Chalk grassland survey Crowlink and Gayles Farm July Part 4

This was my last day with Chris and Colin counting wildflowers on National Trust land above the Seven Sisters cliffs in the South Downs National Park in Sussex.

Counting wildflowers on the South Downs

We found many flowers from the species list mentioned in Part 1AMP but they’re not all shown here! Photos marked with an L are plants that are on the list. Plants in the main pic above are Wild Carrot Daucus carota and Ragwort Senecio jacobaea.

Wild Thyme – Thymus polytrichus

There was a warm scent of Thyme underfoot along the footpaths where the grass was a bit shorter. L

Wild carrot – Daucus carota

It was a blustery day up on the cliffs!

Dwarf thistle – Cirsium acaule

There was plenty of this thistle. L

In the pic you can also see some Black Medick Medicago lupulina in the background – both the yellow flowers and distinctive black seeds. I also spotted this Medick at Cradle Valley recently.

Cotton Thistle – Onopordum acanthium

This large wildflower was pointed out by Chris growing on some disturbed ground by the edge of a pit.

Hairy Mallow – Malva setigera

Seen for a second time this July! This rare bloom was spotted by Chris growing on the same patch of disturbed soil as the Milk Thistle. For pics of the plants we spotted previously, see Part 2.

Looking forward to counting more flowers next year!

See also Part 3 which has a map showing roughly where we were working.