Sevenoaks - 04/11/18

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With a lack of frosts I thought it would still be worthwhile to do some botanical recording, so I took a trip to Sevenoaks, or TQ5451 to be precise, to see what could be found.  I recorded numerous species both in flower and not in flower. Here's some of them.

A small tree with hundreds of these brightly coloured seeds on it could not be missed. It's the Spindle tree which in spring has small non descript yellow flowers which can be easily missed!


Euonymus europaeus


Dogwood often flowers again at this time of the year with its reddening leaves, though in much smaller numbers than in late Spring when the leaves are green.

Cornus sanguinea


The occasional Perforate St John's Wort was in flower, though all were small, low to the ground  specimens now.


Hypericum perforatum


I was pleasantly surprised to find some Common Birdsfoot Trefoil in flower.


This low to the ground photo shows the habitat - the roundabout at the junction of the A21 and A225 at Riverhill. This roundabout had a great variety of wildflowers growing on its verges which is unsurprising given that it isn't sprayed or fertilised and rarely cut.

Lotus corniculatus


Another plant in flower by this roundabout was this beautiful Musk Mallow.

Malva moschata
















A late flowering Field Forget-me-not sparkled at me from the fallen leaves around the road verge.

Myosotis arvensis



















A four petalled flower like this would usually mean that I'd found Tormentil or a hybrid Cinquefoil, however, this was neither of those species.


The next photo shows the leaves.









This field had hundreds of both 4 and 5 petalled flowers and they all belonged to Trailing Tormentil. This frequently has both 4 and 5 petalled flowers.

Potentilla anglica


A layby had some Common Fleabane in flower.

Pulicaria dysenterica














The purple/lilac flowers of Tufted Vetch made a nice change from all the yellow flowers I had found.





As the photo below shows, this was also found by the roundabout.











Vicia cracca

My final photograph was of a Meadow Buttercup, it's deeply cut leaves can be seen well to the right by the flowers of a Wild Carrot.


Ranunculus acris




Hope you liked the photos, but please bear safety in mind if pursuing this hobby by busy roads! I wore a reflective jacket I bought for the purpose.

Take care

Dave
@Barbus59

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