Flora of Rye Harbour in May

I spent three whole days at Sussex Wildlife Trust Rye Harbour Nature Reserve in East Sussex this May. On Day 1 I wandered the reserve with my friend Mercy and did a spot of bird watching in the hides (not bird photography though, I prefer targets that don’t move!). Day 2 was spent walking to Camber Castle, and on day 3 I walked along the coast towards Winchelsea Beach.

Flowers on shingle

We spent the day on the sea-side half of the reserve (see Rye Harbour nature reserve map), so most of the flowers you can see on this page were found in this habitat. The pic below might give a good idea of the terrain.

sea kale flowers crambe maritima rye harbour may 2021 — Sea kale flowers – *Crambe maritima* – Rye Harbour – May 2021

yellow horned poppy in bud glaucium flavum rye harbour may 2021 — Yellow horned poppy in bud – *Glaucium flavum* – Rye Harbour – May 2021

I had been expecting the Horned poppy and Sea kale but was a little surprised about the Bittersweet, even though it was mentioned in the Rye Harbour seaside flowers leaflet. Apparently it’s a maritime subspecies, Solanum dulcamara var. marinum

woody nightshade bittersweet bud solanum dulcamara rye harbour may 2021 — Woody nightshade aka Bittersweet in bud – *Solanum dulcamara* – Rye Harbour – May 2021

wild strawberry fragaria vesca rye harbour may 2021 — Wild strawberry – *Fragaria vesca* – Rye Harbour – May 2021

The Vipers bugloss shown below was a little confusing as the flower spikes seemed to be held horizontally until the plant was ready to flower.

vipers bugloss bud echium vulgare rye harbour may 2021 — Vipers bugloss bud – *Echium vulgare* – Rye Harbour – May 2021

sea campion flowers silene uniflora maritima rye harbour may 2021 — Sea campion flowers – *Silene uniflora / maritima* – Rye Harbour – May 2021

scarlet pimpernel anagallis arvensis rye harbour may 2021 — Scarlet pimpernel – *Anagallis arvensis* – Rye Harbour – May 2021

early forget me not myosotis ramosissima rye harbour may 2021 — Early forget me not – *Myosotis ramosissima* – Rye Harbour – May 2021

I was so taken with the red of the Sorrel below that I didn’t think to look closely at the leaves or photograph them, so I’m not entirely confident about the ID.

Possible sheeps sorrel – *Rumex acetosella* – Rye harbour – May 2021

I had been hoping to see a Sea pea, Lathyrus japonicus, but although this one was in the correct location, the identification didn’t entirely check out.

pea not confident rye harbour may 2021 — Pea – no ID – Rye Harbour – May 2021

Apparently Hawkweeds and their relations can be tricky, but I encountered these in Eastbourne, ID’d by an expert so was confident here.

mouse ear hawkweed foliage pilosella officinarum rye harbour may 2021 — Mouse ear hawkweed foliage – *Pilosella officinarum* – Rye Harbour – May 2021

Ivy leaved toadflax is common where I live, growing in walls, but this community in the beach was very impressive.

ivy leaved toadflax community glechoma hederacea rye harbour may 2021 — Ivy leaved toadflax community – *Glechoma hederacea* – Rye Harbour – May 2021

hounds tongue cynoglossum officinale rye harbour may 2021 — Hounds tongue – *Cynoglossum officinale* – Rye Harbour – May 2021

common birds foot trefoil lotus corniculatus rye harbour may 2021 — Common birds foot trefoil – *Lotus corniculatus* – Rye Harbour – May 2021

Found near the Barns

common storks bill erodium cicutarium rye harbour may 2021 — Common storks bill – *Erodium cicutarium* – Rye Harbour – May 2021

common vetch vicia sativa rye harbour may 2021 — Common vetch – *Vicia sativa* – Rye Harbour – May 2021

astern gladiolus communis ssp byzantinus buds rye harbour may 2021 — Eastern gladiolus – *Gladiolus communis ssp byzantinus* buds – Rye Harbour – May 2021

This one looked like a simple Chickweed, Stellaria media to me until I realised the petals weren’t divided. Maybe a Sandwort? Or a Sea spurrey but the leaves don’t look right.