Smokey

After feeling decidedly below par yesterday, I felt a lot better for our first distant piece of fieldwork today, which involved driving from Peterborough to a far corner of Kent and back, setting off at 6 a.m. and returning about half-past seven in the evening. It was quite a revelation to experience the Dartford Crossing at peak times with no delays or traffic queues! Because of Covid-19 Chris had to travel separately, but followed me down all the way - again the lack of traffic made this relatively easy.

The site we were visiting was a large area of brownfield, and there were plenty of interesting spring ephemerals to keep me occupied. This large patch of Common Fumitory was using some convenient fencing as a support. This species grows on arable land and in areas with disturbed, rather dry soils. The foliage is a characteristic grey-green colour, and, in the distance,  extensive areas of it can look like clouds of smoke, which is thought to give rise to both its common and scientific names of Fumitory and Fumaria.