I have been photographing and identifying coastal and shore plants in Cornwall (UK), and there is one that doesn't appear in any of my wild flower books. It was growing all along the coast path, and some of it had purple flowers.
Do you have photos of the flowers, or could you give us a description of them? My guess is a plant of the Mallow family. ???
That's interesting--I did find Tree Mallow in a different place along the cost path, with purple trumpets and ivy-shaped leaves--but this monster looked more like a cabbage. Maybe it's just the same plant, but more crinkly and curled up! Thanks :)
Fear not: once our omniscient ID-ers get a look at your plant, we will all know what it is. It IS a whopper, isn't it?! Here's an interesting site: http://www.aphotoflora.com "A website dedicated to the photography of wildflowers, weeds, trees, and shrubs of Devon and Cornwall and West Yorkshire."
Tree-mallow Lavatera arborea. http://wbd.etibioinformatics.nl/bis/flora.php?selected=beschrijving&menuentry=soorten&id=2144 http://www.hairycalyx.com/wildflowers/small_families/mallow/tree_mallow.htm That has white flowers, not purple ;-)
