A Botanical Journey mostly from Kent & SE England

This area had two under recorded OS map squares on the Kent side of the River Medway with the opposite bank being in East Sussex. Here's some of the wildflowers I found on this day on a tiring walk along field edges and overgrown river banks. Betony - Betonica officinalis Bifid Hemp-nettle - Galeopsis bifida Common Hemp-nettle - Galeopsis tetrahit Tansy - Tanacetum vulgare A white form of Musk Mallow, the usual pink forms were close by too - Malva moschata The bright and colourful Common Fleabane - Pulicaria dysenterica Marsh Woundwort, much less common in Kent than Hedge Woundwort. Stachys palustris Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria My most interesting plant of the day was Water Chickweed found on an overgrown small island submerged when water levels are high. Myosoton aquaticum (in the distance is Angelica sylvestris ) The bright red berries of Lord and Ladies f...

This day out was a short tour from Dungeness to Littlestone on the south Kent coast, but only staying a short time at each as the weather wasn't so good. Anyone who knows Dungeness for example, wouldn't want to stay too long on a very windy and wet day which this day was. For a change, we headed off to the end of Dengemarsh Road just west of the power station rather the usual areas around the lighthouses or the RSPB reserve. I didn't expect to find anything new, but it's always a delight to see coastal plants when one lives inland in any case. On this grey, miserable day, the first flowering plant I noticed was amazingly, something new! From standing height this looked like Common Storksbill, but the leaves and form of it was wrong for that species. It was of course Sea Heath, a species I'd not seen before and a rare plant in Kent. In places there were dense carpets of it amongst the shingle. Frankenia laevis I'd not been her...

This was a circular walk between these first two mentioned west Kent villages to botanically record any plant I could identify followed by a trip to Styant's Bottom nearby. I found a few unusual plants as well as the common ones - as is often the case! Bifid Hemp-Nettle is one of my favouite Summer wildflowers. Although the flowers are small, they are so intricate and beautifully coloured that they can't fail to grab my attention. They are in plain sight much of the year but without flowers they are hard to spot and even then I can't tell them apart from Common Hemp-Nettle without flowers being present. Galeopsis bifida Here's the whole plant, rather than just the flowers. Whenever I'm close to habitation I will find garden escapes. This one is becoming a common find for me in VC16 West Kent, French Cranesbill. There is another very similar Cranesbill escapee which is a hybrid between French and Pencilled Cranesbill. Oddly, I saw plenty of t...