This prostrate annual is found in coastal areas only, on shingle and bare ground. Similar to Spear-leaved Orache, its stems are usually reddish and in autumn the whole plant turns red. It has triangular leaves, with the upper leaves being narrower than those below. The miniscule flowers are enclosed in two sessile bracteoles, the bases of which are thick, spongy and ‘warty’. They bloom from July to September in leafy spikes. Babington’s Orache is a native plant belonging to the Chenopodiaceae family.
I first recorded this plant in 2010 in Duncannon, County Wexford on a BSBI field-trip with Paul Green, Vice-county Recorder for Counties Wexford and Waterford.
If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre
