It was a bright, sunny day with a hint of autumn for our visit to the vale. Corn sowthistle, rough hawksbit, both black and white bryony, creeping buttercup and cross-wort lined the pathway into the vale. Harebells blew gently amongst the rock rose and cat’s ear with self heal, eyebright, milkwort and tormentil still visible. Three species of gentian – common centaury, yellow-wort and autumn gentian were a pleasure to see. The banking was a sea of blue with three species of scabious – field scabious, small scabious and devil’s bit scabious. After much searching we finally came across the elusive autumn lady’s tresses, a very small member of the orchid family.
autumn gentian
yellow wort
autumn lady’s tresses