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A Week in Kent in Mid May 2023

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 It's been a while since I wrote a blog on Kent wild plants, but then I have moved to Cornwall. If you missed the transition, the blog for my Cornwall plants is at https://sylvatica2022.blogspot.com   However, I still have family in Kent and I booked a few days on a farm at High Halstow on the Hoo Peninsular whilst I attended to family matters. Whilst there I had the run of the farm I stayed on and also took a trip out to the tidal Thames along paths through the marshes. Add in a few trips to the coast and mid Kent and I found some lovely plants. The following is what I found of interest.   One of my trips out was to Littlestone on the South Kent coast where Rosy Garlic had naturalised in several places along the sea wall. Allium roseum   Rough Dog's Tail Grass coming into flower at Littlestone Warren. Cynosurus echinatus Sea Sandwort flowering in sandy turf. Honckenya peploides One of the rarer medicks in the short coastal turf was Bur Medick, a very softly hairy small plant w

Autumn 2021 - Botanical Finds from Kent

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  This is the last blog for 2021 for my Kent trips and covers September to mid November. First up is a recording trip I made to a rural road and adjacent fields near Upper Halling. This had a wonderful roadside flora given it was on chalk and mostly untouched by mowing, sprays and fertilisers. It didn't take long to find my first rare species, Dwarf Spurge, a lover of chalky fields. It's low growing with quite small pointy leaves, so it stands out as different to other Spurges. You will likely only find it on disturbed alkaline soils too. Euphorbia exigua  Here's what you would see from a standing height.  Three Toadflax species were nearby, Round and Sharp Leaved Fluellens with their tiny but exquisite flowers and Common Toadflax too. The photo is of Round-leaved Fluellen.  Kickxia spuria    A surprise find was several metres of roadside verge covered in Meadow Cranesbill. I think these likely came from fly tipped garden material as they are pretty much absent in the wild