Sea kale at Sandhaven

Sea Kale (Crambe Maritima) This striking plant is over 1 metre in diameter.

A solitary monstrous sea kale plant growing in the pebbles on Sandhaven shore. The round seed heads are held above the fleshy leaves, typical of shore plants in being thick, glaucous and bluish-green.  Sea kale, now in decline, is thought to have been the ancestor of cultivated kale and in the 19th century the blanched roots were considered to be a great delicacy. It is said to have been cultivated in Pennan and elsewhere.

The leaves are rapidly being devoured by gorging caterpillars