A Botanical Journey mostly from Kent & SE England

 This is primarily a wildfowl reserve run by the Kent Wildlife Trust near Sevenoaks. There are several lakes with paths around them, though until recently these paths did not circumnavigate the lakes. A recently opened 2 mile long path did go all the way around and so tempted us to take a walk and see what flora might be there. This is what we found of interest.   Heath Speedwell Veronica officinalis   We found a few stands of the alien Yellow Balsam with its pretty though small flowers, offset by its very large leaves.   Impatiens parviflora   The image below shows the tiny flowers and large leaves of this plant. The invasive alien New Zealand Pygmyweed in a semi dried up pond. Crassula helmsii     Marsh Woundwort, a plant I had not found here before the new path was opened up. Unusual in west Kent. Stachys palustris               Meadowsweet was present in some lake marginal areas. Filipendula ulmaria         Gypsywort's leaves give it's identity away even without flowers, th

 The North Downs around Luddesdown is in an area of outstanding natural beauty with steep rolling downs and patchworks of fields and copses. It was here I chose to explore and expand upon the botanical records for the area whilst I was there. Chickory is unmissable as it is a big plant with big blue, showy flowers. It's becoming quite rare in England and is on the Kent RPR (rare plant register) so as to monitor populations. There is some debate over whether it is an archeotype or native, though I think in Kent it probably is native. I am sure if this species were simply from cultivation it would have died out many years ago. Cichorium intybus Borage was found growing as an arable "weed" amongst farmed fruit bushes. Most likely sown as ground cover, but this species does tend to pop up along roadsides and field edges occasionally. Borago officinalis     A quiet country lane meanders through this area and its verges are home to many wildflowers including these beautiful Net

 It's Christmas Day as I publish this blog. It's been a horrible year with Covid-19 restricting movement and later infecting us and making us ill. However, enough of that. Here's a selection of some of the UK wild orchids I found in this and previous years to hopefully bring you some Christmas cheer and to look forward to a Happy New Year to come. I hope you like them. In alphabetical (latin name) order:   Anacamptis morio Green-winged orchid           Anacamptis pyramidalis Pyramidal Orchid       Dactylorhiza fuchsii Common spotted orchid                     Dactylorhiza praetermissa Southern marsh orchid           Dactylorhiza incarnata ssp coccinea Early marsh orchid Cephalanthera damasonium White Helleborine   Epipactis helleborine Broad-leaved helleborine     Epipactis palustris Marsh helleborine Gymnadenia conopsea Chalk fragrant orchid Herminium monorchris Musk orchid Himantoglossum hircinum Lizard orchid Liparis loeselii Fen orchid       Neotinea ustulata var aestiv