Oysterplant

Mertensia maritima

Please keep in mind that it is illegal to uproot a plant without the landowner's consent and care should be taken at all times not to damage wild plants. Wild plants should never be picked for pleasure and some plants are protected by law.
For more information please download the BSBI Code of Conduct PDF document.

Plant Data

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Order:

Boraginales

Family:

Boraginaceae (Borage)

Also in this family:

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Alkanet, Alpine Forget-me-not, Blue-eyed Mary, Borage, Bugloss, Bulbous Comfrey, Bur Forget-me-not, Caucasian Comfrey, Changing Forget-me-not, Common Comfrey, Common Fiddleneck, Common Gromwell, Common Lungwort, Corn Gromwell, Creeping Comfrey, Creeping Forget-me-not, Crimean Comfrey, Early Forget-me-not, False Alkanet, Field Forget-me-not, Garden Anchusa, German Madwort, Green Alkanet, Green Houndstongue, Hidcote Blue Comfrey, Houndstongue, Mawson's Lungwort, Narrow-leaved Lungwort, Norfolk Comfrey, Pale Forget-me-not, Purple Gromwell, Purple Viper's Bugloss, Red Lungwort, Rough Comfrey, Russian Comfrey, Scarce Fiddleneck, Siberian Bugloss, Slender Borage, Suffolk Lungwort, Tansy-leaved Phacelia, Tuberous Comfrey, Tufted Forget-me-not, Viper's Bugloss, Water Forget-me-not, White Comfrey, White Forget-me-not, Wood Forget-me-not, Yellow Alkanet

Type:

Flower

Life Cycle:

Perennial

Maximum Size:

60 centimetres tall

Habitats:

Beaches, rocks, seaside.

Flower:

Pink, 5 petals

Clusters of bell-shaped, nodding pink flowers, later turning bluish-purple. The individual flowers each measure between 5 and 7mm across. The petals are concaved.

Fruit:

The fruit is a capsule. The seeds ripen from July to September.

Leaves:

Fleshy, pale oval leaves, each up to 10cm (4 inches) long. A prostrate perennial.

Other Names:

Gromwell, Oysterleaf, Sea Bluebells, Sea Bugloss, Sea Lungwort.

Frequency (UK):

Unusual

Distribution Map

Reproduced by kind permission of the BSBI.

Click to open an Interactive Map