Also known as Sea Pink, this cushion-forming perennial carpets cliffs, coastal roadsides and saltmarshes from April to July with dense tufts of papery, pink flowers and grass-like grey-green leaves. The little individual flowers are borne in dense, roundish heads 15-25mm across, on slender, leafless stalks. Below the flower heads, the calyx extends in a papery, scaly sheath. The leaves are grass-like, basal and deep green. Thrift is also found in some mountain locations. This is a native plant and belongs to the family Plumbaginaceae.
I first found this flower in Derrynane, Co Kerry in the early 1950's and photographed it on Black Head, Co Clare in 2004.
If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre
