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Lower Rainham Marshes area - Kent : 17/10/18

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I recorded this area about a month before this trip and posted some nice photos of Dwarf Mallow that I found in an orchard. I was contacted on sicial media by a guy called Mark Hows asking where he could see these lovely little plants. I gave him the grid reference, always glad to share my finds. This paid off, as when Mark visited the site he found another plant that I had overlooked the previous month (probably due to not being in flower), originally thought to be Strawberry Blite. He gave me directions to his find and I went to investigate further. Completely unmissable when in fruit like this - the bright red fruits standing out in the grasses along the orchard field edge.  I counted 12 flowering plants along about  a 20-30 metre border. Each plant had several fruiting branches, and I counted around 60 such flowering branches in total. I had sent Mark's original photo to the county recorder to verify the species, but that phot

Platt nr Sevenoaks, Kent - 07/10/18

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What is nice about botanical recording is that every week thrughout the year I go somewhere different, so as to record as many monads as possible for the BSBI 2020 atlas. Platt is not an area I would normally think to have a walk in, but my route took me into some picturesque and peaceful countryside, which combined with the colours of early autumn were simply beautiful.  Of course, as Autumn progresses, things other than plants pop up here and there. Amanita muscaria - Fly Agaric The weak sunlight appears intensified in the flowers of Sun Spurge - aptly named and found in many field edges. Euphorbia helioscopia How often do I closely look at a Hogweed flowering in the Summer? Yet when they become fewer as the Autumn progresses, my heart is warmed by the sight of any wildflower and this Hogweed looked stunning. You can often find delightful pink flowered forms at this time of the year as well. Heracleum sphondylium Early Autumn is the time wh