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

 

Botanical Finds for mid June 2022, Cornwall - Part 1

 Here are some of the amazing plants I found at this time in North Cornwall. Most trips out are on the spur of the moment for a few hours here and there rather than planned trips. As such, I'll highlight a few species from each trip to show you the best finds.

June is the time for orchids and there will be lots of them featured later. However, below is the very first Southern Marsh Orchid that I've seen in Cornwall and it was less than a mile from my house in a damp field corner. Of course, since then, I've seen thousands. They are very common here.

Dactylorhiza praetermissa

 

 A visit to a local Common which also had several boggy areas revealed the first ever Oblong leaved Sundews that I'd ever seen too. It's much rarer than the common Round Leaved Sundew.

Drosera intermedia 

 

 Of course, most bogs have Common Cotton Grass too. It was a windy day and I managed to capture some of the grass (which is actually in seed) splayed out horizontal to the ground by using a very fast shutter speed.

Eriophorum angustifolium 

 

The first Bog Asphodel of the Summer had come into flower right next to a Heath Spotted Orchid, delightful.

Narthecium ossifragum and Dactylorhiza maculata

 I then found a rare orchid hybrid hiding behind some Western Gorse. It was the hybrid between Heath Spotted and Heath Fragrant Orchids. I'd never seen this hybrid species before and it was also a new record for the area.

X Dactylodenia evansii

It also had a lovely scent taking after its Heath Fragrant parent.

 Below is a small part of Rosennnon Down, where the above plants were found. There are several such areas round mid Cornwall and each has its own flora. I look forward to exploring them in due course.

 My next venue couldn't be more different than above, it was a brownfield site in Bodmin next to Home Bargains. It was on an industrial estate and was a cleared area of concrete full of plants having been abandoned and left undeveloped for a few years.

Very soon I found another new species, this time an alien species from New Zealand. At the time I did not know what it was, but I have since discovered it to be New Zealand Willowherb. The leaves are very distinctive and I've since found it in several urban areas.

Here is it's quite small flower.

Epilobium brunnescens

I then found two cudweeds, a speciality of dry brown field sites. The first was Jersey Cudweed, apparently spreading through England quite quickly now. The easiest way to identify it is that it is covered in silvery grey hairs so looks shiny.

The flowers weren't quite open yet, but they're minute anyway.

Laphangium luteoalbum

 And Common Cudweed, such a cute wildflower. It's actually in the Daisy Family, so is related to Dandelions and Daisies, Thistles and Knapweeds.

Filago germanica

 The final plant of note there was Heath Speedwell, there were loads of plants, all in flower, turning the ground blue!

Veronica officinalis

 My next trip out was a proper field trip with the Cornwall Botanical Group. Below, we went to Harbour Cove and Tregirls Dunes on the Camel Estuary, both of which were stuffed with wildflowers.

Here's some of the group being shown Sharp Rush. It's so sharp and rigid, that the protruding spine at the top would take out an eye if you were careless enough to bend down near one.

 Juncus acutus

 Most were familiar with False Oat Grass as it grows almost everywhere. What I didn't know however, was that there was a subspecies that grew corms underground. However, you have to pull it up to verify it, unless you can get down low and pull away some soil to see the corm. 

Arrhenatherum elatius subsp bulbosum

 The Sharp Rush was a new species for me and so was this Sedge below. It had a super long bract going up and away from the fruiting body to distinguish it. No wonder it's called Long-bracted Sedge. 

Carex extensa

 Eyebrights are notoriously difficult to determine to species level, but these were relatively easy. Western Eyebright is the only Eyebright that has symmetrical flowers facing out in four directions. I took this above the flower photo to show it.

Euphrasia tetraquetra

 Some Evening Primroses were in flower but looked odd. I took numerous macro photos of the relevant parts and the county recorder took a sample. We both later concluded the plant was a hybrid between  Oenothera glazioviana (Large-flowered Evening-primrose) and Oenothera biennis (Common Evening-primrose). It was called Intermediate Evening Primrose, not very imaginative!

Oenothera x fallax 

 Of course, when looking at plants, you see some of the insects that feed on them. This is a Nettle Weevil which is irridescent blue

 Phyllobius agg

 There were of course many other interesting plants we saw that day including the hybrid between Ladys and Hedge Bedstraws. Organised field trips are always worth going on if you can attend, do so. I had to leave a bit early and missed several plants of interest so I will re-visit the area to find them soon.

 

After this, I returned to another common/bog, this time Retire Common, just west of Bodmin.There were some beautiful Early Marsh Orchids there too.

Dactylorhiza incarnata subsp. pulchella

 

 A Golden Ringed Dragonfly waiting for the sun to come back!

Cordulegaster boltonii

 

 

Bog Pimpernels were now flowering. Since I took these, there are now carpets of them in some places.

Lysimachia tenella

A nice find was a few Marsh Speedwells, a rare species that lives in or very close to water.

Veronica scutellata

Another new Sedge, this one with floppy green bracts like droughted grass leaves. It's Common Yellow Sedge. It grew close to the ground rather than upright.

Carex demissa

There's so many more plants but the blog is becoming overlong, so you'll have to wait for part 2, coming soon to see them.

Take care

Dave