstow, where I noticed a very tall grass with large drooping stems and spikelets over 3cm long. I took a sample home and spent a long time keying it in Stace and a comprehensive grasses book and found it to be Rescue Brome. I later realised, it had been recorded here before, so I could have saved myself a lot of time by checking records in that area first for an alien grass and using that to narrow down my search. It was an impressive grass and I took a bit home to key it out and it now resides in my herbarium. It originated in South America, but you can read all about how it came to the UK and its distribution here - https://plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9h.x6

 Ceratochloa cathartica

 

I was walking near the beaches in Newquay and noticed a Cabbage Palm growing out of a wall, some 5-6 feet up, self sown, as the photo below clearly shows.. I'd not seen this naturalised before, but it is a common sight in gardens and parks here. I suspect there is very little frost on Newquay beach over the Winter months, enabling such plants to survive. They can grow to several metres tall with many stems. This one below is a variegated variety that I have since seen for sale in the big retail stores like Home Bargains and The Range.

Cordyline australis "variegata"

 

Also in Newquay, but also seen draping a coastal wall in Perranporth, was the Purple Dewplant. The leaves look like little greeny yellow jelly beans and they form a carpet over cliffs and walls. I haven't managed to find one in flower yet, but the inset photo shows dead flowers on the leaves, unsurprising since I found it in February. This was first recorded growing wild in 1936 on Tresco (Isles of Scilly). It had been recorded from Cornwall to Kent along the coast and around Anglesey.

 Disphyma crassifolium

 

There is a new tourist attraction at Colliford Lake called the Kerdroya. It's a labyrinth with the walls made up of all the different types of Cornish Hedges found in the county. As such, stone and earth that fills the gaps, has been transported here from all over the county. I have already found many new species to the area, such as the flesh coloured flower form of Scarlet Pimpernel usually found on The Lizard, Alsike Clover and urban plants such as Water Bent. However, I didn't expect to find Purple Bugloss growing out of one of the walls. It's a garden variety called "Blue Bedder".

Echium plantagineum "Blue Bedder" 

On a walk around the coast path at West Pentire, I found an old knarly small tree that had clearly been there many years on the cliffs, but had not been recorded before. Helpfully, it was in flower (see inset below) and this helped me quickly idenitfy it as a Thorny Olive (Spiny Oleaster) Tree.

Elaeagnus pungens

 

 Prickly Heath is a medium sized bushy plant and grows on acidic soils. I came across a relict of acidic heathland near Stenalees in mid Cornwall in mid December. Heather, Bell Heather and Gorse dominated and in between them was a single bush of this species. Of course, it wasn't in flower, but the fruits are distinctive, being a slightly flattened orb. It was probably bird sown.

 Gaultheria mucronata

 

 I found the next species on a rural road verge amongst nettles and the like, however, the origin of its seed was clearly from a nearby garden, in which I could see it flowering. This is the commonest type of naturalisation seen by botanists recording alien species, and until it can be shown that they can self seed and continue to persist and spread in the wild, they are known as "casuals". The one below is Purple Gromwell.

Glandora diffusa 

 

 There are lots of St. John's-worts in the horticultural world and occasionaly some escape into the wild. When I first found this one atop a wall by a car park near Millbrook, I was stumped as to what it was as it was in seed with no flowers present. However, my VCR recognised it from his Mediterranean travels as Olympic St. John's-wort and when I compared my sample to the books, it was. This was another Cornwall first record, so I was (again) very pleased to find it.

Hypericum olympicum

 

A sandy alleyway with houses on one side and Bude golf course on the other had a lovely Honeysucke flowering along it. It was a large bush at least 3 metres tall with many blooms. This was a Fly Honeysuckle. It was growing in a wild area, but it was likely a garden throw out that has persisted.

 Lonicera xylosteum

 

Pink Sorrel is a very common garden escape that has colonised road verges and waste areas and even some woodlands here. I had always wondered how best to separate it from Pale Pink Sorrel (should I find it) if no flowers were present. However, I found the latter growing six feet up a house wall in Hessenford with flowers to confirm its identity. Most striking to me was the pale sickly green/yellow colouring of the leaves, easily distinguishing it from Pink Sorrel, which has very green leaves.

Oxalis incarnata

 

Canary Grass is commonly found in wild bird seed mixes and thus often naturalises near where birds are fed. Surprisingly, I'd not come across it before, until I found some on a woodland ride. I had no idea how it got there as it wasn't near houses and there were no other alien species in the vicinity. However, all became clear when I turned a corner in the woodland and saw that someone had hung a few bird feeders from the branches. I wonder how long it will persist in such an environment?

Phalaris canariensis

 

In Cornwall, the dominant Shield Fern is the Soft Shield Fern, with the Hard Shield Fern being quite rare. As such, I keep an eye out for the Hard Shield Fern.  Whilst walking the lanes near Lanlivery, I saw what initially looked like a Hard Shield Fern, but on closer examination, something was off. I asked my VCR for guidance and he said I had found a Japanese Shield Fern, only the 7th ever record of it in Cornwall.

 Polystichum polyblepharum

 

Surprisingly, I had another first record for Cornwall with Common Rue. This is a garden plant, but it had self seeded from a garden that was high up onto the pavement below, with tiny plants growing in the pavement. Another Casual most likely. The flowers in the photo below are from the planted parent plant nearby.

Ruta graveolens 

 

The next new species of vascular plant found in Cornwall was an unconfirmed Turkish or Spanish Stonecrop. It was found on a Cornwall Botany Group field trip carpeting a centuries old lawn at Cawsand Fort. I sent photos to the BSBI referee, but without flowers it could be one or the other species. I was told that this is how you tell them apart (both are perennials):

S. pallidum  = strictly 5-partite flowers

S. hispanicum = 6+ partite flowers.

So, I will have to return in 2026 to try and see them in flower to be sure. Both species would be new to me in any case.

Sedum pallidum or S. hispanicum

 

On the 28th December, I recorded Stithians in West Cornwall, not expecting to find much, given the recent heavy frosts and cold NE winds of the last week. However, one of the pavement plants that had escaped from nearby gardens was Perennial Candytuft, flowering nicely. I'd seen Annual Candytuft before in Kent; that had toothed leaves and smaller flowers and was a smaller plant overall, unsurprising given it's an annual. Perennial Candytuft has similar (but larger) flowers with the lower two petals much larger than the upper ones, but its leaves are linear lanceolate without teeth and the stems turn woody over time.

Iberis sempervirens

 

That concludes all the new species of plants I have found growing or naturalised in the wild in Cornwall over the last year. I hope you found it interesting. Each county will have its own flora and of course, garden escapes can turn up anywhere, so keep your eyes peeled for the unusual. I'll finish with a cheeky (new for me) non native fungus that we found on a Cornwall Botany Group field trip on the Bodmin Moor in August. 

 Devils Fingers - Clathrus archeri 

 

My next blog will be on new UK species I've seen outside of Cornwall, until then, take care.

Dave 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cornwall Botany - November and December 2025

 As Winter approaches, days shorten, the temperatures drop and usually there's a lot of rain. In November, we've had all of those plus some mild, wet days too. Here's some of the plants of note from this month.

 

Pot Marigold is a common pavement plant, usually escaping from nearby gardens and colonising pavements and waste ground in urban areas. There are two main types: the usual one with a ring of ray petals around the central disc flowers and a "flore pleno" type that has multiple rings of ray petals around the disc florets. There are several cultivars, such as "Orange King" with similar ray petal arrangements. Here's one of those from near Truro.

 Calendula officinalis 

 

Green Field Speedwells are usually found in cemeteries here and are very uncommon in their previous habitat of arable fields. This was the case here, found in a Truro cemetery. The flowers are much whiter than Common Field Speedwell (sometimes all white) and a bit smaller too. The seedpods sit almost parallel to each other and have a small number of straight non-glandular hairs with a few slightly longer glandular hairs. The sepals are narrowly oblong.

Veronica agrestis

 

 Mid month and I did a recording walk around the Polperro area. I found a surprisingly large number of flowering species here given the time of year. The first was Three-cornered Leek coming into flower; it's an invasive species and has aggressively colonised most towns, road verges and cliffsides. The strap like pale green leaves smell strongly of garlic when crushed.

Allium triquetrum

 

Garden Nasturtiums are sometimes found near gardens or in lay-bys as a garden throwout. They clearly spread by creeping runners as they form lines along paths and, in this case, from near a garden where it was probably thrown out, into an adjacent woodland.

Tropaeolum majus 

 

Another alien species colonising coastal cliffs is the Hedge Hebe. With its late season vibrant purple flowers in tight bunches, I can see why gardeners plant it. This species had colonised many areas of a cliff and even self seeded into the side of a slate wall.

Veronica x franciscana

 

A cropped arable field provided the highlights of the trip with hundreds of Field Woundwort flowering amongst the stubble of a cut crop.

Stachys arvensis

 

A lovely Field Pansy - Viola arvensis

  

Amongst these were several Lesser Quaking Grasses in seed (Briza minor), a solitary Pale Flax (Linum bienne) and thousands of Round-leaved Cranesbills (Geranium rotundifolium). As I walked through these, I saw some small pink floweres that looked a bit different. On closer examination, I found these to be Small-flowered Catchfly. This is a very rare plant in Cornwall with only a handful of records since records began. What a great find. Unfortunately, it was getting dark when I found them, so the photos are a bit grainy.

Silene gallica var. gallica

 

Here's a photo of the unremarkable looking arable field in which these lovely plants were found.

 

 I went out on a couple more trips at the end of November, and found plenty of species, many new to the monad I was visiting. However, only a few were in flower, so I didn't take any photographs. The weather had been very wet too, restricting use of a camera at times. 

The following plants were found in December. 

A short walk around the arable fields at Pentireglaze produced planty of records and a few flowering plants. Part of a field was full of Musk Thistle rosettes and eventually, I found one with a ragged flower still showing.

Carduus nutans

 

 Wild Radish still had some flowers, though they were probably planted in the field as part of a cover crop.

Raphanus raphanistrum subsp raphanistrum

 

Some bare ground had three Milk Thistle rosettes, an uncommon find in Cornwall. The bright marbled patterns really stand out.

Silybum marianum

 

Musk Storksbill was quite frequent, especially along path edges and a few were flowering.

Erodium moschatum

A walk around Trelights in North Cornwall in early December led to me seeing my first scented Sweet Violet flowering of the season. The early flowering Sweet Violet is called:

 Viola odorata var. praecox 

 

 In the same monad I found a Wild Service Tree which had shed its leaves. However, these leaves are distinctive and are enough to identify the tree. It had been recorded previously in the area.

Sorbus torminalis 

 

A mid month walk around the Stenalees area revealed a small area of heathland surrounded by china clay workings. The area was full of Heather, Bell Heather and a large clump of Cross-leaved Heath which was a new monad record. Apart from the ever present Rhodedendrons that spread everywhere, there were no other alien species there. Then I found this!

 Gaultheria mucronata

 It was a plant species that I'd not seen before, but it was clearly in the same family as plants like Bilberry, so it didn't take long to work it out. There are quite a few records in Cornwall for it, with the first record being around 1964. Clearly, birds can take the berries and poop the seeds anywhere, which is what I think happened here.

There were no other surprise species that day, but here's some of what was flowering in that area in mid December.

Sheep's-bit - Jasione montana

 

Thyme-leaved Speedwell - Veronica serpyllifolia

 

A Field Forget-me-not growing on a pavement edge.

Myosotis arvensis

 

And a White Ramping Fumitory from a scruffy roadside edge. Look how large the sepals are in relation to the length of the flower. Note that in winter, fumitories are often smaller in size than the books might suggest. I often find quite small specimens of White Ramping Fumitory in the winter months.

Fumaria capreolata subsp babingtonii

 

 Near Christmas, I found a fallow arable field near Rock with some nice plants in it.

Tall Ramping Fumitory, which has a pink upper petal and not black like most of the other species. It also has much smaller sepals than White Ramping Fumitory and it has toothed edges to them.

Fumaria bastardii var bastardii

 

Some Rough Chervil around the field edge.

Chaerophyllum temulum

 

Field Pansies - Viola arvensis

 

Finally some Corn Parsley just coming up.

Sison segetum

 

Greater Periwinkle is the most often recorded garden escaped Periwinkle, but some of them may be Intermediate Periwinkle. They usually have white or pink flowers, a bit smaller than Greater, and the leaves are the same as Greater Periwinkle, but without the fringe of hairs along the edges.

Vinca difformis

 Finally, for that day, I found two lots of Borage flowering; one on a rural path verge and the other atop a pile of soil caused by building work.

Borago officinalis

 

 With the next 7 to 10 days forecast as having very low temperatures, overnight frosts and biting Easterly winds, I doubt that I will see anything more in the last week of December, so I'll end this blog at Christmas Eve. I hope you liked the selection from November and December from Cornwall. 

January and February are the real Winter months and it gets tough to find plants of interest, but if I do, I'll let you know about them. Have a Merry Christmas and a great New Year.

Dave