Bough Beech area of Kent - 04/08/19

I walked from east of Bough Beech reservoir to Winkhurst Green this day and here's some of the amazing plants I found this day.

It' always a great feeling to find a new orchid site and here is a Violet Helleborine by a woodland path.

Epipactis purpurata

 Two colour forms of Scarlet Pimpernel along a field edge

This beautiful colour variant is called:

Lysimachia arvensis f. carnea

(formerly Anagallis arvensis)

Fungi were just starting to put in an appearance. It's nice to find some in mint condition and not half eaten away by slugs.

Foxgloves are quite amazing plants and this one was late flowering with most in seed by this time.

Digitalis purpurea

What I thought was a white form of Dovesfoot Cranesbill  (they're usually pink) turned out to be Cut-Leaved Cranesbill. It's easy to get a bit lazy and not check all the ID features on a plant, especially when you see them regularly. I didn't notice any leaves to this plant as it was so small amongst other vegetation, however, the long points on the hairy sepals can only be Cut leaved.

Geranium dissectum

The tiny flowers of Spear-leaved Fluellen

Kickxia elatine

I found a lot of botanical records up this green byway.

In a damp area of woodland was a massive stand of Fine-leaved Water-Dropwort

Oenanthe aquatica

A Small Copper on a bedraggled Scentless Mayweed

A rural view

Lesser Spearwort is a Kent RPR species (Rare Plant Register) and as such I don't often see it.

I didn't realise that it's quite poisonous and can cause irritation just by gtting its sap on your skin.







I guess that's where the "flammula" came from in its name




Ranunculus flammula

Bush Vetch looking great

Vicia sepium

Yelow crucifers are a difficult group to identify and the habitat wasn't typical - a kerbstone on a rural road (which incidentally is a Kent Wildlife Trust Roadside Nature Reserve). However, the leaves were a giveway and a quick check in my books confirmed Marsh Yellow Cress

Rorippa palustris

Another rural view

I thought this was a small Sun Spurge at first , but it turned out to be the rarer Broad-leaved Spurge

This is where a good macro photo comes in handy. The capsules are hairless and have hemispherical pimples on the surface. The four yellow cyathia glands are rounded. You need a clear photo like the one below to see these.

Euphorbia platyphyllos

Betony isn't very common in Kent, so it's always a pleasure to find some.

Betonica officinalis

I then found another Violet Helleborine, but the flowers were very pale compared to the one I found earlier.

Epipactis purpurata

That;'s all the plants featured for this trip, I hope you enjoyed reading about them.

Take Care,

Dave