SolwayFlowers

Beachcomber’s Guide

Identify seaside flowers found on the Solway coast

This guide will help you identify 16 seasideflowering plants found on beaches along theSolway Coast. The more you look the more you will find so if a flower you discover does not matchthose in this guide then search the internet or aseashore nature book to help with identification.

This flower guide has been produced as part of theMaking the Most of the Coast project managed bySolway Firth Partnership.

Riaghaltas na h-AlbaThe European Agricultural Fund

for Rural Development:Europe investing in rural areas

www.solwayfirthpartnership.co.uk

Where the land meets the sea is always a demanding place for plants tosurvive because they have to cope with a combination of wind, salt waterand lack of soil. The dynamic nature of the coast with shifting sands orshingle makes life on the beach even more precarious.

Many flowering plants have adapted to flourish on different types ofseashore and to aid identification the flowers are grouped by shore type:saltmarsh (merse), sand dunes, shingle banks and rocky coast. Compareyour find with the pictures in this guide; although the shape and colourmay vary, the pictures show distinctive features which will help youidentify what you have found.

How to use this guide

Common Glasswort(Marsh Samphire)Salicornia europaea

Looks: Branched like aminiature tree, its leavesare fleshy scales whichchange from green to agolden red in late summer

Found: A pioneer specieson mud flats, it often formslarge colonies which helpestablish saltmarsh

Did you know?Once called Poor Man’sAsparagus, it nowappears on menus intrendy restaurants

Common SeaLavenderLimonium vulgare

Looks: An erect shrubbyplant with leathery leaves andeverlasting purple flowers

Found: On middle andupper saltmarsh

Did you know?Although it lacks the distinctscent of lavender it is stillirresistible to bees andbutterflies

CommonScurvygrassCochlearia officinalis

Looks: The glossy,kidney-shaped leaves areoften hidden by a mat ofsmall white flowers

Found: On saltmarshand rocky shores

Did you know?Rich in vitamin C, it waseaten by sailors to stayhealthy during long seavoyages

Sea AsterAster tripolium

Looks: A tall plant withpurple, daisy-like flowers

Found: On uppersaltmarsh and rockyshores

Did you know? One of the last flowersto bloom, the Sea Asteris sometimes calledSummer’s Farewell

Thrift (Sea Pinks)Armeria maritima

Looks: Thin leaves with arounded head of pretty pinkflowers on a long stalk

Found: On saltmarsh or asa compact cushion on rockyshores

Did you know?Featured on the reverse sideof the old threepence coin –perhaps a play on the phraseto be thrifty

Did you know? The trumpet-shapedflowers close beforenightfall and reopenin the morning

SeaBindweed Calystegia soldanella

Looks: Thick, waxyleaves with pink and whitetrumpet-shaped flowers

Found: Sprawling oversand dunes

Sea-holly Eryngium maritimum

Looks: Spiny, blue-greyleaves with round blueflower head

Found: On sand dunesand shingle banks

Did you know? The plant’s large sweetroots were once popular as a candied delicacy

Sea CampionSilene uniflora

Looks: Sprawling bluishleaves and delicate whiteflowers with a veined bladder

Found: On shingle banksand rocky shores

Did you know?Superstition says picking theflowers tempts death – itwould certainly be risky topick them from cliff tops!

Sea RadishRaphanus raphanistrum subsp. maritimus

Looks: A tall, ungainly plant with coarse hairyleaves, small yellow flowersand beaded seed pods

Found: On the strandline of sandy and shingle beaches

Did you know? The edible leaves have a spicyflavour somewhere betweencabbage, wasabi and radish

Frosted OracheAtriplex laciniata

Looks: Sprawling plant with whitish-greydiamond-shaped leaves

Found: On thestrandline of sandy and shingle beaches

Did you know?The “sugar coating” on theleaves helps to minimiseevaporation

Sea RocketCakile maritima

Looks: Straggly thickleaves with delicate lilacor white flowers

Found: On thestrandline of sandybeaches

Did you know?A long, deep taproothelps this plant groweven in the ever-movingsand dunes

Yellow Horned-poppyGlaucium flavum

Looks: Bluish-green leaveswith striking yellow flowers

Found: On sandy andshingle beaches

Did you know? The horned seed pods, thelongest of all British plants,split to spill the seeds

Sea Sandwort Honckenya peploides

Looks: A mat of fleshy leaveswith small, greenish-white flowers

Found: On sand and shinglebeaches

Did you know? The deep root system allows theplant to disappear undergroundover winter and then reappear inthe spring

Sea MayweedTripleurospermum maritimum

Looks: Large daisy flowers andsprawling divided, fleshy leaves

Found: Grows on sand dunes,shingle banks and rocky shores

Did you know?When crushed, the leaves releasea faint, sweet smell of camomile

Did you know?The plant’s fleshy rootcontains more starchthan potatoes

Looks: Large, purple-grey, cabbage-like leaveswith small white flowers

Found: On the hightide line of shinglebeaches

Sea-kale Crambe maritima

Did you know?It had many traditionalmedicinal uses and theleaves were even used asinsoles for tired walkers

SilverweedPotentilla anserina

Looks: A yellow flowerwith 5 petals; the dividedleaves often have adowny grey colour

Found: Creeping oversand dunes, shingle androcky shores

Enjoy your searchfor seashore flowers You will find many more seashore plants onthe Solway Coast than are featured in thisguide, some so scarce that they are protected.It is always a good idea to take a photographwhich you can refer to for later identification.

Remember a wild flower always looksbetter in the ground than in your hand.