Report on guided botanical walks, Norfolk, 28 June-2 July 2004
The summer 2004 guided walks in Norfolk were at the end of June and early July. In our first week of walks we were
lucky with the weather in an otherwise damp and dismal summer.
The group met first at Wolferton, outside the Dersingham Bog nature reserve, a part of the Sandringham estate, but very
different from the rhododendron-bordered woodland around the royal gardens and one of the few acid valley mires left in
East Anglia. The first plant of interest, in the rabbit-grazed, dogwalker-trampled, sandy soil of the car park, was one of the
smallest, small cudweed (Filago minima), approximately 3cm high, half a cm wide, and in full flower (green...). Growing
with it, and even more flattened, was the pink flowered sand spurrey, (Spergularia rubra).
The group headed for the ancient coastal cliff that once overlooked the much broader Wash in the immediate post-glacial
era. Nowadays, the sea is a distant blue or brown line (colour depending on whether the tide is in or out). Despite the
comments of Noel Coward (had he never visited the interminably boring flatlands of Cambridgeshire?), this Norfolk hill
actually soars to a heady 30m above sea level. Looking out over the cliff we could see the tops of trees below us, as well as
sandmartins visiting nests in the cliff, and the ancient course of the former King's Lynn to Hunstanton railway.
A series of downhill steps took us into the natural bowl that ensured a permanently wet bottom for the bog. At its greatest
declination, a carefully engineered boardwalk took us out into the depths of the mire, where heather gave way to cross-leaved heath, and where dark peat was speckled with the small but colourful, drooling red leaves of both round-leaved and
long-leaved sundew. The sticky tendrils on the leaves snare insects for digestion, however, despite the prevalence of
sundew, we were unable to spot a single trapped insect. Those with digital cameras waved them in the direction of the
plants, while those with more traditional cameras balance precariously on the edge of the boardwalk as they concentrated on
sundew close-ups. Further in, the bright flower spikes of yellow asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum) enlivened the sombre
greens and yellows of the sphagnum moss. The occasional, rather bedraggled, scut of cotton grass (that had been rained on)
moved in the breeze.
bog asphodel, Narthecium ossifragum
Reports of a goshawk frequenting the area were unconfirmed, but a buzzard was seen overhead. Dragonflies and
damselflies patrolled for insects left uneaten by the sundews.
boardwalk, Dersingham Bog
A sedge caused some discussion as to its identity (don't they all...), but our 2 sedge enthusiasts determined it as, possibly,
bottle sedge (Carex rostrata). On the return, by a different route, across dry heath, some of it recently cleared of trees in
order to increase the area of heather and now swarming with young grasshoppers, a further sedge, oval sedge (Carex ovalis)
was found, followed by some scrawny pill sedge (Carex pilulifera) in the woodland on the hillside above.
Moving on to the next site, Snettisham Beach, we followed a series of paths from the RSPB carpark (marsh woundwort
and hairy buttercup), over the inner seawall and alongside brackish lagoons, seeing greater pond sedge, lesser pond sedge,
sea club-rush and glaucous club-rush, all sedges rather than rushes, despite some slightly misleading vernacular names. Of
more general interest was the remarkably grass-like grass vetchling (Lathyrus nissolia), only visible among the taller grass
when the occasional bright red pea flower opened. Ragwort plants were covered with the orange and black striped
caterpillars of the cinnabar moth, as conspicuous the occasional parent moth, with black and red wings. Both stages utilized
the poisons ingested from the ragwort to discourage birds from eating them.
A picnic was taken at the lagoon, backed by candelabra spikes of yellow hoary mullein (Verbascum pulverulentum), a plant
almost confined to Norfolk. The margin of the brackish water was thick with mats of sea milkwort, and with persistent
families of young ducks brought over by the parents to help with eating the picnic. On the level tops of the banks of the
lagoon were spikes of sky blue viper's bugloss, while the slopes had yellow horned-poppy. The long grass behind had the
tall panicles of the very inedible greater prickly lettuce. The group were surprised when it was pointed out that the pinker
flowers of the garden weed common bindweed are strongly scented of cherry-pie.
Snettisham beach lagoon picnic
The path led onwards around the southern end of the lagoon and to the outer sea wall. The following week the group was
massively outnumbered here by birdwatching twitchers, racing for a glimpse of an offcourse greater sand-plover, but this
week there were few others. The immediate shingle foreshore was out-of-bounds, because of nesting ringed plover and
oystercatchers, but the extensive stands of yellow horned-poppy were impressive, and many of the specialized shingle plants
could be seen easily from the path. On the seaward side were the white daisies of sea mayweed, interspersed with the less
colourful oraches. Beyond the shingle, avocets, oystercatchers and shelduck probed and trawled for food on the mudflats.
On the landward side, a few large pink and white trumpets of sea bindweed decorated the turf.
Further south there was more short grass, dotted with yellow and orange birdsfoot trefoil, with the chubby caterpillars of
black and red burnet moths. Like the unrelated cinnabar moth, they take poisons (cyanide compounds) from the larval
foodplant to make themselves inedible. There were more spikes of hoary mullein, and the shrubby seablite (Suaeda vera), a
small shrub now rare around much of the coast, and with some of its best remaining colonies in northwest Norfolk.
A series of RSPB hides overlooked another inland lagoon: the third was the most interesting, with a large group of knot
tightly huddled at the water's edge, interspersed with bar-tailed godwits and avocet.
On the following morning, we met at the Thornham staithe, overlooking the saltmarshes. Even at the car park, there was
plenty of botanical interest - sea lavender, sea wormwood, sea plantain and sea arrow-grass, as well as the rarer Borrer's
saltmarsh-grass (Puccinellia fasciculata). Sea lavender is related to the statice beloved of flower arrangers, but has no
connexion or similarity to lavender other than through its flower colour. Heading initially along the sea wall, we dropped to
a path along the margin of the saltmarsh, where there the mud was bordered by annual glasswort (aka samphire), perennial
glasswort, sea aster and sea lavender.
samphire gatherers, RSPB reserve, Snettisham
Samphire is an annual growing in sea-washed mud, and once the poor man's asparagus, but now a trendy if rather oversalty
side-vegetable much favoured by modern chefs. It is also edible raw, however the group was less keen to sample this fresh
than they were, for instance, wild strawberries or wild currants later in the week. Britain has 6 species, all extremely similar,
and only distinguishable when in flower, when well-grown, when widely spaced enough not to be distorted by their
proximity to another plant, and when the main stem has not been injured. The flowers are very small and inconspicuous. It
is usually recommended that at least 10, apparently similar, flowering, well-grown, widely spaced, uninjured plants be
examined in order to ascertain which species they belong to, hence they are usually collectively referred to as samphire. To
slightly confuse the matter further, there are two completely unrelated plants - rock samphire (Crithmum maritimum) related
to celery, and golden samphire, (Limbarda crithmoides (crithmoides = like Crithmum)), related to Michaelmas daisies. The
name samphire is said to derive from the French for St Peter's herb, Saint-Pierre.
Ragged Marsh, Thornham
Once beyond the wettest saltmarsh, we left the shelter of the sea wall causeway and crossed into the drier, sandy marsh
areas, were the common sea-lavender was often replaced by the much lower growing matted sea-lavender, (Limonium
bellidifolium). Because of the species' rarity in the UK it is classified as a Red Data Book species, its population much
reduced around the British coast through loss of habitat, but here it was flourishing. The two species covered several acres
in shades of lilac and violet. Growing with it were small cushions of thrift, and the inconspicuous little hard-grass
(Parapholis strigosa).
Thornham beach
After a rest break in the warm sun at the edge of the broad sands of Thornham beach, some of the group sunbathing, others
reading up on sedges they'd seen earlier, we followed the inner drift line that was marked by plants of frosted orache and
saltwort and occasional little pebbles of amber. Fenced-off enclosures on the beach marked areas of shingle with the nests
and eggs of ringed plovers. Turning inland, we had our picnic lunch on some fine turf dotted with yellow lady's bedstraw
and bird's-foot trefoil, and bright pink racemes of centaury. Dessert was locally-made ice creams at the NWT house a few
minutes' walk away.
A post-lunch stroll along the boardwalk, brought us sightings of the tiny blue fleabane, lilac-flowered, despite the name,
and a single clump of not-yet-flowering harebell. This led to a discussion among members of the group from different parts
of England and Wales as to when their local harebells flowered, with widely diverging results. Derbyshire seemed to be a
winner, with late May.
Reaching the shoreline, at the mouth of a small muddy river, the group saw a few sea holly and sea spurge, then a lot more
of the two sea-lavenders, plus a third species, the rock sea-lavender, (Limonium binervosum subsp. anglicum), all growing
together conveniently for the photographers. In the muddier areas were white sea-spurrey and pink lesser sea-spurrey
(Spergularia diandra and S. salina).
matted sea-lavender, Limonium bellidifolium
The return route provided a number of new sedges, including the distant, hairy and false fox sedges (Carex distans, C.
hirsuta and C. otrubae).
