For long enough I was oblivious to the existence of the genus Aphanes, despite the fact that, once your eye is in, it'snot that hard to find. Often they're lumped together, with Slender Parsley-piert, A.australis, and Parsley-piert, A.arvensis, aggregated in records.
Strictly speaking, I believe they ought not to be separated without flowering. However, having now got used to finding Parsley-piert (it especially likes to grow on the base of yellow ant nests) I saw another the other day which struck me immediately as not the same. The colour and the shape were both different.
According to Poland and Clement's veg key the base of the leaf is different, and so it appears. Also this one was right on the coast in a very small patch of sandy coastal heath. A.arvensis I see on muddy ground on verges and such.
Here are the two specimens side by side.
Parsley Piert (Aphanes arvensis)
 |
| dull green patch of A.arvensis |
 |
| Flat, or even reflexed, leaf base |
Slender P-p (A.australis)
 |
| Bright green australis |
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| Unapologetically cuneate leaf base |
I feel reasonably confident in recording these two species exactly as separated by Poland and Clement. I'll definitely be trying to look at them later in the year though.
What else could it be but the Foo Fighter's "The Colour and the Shape" (why the UK spelling, I wonder?).
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