Seasonal Wild Flowers

Common Sea-lavender

Limonium vulgare

Plumbaginaceae

July to September

It is found around much of the coast, but is patchy or absent from

the Northeast, the far Southeast and the far Southwest.

For a map see the National Biodiversity Network gateway

Common Sea-lavender grows on saltmarshes and adjacent rocks

and sea walls.

It is a native, aromatic, patch-forming, perennial herb growing

up to 30cm.

The purple to blue flowers are small (8mm) in leafless tufts.

They are 5-merous with the anthers appearing before the styles

and stigmas.

They are rich in nectar and are pollinated by bees and beetles.

Leaves are fleshy and oval to lanceolate.

Common Sea-lavender by the Lune estuary

Common Sea-lavender on a sea wall

Common Sea-lavender patch

Flowers showing stamens

Flowers showing stigmas

Common Sea-lavender leaves

Nectar-seeking bumble bee