Rumex rupestris Shore Dock

Rumex rupestris ©Fred Rumsey

A dock with greyish leaves and tiny green or reddish-brown flowers in whorls spread out up the stem. It grows on upper shores or in wet hollows in sand dunes, on the west coasts of Wales and southern England.

Although still very rare, some new sites were recently discovered during a search of coastal cliffs, but even the largest group in Britain has only 50 plants. It is rare and declining in its entire range, the Atlantic coasts of Britain, France and Spain.

The main causes of its decline, and the threats to its future, are loss of habitat due to tourism and sea defences, increased storminess of the sea and sea-level rise, and being smothered by invasive plants, particularly the succulent pink-flowered Hottentot-fig from southern Africa.

Classified as Endangered, it is protected under Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.