Limosella australis   Welsh Mudwort RRR DDD N

Limosella australis

The hunt for this plant involved checking tide tables and wading into mud and a few inches of water in the estuary to find this little plant most examples of which were submerged. It grows at the edge of the grassy marsh where the pure mud of the estuary begins. Standing still to take photos resulted in getting wellies badly stuck in the mud with a real danger of falling over and losing the camera. I wouldn't recommend doing this alone unless at very low tide on a good drying day in summer.

This particular plant was one of the few with a slightly open bud on a drooping pedicel. It has typical linear leaves rather than the long-spoon shaped leaves of Limosella aquatica (Mudwort). I think we were a little optimistic hoping to find L. australis in October.

There are a very few sites close to this one in north Wales plus a few old site in south Wales but Limosella australis is absent from England, Scotland and Ireland.

Porthmadog Estuary, Wales, 6th October 2005

Added 7th October 2005, updated 26th November 2010

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