Flowers

Chamerion angustifolium. Flowers from July to September

Tussilago farfara – Sometimes called Coughwort. It is one of the first plants to flower in the spring. It can appear from January. It flowers well in March and April.

Dactylorhiza fuchsii. Common Spotted Orchid. These orchids appear in patches on the Cowbar grassland in June and July and flower until August

Glechoma hederacea. Each flower has a fringe of white hairs over lower lip of three petals and the top two has two tiny white star like stamens.

Capsella bursa-pastoris Part of the cabbage / mustard family (Brassicaceae) and is one of the most common wildflowers in the world.

Lotus corniculatus. Member of the pea family and grows throughout the grassland on Cowbar, flowering from May to September. Its leaves have 5 downy leaflets.

Cochlearia. Patches of its leaves can be seen throughout the winter in the grassland and it is one of the first things to flower here. In 2022 flowers appeared in March but most scurvy grass flowers from April to August.

Taraxacum. It flowers early in the year and keeps going well into the autumn, with one of the longest flowering seasons of any plant.

Lamium purpureum. Appears early in March and more and more appear through to October or November. It prefers shorter grass and grows anywhere the ground has been disturbed or cultivated including verges, waste ground and field edges.

Fumaria capreolata. The plant scrambles over scrub and waste places and up hedges (hence the name ‘ramping’ ) and is most easily spotted between May and September.

Stellaria media. The flower has 5 white petals but they each one is deeply divided so there can appear to be 10. The flowers only last for a day but the plant flowers all year round.

Brassica oleracea. This is an uncommon coastal plant but plenty grows on the bank alongside the Cleveland Way and in scrubby patches on the allotment land between the path and the cliff edge. It was most likely originally an escapee from cultivation.

Plantago lanceolata. This plant can be seen all over the grassland and along the lane and footpath, flowering from April through to October. The long, oval leaves have deep grooves in them and the stamens are a yellowy, creamy colour.

Sinapis arvensis. Charlock is also known as wild mustard. It can flower from May through to August. The seeds can be used to make a mild mustard.

Cakile maritima. • The colour of the flowers ranges from white through lilac to deep pink. The plant flowers for most of the summer.

Anthriscus sylvestris. It’s easy to spot this plant along the sides of Cowbar Lane and the Cleveland Way footpath. It is abundant during the months of April, May and June.

Potentilla anserina. This grows throughout the Cowbar grassland and was one of the earliest plants to come through on the bund in 2022 as it often forms large patches on trampled, disturbed ground.

Fumaria officinalis. This grows on arable fields along cliff edges and has come through on the Cowbar Lane bund, possibly from seeds which have been dormant a while in the soil. It straggles over the ground and flowers from May to October.

Veronica persica. The field speedwell (veronica persica) is common on Cowbar on bare ground and field edges. It is also known as the Persian speedwell, bird’s- eye speedwell, large field speedwell, winter speedwell.

Dactylorhiza purpurella. We spotted one of these on Cowbar in March, in the grassland, near the bund. It grows in the north of the UK, on verges and coastal cliffs and in grassy places as well as marshes. Its flower is a rich magenta colour.

Ophrys apifera. The bee orchid flowers in June and July. The flowers have large ‘furry’ lower lips, brown with beautiful markings which make them look a little like a specific species of bee. Two single, separate plants have been seen on Cowbar in 2022.

Vicia cracca. This is the commonest coastal vetch, a member of the pea family, and grows on the bund and the Cowbar grassland in large patches. It flowers between June and August. The curled flowers are purple and violet and grow on one side of the stem.

Lathyrus pratensis. This grows in the grassland on Cowbar and along the new bund. It is a member of the pea and clover family and its yellow flowers are easy to mistake for birdsfoot trefoil but its leaves look like those of other vetches It is a scrambling plant with tendrils.

Potentilla reptans. This grows abundantly on Cowbar alongside the Cleveland Way footpath, in the verge grass and along the bund and the flat soil beside it. Its flower can easily be mistaken for a buttercup but the leaves are very distinctive – palmate with 5 to 7 leaflets (basis for the name ‘cinquefoil’) and it has long red trailing rooting runners.

Carduus tenuiflorus. This is a coastal thistle which is very specific to the Cowbar cliff top. It can be spotted in the grassland and beside the Cleveland Way path. It flowers from June to August.

Anacamptis pyramidias. • These are one of the commonest orchids in the UK. The flower heads are a pyramid shape, bright pinky-purple and densely packed. They can hold up to 100 blossoms.

Papaver rhoeas. When the bund was put in place on Cowbar for 2022, clumps of bright red poppies came through in the spring, even though they had not been in the wildflower mix of seeds sown. These poppies flower from June into September.

Spiny Restharrow (Ononis spinosa) The Spiny restharrow is generally a lowland plant and is rare in this area. It grows more upright than the non-spiny species and likes sandy, chalky, low nutrient soils.

Common vetch (Vicia satvia) This is not as abundant as its name suggests. It has delicate pinky purple flowers visible from April to September. They have been described as “tiny violet-coloured butterflies”.

Black Medick (Medicago lupulina) This is a low spreading plant with small, round, yellow flower heads which can be seen all over Cowbar. It’s a member of the legume / pea family and easily confused with meadow vetchling and birdsfoot trefoil from a distance.

Sweet Clover (Melilotus indicus) Sweet clover is most easy to spot growing along the bund on the north verge of Cowbar Lane. It is also called sour clover, yellow blossom, Indian sweet-clover, Hexham scent and small-flowered melilot.