Shore plant id

[fraser]

Hi

These photos were posted on another forum I visit for ID. Found on the shore in Aryshire. They describe the tap root as being about 8 inches in length & 1 inch in diameter but others were up to 3 inches in diameter. It also smelt of turnip. People are insisting it is silverweed (Potentilla anserina) but what do you think?

[Hedera]

I don't think this is silverweed - it lacks the silvery silky hairs on the leaves. reminds me more of a burnet.

[metalfish]

I'd agree it's definately not silverweed and it is like a burnet but I've no idea what would have a tap root like this, I hope you already realise it's illegal to uproot wildflowers/ pick their flowers or harvest their seed, unless the plant is on your own land or you are being contracted to work for the landowner (and a few other reasons)

Just read your post again and I get the impression these are someone elses photos, sorry . Do you know if it was the seashore, or shore of a loch, as fresh water or sea water will affect the id'ing, and on wet/ marshy ground or dry ground

[fraser]

Hi

Thanks for the replies - yes, someone else's pics I'm afraid.

Here is what they posted:

"I was out and about yesterday and we spotted lots of a plant that I'm not familiar with. Close inspection showed it to have quite a large bushy rosette of leaves and one main tap root.

The root was pale yellow / white inside and the older plants had a dark brown rough skin on the root. It had a pleasant smell, which I thought was a bit like turnip, others disagreed though.. . They were lots n lots n lots growing, although most had lost their leaves.

They were found on the shore, below the high tide line on the shore itself, and slightly further up the shore, towards the grass, but none on the grass itself. The size of the root in these pics is about 8 inches long and around 1 inch in diameter. There was one we saw that was around 3 inches in diameter, so think this one is not by far the largest they grow".

Yeah, I was thinking some sort of umbellifer - wild parsnip or something similar but found in Aryshire so not likely!

[earthdragon64]

Definitely not Silverweed, could it be Burnet-saxifrage - Pimpinella saxifraga?

[fraser]

Originally Posted by earthdragon64

Definitely not Silverweed, could it be Burnet-saxifrage - Pimpinella saxifraga?

Yes, could be, but does it have that large a tap root?

[KeenTeen17]

Originally Posted by fraser

Yes, could be, but does it have that large a tap root?

Burnet Saxifrage is most likely as it does have a large tap root

[Gill Catton]

Not sure what it is, but doesn't look like silver weed.

It seems a shame it was uprooted though whatever it was.......

[earthdragon64]

I've never actually looked at a Burnet-saxifrage taproot, so can't comment on whether the size of the root in question is typical or not.

I've certainly seen Burnet-saxifrage growing in sand and shingle near rivers, and on old channels of rivers, but I don't know if it grows on the coast.

[Tiggrx]

Could be Sea Radish (Raphanus raphanistrum ssp. maritimus)