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Rock Sea-lavender

Species Information

Common Name: Rock Sea-lavender
Scientific Name: Limonium britannicum spp. celticum
Family: Sea-lavender (Plumbaginaceae)
Height & Spread: 8 - 20cm tall
Flowering Time: July - September
Habitat: Sea-cliffs & rocks

Further Details

Size & Appearance: A small perennial with basal leaves and a central stem (8-20cm tall), bearing flowering branches.
Leaves: Shortest of the sea-lavender family 2-5cm long, all in a basal rosette obovate (spoon-shaped) with 3 veins.
Flowers: Lilac-lavender coloured flower clusters spread along the upper edge of all but the bottom branches off a central stalk, each flower has 5 petals.
Flowering Time: July - September.
Fruit: A single plant can produce up to 500 seeds which are distributed by the wind.
Habitat & Distribution: Limited to sea-cliffs and rocks this sub-species of Rock Sea-lavender is endemic to the British Isles, confined to the west coasts of England & Wales between Dorset & Cumbria. Hilbre Island is one of only five places in the World for this subspecies.

Notes: A protected species under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981, a Red Data Book species classified as near threatened. This plant is extremely vulnerable to trampling. 

Sea Spleenwort

Species Information

Common Name: Sea Spleenwort
Scientific Name: Asplenium marinum
Family: Spleenwort (Aspleniaceae)
Height & Spread: 8 - 50cm spread, forms tufts
Flowering Time: N/A
Habitat: Coastal rock crevices & cliffs.

Further Details

Size & Appearance: A rather leathery looking evergreen fern with a bright green shiny appearance. Spreads 8 - 50cm wide, forming tufts within crevices & cliffs.
Leaves: Pinnate, up to 50cm long, tapering at both ends, each has a red brown stalk and a green mid-rib.
Flowers: None
Fruit: Produces spores on the underside of each frond, these ripen from mid July to mid August.
Habitat & Distribution: The only fern of the British Isles that is confined to cliffs and caves which are exposed to sea spray. Predominantly found in the West of Britain.

Notes: An internationally scarce species due to its habitat requirements and restricted distribution. 

Bird's-foot Trefoil

Species Information

Common Name: Bird’s-foot Trefoil.
Scientific Name: Lotus corniculatus.
Family: Pea (Leguminosae)
Height & Spread: 5 - 60cm tall, forms patches.
Flowering Time: May - September.
Habitat: Grasslands, coastal rocks & sand-dunes.

Further Details

Size & Appearance: A low creeping hairless perennial herb 5 - 60cm (2 - 24in) tall, with solid stems, sometimes woody at the base.
Leaves: Compound, 5-foliate, the leaflet is oval/circular shaped and fleshy.
Flowers: Yellow, streaked or flushed red/orange around 15mm long, slightly scented, 2 - 8 flowers per head, clustered, leafless.
Flowering Time: May to September, however best showing in June to July.
Fruit: Produced in clusters of cylindrical pods 13mm long, positioned in a characteristic bird’s foot pattern.
Habitat & Distribution: A common species of dry, grassy places such as sunny banks, cliffs, mountain ledges, rocky ground, sand dunes, shingle beaches, disused railways and sometimes even lawns. This species requires a well-drained or lime-rich substrate, can not stand very acidic soils. Distribution is throughout the British Isles and continental Europe.

Notes: A well loved and familiar species of the countryside having more than 70 recorded local names, some such as "Eggs & Bacon" refer to the flower’s colour, while several such as "Shoes & Slippers" refer to the flower’s shape. 

Thrift

Species Information

Common Name: Thrift
Scientific Name: Armerica maritima
Family: Sea-lavender (Plumbaginaceae)
Height & Spread: Stems 5 - 20cm tall.
Flowering Time: May - August
Habitat: Coastal rocks, cliffs and salt-marshes.

Further Details

Size & Appearance: A low growing, springy cushion forming perennial with a woody base producing erect flowering stems 5 - 20cm (2 - 8in) tall.

Leaves: Dense basal leaves in a rosette, hairless, narrow and pointed with one vein 2 - 10cm (1 - 4in) long.
Flowers: Small, numerous, pink or white flowers at the terminus of the stem in a round head 1 - 3cm, scented. A brown, sleeve-like sheath, papery, toothed at lower end extends 2 - 3cm down the stem from the flower head.
Flowering Time: May to August, sometimes April in warm springs.
Fruit: Small, 1-seed, in a papery head.
Habitat & Distribution: Abundant on most coastlines, found on rocks, cliffs and salt-marshes often within the spray zone. Sometimes also seen on mountain sides and spoil-heaps old copper and lead mines in the Peak District and Highlands of Scotland.

Notes: A popular plant of seaside holidays, rock gardens and was used on the reverse side of the old 12 sided ‘threepenny bit’ coin. 

Sea-purslane

Species Information

Common Name: Sea-purslane
Scientific Name: Halimione portulacoides
Family: Goosefoot (Chenopodiaceae)
Height & Spread: 20 - 80cm tall
Flowering Time: July - October
Habitat: Salt marshes and rocks

Further Details

Size & Appearance: An evergreen, low, sprawling, branched shrub of around 20 - 80cm (8 - 32in) tall.
Leaves: Ellipital, untoothed, opposite, fleshy, leathery, whitish-mealy lower leaves while upper leaves are narrower, both have obscure veins.
Flowers: Tiny, yellowish, in dense, branched clusters.
Flowering Time: July to October.
Fruit: Numerous, stalkless, 1-seeded nutlets, between a pair of tiny 3-lobed, leaf-like flaps.
Habitat & Distribution: Forms dense grey strands in salt marshes, mainly along the tidal creeks and well-drained areas of the upper marsh. Can also be found at the base of sea-walls, on muddy shingle and on rocks and cliffs, especially in the west, north to Galloway and Northumbria and along the east and south coasts of Ireland also present in Denmark, absent from the rest or Europe.

Notes: Common eastern coastline plant, its distribution to the western coasts has been limited by the nature of the heavily grazed salt marshes of that coastline. A feature of most salt marshes, with its masses of grey leaves adding somber charm on a sunny day also found on sea walls, cliffs and rocks of the western coastline of Britain. 

Rock Sea-spurrey

Species Information

Common Name: Rock Sea-spurrey
Scientific Name: Spergularia rupicola
Family: Campion (Caryophyllaceae)
Height & Spread: Up to 35cm spread
Flowering Time: June - September
Habitat: Sea cliffs, rocks & seawalls

Further Details

Size & Appearance: A small, prostrate perennial with a woody base, from which arises a branching stem. The whole plant is glandular and has an unpleasant sticky feel.
Leaves: Sticky, dense clumping of 5 small leaves off the stem or side branch.
Flowers: Small flowers with 5 vivid pink un-cleft petals and 5 spreading sepals. These vivid pink flowers are larger and brighter than in related coastal species and can form a miniature carpet of colour.
Flowering Time: June - September Fruit: - un-winged seeds produced late in the season
Habitat & Distribution: Found on sea-cliffs, exposed rocks and seawalls around the western coast of Britain & Ireland. 

Scurvygrass

Species Information

Common Name: Scurvygrass
Scientific Name: Cochlearia danica
Family: Cabbage (Cruciferae)
Height & Spread: 5 - 50cm tall, forms patches
Flowering Time: May - August
Habitat: Coastal cliffs, dry saltmarshes & banks.

Further Details

Size & Appearance: A fleshy, biennial or perennial, hairless herb, with 1 or more floppy ascending stems between 5 - 50cm tall.
Leaves: Fleshy, basal leaves in a loose rosette, long stalked, kidney to heart-shaped. Sometimes has occasional stem leaves, stalk-less and triangular in shape.
Flowers: Small, 8 - 10mm wide, white, numerous in crowded heads off the floppy ascending stem. Scented with a sweet perfume that fills the air on a windy day.
Flowering Time: May - August, sometimes April in warm springs.
Fruit: Prominent, spherical/globose swollen seed pods can be seen on branches off the central stem when ripe.
Habitat & Distribution: Confined to coastal cliffs, dry saltmarshes and banks in the majority of the British Isles apart from Pennines and North Scotland where can be found inland on basic rock types. Absent from the South-East.

Notes: A seaside or mountain rock plant that produces a sweet perfume. Hard to distinguish from other family species e.g. English or Common Scurvygrass. 

Buck's-horn Plantain

Species Information

Common Name: Buck's-horn Plantain
Scientific Name: Plantago coronopus
Family: Plantain (Plantaginaceae)
Height & Spread: 4 - 6cm high, 3 - 20cm spread, patchy
Flowering Time: May - July
Habitat: Clifftops, rocks & edges of saltmarshes

Further Details

Size & Appearance: A low downy biennial herb, 4 - 6cm in height.
Leaves: A flat rosette of deeply pinnatide leaves that remain connected by at least a narrow flange of leaf-blade, bordering the mid-rib each lobe is 2 - 6cm in length with one vein.
Flowers: Yellow-brown with yellow anthers in short greenish spikes on un-furrowed stalks.
Flowering Time: May - July, best seen in June.
Habitat & Distribution: Found on coastal clifftops, rocks and edges of saltmarshes around Britain & N.W. Europe.