More Summer flowers on the North Kent Coast
Following on from my previous post visiting Reculver, I walked back to Herne Bay town along the seafront. There is a broad swathe of exposed sloping grass, scrub and wildflowers between the beach and the sea there called The Downs.
![north kent coast herne bay](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/north-kent-coast-herne-bay-beach-1024x683.jpg)
Lucerne – a new favourite flower
I wasn’t really familiar with lucerne until last year when it was pointed out for me in Eastbourne. It then turned up in Whitstable the same year. I’m particularly attracted to the variation in colour from purple to white with varying amounts of pink and blue, often within the same flower or colony.
![lucerne medicago sativa ssp sativa herne bay downs july 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/lucerne-medicago-sativa-ssp-sativa-herne-bay-downs-july-2020-1024x683.jpg)
Thistles and spiny flora of the Herne Bay Downs
The dried seed heads of Greater knapweed looked rather like Carline thistle – I was impressed with it’s architectural form and I guess the same could be said of teasels.
![carline thistle carlina vulgaris downs herne bay jul 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/carline-thistle-carlina-vulgaris-downs-herne-bay-jul-2020-1024x683.jpg)
![teasel dipsacus herne bay downs jul 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/teasel-dipsacum-herne-bay-downs-jul-2020-1024x683.jpg)
![bee thistle herne bay downs jul 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bee-thistle-herne-bay-downs-jul-2020-1024x683.jpg)
Blooms of the Pea family
Spiny restharrow is another flower I had spotted previously in the Whitstable area. Ribbed melilot I hadn’t come across before but found it reasonably straightforward to ID due to its leaf and raceme shape. Goats rue is an introduction from Eastern Europe which I recognised from work – we used to sell it in a garden centre I worked at, and I always enjoyed its blousy flowers.
![spiny restharrow ononis spinosa herne bay downs july 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/spiny-restharrow-ononis-spinosa-herne-bay-downs-july-2020-1024x683.jpg)
![melilot melilotus herne bay downs jul 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/melilot-melilotus-herne-bay-downs-jul-2020-1024x683.jpg)
![goats-rue galega officinalis herne bay downs jul 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/goats-rue-galega-officinalis-herne-bay-downs-jul-2020-e1608556384221-683x1024.jpg)
![goats-rue white galega officinalis herne bay downs jul 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/goats-rue-white-galega-officinalis-herne-bay-downs-jul-2020-e1608557287567-683x1024.jpg)
Other beauties in the grass
Fleabane is a flower I had not noticed yet in Sussex (as a beginner this happens a lot), but much like the lucerne, once it had been named I was spotting it everywhere (thanks Mercy!). I had spotted Red bartsia as probably being semi parasitic due to its strange colouring and lack of leaves, and again Mercy helped with the ID, as I didn’t find my copy of Rose particularly helpful on the subject. Agrimony is something I’ve seen elsewhere in Kent, and Sussex too.
![common fleabane pulicaria dysenterica herne bay downs jul 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/common-fleabane-pulicaria-dysenterica-herne-bay-downs-jul-2020-1024x683.jpg)
![red bartsia odontites vernus herne bay downs july 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/red-bartsia-odontites-vernus-herne-bay-downs-july-2020-1024x683.jpg)
![agrimony agrimonia eupatoria herne bay downs july 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/agrimony-agrimonia-eupatoria-herne-bay-downs-july-2020-1024x683.jpg)
As ever, if you think I have misidentified anything, do let me know – I am still learning!