I thought a review of the year might be intersting to read, though I've kept it brief, with just one or two species per month. Some aren't new or rare, but all are lovely to find on my recording walks.
January/February
Euphorbia myrsinites - Glaucous or Myrtle Spurge
New to VC2, a seedling on a pavement spread from a nearby amenity planting.
When mature, this is what it looks like. I found this one on shingle in Hastings, East Sussex some years ago.
Found on a lawn at the entrance to the Premier Inn at Carnon Downs in January. I returned in June and found one had flowered, but was in a sorry state after recent mowing. New to the tetrad.
March
Anemone nemorosa var. caerulea - Wood Anemone blue form
After a tip off from one of my social media friends, I met up with her at a wood near St. Cleer and witnessed an astounding number of Wood Anemones with easily over 100 of the blue form mixed in amongst them. Truly a superb sight.
I'll sneak in another plant for March, Polystichum polyblepharum - Japanese Shield Fern growing in the wild near Lanlivery.
April
One of the loveliest wildflowers in Cornwall is Bastard Balm with its big blousy pink streaked flowers. I found some in a local wood near Wadebridge which hadn't been recorded for several years.
Melittis melissophyllum
May
A walk up the River Camel, upstream of Camelford gave me a surprise hybrid Geum.
Geum x intermedium
A trip to The Lizard revealed some areas had been cleared of scrub and thousands of Spring Sandwort had come up carpetting the slopes with their flowers.
Sabulina verna
Most orchids were now in flower, so I chose one at random, the Early Marsh Orchid from a heath near Bodmin.
Dactylorhiza incarnata subsp pulchella
July
As most orchid species die off, Broad-leaved Helleborines come into their own. These were found in profusion at what was the Otter Sanctuary in North Petherwin, technically in VC4, but West of the Tamar. It's now the Willow Tree cafe, well worth a visit and a lunch there.
Epipactis helleborine
Wavy-leaved St. John's-wort is also at its best now.
Hypericum undulatum
August
A field trip to the Boswednack area led to the discovery of many Annual Knawel plants, a fairly rare plant nationally.
Scleranthus annuus subsp annuus
the same trip produced Ivy-leaved Bellflower too - Wahlenbergia hederacea
September
The only plant I'll feature for this month is Saltmarsh Curled Dock, a very rare, but maybe overlooked plant in Cornwall (and elsewhere). I found a single seeding plant on saltmarsh near Malpas. You really need it in seed to be sure of its identity, as the nutlet measurements are important. The nutlets are quite a bit larger than the other two subspecies and of course, this subspecies is very tall (this one at almost 2m tall).
Rumex crispus subsp uliginosus
October
A walk around an industrial estate near Launceston led me to find an Orange-peel Clematis growing up a wire fence outside a factory. The base was only a foot or so wide and filled in with pea shingle. I suspect the seed was carried in that to the site. It's also present at Harbour Cove in the Camel estuary.
Clematis tangutica
The seeds are similar to Traveller's Joy (Clematis vitalba).
November/December
A cropped stubble field near Polperro held some lovely arable plants, but the highlight was Small-flowered Catchfly.
Silene-gallica var. gallica
To round off the year, winter flowering Musk Storksbill is a common find in coastal areas and arable fields too. I photographed it flowering in March, August and December last year.
Erodium moschatum
That concluded 2025. It was an unusual year in terms of weather with some droughts over the summer, torrential rain in the autumn and arctic conditions in December. however, I found lots of lovely plants nonetheless. I look forward to what 2026 may bring. If you want to see more, including the backstories of the plants above, please visit the blogs for 2025 in the Archive section of this webpage.
Regards Dave
