Monday 9 August 2010

Seeing the Changes 322

Went to Rest Bay near Porthcawl. There was lots of Greater burdock (Arctium lappa), Betany (Stachys officinalis), Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia), Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) and Greater knapweed (Centaurea scabiosa) in flower. The last-mentioned was being visited by Six-spot burnet moths (Zygaena filipendulae). On the beach, there was what was claimed to be a coral but looks more like worm tubes to me. Stange rafts of what appeared to be Collembola were floating on the rockpool surfaces.

2 comments:

Caroline Gill said...

That 'coral' is extraordinary. I wonder if it is always there or a feature of weather conditions this summer...

Paul Brain said...

I think it's always there (and the inter-tidal zone is not really a -place to find coral). It's quite hard (although one can damage the surface easily). I think it looks like collections of the tubes of Sabellid ('Peacock') worms. It is very strange.

Plants We Used to Use 466. Water avens

Leaves (slightly bitter) and roots of Water avens ( Geum rivale ) are both edible. Herbally, this plant's been used for digestive tract...