Glasswort and sea-purslane, 28 August South Walney salt-marsh is a tease, its specialized habitat a challenge. I pore over images to untangle the weave, to tease out, to trace a strand to its origin. Strong sunlight casts shadows onto rock, throwing structure into sharper definition. And I like the aesthetic of shadow-shapes. The glassworts of salt-marsh morph and shape-shift and colour harmonies are so subtle that I long to return to follow them through the autumn. Very variable- that’s glasswort of Walney salt-marsh and annual seablite of shingle. Beautiful too. Back-lit, those wriggles of glasswort are translucent in soft and delicate hues.
Sea-rounded pebble with lichen. An inflorescence of sea-purslane with silvery-grey leaves and greenish-yellow flowers reaches across the image from left to right. On the two lower images leaves of sea-purslane show top centre and pinkish glasswort creates a shadow in the centre of the pebble. Final image shows back-lit glasswort.
Glasswort and Sea-lavender, Limonium vulgare
Salt-marsh and mudflat isn't habitat I explore every day, and South Walney has rare flora so it springs surprises. I was seeking glasswort, to share with my friends, so when we came upon exquisite tiny blue flowers in the thick of glasswort we were puzzled. Take lots of images and investigate later, that's the answer. The context, the situation and flora in the mix. The season is critical. Morphology matters: the structure of the plant, leaf structure, inflorescence. If you don't know what you're looking at the clinching feature won't be apparent. The flora of saltmarsh and shingle morphs in bewildering ways and colour shifts with the season. So lots of photographs.
Sea-lavender, Common sea-lavender, this tricky species confirmed by two expert botanists with Natural England. Common doesn't do it justice. It's a beauty. I have spent far longer lingering over the many images I took, cropping to show them to advantage, than I spent with my two friends on South Walney. I have spent a long while investigating glassworts, as I did when I was writing Cumbrian Contrasts. Walney and the Duddon Estuary continues to weave their magic.
Sea-lavender, Common sea-lavender, this tricky species confirmed by two expert botanists with Natural England. Common doesn't do it justice. It's a beauty. I have spent far longer lingering over the many images I took, cropping to show them to advantage, than I spent with my two friends on South Walney. I have spent a long while investigating glassworts, as I did when I was writing Cumbrian Contrasts. Walney and the Duddon Estuary continues to weave their magic.
From the left: Bittersweet, Solanium dulcamara, two images of Viper's bugloss, Echium vulgare. And three images of Bugloss, Anchusa arvensis
Viper's bugloss is a striking plant of sandy habitat, often close to the sea. I've been familiar with the flower for years. But today on the South Walney shingle I discovered a plant I did not know, with tiny blue flowers, Bugloss, again confirmed by a Natural England friend.
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