Cheers for the reply. I went looking for samphire, then found this but didn't expect the citrus like smell. Also I notice the flowers didn't appear to be clustered. Shame if it was samphire because I went and bought some, instead, after I had some doubts! :-)
I agree with Habdab, the larger, yellowish green, plant, without flowers, in your first pic is Rock Samphire, Crithmum maritimum, which has flowers in an umbel and smells like furniture polish when crushed.
The plant in your second pic, and the origin of the yellow daisy-like fowers in your first pic, is a different thing altogether...
It is a member of the Dewplant or Aizoaceae family. I am pretty sure it is Hottentot-fig, Carpobrotus edulis, an invasive alien.
Thanks Jen for your clarification. It was the yellow flowers which confused me as the leaves of the two plants are very similar, except I think the samphire I see in shops looks more knobbly.
There were a lot of these plants about and from looking at them I wasn't sure of many differences. Although the leaves of the second I crushed did not smell as strong as those of the samphire.
Before I go and overstep the mark on this one, in future if I happen accross a nice patch of samphire and I have 100% confidence in my identification then is anybody aware of the legalities around collecting a sensible (i.e. a small % of and well within limits of what one can eat) amount for personal consumption.
Also, obviously given it's choice of habitat, extra care not to trip over the edge of a cliff goes hand in hand.
Thank you for the help Habdab and Jen
You're very welcome.
If the Samphire is growing in a Nature Reserve you may not collect any of it.
Outside of that it is more of a moral issue... If you collect a little from several plants and do not damage the reproductive fitness of the plant e.g. by removing or damaging flowers or uprooting, most would deem it okay to forage for wild food. However always bear in mind that something like Rock Samphire grows in an harsh environment and probably grows slowly and has to put alot of energy into any growth made - only ever pick what you will use...
There is useful information and links here.
Hope that helps...
Very much so, thank you. Cheers for the link. I recall it being illegal to uproot wild flowers without landowners permission.
I'm all for the protection of wild plants whether it be collecting a little from several plants (and only what you will use when the is a suitable abundance) or in some cases not at all, for the preservation of species and the other species affected by disruption of that species and so on, and so on, etc etc
It's interesting to see that the invasive species in the 3rd post is also edible. It's nice to think that, like the non-native varieties of crayfish, some things can be done towards helping to reduce the competition for our native species. After all, I suppose the natural supply and demand would likely be regulated by the adubance of which certain foods exist (i.e. those simply looking for food, rather than particular food, would find and eat these first as opposed to the model we follow where if a particular food is becoming increasingly hard to find, it's price goes up but it's still eaten by many!). That's a whole different kettle of fish though!