Mellow fruitfulness in September

Firethorn (Pyracantha) berries beside the Wharf in early September

During my monthly walk around the Wharf (old East Bute Dock) in Cardiff Bay on September 4 I was surprised to find how far advanced Autumn was, with many seeds and berries on both the wild plants and cultivated shrubs. Here are some of the pictures I took…

I think these beauties are seeds of broad-leaved dock (Rumex obtusifolius)…

…a longer view

Great willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum)

Willowherb seed pods from above – I think this one is rose bay willowherb or fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium)

I think this gorgeous thing is a seed-head of the wild carrot (Daucus carota)…

…a longer view

Seed heads of ragwort (Senecio jacobaea)…

…some of which were open

One of those ‘dandelion-type plants’

I have seen a lot of this lately, but it’s not native – I think it may be horseweed or Canadian fleabane (Erigeron canadensis or Conyza canadensis)

Hoverfly on hemp agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum)

The smaller wild flowers had gone unnoticed over the summer, but the shepherd’s purse with its heart-shaped seed pods endures (Capsella bursa-pastoris)

There were several of these fungi in a clump…

…one had been turned over and I think the spongy underside means it’s a bolete

I thought this was an interesting fungus, too, then realised it was half-buried polystyrene

Rose hips

A bigger rose hip

Unripe brambles – the ripe blackberries have probably been stripped already by the birds

Bunches of ash keys (Fraxinus excelsior)

Holm oak acorns

I also saw plenty of flowers and autumn leaves on my circuit of the Wharf, but I will save those for another day…