The Cornish endemic Western Ramping-fumitory (Fumaria occidentalis) is my contribution to this week's #wildflowerhour. This colony is probably the best known in the country, having grown on a car park edge on the Lizard for decades!
While Mibora minima (Early Sand-grass) is usually at home on coastal sand dunes, this species has recently colonised the lawns of an estate in Thetford - where it has become locally dominant in places! #wildflowerhour
I'm a bit late for #wildflowerhour as per usual but South Stack Fleawort (Tephroseris integrifolia subsp. maritima) has to be worth a post! I'm sure many a botanist will recognise this view.
A successful post-work twitch this evening - Kentish Plover on Long Rock Beach. They don't get much better than this!
Anyone who knows me well will be aware that my favourite plant family are sedges, so I was particularly pleased to encounter Carex ericetorum (Rare Spring-sedge) for the first time on Tuesday! The Brecks is a stronghold for this scarce sedge of short, calcareous grasslands. @bsbibotany.bsky.social
This year I've finally bitten the bullet and begun looking at whitebeams. Earlier this week it was the turn of the Menai Strait Whitebeam (Sorbus arvonicola) - easily separated from Sorbus aria at the same site by the grey leaf undersides (comparison in the last photo). @bsbibotany.bsky.social
The stunning vivid purple flowers of Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) in the early morning sun are hard to beat! These were my first, but it might have to become an annual pilgrimage for me. #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social
A bit late for #wildflowerhour but a long-awaited trip to Bryher for the miniscule Dwarf Pansy (Viola kitaibeliana) was very successful, with hundreds of plants found rubbing shoulders with other tiny gems such as Small Adder's-tongue and Spring Vetch. @bsbibotany.bsky.social
A stop at Brean Down in Somerset was very productive, with its unique assemblage on the S-facing limestone slopes. White Rock-rose, Dwarf Sedge & Dwarf Mouse-ear were in fine form already, while Somerset Hair-grass and Goldilocks Aster (far out of reach) were vegetative only @bsbibotany.bsky.social
Perfoliate Penny-cress (Microthlaspi perfoliatum) was also a real treat to see on my way back home yesterday. Hundreds of plants adorned a few sections of this fairly unassuming Cotswold dry stone wall. @bsbibotany.bsky.social
