I ran home from Helston on Friday, around the lake. I am trying to radically cut down on petrol. I left my car in for repairs and decided not to even take the bus back. Needless to say, I didn’t geo-code as I went, but I looked fast for what I knew and clasped onto water. (It was a hot morning.)

Key things that flitted past me: gorse seed pods, a forest of Foxgloves at Debigna and wow, I am pretty sure a Silver-studded Blue butterfly Plebeius argus on the bar. (I stopped and got close). In ten miles I saw three people. Nice.

Nikki and I last walked the beginning of this route two months ago and recorded the gorse in flower. Above is a drawing of it. We were really concentrating on Goat Willow. (I am just finishing painting this, so more on that later.) But the yellow of the gorse and the willow were running close together, and the smell made us notice the gorse. What Malibu memories it brings back. As its seed pods start to pop, the Western Gorse at the Lizard and Penwith peninsulas will start flowering. (In a month I will embark on painting Western Gorse. Note, this is not found at Loe Pool.)

European Gorse
Ulex europaeus

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I’ve marked gorse in four places on the map so far, to show how it runs along the North side of the Cober River into the Pool. (The fruit pod explodes when ripe. In dry, sunny weather, the gorse seed pods suddenly open and the seeds explode out, with a noticeable popping noise. The seeds are thrown quite a distance from the plant. http://www.naturegrid.org.uk/biodiversity/plants/fppea.html)

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