Hightown, Sefton Coast

Saturday 19th August 2023

Leader: Steve Cross

Twenty four people met at Hightown railway station for this joint trip between the Wild Flower Society and Bradford Botany Group. It was a sunny, but rather windy day (it was impossible to keep the wind from blowing sand into our sandwiches at lunch time!). Our guide for the day, Steve Cross of the Liverpool Botanical Society, gave a short introductory talk before we set off through the streets to the coastal path. This gave us a brief opportunity to do some urban botany, and we examined Common Orache (Atriplex patula) and Common Stork’s-bill (Erodium cicutarium) to enable us to compare them with similar species to be seen later in the day. Just before we reached the saltmarsh, it was good to see a beautiful pinky-purple drift of Common Fumitory (Fumaria officinalis) growing together with a smaller patch of the paler-flowered Common Ramping-fumitory (Fumaria muralis).

On the path down to the saltmarsh, we passed an area where garden escapes had become rampant including a double flowered form of Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) and the garden hybrid Twiggy Spurge (Euphorbia x pseudovirgata). Later, Steve pointed out large stands of non-native invasive species, such as White Poplar (Populus alba) and Russian-vine (Fallopia baldschuanica) which have also become a problem in recent times.

Today was an excellent opportunity to improve our orache identification skills, and on entering the saltmarsh we soon saw Spear-leaved Orache (Atriplex prostrata), closely followed by Grass-leaved Orache (Atriplex littoralis), although the latter had broader leaves than is usual for this species. Later on, Babington's Orache (Atriplex glabriuscula) and Spear-leaved Orache were seen side-by-side and, as Steve explained, once you get your eye in, they can usually be told apart by their jizz, before confirming the identificaiton by looking at the bracteoles in more detail. Before the day was out we also saw Frosted Orache (Atriplex laciniata), with its distinctive frosted leaves, and Kattegat Orache (Atriplex x gustafssoniana).

Today was also good for looking at glassworts, with Steve showing us Common Glasswort (Salicornia europaea), Purple Glasswort (Salicornia ramosissima) and Long-spiked Glasswort (Salicornia dolichostachya), which were all growing next to each other. The differences between these species are fairly subtle, but Steve clearly explained them to us.

In the dunes, there were many interesting species, but perhaps most notable was Isle-of-Man Cabbage (Coincya monensis subsp. monensis), a rare endemic subspecies. Steve regards this subspecies as having its global ‘headquarters’ on the coast between here and Crosby, with three quarters of its world population found there. Ray's Knotgrass (Polygonum oxyspermum), with its relatively big, chunky fruit, was admired, as was a plant of Hound's-tongue (Cynoglossum officinale), with someone commenting that its spiny nutlets look like tiny hedgehogs. Sticky Stork's-bill (Erodium labelii) clearly had numerous glandular hairs on the flower stalks and sepals.

One section of the shore was an area of man-made ‘shingle’, formed from the rubble created by post-war clearances in Liverpool, which was dumped along a two mile stretch of coast to create sea defences. Plants dotted about here included Wild Mignonette (Reseda lutea), Yellow Horned-poppy (Glaucium flavum) and Rock Samphire (Crithmum maritimum). We saw a fascinating area of the beach with 5000-year old peat which had the preserved rhizomes of Royal Fern and, clearly visible, were the branches of birch, still with its distinctive bark attached.

Between the dunes and the shore, there was a stand of Sea Club-rush (Bolboschoenus maritimus), and a mix of fresh water and saltmarsh species, including Long-bracted Sedge (Carex extensa), Frog Rush (Juncus ranarius), Wild Celery (Apium graveolens) and Trifid Bur-marigold (Bidens tripartita).

This had a been a wonderful day out at the seaside, full of lots of interesting and unusual species, a lot of which were new to me. Steve was a very enthusiastic and informative leader and I thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Text by Tom

Photographs by Susan