Seaside Centaury

• the seaside centaury has stems from 2 to 20cm tall
• the flowers are very conspicuous between July and August
• the seaside centaury occurs in damp sand dune areas at only two sites in Ireland, both on the coast of County Londonderry
• Portstewart dunes are probably the best place to see this plant in Ireland
• this species is a member of the Gentian family
• the vivid pink, funnel-shaped flowers are stalkless and crowded into a head
• seaside centaury be confused with the widespread common centaury which is found throughout Ireland in many habitats and can be particularly common in the dune habitats shared by seaside centaury
  

 

Telling the difference –

• seaside centaury leaves are usually somewhat rough, common centaury leaves are smooth
• seaside centaury leaves are longer, common centaury leaves are shorter and more oval
• seaside centaury is very sensitive to dune disturbance
• look for seaside centaury in dunes, particularly damp dune slack sides
• the botanist the Reverend Coslett Herbert Waddell’s last contributions to Irish botany was to discover seaside centaury at Portstewart in 1913, on the dune system between the town and the River Foyle
• it was then a first Irish record, and remains one of only two places in Ireland where this species has been recorded, the second being some 15km west along the coast in the huge dune fields of Magilligan Point