By the sea in August

In the Isles of Scilly, plenty of flowers that are not found near Moorhaven, starting with yellows like chamomile and fennel; pinks including common centaury, mint (probably false apple mint, a cross between round-leaved and horse mints), purple loosestrife and sea spurry; blue butterflies as well as flowers of heath milkwort and sheep’s bit: and greens, whites and…

More things that look like cow parsley

Wild angelica is majestic in late summer. Tall and strong like hemlock water dropwort (which is over now), it grows in similarly damp places. There are several specimens beside the small stream where Leigh Lane meets Wrangaton Road. Apart from the late flowering season, distinguishing features are baggy sheaths where the leaf stalks meet the main…

The end of August

A mix of late-summer flowers and autumnal fruits, with hedge bindweed stealing the show. Climbers like bryony and vetch are still hanging on, while persicaria, knotgrass, knapweed and the magically-named enchanter’s nightshade are in their prime. Early traces of autumn include blackberries, rose hips, hazelnuts and dandelion clocks.

Docks

I’ve been trying to tell apart the different docks and it is getting easier as the fruits develop. Four species are common around here. Broad-leaved dock is the most familiar and probably the one you reach for to neutralise nettle stings. Note the frilly ‘tepals’ around the fruit or ‘wart’. Curled dock has distinctly curled…