While the post-wedding lunch went well, fuelled with Tom's work at the barbecues I was able to explore the island a bit along the two roads left and right from the causeway around half of the island's circumference.
Down at the high tide mark turning left as you come across the causeway I found a couple of plants of Lax-flowered Sea Lavender, Limonium humile, together with some plants of the much commoner plant Scurvy Grass, Cochlearia officinalis. Lax-flowered Sea lavender is frequent in Ireland, and also found in Scotland. As Common Sea Lavender, Limonium vulgare, is absent from Ireland, we don't have to worry about the complications of hybridisation, so we can be pretty sure we have the species as such. I could confirm rosettes of ascending leaves arising from a woody rootstock, each leaf with pinnate veins, and a tiny thorn at the tip (mucronate?).
The flower clusters were well separated along the stem, and I think I could also half-convince myself that the outer green bracts were slightly keeled on their outer surfaces (backs). Only one flower was sufficiently open to look down into its throat and confirm that the anthers were red-brown rather than yellow. However it was difficult to be sure that these leaves were narrower than those of Limonium vulgare without a clear side-by-side comparison. There was also a suggestion from a good website that the bracts at the stem branches should be red rather than green, but I didn't pick any of those.
This plant is also known to gardeners as Statice, and produces "everlasting" flowers. It is certainly a very attractive plant in the wild.
Next up was a single plant of what looked like Scots Lovage, Ligusticum scoticum. The leaflets seemed to be too long, but on the other hand, nothing else in the Carrot family looked to be a likely match, so that is my best bet. this is recorded in this area but is a plant of concern as its population is apparently declining. I could see linear bracts at both levels of the inflorescence, the fruit looked the right shape, and the leaflets were trifoliate and shiny.
Finally there were some small plants under the hedge of White Ramping-Fumitory, of Fumaria capreolata. The first thing to do was to measure the length of the flowers and ensure they were large enough to be this species. I could also confirm the reflexed flower stalks, and the white flowers, pinched together vertically, just before (?) the purple tips. The sepals were largely transparent, but once I understood that, it was very clear that they were ovoid structures pointing forward sitting vertically on either side of the flower. As there were no fruit it was not possible to comment on the fruit shape. This plant is said to be quite common in the Mediterranean region, but in the UK it is mainly in the S and W, and more commonly found near the coast.
Birds seen on the shoreline included Herring Gulls, Common Gulls, Larus canus, Black-headed Gulls, Oystercatchers, a Curlew, a Heron, a Cormorant (eating various prey caught by diving, including an eel), and "Comic Terns" fishing in the distance.
Down at the high tide mark turning left as you come across the causeway I found a couple of plants of Lax-flowered Sea Lavender, Limonium humile, together with some plants of the much commoner plant Scurvy Grass, Cochlearia officinalis. Lax-flowered Sea lavender is frequent in Ireland, and also found in Scotland. As Common Sea Lavender, Limonium vulgare, is absent from Ireland, we don't have to worry about the complications of hybridisation, so we can be pretty sure we have the species as such. I could confirm rosettes of ascending leaves arising from a woody rootstock, each leaf with pinnate veins, and a tiny thorn at the tip (mucronate?).
The flower clusters were well separated along the stem, and I think I could also half-convince myself that the outer green bracts were slightly keeled on their outer surfaces (backs). Only one flower was sufficiently open to look down into its throat and confirm that the anthers were red-brown rather than yellow. However it was difficult to be sure that these leaves were narrower than those of Limonium vulgare without a clear side-by-side comparison. There was also a suggestion from a good website that the bracts at the stem branches should be red rather than green, but I didn't pick any of those.
This plant is also known to gardeners as Statice, and produces "everlasting" flowers. It is certainly a very attractive plant in the wild.
Next up was a single plant of what looked like Scots Lovage, Ligusticum scoticum. The leaflets seemed to be too long, but on the other hand, nothing else in the Carrot family looked to be a likely match, so that is my best bet. this is recorded in this area but is a plant of concern as its population is apparently declining. I could see linear bracts at both levels of the inflorescence, the fruit looked the right shape, and the leaflets were trifoliate and shiny.
Finally there were some small plants under the hedge of White Ramping-Fumitory, of Fumaria capreolata. The first thing to do was to measure the length of the flowers and ensure they were large enough to be this species. I could also confirm the reflexed flower stalks, and the white flowers, pinched together vertically, just before (?) the purple tips. The sepals were largely transparent, but once I understood that, it was very clear that they were ovoid structures pointing forward sitting vertically on either side of the flower. As there were no fruit it was not possible to comment on the fruit shape. This plant is said to be quite common in the Mediterranean region, but in the UK it is mainly in the S and W, and more commonly found near the coast.
Birds seen on the shoreline included Herring Gulls, Common Gulls, Larus canus, Black-headed Gulls, Oystercatchers, a Curlew, a Heron, a Cormorant (eating various prey caught by diving, including an eel), and "Comic Terns" fishing in the distance.
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