SEA ROCKET
Cakile maritima
Cabbage [Brassicaceae] 
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Cabbage [Brassicaceae]
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flower
flower
inner
morph
petals
stem
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| 31st May 2007, Sandside, Lancs coast. | Photo: © RWD |
| Straggly and floppy, with numerous small clumps of lilac coloured flowers. |
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| 28th June 2005, Deganwy, North Wales. | Photo: © RWD |
| Grows by the sea on sandy shores just above the drift line. |
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| 31st May 2007, Sandside, Lancs coast. | Photo: © RWD |
| Leaves somewhat variable, glaucous green to shiny green, which may yellow in drought. |
_2007_05_31_BroughtonInF_JJsHouse_437p8.jpg)
| 31st May 2007, Sandside, Lancs coast. | Photo: © RWD |
| Small hemi-sperical bunches of lilac-coloured four-petalled flowrers. |
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| 31st May 2007, Sandside, Lancs coast. | Photo: © RWD |
| Fleshy round, green stems bear seed pods where the flowers once were. |
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| 31st May 2007, Sandside, Lancs coast. | Photo: © RWD |
Petals not as long and thin as those of Wild Rocket. |
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| 31st May 2007, Sandside, Lancs coast. | Photo: © RWD |
| Petals usually lilac in colour, but can be mauve, pink or white. Pollen cream coloured. Ants extra. |
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| 28th June 2005, Deganwy, North Wales. | Photo: © RWD |
| Leaves have broad rounded lobes, usually hyperbolically curved both inwards and outwards like a shoe-horn. |
_2009_07_02_Southport_coast_Ainsdale_358p0.jpg)
| 2nd July 2009, Southport Dunes, Lancs. | Photo: © RWD |
| Some leaves are shiney green, with the bluntest of teeth. |
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Not to be confused with : Sea Radish [a plant with similar name which also grows near the sea and also has four petals but they are usually yellow]. Nor with Wild Radish or Some similarities to : Cuckoo Flower in that the petals number four and are lilac in colour, but Cuckooflower doesn't grow in the saline conditions present so close to the sea. Slight resemblance to : Sea Kale which also grows on the beach and has four (white) petals.
All the above belong to the same Sea Rocket is the only plant that has lilac or mauve coloured petals that grows near the sea. It can also have whitish or pinkish petals. It grows mainly just on and above the drift line, on sand rather than on shingle. The Genus Cakile has but one member in the UK, this one. ANY TEXT GOES HERE |
 Cakile (Sea Rocket) |
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Cabbage [Brassicaceae]
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