Early-Season Sea Kale

Doesn't look very exciting, does it? But this is actually a very rare plant - sea kale.

I photographed this on a walk along Climping Beach today, a nature reserve outside Littlehampton notable for two very rare habitats: coastal sand dunes (one of only three in Sussex) and coastal vegetated shingle (Sussex has a fifth of the UK's resource of this habitat).

Sea Kale is a fascinating plant. It's early leaves are purple (like here), with later leaves in the season a dark green, looking a bit like cabbage growing on the shingle. It's adapted to the salty environment of the beach, and has a waxy surface to make it waterproof.

More info here