Common rock rose Helianthemum nummularium

Identifying Common rock rose

I found the Rock rose in the photo above in short grass on a sloping chalky site at Cheddar Gorge in May.

Helianthemum nummularium flowers superficially look rather like Potentilla flowers.  However the flowers are larger at about 3cm across with a tissue-like appearance. The buds (visible next to the flower in my pics) have a nodding quality. Closer inspection also reveals very different leaves. If you ignore the strawberry leaves in the pic below, you can see some narrow reddish stems and small lance-shaped leaves (up to about 2cm long) of the Rock rose. The Rock rose stems are woody as it’s a shrub rather than a herbaceous plant. I took this photograph, again on a sloping site, in May in Hampshire.

This picture below shows the typical crinkly nature of the flowers.

This is currently the only Rock rose I’m familiar with but will add more as I find them. Other members of this Genus tend to be white, rare, or spotty, so little chance for confusion hopefully!

I also found Ribwort plantain on the same Hampshire site.

 

Helianthemum nummularium is a chalk grassland indicator species.

 

Blog posts mentioning Rock rose – Helianthemum are tagged Rock rose or Helianthemum

https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/tag/rock-rose/

https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/tag/helianthemum/