July 2021 - Botanical Finds from Kent
It is of course peak season for wildflowers and trying to sort out what to include and what to leave out is difficult. I hope you like the final selection below. Yellow Bartsia is a plant that eluded me for several years. I failed to find it at three other sites where it had previously been found. By happy chance though, I found several hundred growing on railway land near Shorne, ironically, not too far away from my home area. Parentucellia viscosa There is a small reserve near Kemsing on the North Downs chalk stuffed full of orchids including Bee, Man, Greater Butterfly, Common Spotted, Chalk Fragrant, Pyramidal and others. Here is an all white variant of a Chalk Fragrant Orchid from this amazing venue. It is also the only orchid I am including here as I have posted so many in the past, I am now trying to show different plants of interest when I can. Gymnadenia conopsea A trip along the Thames near Greenhithe produced some of these weird looking little pea plants...