Following on from my previous post visiting ReculverAMP, 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.
I wasn’t really familiar with lucerne until last year when it was pointed out for me in EastbourneAMP. It then turned up in WhitstableAMP 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.
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.
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.
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.
As ever, if you think I have misidentified anything, do let me know – I am still learning!