Saltburn Flora

This is just a selection of nice, unusual, rare, common-as-muck, or plain banal but always suprising wild flowers that you can find in and around Saltburn. They're not presented in any particular order or context apart from their approximate flowering time.

Click the photos for larger versions.

March-April

Corylus avellana

Corylus avellana L. Hazel Coudrier, Hasel, Hazelaar Probably the first sign of approaching spring, even in the middle of January... Because it flowers so early, well before the leaves come out, it is very easy to spot from a long way off: just look for the long yellow catkins in the valley. If you look closely, you should also find the little red ones. The tufty bits are female, the dangly bits male.

Ranunculus ficaria

Ranunuclus ficaria L. Lesser Celandine Ficaire fause-renoncule, Scharbockskraut, Speenkruid These little many-petalled buttercups fill the springtime woods with sunshine — I pine for them all winter. A tricky one to photograph, this! Because the petals have a somewhat buttery appearance, they reflect an awful lot of light in an otherwise dark scene. You can easily get round this problem by underexposing a touch or two, or you could try using a polariser to 'wipe off' the reflections.

April-May

Adoxa moschatellina

Adoxa moschatellina L. Moschatel Moscatelline, Moschuskraut, Muskuskruid Not something you see all that much of around Saltburn, but it is there if you know where to look in the woods and hedgerows. Clarkson's Wood in Loftus has quite a lot of it. The little green flowers are also arranged into a characteristic cube shape, which is why they are called Town hall clocks in many parts of the country.

Anemone nemorosa

Anemone nemorosa L. Wood Anemone Anémone sylvie, Busch-Windröschen, Bosanemoon One of the classic spring flowers, closely related to garden anemones and clematis. Their bright white flowers always seem to look straight at the sun; and are a pinkish purple underneath, which makes them just as nice to look at when they're not fully open.

Viola 'reichenbachiana'

Viola riviniana Reichb. Common Dog-violet Violette de Rivin, Hain-Veilchen, Stompsporig bosviooltje Viola reichenbachiana Jord. ex Boreau Early Dog-violet Violette des bois, Wald-Veilchen, Bosviooltje These two species are actually quite easy to tell apart; except when they're somewhere in-between, which they usually are round here...

Oxalis acetosella

Oxalis acetosella L. Wood Sorrel Surelle, Wald-Sauerklee, Witte klaverzuring Instantly recognisable by its clover-like leaves, which are often partly folded-up origami style because they 'go to sleep' at night. If you taste a bit, you'll recognise the sour taste it has in common with the unrelated docks and sorrels (think oxalic acid). Typically found higher up in valleys and woods, on slightly sandier soil.

Primula vulgaris

Primula vulgaris Huds. Primrose Primevère acaule, Stengellose Schlüsselblume, Stengelloze sleutelbloem Just what you'd expect in the English countryside: someone's been throwing scrambled eggs all over the place. The native form is pale yellow, as in the picture; but being a right promiscuous group, primroses cross-breed freely with their cultivated relatives, so you'll often find the odd pink or off-mauve specimen as well.

Primula veris

Primula veris Cowslip Coucou, Wiesenschlüsselblume, Gulden sleutelbloem Here's what a Primula should look like. The Dutch name Sleutelbloem and the German Schlüsselblume describe the flowers nicely - like a bunch of golden keys. The story goes that when Saint Peter eventually received the keys of heaven (as promised in Matt. 16:19) he only went and dropped them (oops, butter fingers).

Primula ×polyantha

Primula ×polyantha Mill. (= P. vulgaris x P. veris) False Oxlip When Primrose and Cowslip cross, you get this nice little thing. The flowers are a bit smaller than Primrose flowers, but much larger than Cowslip. The colour is a slightly darker primrose yellow, but not quite as golden as Cowslip. Like Cowslip, the flowers grow in bunches on a long stem, but the bunches are much looser - more like Primrose. It is in all respects intermediate between its parents.

Hyacinthoides non-scripta

Hyacinthoides non-scripta (L.) Rothm. Bluebell Jacinthe des bois, Hasenglöckchen, Boshyacint The Scots will be quick to point out to you that these are not actually bluebells, but wild hyacinths. Real bluebells are the pale blue Campanula rotundifolia that is called Harebell in England. And just to confuse things a bit more, English bluebells are called harebells (Hasenglöckchen) in Germany.

Arum maculatum

Arum maculatum L. Lords-and-Ladies Gouet tacheté, Gefleckter Aronstab, Gevlekte aronskelk A mysterious-looking plant with a fascinating biology. The flowers spread a faint whiff of rotten flesh in the evening, which attracts tiny flies and midges. These crawl down the column into the bulbous area underneath, where they get trapped by hairs. They then spend a frenzied night buzzing around and pollinating the flowers in this nice warm microclimate. By morning, the hairs will have wilted, and the beasties are left to buzz off, and move on to the next party. The English name Lords-and-Ladies is a bawdy hint at the shape of the spathe and column, as is the Scottish name Cuckoo-pint (although a membrum virile doesn't actually figure in avian anatomy).

June-July-August

Helianthemum nummularium

Helianthemum nummularium (L.) Mill. Common Rock-rose Helianthème jaune, Gelbes Sonnenröschen, Groot zonneroosje More commonly associated with limestone grassland, this lovely thing also grows on the boulder clay slopes along the Brotton Road and Saltburn Lane. It has quite large, almost blousy, in-your-face, yellow flowers, often with an orange spot in the centre. The sepals have very distinctive veins, and are spiralled just like the rolled up petals, making the hanging buds look like little fairy lamps.

Ranunculus fluitans

Ranunculus fluitans Lam. River Water-crowfoot Renoncle flottante, Flutender Hahnenfuß, Vlottende waterranonkel A plant of clean, shallow and not too fast flowing rivers such as the Skelton Beck down in the Valley Gardens (there, and in the Tocketts Beck further upstream). The hair-like leaves grow on branches that can be up to six meters long: think of Ophelia's hair and dress in the river before she drowned (Hamlet 4.7:138-155).

Agrimonia eupatoria

Agrimonia eupatoria L. Agrimony Aigremoine eupatore, Odermennig, Agrimonie A tall lanky plant with a long spike of yellow flowers. This species seems to be increasing around Saltburn, which is nice on the one hand, but it is also a suggestion that nice bits of grassland are starting to transition into more scrubby vegetation.

Scabiosa columbaria

Scabiosa columbaria L. Small Scabious (Scabieuse) colombaire, Tauber-Skabiose, Duifkruid A definite calcicole, and more typical of the magnesian limestone north of the Tees, but also here and there along the cliffs, especially on the south-facing bank at the bottom of Hazelgrove. The flower heads start as raspberry-like buttons, that gradually open up into large half-pompoms.

Ononis repens

Ononis repens L. Common Rest-harrow Bugrane rampante, Kriechende Hauhechel, Kruipend stalkruid Common Rest-harrow is typical of sand dunes, so along the cliffs, you will often find it poking its way through patches of blown-in sand, forming large patches of pink pea-like flowers; and if you get up close, the light really does play on them. The green parts are covered in sticky glandular hairs, which add yet another dimension.

Campanula rotundifolia

Campanula rotundifolia L. Harebell Campanule à feuilles rondes, Rundblättrige Glockenblume, Grasklokje Oh yes, the ones us Scots call bluebells. They can be pale blue, sky blue, deep blue, or even verging on white. This plant grows in suitably dry grassy places; there are lots of them along the Cleveland Way (e.g. on the way to Skinningrove, towards the railway line).

Blackstonia perfoliata

Blackstonia perfoliata (L.) Huds. Yellow-wort Chlore perfoliée, Durchwachsenblättriger Bitterling, Bitterling A member of the Gentian family, hence the bitter in the German and Dutch names, because it tastes bitter. The Latin epithet perfoliata means it has pairs of leaves that are joined at the base as if the stem has grown through the middle of a single leaf (durchwachsenblättrig in German). Just as bright as its flowers are, it also seems to like the really dry places along the cliffs. Another place that is highly likely to have Yellow-wort is along the railway line, because the ballast often has a lot of lime in it, and the grit tends to be free-draining, hot and dry. The flowers are really dayglo yellow, so I had to heavily under-expose the picture (by two whole stops, in fact) to make the detail come out. And it's not upside down, by the way: it's a little plant in front, showing its flowers; and a tall one behind, showing its leaves. Welcome to Dave's weird, weird world of botany.

Geranium pratense

Geranium pratense L. Meadow Crane's-bill Géranium des prés, Wiesen-Storchschnabel, Beemdooievaarsbek This large crane's-bill grows luxuriantly in the Valley Gardens, and in damp roadsides like Apple Orchard. The flowers are big and showy, about four to five centimetres in diameter, and bright blue, with translucent lines (something to do with nectar lines, I suppose).

Polygala vulgaris

Polygala vulgaris L. Common Milkwort Polygale commun, Gemeine Kreuzblume, Gewoon vleugeltjesbloem Common along the cliffs if you look closely. Not easy to see in the grass, as it doesn't get much higher than 20cm - if it gets off the ground at all - and the flowers are not much larger than about half a centimeter, but the fact that they are blue or pink does make them stand out a little. Definitely one to get down on your knees for.

Anagallis arvensis

Anagallis arvensis L. ssp. arvensis Scarlet Pimpernel Mouron rouge des champs, Ackergauchheil, Rood guichelheil An arable weed, but a particularly nice-looking little weed; common along the edges of fields (e.g. between Saltburn and Brotton), and also a few plants near the swings on Glenside, right next to the pavement. The flowers are usually less than a centimeter in diameter, often as little as half that, but always very obvious on a sunny day because of their colour; on dark days they stay shut.

Rhinanthus minor

Rhinanthus minor L. Yellow-rattle Rhinanthe à petites fleurs, Kleiner Klappertopf, Kleine ratelaar Mostly found along the cliffs, but occasionally hanging on in roadside verges. Along the cliffs, it can be seen just over the edge in some of the hollows (careful), or at the bottom where you can see it from the beach (especially towards Marske). After flowering, the inflated calyx dries up and becomes a little papery package that surrounds the capsule. When the capsule opens, the seeds rattle around in this package (hence the name) and are shaken out by the wind. In grassland, the seeds are also spread when the hay is transported; but hay meadows are becoming increasingly rare these days.

Cirsium vulgare

Cirsium vulgare (Savi) Ten. Spear Thistle Cirse commun, Gemeine Kratzdistel, Speerdistel Just an ordinary common weed, but nice enough to have a closer look at; and quite attractive to insects, here with a bumble-bee and a Six-spot Burnet. Notice the way the spines stick out against the light, and have a good close look at the spidery hairs between the phyllaries. The moth and the bumble-bee are quite oblivious to each other, they're having a good feed on the nectar.

August-September

Gentianella amarella

Gentianella amarella (L.) Börner Autumn Gentian Gentianelle amère, Bitterer Enzian, Slanke duingentiaan Not an easy one to find, especially when they're mostly dwarfed individuals, and the flowers seem to have little time to be open, with the sun constantly behind or only just over the cliffs. When you do find them, they are lovely little things, though; the purple flowers are tinged with amethyst, and the corolla is fringed inside with white bristles. Even when the flowers are not actually open, small patches of them can look a little like miniature Hosta spikes that are just coming out of the ground, but on stems. And you don't even have to climb the cliffs - they're right next to the beach toward Marske where you have sand dunes. In fact, it is best to look at them from the beach, because they are rather easy to trample.

Lycium barbarum

Lycium barbarum L. Duke of Argyll's Teaplant Lyciet de Barbarie, Gemeiner Bocksdorn, Boksdoorn Introduced to Europe from China, it is often planted as a wind break, and attracts pollinating insects, as well as providing some shelter for birds. And of course, the long arching branches are covered in purple flowers. It is called Duke of Argyll's Teaplant because it is a member of the Teaplant genus (Nightshade family), and presumably named in honour of the Duke of Argyll of its day who may well have sponsored the plant collector. I doubt whether it has any desirable qualities as a tea; I guess the leaves just bear a resemblance to those of the tea shrub - or maybe the Duke of Argyll in question used some of the more infamous members of the Nightshade family on his political opponents or on the more poisonous members of his own family...

Succisa pratensis

Succisa pratensis Moench Devil's-bit Scabious Succise des prés, Teufelsabbiss, Blauwe knoop This is one I never expected to find along the cliffs, because I'd always associated it with rather more acid soils (unlike its rarer cousin, Small Scabious, which is a definite calcicole that also grows in a few places along the cliffs) - but there you go, things often turn out different than you had always thought. The story behind the plant's name is that its great medicinal value was a source of immense frustration for the devil, so he bit off the end of the root, to try and prevent it from growing to its full stature. The flower buds look a bit like purple raspberries - they always make me smile.

Parnassia palustris

Parnassia palustris L. Grass-of-Parnassus Parnassie des marais, Sumpf-Herzblatt, Parnassia And here's one that shouldn't really have come as a surprise (because it is known to grow in a couple of damp patches along the coast), but I never expected to actually see it for myself, because it is so rare these days. Have you ever tried to photograph a bright white flower on a dark dank ledge where the sun doesn't shine? It'll still come out overexposed! I had to reduce the exposure by a third of a stop, bump the ISO rating up to 800, and wait a very long time for the wind to drop for an enormously long one-sixtieth of a second. Take lots of shots, and hope one or two of them are usable.

Orchids

Of course, everybody likes orchids, so here are the most obvious ones, more or less in the order they flower in:

Listera ovata

Listera ovata (L.) R. Br. Common Twayblade Listère a feuilles ovales, Großes Zweiblatt, Grote keverorchis The earliest of our orchids, already beginning to flower at the end of April before the Early-purples. It might not look like an orchid at first sight, because it has rather small green flowers, but if get really close to it, you'll see they are rather nice. The name Twayblade means literally 'two leaves', like the German Zweiblatt; and the large elliptical leaves are unmistakeable.

Orchis mascula

Orchis mascula (L.) L. Early-purple Orchid Orchis mâle, Stattliches Knabenkraut, Mannetjesorchis Plentiful in late spring along the cliffs, as well as here and there in the Valley Gardens, the woods and unimproved grassland, often together with Cowslip (Primula veris). Gets a mention in Shakespeare's Hamlet (4.7:141) at the news of Ophelia's death (long purples that liberal shepherds give a grosser name, but our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them).

Dactylorhiza fuchsii

Dactylorhiza fuchsii (Druce) Soó Common Spotted-orchid Orchis de Fuchs, Fuchs' Standelkraut, Bosorchis A fairly common species in the along the cliffs but declining a bit in the Valley Gardens. The ones along the cliffs are usually diminutive with rather raggedy flowers, but the more sheltered specimens in the Valley Gardens grow to about half a meter tall and have the familiar conical inflorescence with well-developed flowers. The flowers are white or an almost-not-there pink, with dark pink markings, while the leaves are covered in roundish spots, about half a centimeter in diameter.

Dactylorhiza purpurella

Dactylorhiza purpurella (T. & T.A. Stephenson) Soó Northern Marsh-orchid No French name, no German name, no Dutch name A common purple orchid along the cliffs: this one flowers after the Early-purple Orchid, and before Fragrant Orchid appears. As the name suggests, this is a somewhat northern species, as opposed to the Southern Marsh-orchid (D. praetermissa), which completely replaces it south of the Humber. The ranges do overlap a bit, and Southern Marsh-orchid also grows around the Tees, but only occasionally. The hybrids, on the other hand, seem to be all over the place round here, even without one or both parents; which makes telling them apart a right nuisance (especially when you consider the fact that Common Spotted-orchid also gets involved)... On the continent, you would tend to get D. majalis as the usual Marsh-orchid, as well as praetermissa. It's all rather confusing, really...

Anacamptis pyramidalis

Anacamptis pyramidalis (L.) Rich. Pyramidal Orchid Orchis pyramidal, Pyramiden-Hundswurz, Hondskruid Rather scarce around Saltburn itself, but more frequent towards Skinningrove; there are occasional specimens along the cliffs where it grows in short turf or among the finer blueish or yellowish-looking grasses (Fescue, Brome, Quaking Grass, Glaucous Sedge, etc). The inflorescence is about five centimeters in diameter and densely packed with pinkish purple flowers. From a distance, it is easily confused with Red Clover - or the more striking Zigzag Clover - so it is always worth having a closer look, on the off-chance that it isn't clover, or that there might be an orchid hidden amongst it.

Gymnadenia conopsea

Gymnadenia conopsea (L.) R. Br. Fragrant Orchid Orchis moucheron, Mücken-Händelkraut, Grote muggenorchis Plentiful along the cliffs on both sides of Saltburn, and even a couple of specimens on the lower promenade. Some of the plants on the cliffs have long tall inflorescences and belong to ssp. densiflora. The flowers are very fragant, even when you're standing, or walking past: a definite clove or lilac scent.

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