Cerne Summer Riverside

River bank vegetation in the Dorset countryside

Himalayan Balsam with pink flowers along the river bank

Pink flowers of Great Willowherb on the river bank

Thickly vegetated river banks along the Cerne in mid July

Umbellifera seed heads on the river bank

Beneath the willow tree that overhangs the river

The river banks along the Cerne near Charlton Down are almost impenetrable with thick mid-summer vegetation, dominated by the pink flowers of Great Willow Herb and the invasive Himalayan Balsam, as the adjacent fields have been stripped bare and ploughed after the barley harvest.

5 Replies to “Cerne Summer Riverside”

Angela says:

July 23, 2017 at 6:20 pm

Interested to see the Great Willow Herb looking so healthy. All the ones I see have some sort of bug that attacks the flower buds.

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winderjssc says:

July 23, 2017 at 6:40 pm

Thanks, Angela. Thanks for the reminder that this is Great Willowherb not Hairy Willowherb which does not exist as a common name – as I always have in mind that it is called Epilobium hirsutum.

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Lucy Corrander says:

July 23, 2017 at 8:19 pm

Last year I came across a patch of Himalayan Balsam with a notice beside it asking people to leave be because it was part of an experiment to see how invasive it is.

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winderjssc says:

July 23, 2017 at 9:08 pm

I am surprised that there was any question at all about how fast it spreads. I thought it had already colonised everywhere that it could.

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Lucy Corrander says:

July 23, 2017 at 9:17 pm

Ditto!

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