Author: raysurridge

  • Kidney Vetch

    Kidney Vetch

    The books say Kidney Vetch blooms from June, but this is The Lizard, so it flowers from May. Look out for it on cliff tops and sand dunes from late spring through into summer.

    Photo: Amanda Scott

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  • Cuckooflower

    Cuckooflower

    The flushed pink flowers of Cuckooflower can be spotted in damp meadows and on stream banks in the spring.

    Photo: Steve Townsend

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  • Barren Strawberry

    Barren Strawberry

    Similar at first glance to Wild Strawberry, the pretty Barren Strawberry can be found flowering earlier, from February through to May. 

    Photo: © Natural England/Peter Wakely

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  • Common Dog-violet

    Common Dog-violet

    Not the prettiest name for a very pretty flower…Common Dog-violets start to bloom in early Spring, with a second flush in late Summer.

    Photo: Amanda Scott

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  • Black Nightshade

    Black Nightshade

    In late summer and into autumn, look out for the white flowers and bright yellow stamens of Black Nightshade on waste ground and nutrient-rich soils.

    Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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  • Betony

    Betony

    Purple spikes of Betony put on a lovely display along coastal paths in the summer.

    Photo: Amanda Scott

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  • Field Madder

    Field Madder

    The books say that Field Madder flowers until October, but it is often still hanging in there into November on The Lizard.

    Photo: Steve Townsend

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  • Bristly Oxtongue

    Bristly Oxtongue

    It may not be the prettiest of plants, but Bristly Oxtongue, which flowers from June into the autumn, has some impressive spikes on its leaves.

    Photo: Stemonitis, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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  • Devil’s-bit Scabious

    Devil’s-bit Scabious

    Noted for being the larval food plant of the nationally rare Marsh Fritillary butterfly, Devil’s-bit Scabious is lovely in its own right. You can find it flowering on Mullion Cliffs in late summer into autumn.

    Photo: Amanda Scott

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  • Field Gentian

    Field Gentian

    The lovely violet flowers of Field Gentian are a rarity. More common in the north of the UK, they are found in a small handful of places on The Lizard in late summer, including old trackways across the serpentine heaths.

    Photo: Steve Townsend

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