The captions have not been
included yet, to double-check the identification when I have more time
to make sure:
Location: lower
slopes near footpath on the edge of scrub,
between the footpath and scrub at the northern end of the lower slopes |
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01: |
Location: northern
end of the northern end of the lower slopes of
Mill
Hill.
On the middle slopes there are hundreds of leaves of the Mouse-eared Hawkweed, which also plentiful on the Slonk Hill embankment, but are present only occasionally on the lower slopes
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02: Mouse-ear Hawkweed | Hawkweed?
showing the rosette of leaves
Click to see the hairs which are not so noticeable as usual, much more noticeable on the upper slopes |
03: | This is from the lower slopes,
not far from 01
Edge of the scrub |
Creeping
Cinquefoil
Potentilla
reptans
From
the photos I'd probably put all those Potentillas down as
reptans.
However, they do mostly look a bit small and the leaf
stalks
are rather short, so they (especially the first one) could
possibly
be a hybrid. You need to check gone-over flowers for seed,
as
the hybrids are partially or wholly sterile. Or they could just
look
like that because the site is rather sunny or droughted for
reptans
-- it does better on deeper soils amongst quite lush grass,
when
its leaves can form a uniform carpet on long stalks in or above
the
sward.
The
composite is a mouse-ear hawkweed, now Pilosella,
formerly
Hieracium. Most people (probably including me) would put
it
down as P officinarum,
but there are several other species it
could
be. If always single-headed and without stolons like your
photo,
Stace would give it as P.
peleteriana, shaggy mouse-ear
hawkweed.
You'll have to look at more than one plant. Hieraciums
are
notoriously difficult.
None
of your plants is barren strawberry P sterilis -- that has
white
petals and trifoliate leaves like true wild strawberry, from
which
it can be told by the absence of strawberries, the
disproportionately
small central tooth on the leaflets, and petals
spaced
apart from each other instead of touching.
Notice also that P reptans has all stems pretty much on the ground, with each leaf being raised up on a long petiole, especially in well-established plants in turf. P erecta has leaves sessile on the stems, which are off the ground. P anglica is again between.
Just to keep us on our toes
there are also various hybrids of these three species.
British List:
Pilosella aurantiaca
ssp. carpathicola Fox-and-cubs
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