Cornwall is the county that forms the tip of the southwestern peninsula of England; this area has a mild and warm climate regulated by the Gulf Stream. The mild climate allows rich plant cover, such as palm trees in the far south and west of the county and in the Isles of Scilly, due to sub-tropical conditions in the summer.
On Cornwall's moors and high ground areas the high elevation makes tree cover impossible because of the wind, so these areas are populated by shrubs and bushes such as gorse and heather. Ferns, mosses, liverworts, lichens and fungi can all be found in the county. In the wettest areas of Bodmin Moor, sphagnum or bog moss can be found.
Cornwall is home to many rare flower species, especially at the southern end of the Lizard, due to its unique soil and geology. On the Lizard Peninsula, Cornish heath – the floral emblem of Cornwall – mesembryanthemums, butcher's broom, early meadow grass and a wide range of clovers including the Lizard clover, brookweed and yellow wallpepper can be found. The north coast of Cornwall features maritime grassland, heathland and stunted woodland.
In medieval times there were on royal estates and on those of the Bishop of Exeter a number of deer parks in which fallow deer were contained for hunting. The only episcopal manors with deer parks were Lanner, Pawton and Penryn. At Helston in Trigg (Lanteglos) and at Liskeard were probably the oldest deer parks; they were two of the seven which passed from the Earldom to the Duchy of Cornwall in 1337. Among the seven were two at Liskeard (old and new) and a new park at Helston in Trigg and small parks at Launceston and Trematon; the park at Restormel was probably established by Earl Richard. The then existing ducal parks were disparked by King Henry VIII about 1540 so that they became pasture for cattle. There were also a number of privately owned deer parks, both large and small, e.g. Carn Brea, Polrode, Boconnoc and Mount Edgcumbe.Henderson, Charles (1935) Essays in Cornish History; ed. by A. L. Rowse and M. I. Henderson. London: Oxford University Press; Cornish deer parks; pp. 159–162
Coastal waters The county's coastal waters are home to large populations of seals. Porpoises, whales and sharks are not uncommonly seen.
Porbeagles inhabit the coastal waters but the etymology of the word is obscure. A common suggestion is that it combines "porpoise" and "beagle", referencing this shark's shape and tenacious hunting habits. Another is that it is derived from the Cornish porth, meaning "harbour", and bugel, meaning "shepherd".Peirce, R. (2008). Sharks in British Seas. Shark Cornwall ; p. 102. The Oxford English Dictionary states that the word was either borrowed from Cornish or formed from a Cornish first element with the English "beagle"; however, none of the proposed Cornish root words are fully satisfactory. Squalus cornubicus (Gmelin, 1789); Squalus cornubiensis (Pennant, 1812) and Lamna cornubica are other Latin names for the porbeagle.
Swanpool is the only location in the British Isles in which the bryozoan Victorella pavida is found.
Cliffs, estuaries and riversides
The sea cliffs host many marine bird species with the red-billed chough recently returning to the county after a long absence. This rare bird appears on the Cornish coat of arms and is the county animal of Cornwall. The nominate subspecies and smallest form, is endemic to the British Isles, where it was restricted to Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the far west of Wales and Scotland,Madge (1994) until it recently recolonised Cornwall after an absence of many years.
The tidal estuaries along the coasts contain large numbers of wading birds, while marshland bird species frequently settle in the bogs and mires inland. Bodmin Moor is a breeding ground for species such as lapwing, snipe and curlew. On and around the rivers, sand martins and kingfishers are often seen, while after a decline in the 1960s and 1970s, Eurasian otters have been returning in large numbers. The Camel Valley is one of the habitats for otters. Bude Canal offers an ideal habitat for water voles, although the population is declining because of habitat degradation and pollution, like in other parts of the country.
The Mousehole Wild Bird Hospital and Sanctuary is a wildlife hospital based near Mousehole. The hospital was founded in 1928 by Dorothy and Phyllis Yglesias and became famous following the Torrey Canyon disaster. The Cornish Seal Sanctuary, in Gweek, was founded in 1958 and is a sanctuary for injured seal pups.
The Tamar Valley
Tamar Valley AONB The Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covers around around the lower Tamar (below Launceston) and its tributaries the Tavy and the Lynher. It was first proposed in 1963, but was not designated until 1995.
The Tamar Otter and Wildlife Centre, North Petherwin (now permanently closed) The Tamar Otter and Wildlife Centre has European and Asian short-clawed otters and a medium-sized duck pond, a nature trail including snowy and barn owls and other birds along it. It has a fish pond, a restaurant area and a gift shop. The nature trail is full of wildlife such as fallow and muntjac deer, peacocks and the not quite so English wallabies. As well as this, the nature trail has a waterfall falling down from the top of an old quarry and every few years different segments of the woodlands are coppiced. Some of the wood from this scheme is piled up in random areas of the woodlands as it makes a perfect home for badgers, hedgehogs and many creepy crawlies.
The Lizard Peninsula
Several nature sites exist on the Lizard Peninsula; Predannack nature reserve, Mullion Island, Goonhilly Downs and the National Seal sanctuary at Gweek. It is also home to one of England's rarest breeding birds – the red-billed chough. This species of crow, distinctive due to its red beak and legs, as well as the haunting "chee-aw" call, began breeding on Lizard in 2002. This followed a concerted effort by the Cornish Chough Project in conjunction with DEFRA and the RSPB.
The Lizard contains some of the most specialised flora of any area in Britain, including many Red Data Book plant species. Of particular note is the Cornish heath, Erica vagans, that occurs in abundance here, but is found nowhere else in Britain. It is also one of the few places where the rare formicine ant (the narrow-headed ant) can be found.
The Lizard district has a local organisation, the Lizard Field Club, whose members have studied the natural history of the area since 1953.
South coast At Polruan the gorse covered south facing cliffs between Polruan and Polperro provide habitats for the goldfinch, yellowhammer and stonechat in particular. Reptile species include the slowworm and the adder. The latter is particularly numerous.
Marine life includes the basking shark which have been known to enter the harbour. In 1972 a particularly large example was seen at the end of Polruan Quay; it was longer than the width of the quay. Other fish that may be found in local waters including the estuary include: bass, wrasse (four varieties), seahorse, pipe fish, pollock, coalfish, flounder, plaice, conger eel, European eel, dragonet, red gurnard, grey gurnard, blenny (shanney), bullhead, burbot, butterfish, sand-eel, salmon, sea trout, garfish, mackerel, angler fish (incorrectly named in restaurants "monk fish"), dab, whitebait, scad (horse mackerel), shad, herring, turbot, pouting, poor cod and rockling.
Isles of Scilly
Because of the Gulf Stream, the climate of Scilly is particularly mild so sub-tropical plants can grow there, including true palm trees. Scilly is the first landing for many migrant birds, including extreme rarities from North America and Siberia. Scilly is situated far into the Atlantic Ocean, so many North American vagrant birds will make first European landfall in the archipelago.
Scilly is responsible for many firsts for Britain, and is particularly good at producing vagrant American passerines. If an extremely rare bird turns up, the island will see a significant increase in numbers of birders.
Cultural significance
The Cornish national flower is variously said to be either broom,John T. Koch, Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia, Abc-clio, 2006 furze (gorse), rhododendron,Peggy Pollard, Cornwall, P. Elek, 1947 or Cornish heath.James Minahan, The complete guide to national symbols and emblems, Volume 1, Greenwood Press, 2009 The Cornish national tree is the sessile oak,James Minahan, The complete guide to national symbols and emblems, Volume 1, 2009 known in Cornwall as the Cornish oak.
Thrift (Armeria maritima) was chosen by the plant conservation charity Plantlife as the "county flower" of the Isles of Scilly in 2002.
Title Symbol Picture Subnational tree Cornish elm (Ulmus minor stricta) Subnational flower Spring squill (Scilla verna, floral emblem of Cornwall) Subnational bird Cornish chough/red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) Subnational animal European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Subnational fruit Cornish Gilliflower (a cultivar of Malus domestica) Subnational vegetable Collard (a cultivar of Brassica oleracea) Subnational crop Potato (Solanum tuberosum)
Flora
Botanists divide Cornwall and Scilly into two vice-counties: West (1) and East (2): the boundary runs irregularly from Truro to Wadebridge.
The standard flora is F. Hamilton Davey's Flora of Cornwall (1909). Davey was assisted by A. O. Hume and he thanks Hume, his companion on excursions in Cornwall and Devon, for help in the compilation and publication of that flora. Davey gives an account of all the reports of Cornish plants from 1576 until his own time and divides the county into eight districts. The Isles of Scilly are covered by the flora but not very thoroughly: there is a good flora of Scilly by J. E. Lousley. Edgar Thurston and Chambré C. Vigurs published a supplement to the flora in 1922 and in 1981 L. J. Margetts and R. W. David published A Review of the Cornish Flora (1980). Pool: Institute of Cornish Studies . A supplement to this for 1980–1991 by Margetts and K. L. Spurgin appeared in 1991.
Another useful source of botanical information is The Flowers of the Field, by C. A. Johns (1853): it treats the country as a whole (with a supplement on grasses), but Johns was a Cornishman and very knowledgeable about its flora and fauna. The Rev Charles Alexander Johns, F.L.S. (1811–1974) is also responsible for calling the attention of botanists to the very specialised flora of the Lizard in A Week at the Lizard, 1848, written when he was a teacher at Helston Grammar School.
Plants of the environs of Tintagel "Within easy reach of Tintagel at least 385 varieties of flowers, 30 kinds of grasses, and 16 of ferns can be found ... a 'happy hunting ground' for botanists" and a list of 39 of the rarest is given. (Contribution by E.M.S. to W. J. C. Armstrong's Rambler's Guide, 1935.)Armstrong, W. J. C. (1935) A Rambler's Guide to Tintagel, and Camelford, 2nd ed. [Boscastle: the Author]; pp. 89–95
Botanic gardens There are botanic gardens at the Eden Project, the Lost Gardens of Heligan, and at Trebah and Tresco Abbey Gardens on the Isles of Scilly.
Araucaria araucana derives its popular name of "monkey puzzle tree" from what happened when a young specimen of it at Pencarrow was shown to a group of friends of the owner; one of them made the remark "It would puzzle a monkey to climb that"; as the species had no existing popular name, first "monkey puzzler", then "monkey puzzle" stuck.
Gardening