Black Bog Rush |
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It is a perennial, growing in dense tufts. It flowers May to June. The florets are bi-sexual and have 3 stamens (male) and an ovary (female) with 3 stigmas. A black bog rush forms dence tussock of packed dark green and cylindrical stems which may be grown up to a half a metre high.
This is one of those plants where the stem has almost taken over the work of the leaves.
Its leaves are very narrow and bristle like , agrouped around the stem base and enclosed in shiny black or reddish brown sheaths which makes it easy to recognise when it appears in fossil form in the bog.
Back in earlier times black bog rush was known as the Black Keilb in the west where it was regarded as an indicator of good grazing.
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Corn Marigold |
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Corn marigold is part of the chrysanthemum family. They are bright yellow and resemble a daisy. Made nearly extinct in the 1970s by agricultural methods. They grow up to 18 inches high and flower June to September. They are considered an arable weed. A large bright yellow flowering annual, probably introduced in Neolithic times. This most beautiful flower creates a stunning display from June to September. This colourful plant was once common in Wales on light, acidic soils. It can still occasionally be seen forming sheets of golden flowers in spring-sown crops, particularly near the coasts of south-west Wales.
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Scottish Primrose |
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Similar to the bird's-eye primrose but found nowhere else in the world, this perennial has rosettes of leaves, broadest near the tip and with no teeth on the margin and hairless above but white and floury beneath. Short flowering stems, rarely over 10cm, arise from the centre and terminate in a cluster of purple flowers, with five notched overlapping or contiguous petals, developing into small, egg-shaped capsules longer than the calyx with five erect teeth.
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Marram |
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Tall, tufted plant whose stiff leaves are as sharp as new cartridge paper. It is one of the most cleverly adapted of all seashore plants. The root system is a mat of fibres which help to hold the sand down and prevent erosion. The leaves are springy enough to stand up to the most violent gales. The leaves are covered in glossy cuticles as a protection from the abrasive powers of blown sand and in very dry winds, roll up into tubes to reduce the area of exposed leaf surface and to conserve moisture. The tufts catch the sand and are a stabilising force for mobile dunes, sometimes advancing as much as 30ft a year. It has been used to make mats for haystacks and barn roofs, nets and cords.
Though marram grass stabilizes the soil for its own survival, an inadvertent side effect is that it makes it possible for other kinds of vegetation to begin to take hold. Other plants take advantage of the increased stability of the soil surface and start to colonize areas the marram grass helped make safe.
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Spotted Orchid |
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Spotted Orchids
usually have spotted leaves, flowers are pale purple, white speckled with purple or plain white. It avoids acidic soils. They grow in grassland, scrub, fens and marshes. They are pollinated by various nectar-seeking insects (bumble bees), although flowers contain no nectar. The insects seek in vain for nectar at the bottom of the spurs, thrusting their proboscis down and bringing about pollination in the process.
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