2001 Penlee Point Nature Reserve Cornwall 17 June One Day Meeting
Offering splendid views over Plymouth Sound, Penlee Point is on the extreme south-eastern coast of Cornwall. After seven weeks of drought it looked as though the plants were all going to be as dry as a crisps. Luckily for the 12 members who attended, the rains arrived just in time to bring the flora to life again, although the afternoon was pleasantly sunny.
At the start of the walk there was plenty of Parentucellia viscosa (Yellow Bartsia) and a damp spot had very nibbled Glyceria declinata (Small Sweet- grass). Nearby were Centaurium pulchellum (Lesser Centaury) and C. erythraea(Common Centaury) and the leader Paul Green, demonstrated the difference between them. Further on, the gorse had turned red in places where it was covered in Cuscuta epithymum (Dodder).
At Penlee Point itself, Spergularia rupicola (Rock Sea-spurrey) was a show of flowers while Erodium moschatum (Musk Stork's-bill) was almost dead. Nearly back to the cars, a clump of Carex muricata ssp. lamprocarpa (Prickly Sedge) was spotted growing with Trifolium campestre (Hop Trefoil). An afternoon enjoyed by all in a relatively unknown corner of Cornwall.
PAUL GREEN