Saturday, July 5, 2014

A PRETTY BUT UNKNOWN PLANT

 
On a walk this week I came across this little plant growing in the gravel of the footpath, a very dry and well trodden route.  The plant itself seemed to hug the ground except for the fluffy flowers that stood up and caught my eye.  The colouring almost matched the ground, the stems being light ochre brown and the leaves and flowers a pinky red.  I've tried to show the growth of the plant with the stems coming out in a circle from the root in the centre.  I can't find it anywhere in my field guides and I wonder if anyone out there has an idea of it's identity.  I live in Britanny in northern France and the location is within about 500 metres of the sea.  I've looked around other places since finding this and haven't seen any more anywhere at all.  Help please!

5 comments:

  1. It looks a bit like pink knotweed, of which there are many varieties. Hard to tell from the sketch though. Any of these look similar? http://tinyurl.com/pinkKnotweed

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  2. Yes, it does look like knotweed to me! Lovely, Valerie.

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  3. Kate and Katie, thanks for your suggestions, I've looked up the knotweed and it's not that. The flowers are fluffy more like a grass seedhead.??

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  4. Could it be haresfoot clover???

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    1. Thanks Gill, I've looked it up and you are right. I have even found it in my field guide and now I look more closely at the leaves I can see they are in threes. My plant is predominately red which explains why I missed it first time around.

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