A Botanical Journey mostly from Kent & SE England

In 2016 I stumbled across the rare Knotted Pearlwort at Dungeness ARC site. Unfortunately, they have white reflective flowers and as it was a sunny day, the photos weren't up to much, so I hoped to find some still in flower today. I had re-visited in September but none were to be found with the ground very dry. As this area was mined for gravel, there are numerous lakes and wet areas following extraction years ago. This has lead to having very wet/damp habitats next to desert like conditions amongst the shingle. I didn't take landscape shots, so these are from a visit I made in 2016. At the far end of one of the lakes is a stand of Southern Marsh Orchids, though I always seem to miss them in flower. Near the car park was a bunch of escaped Michaelmas Daisies, which I didn't have time to identify to species level, but attractive nonetheless. They could have arrived on wind blown seed, on the feet of bird watchers (or botanists) or possibly fly tipped

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