Sainfoin at Samphire Hoe
It was a beautiful day, so after a long and quite demanding but very useful appointment with the communication aid team, we headed for Samphire Hoe for a breezy, sunny walk by the sea. I've blipped Samphire Hoe several times before: it's a nature reserve just west of Dover, occupying an area below the chalk cliffs which was created by the spoil excavated from the construction of the Channel Tunnel. Above a large, concrete sea wall, there's a stretch of chalk grassland which is home to a variety of wild flowers and where we often spot birds and butterflies, but I don't remember noticing this vivid pink flower before. I thought it looked rather like vetch, but it grows quite tall in large clumps; Google lens tells me it is Sainfoin (Onobrychis Vitiifolia), a member of the legume family which provides excellent forage for ruminants and nectar for honey and solitary bees. It can be cultivated, but it's clearly growing as a wild flower here and listed on wildflower seed websites.
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