A colourful hybrid cowslip growing alongside its relations in the Norfolk countryside this weekend @bsbibotany.bsky.social
#norfolkfloragroup
#wildflowerhour
#cowslipchallenge

Finally caught up with & ticked Glabrous Whitlowgrass Erophila glabrescens this weekend! A small population on vegetated hardstanding in rural Norfolk. Rather more petiolate than other Erophilas, mostly glabrous with an eyelash-like fringe on the leaf margins. #NorfolkFloraGroup 122 species to go..

Some Narcissus fun with #NorfolkFloraGroup this weekend. L-R: van Sion, King Alfred, obvallaris, pseudonarcissus (sp, ssp & var!), Jetfire, Rip van Winkle, Grand Soleil d’or & Ice Follies. #Wildflowerhour

Several fun finds with #NorfolkFloraGroup yesterday. The ‘reddish form’ of Sweet Violet Viola odorata, a ‘spikey’ Snowdrop Galanthus nivalis, Yellow Vetchling Lathyrus aphaca and Early Meadow-grass Apiaceae infirma #Wildflowerhour

spoof headline

One more for the lovers of all things avian (it could really do with an apostrophe)... and then I'll get on with the #NorfolkFloraGroup summer programme!

tinyurl.com/tnw-heath if anyone else wants a go :)

Houseleek Sempervivum tectorum on a craggy carstone wall in west Norfolk seen with #NorfolkFloraGroup this weekend. A few #Necrobotany flowers remaining for #Wildflowerhour

Houseleeks (in the Crassulaceae family) spotted high up on a wall during a sunny weekend survey with the #NorfolkFloraGroup #Wildflowerhour

Veronica persica var persica, the scarcer and earlier flowering version of Common Field Speedwell, with a solid blue rather than pale/white lower petal in the common var corrensiana. Seen on open verges etc with #NorfolkFloraGroup #Wildflowerhour

#NorfolkFloraGroup still entering the records from Saturday, but in the lead-up to Valentine's Day @megwildflowers.bsky.social not only made a good job of recording but also went the extra distance 💕

Corn Parsley Petroselinum segetum seen with #NorfolkFloraGroup this weekend. Abundant in arable and ruderal situations in parts of north Norfolk. Margins and verges thick with it! #Wildflowerhour

Grey Field Speedwell spotted with #NorfolkFloraGroup in arable north Norfolk this weekend! Lovely sapphire blue flowers and deeply toothed leaves #Wildflowerhour

Stiffkey Red Lion (a lovely pub and they even let in #botanists) #NorfolkFloraGroup

Polistichum setiferum (Left) and Polystichum x bicknelii (the rest)

Hybrid Shield-fern Polystichum x bicknellii spotted today by #NorfolkFloraGroup Growing close to one parent Soft Shield-fern P. setiferum in replanted ancient wood/common. Both species are scarce in the county so finding their hybrid is always fun.

Making the most of an unusually clean oven door: almond, apricot & tonka bean cakes for tomorrow's #NorfolkFloraGroup mtg. Apricot jam courtesy of @megwildflowers.bsky.social and tonka beans from @bramblebotanist.bsky.social. This time, I just infused the sugar - amazing Anthoxanthum scent from it.

Any thoughts on this? A single plant found by #NorfolkFloraGroup on a Breckland verge this weekend. Leaves 30cms. Acute pinnate venation. No smell. Taste bad (not bitter - Gentiana an early thought) #Wildflowerhour #WildflowerID

#NorfolkFloraGroup ... something terrible has happened. I have over-tanned the cakes. No excuse. Just tired and forgot to watch them. They were gluten-free, dairy-free, almond, lemon, rose and sultana and would've been wonderful. I hope you will still come out tomorrow 😞

We need your #necrobotany skills for #NorfolkFloraGroup :)

Flora Group

Several of #NorfolkFloraGroup enjoying the verdant green of a NW Norfolk woodland in early spring, when we stopped for our lunchtime picnic yesterday. @norfolkgal70.bsky.social @ians4ad.bsky.social @stu32.bsky.social It didn't snow much at all!

The hardy division of #NorfolkFloraGroup shunned a ‘yellow warning’ of ice and snow in favour of the yellow flowers of Buddle.. & 99 other flowering species! The Norfolk uplands produced Fumarias, Muehlenbeckia & Rubus vestitus in unseasonably excellent condition. #NYPH @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Group Hunts

It's Day 3 of the #NorfolkFloraGroup Group-hunts bsbi.org/take-part/ac... and am about to leave home for the hopefully-not-too-snowy arctic tundra of the Sheringham hinterlands. @carlsayer.bsky.social I'm told some of the higher peaks just inland from there are 50m or more!

Nineth cider of the day on the #NYPH pub crawl in Norwich and 91 species under our belt. Some great plants - a luxurious Pseudofumaria lutea mistaken for a hanging basket a fav.. scaling the castle.. and some great pubs. Top effort #NorfolkFloraGroup #NYPH Same next January

Top effort from #NorfolkFloraGroup for our 1st #NYPH of ‘26 in Thetford. Highlights including Early Sand Grass Mibora minima & both sspp of Annual Knawel Scleranthus annuus ssp annuus & ssp polycarpos. 75spp - Currently ranking 2nd on @bsbibotany.bsky.social list of longest lists. Norwich tomorrow!

Basil-thyme Clinopodium acinos

Catmint Nepeta cataria

Small scabious Scabiosa columbaria, Greater Knap Centaurea scabiosa, Carrot Daucus carota, Lady’s Bedstraw Galium verum…

Wild Parsnip Pastanaca sativa, Carot Daucus carota and Small Scabious Scabiosa columbaria

In an attempt to stave off the glooming I’m revisiting photos from summers past (previously shared on ‘the other place’).. & thought I’d share some again here.. In summer 2024 #NorfolkFloraGroup visited a beautiful extensive grassland restoration over patterned ground in west Norfolk. Names on pics

Group Hunts

Just 2 sleeps to go before the #BSBI #NewYearPlantHunt!!! bsbi.org/take-part/ac...

Here in sunny #Norfolk, the #NorfolkFloraGroup is running 3 events: Thetford on 1st Jan; Norwich (incl @bramblebotanist.bsky.social's pub crawl) on 2nd Jan and Sheringham on 3rd Jan. Join us. Make new friends! 🥰

A few fun kerbside plants around Norfolk this week: Winter-cherry Solanum diflorum, a cultivated form of Black Nightshade Solanum nigrum, Mexican Hat Plant Kalanchoe daigremontiana & a population of 22 culinary Thyme Thymus vulgaris #wildflowerhour #NorfolkFloraGroup

Snap!! Was waiting for me when I got back from #NorfolkFloraGroup meeting 🙂 Thanks to the authors and #BSBI

Just c30 entries to go and I'll have finished all of the #NorfolkFloraGroup data entry from Saturday. c800 records in 3 days (one of which I was working ... plus a spot of procrastination (looking at BlueSky, plus weather, plus News plus brief foray into iRecord)). A personal best 😊

You can also keep your botanical brains alive by coming out with #NorfolkFloraGroup over the winter. We botanise every Saturday unless the forecast is particularly unpleasant.

C eragrostis

C eragrostis

A little early for #Wildflowerhour, but I need to get on and cook dinner now ... we had a #NorfolkFloraGroup meeting yesterday on a 'less rainy than expected' sort of day and found shed-loads of pale galingale Cyperus eragrostis growing around a flooded concrete pad near Tunstead, East Norfolk.