Mid May Botany in Cornwall 2023

 This blog is a compilation of short trips out and about in Cornwall, usually just for a couple of hours in the evening. On a walk near my house I found a patch of Greater Quaking Grass growing on a roundabout of the A39. It wasn't there last year, so I wonder how it got there? It's quite a common escape here, but the seeds are big and heavy, so they tend to form large patches rather than spread much. I can only think birds have spread them, but who really knows.

Briza maxima

Nearby was Fodder Salad Burnet, which I did find last year on this road verge. It can grow up to around a metre tall and has much bigger, deeply cut leaves than the native form.

Poterium sanguisorba subsp balearicum

Common Vetch is in flower all over the place, but the vast majority have two tone pink and purple flowers. There's a patch of plants near my house which were all white, quite unusual.

Vicia sativa subspecies segetalis var. albiflora

A visit to the coastal path near Treligga was a nice walk, competely alone with nature and off the tourist areas. The vivid blue flowers of Sheep's-bit were now in flower. They are also found inland on Bodmin Moor and heathy places in Cornwall.

Jasione montana

I finally found Changing Forget-me-not in the subspecies that has yellow flowers (not white) that turn to blue. There are other differences, but it gets long and technical, so I'll leave it there. This plant was very small and the flowers tiny.

Myosotis discolor subspecies discolor

It seems cattle don't like Ivy-leaved Water Crowfoot plants. I went through such a field full of cattle, but they left these alone, so I guess they may have toxins in them. The flowers are much smaller than most other species and of course, the ivy shaped leaves are a giveaway too.

Ranunculus hederaceus

Near Treligga, I came across some boulders with very short turf around them. I was pleased to find some unusual clovers there. Trifolium striatum (Knotted Clover) had previously been recorded here, but unfortunately, I couldn't find that one.

Birdsfoot Clover - Trifolium ornithopodioides

Subterranean Clover - Trifolium subterraneum

Slender Trefoil - Trifolium micranthum

A big surprise plant was in the village of Treligga itself on a rural road verge. Below is Pyrenean Valerian, a very uncommon garden escape here. It's only been recorded in the wild in East Cornwall once before, back in 1951. Given this rarity, it will feature in the upcoming BSBI News under the "Aliens and Adventives" section, always worth a read to see what alien plants you might now find in the wild.

Valeriana pyrenaica

Below is the path from Treligga to the coast path, empty of people, just how I like it. This was the area where the unusual clovers were found and pretty much, nowhere else.

On an evening trip to Trevone to sit by the sea for half an hour, I took a wander around near the car park and found several spikes of what is now called Carrot Broomrape. It parasitises Sea Carrot (rarely Buckshorn Plantain too). I think Broomrapes are impressive plants and they do not seem to harm the host to any extent. You can see the Sea Carrot leaves at the bottom of the first photo.

Orobanche minor subspecies maritima

Actually in the beach car park and driven over most days, were patches of Toothed Medick. As the name suggests the leaflets are toothed, but what you really need to look for are the stiplules at base of the leaf junctions. They are very spikey (laciniate), unlike any other medick/clover like plant. A few weeks later I went back and noticed the very dry car park stuffed full of their little spiny seeds, waiting for a small animal or someone's sock to latch onto and be dispersed.

Medicago polymorpha

At the back of a pub car park near Wadebridge, was a gravel area and the aggregate appeared to come from the Clay Country (St Austell area). This aggregate has hardly any nutrients and nothing much grows on it for several years. One early coloniser is Birdsfoot, a tiny pea like plant that forms small clumps close to the ground.

Ornithopus perpusillus

Common Broomrape, typically parasiting Clovers (this was on Trifolium dubium and T. campestre) close to my house, a new monad record too.

Orobanche minor subspecies minor

My final offering on this blog is the wonderful, though poorly named, Bastard Balm. It's flowers are large and brightly coloured with pink or purple blotches. You can find it on shaded road verges and woodland paths in early May here. This species is completely absent from the South East where I used to live, so it was great to see it.

Melittis melissophyllum

That beautiful plant concludes my botanical adventures up until mid May, but watch out for the rest of my end of May discoveries, coming soon.

Take Care

Dave

Botany in Dunes and Clifftops, Cornwall Early May 2023

 I thought it would be a good time to visit the site for Mountain Everlasting near Perranporth. I had seen them last year, but was disapoointed with the photos of these tiny plants, so I intended to try and put that right. So in the first week of May I headed off and if I had time I would perhaps explore some clifftop areas too near Perranporth Airfield, where this plant had been found many years ago.

It didn't take long to find them on the dunes, they form large patches of silvery hairy leaves that stand out from 50m away. Here's a series of photos of this lovely, rare little plant. It has male and female flowers on different plants.

Antennaria dioica

Of course, Spring is the time for annual plants to flower and the dunes were full of Mouse-ear species. It can be tricky sorting them out as many are very small. Sea Mouse-ear was the dominant species, which mostly has only 4 petals so is easy to distinguish. I looked hard for any with 5 petals and sure enough I found a patch. Close examination of the hairs and bracts showed the plant below to be Little Mouse-ear, the flowers only about 5mm across.

 

Cerastium semidecandrum

The first Eyebrights were in flower, a hemi-parastic species that steals some of its nutrients from nearby plants. They are often hard to identify, but this one below was obviously Western Eyebright, given it had 4 flowers around the stem, all opposite. They can quite tall, up to around 10cm or so, but rabbit grazing keeps them small.

Euphrasia tetraquetra

Portland Spurge is a coastal plant, often found in dunes and sea cliffs in Cornwall. It has a prostrate habit and as the plant ages, the stems turn a crimson red. The bracts underneath the "flower" structure are shaped like a pair of Ace of Spades from a card deck, the lookalike Sea Spurge doesn't have them shaped like that and rarely turns red. Look also for  prominent single vein on the leaf undersides.

Euphorbia portlandica

In my last blog, I featured Heath Milkwort, explaining that it had opposite leaves at the base of the stem and liked acid soils. The one below looks very similar, but it is Common Milkwort, found on neutral to calcareous soils. It has larger, alternate leaves all the way up the stem. Sand dunes here are slightly calcareous as there is a proportion of shell grit within it, shells being made from calcium of course. Note that the flower colour can be blue, white or pink.

Polygala vulgaris

I was pleasantly surprised to come across a large patch of Small-flowered Buttercups by a sandy, but damp path. It's an uncommon annual plant, but it's popped up quite a bit this Spring, probably due to the wet April. Note how the plant avoids longer grass areas completely.

Ranunculus parviflorus

Below is the habitat for Mountain Everlasting, the silvery patches being made up of hundreds of plants.

Of course, I found plenty of other species, but I will move on now. From here, I made a short drive to an area by Perranporth Airfield and surveyed the coast path and public footpaths in that area.

 

Close to the car, I found carpets of Heath Pearlwort, a lovely little plant, like Procumbent Pearlwort but on steroids with much larger petals. Having said that, they are still only about 8mm across and have the habit of reflecting light and bleaching out a decent photograph.

 

Sagina subulata

Where the path skirted the airfield, I found Smith's Pepperwort in flower, about 20 plants. It's uncommon, but almost always coastal or coastal arable, though I did find it once on a rural Cornish lane.

Lepidium heterophyllum

Hairy Greenweed was common along the cliff coastal path, interweaving in and out of the other flora. It's not only found at The Lizard. It can be confused with Dyer's Greenweed but that flowers a month later and lacks the hairy keel petal and stems.

Genista pilosa

Sea Campion is a common coastal plant around much of the UK, but this was the first time I had seen one completely lacking red pigment (anthothyacine deficient or leucistic). It certainly looked odd, and the normal coloured ones were nearby. I guess it's due to a gene mutation. I don't know if this is found elsewhere apart from Cornwall and Devon. If this was a Bee Orchid, it would be called var. chlorantha and people would come from miles around to see it.

Silene uniflora var albiflora

Pale Dog Violets have been recorded here in the past, but appear to have dies out, at least for now. The species needs distubance to germinate like a fire or earthworks, so they might come back in the future if that happens. They frequently hybridise with the more numerous Common Dog Violet, which dotted the area in a bewildering array of colur forms.

I found a plant that perplexed me and spent an hour trying to work the one below out. Heath and Pale Dog Violets have also been recorded here in the past, so there were several hybrid possibilites with this plant. I eventually concluded it was just a Common Dog Violet after all.

To determine tricky violets like this one, you really need the BSBI Viola Handbook, which has a wealth of information on each Viola species (includes Pansies) and their hybrids.

Viola riviniana

I came to the area of clifftop where the Mountain Everlasting had been found, I think from memory, about 1996. Unfortunately, I found the area had mostly scrubbed over with a sward way too high for them to compete. It needs cutting, grazing or fire to see if they might still come back from a buried seed bank. 

What I did find though, were about 100 flowering Heath Spotted Orchids. This took me by surprise, as usually they don't start flowering until June. As usual, there was an amazing display of petal colours and patterns.

Dactylorhiza maculata

 

Below are the same plants, but photographed from above. 

A change of perspective often gives good results, give it a try.

There has been a worrying lack of insects this Spring, so when I see some I can photograph, I do so. I suspect the sudden massive decline to be caused by last year's drought, combined with habitat loss, pollution and excessive use of herbicides in agriculture.

Hairy Shield-bug - Dolycoris baccarum

Common Green Shield-bug - Palomena prasina

A view of the area's industrial past, a cap over an old mine shaft, now taken over by Gorse and Thrift.

So ended my second trip out for May. Of course, what I didn't know then was that it wouldn't rain again for another 4-5 weeks. I think the plants knew it and many flowered weeks early to set seed before drought got to them. Amazing how plants do that!

Take care

Dave