20.08.2026 - Indoor Meeting : Coastal Wildflowers of Norfolk

Speaker: Simon Harrap
Report by: Steph Plaster

​We were treated to a fantastic talk by Simon Harrap, from ‘Natural Surroundings’, who runs the Norfolk Wildlife gardening and Wildflower Centre based at the Bayfield Estate in the Glaven Valley.
Judging by all the comments on the WhatsApp group this talk went down very well as I think we were all enthralled by the amazing diversity of the coastal flora that is found in Norfolk. Simon is one of the UK’s leading botanists and has produced many books on the subject - some of which were available to purchase including his revised, Second Edition, ’Flowers of the Norfolk Coast’ and the more
comprehensive ‘Harrap’s Wild Flowers’.

Simon started by explaining how varied the Norfolk coastline is, from shingle and sandy spits such as Blakeney Point and Scolt Head Island to the soft, eroding cliffs at Runton and the expansive saltmarshes around The Wash. We have it all in Norfolk and our coastline is a ‘dynamic’ one meaning it’s subject to great change and coastal movement, where land and geographical features are not only created but also eroded on a regular basis. As the coastline is in a state of ‘flux’ it is also a very challenging habitat for plants and as such, they have adapted to this environment and are part of how
the coastal landscape is formed and continues to evolve.
Simon talked about the differing habitats found along our unique coast and the first one was the ‘Beach’, which is basically an area that is covered by the tide twice daily and where sand, shingle and sediments are constantly being shifted around and along the coast, known as ‘Longshore Drift’. In this environment there are few plants that can tolerate saline immersion - so the beach is essentially
barren until you get above the ‘High Water Mark’ where plants such as Sea Rocket (a cruciferous plant of the Cabbage family) can be found. It’s a tough fleshy plant found on sandy beaches above the strandline which has four lilac coloured petals and the foliage has a thick cuticle to enable it to store water. Another plant found in this habitat is Sea Sandwort, related to the garden weed Chickweed, which forms mats and is considered a pioneer species on the open shore.
Other plants Simon mentioned and illustrated with fantastic photographs were the ‘Oraches’ wind- pollinated plants with Spear-leaved Orache being the most abundant species. They benefit from the nutrients found in the rotting debris along the tidelines as can be seen below where the tides have washed up plenty of organic matter here in Wells; Oraches have also moved inland according to Simon and can be seen on muck heaps in Norfolk and along the Norwich to Holt road too!
Other plants found in this sort of habitat are Prickly Saltwort which, as the name suggests, is a plant not to accidentally sit on at the beach. Also Sea beet, which can grow up to three to four feet in height - a species cultivated in the Middle East as a spinach and which may have been a wild ancestor of Sugar beet, Beetroot and Chard.
The next zone he focused on was ‘Shingle’, and we have plenty of this in Norfolk especially around Blakeney Point, Cley and Salthouse where the Shingle Ridge is regularly knocked down each winter by high tides and storms. It’s a really harsh environment for plants as there is a lack of water and constant exposure to higher tides and strong winds. A species that is found in these exacting conditions is ‘Suaeda’ and familiar to many of us as Shrubby Sea-blite, as seen above in the foreground at Wells. In the shingle zones you can also find Sea Campion, a cushion-forming, insect-pollinated perennial plant which has pretty white flowers from May to October and is a regular sight on shingle from Snettisham to Sheringham. Sea milkwort, a small, low-growing mat-forming plant, is commonly found around the Wash and on the north-east coast of Norfolk. One of the most iconic plants of shingle ridges is the ‘Yellow Horned Poppy’, a tough plant that adds much colour from June to September. The ‘horn’ part refers to the distinct, very finely elongated seed-pod which is 15 to 30cm in length and said to be the longest of any British wildflower! It also features on the front cover of Simon’s book and is instantly recognisable with its bright yellow petals.
The third area touched on by Simon was ‘Sand Dunes’ and we certainly appreciate the ones found in Norfolk as they offer protection not only for us but for plants too. Dunes are formed by wind and sand and can be created and erased, and the plants are important for establishing the dunes with their fibrous root systems. Probably the most important plant responsible for this is Marram Grass. It was widely planted by Norfolk landowners to stabilise the dunes and is prevalent at Holkham and Holme. Younger dunes more recently established are known as Yellow Dunes. Plants typically found in this environment include; Sea Spurge - a Euphorbia and Sea Holly (right), loved by bees and butterflies which is moving west along the coast. This species has a large taproot which was, in the 19th century, dug up and boiled to make a candied sweetmeat!
Other species of the Yellow Dune zone include Sea Bindweed, Common Birdsfoot Trefoil (the seedpods look like a three-toed bird’s foot but the flowers are a vibrant yellow), and Ladies Bedstraw, a low-
growing perennial that was once used to deter fleas and other insects from straw mattresses and can be seen along road verges as well as at the coast. Other yellow flowers found on dunes include Biting
Stonecrop, a succulent which forms large mats, and Kidney Vetch which is a member of the pea family.
A more unusual plant is the Man Orchid whose flowers resemble tiny little men, a very strange looking plant, but then most orchids are very striking and several are found within dune systems. Holme Dunes are a great place for spotting orchids where Pyramidal and Bee Orchids can be found - the latter of course looks like a bee! At Holme another feature within the dune system are the ‘Dune Slacks’, these are the wetter bits between large dunes and they are a particularly important habitat as they create marshy areas and small pools where scarce species such as the Natterjack Toad can be found. The Early Marsh Orchid grows in dunes and Simon told us in 2013 around 100,000 Marsh Orchids were killed at Gun Hill on the Holkham Estate by a devastating sea surge where the dunes and even up to the main coast road were inundated for several days. ​Once a dune has reached maturity they are then often referred to as ‘Grey Dunes’ due to the fact that they are colonised by Lichens and appear more greyish and established with a wider variety of plants - Winterton has this type of dune system.
Saltmarshes and Overy Creek at Burnham Overy Staithe pictured right - Gun Hill is located to the north of here and is part of the Holkham Estate and National Nature Reserve.
 Saltmarsh is another coastal feature and a very widespread one in Norfolk as we have some of the largest Saltmarshes found in Europe. It is exceptionally important, not only for plants but for birds too. Saltmarsh is found within the lee of headlands, i.e. Blakeney Harbour, Holkham, Wells to Stiffkey, and Holme where the seawater is calm enough for particles of sediment to drop very fine mud. The North Sea is also a very shallow sea (sometimes only around three metres deep on banks, and up to sixty metres further out) and contains a lot of sediment. The four large rivers that drain into The Wash also contain a great deal of suspended, particulate material - hence a large amount of sediment is dropped along our coast and the saltmarshes were created. Pioneer plants are able to grow in this area and the more plants and root systems that proliferate, the more a saltmarsh can build and thrive. This may take thousands of years and deep ‘gutters’ or creeks are formed and it’s on these banks that certain plants thrive as they are not then covered daily by the tide.
If you had to name a typical well-known plant of the Saltmarsh, anyone from Norfolk would instantly say ‘Samfer’, but its true name is Glasswort or Samphire, as many years ago it was actually burnt to
create Soda ash which was used for making glass! There are seven species of Samphire in Norfolk but only two are edible so make sure you know what you are eating! Other plants found in saltmarsh include Sea Arrowgrass - a lily, annual Seablite - which turns a deep red in Autumn, Sea Purslane and English Scurvygrass, the leaves of which are rich in Vitamin C and it used to be taken on board ships to try to help prevent scurvy!
Other flowering plants found here are Thrift, Sea lavender, which forms a purple haze across the saltmarshes in June and July and is a sight to behold and Sea Aster. This has its own bee named after it, the Sea Aster Mining Bee. 
Many thanks to Simon for such an informative and brilliant talk about our fantastic Norfolk coastal flora.