A Botanical Journey mostly from Kent & SE England

After my blog detailing how I came into botany, I now return to normal with a blog on a visit to the area of Chapel Hill near Tenterden. It's so called as there is a large solitary hill in the area which  has an old graveyard on its summit,  now disused. The area is pretty much the usual arable sprayed desert, though there was a field growing Sunflowers which made a nice change,along with a stream (locally called a dyke) running through the monad and some sheep grazed areas as well, so a reasonably diverse range of habitats to see. Near some farm buildings was a fine stand of Fig-leaved Goosefoot. These can be a confusing group of plants, so leaves and preferably seeds are essential to determining its identity. Chenopodium ficifolium On the banks of the dyke was a solitary Meadowsweet in flower. It's leaves look very similar to Ground Elder, so take care with ID if flowers aren't present. Filipendula ulmar

I wrote the following blog for the BSBI (Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland) who published it on their News and Views web page at http://bsbipublicity.blogspot.co.uk/ The three parts can be found by scrolling down the right side of the page and looking in November 2017 blogs. I have decided to publish this again on my own blog web site, so as to reach a few more people including those who may not have heard of the BSBI. I have included a few different photographs and expanded a little on the txt, so it is a bit different from the original. I hope it inspires you. Eyes Wide Shut – A Botanical Awakening by David Steere I am at the ripe old age of 57, yet just 4 years ago I didn't know a Coltsfoot from a Dandelion. I regularly post wildflower photographs on Twitter under the name @Barbus59 and also help others to identify their own finds. As such, many assume I am a trained botanist or some kind of expert. This is far from the truth

West Malling is a small quaint town in mid Kent East of Maidstone. It has been well recorded over the years for wildflowers, but the area to the North hadn't, with only a few records from that area to date. So, this day, I parked in West Malling and walked through the town to a path that headed North out of the town.  Of course, along the way, I made a detour to see the famous Malling Toadflax. This alien introduction has grown on the same ancient wall of a priory since at least 1880, so can count as fully naturalised. However, it doesn't seem to have spread further within the town, which has many ancient walls as suitable habitat. As it is such an unusual and rare naturalised flower, I have included a few photos. Chaenorhinum origanifolium  As you can see, it's quite a bit different from the other alien naturalised wall invader, Ivy-leaved Toadflax. I found another interesting street "weed" on the way out of tow